For many years, the Las Vegas Hilton
has been the premier sports betting facility in Las Vegas (along with the rival Stardust).
The Hilton was one of the first major casinos to recognize that SPORTS BETTING is an
important component of the gambling business. Imagine that! Accordingly, about twenty
years ago, the wise men who ran the Hilton built a large race and sports area just for
handicappers. From the day it first opened, it was a place to call "our own."
The days of hunting for scores and trying to find games on TV were finally over. Suddenly,
satellite dishes beamed in the games and a sports fan could watch dozens of games in a day
without ever leaving his seat. It seemed like the promised land.
Today, in terms of size, this is the largest sportsbook in Las Vegas --
and I presume probably the largest in the world. The Hilton also offers and promotes the
NFL Handicapping Challenge, which is the most prestigious handicapping contest to be
found. The Hilton also enjoys a stellar reputation in the sports gambling business,
largely because of its contests and the large volume of action they handle on all sports.
Regretfully -- despite the Hilton's gloried past and reputation as a haven
for sports gamblers -- I cannot give this sportsbook a favorable review. In fact, for
serious sports bettors, this sportsbook is a MAJOR disappointment. I'll get to the many
reasons in just a moment. But first, some history.
The Las Vegas Hilton was built in 1969 on the site of what used to be the
old Las Vegas Racetrack. It was initially called "The International." When the
casino opened, it was already the largest hotel in Las Vegas with nearly 1,600 rooms.
Despite it's odd location, off the Las Vegas Strip, "The International"
immediately won the public's favor when it signed Elvis Presley to a series of
performances. Elvis played at The International during several runs from 1969 up until his
death in 1977. Half the time he was zonked out on pills and/or insulting his audience or
members of the band while onstage, but it didn't matter. Elvis could have pissed in the
punchbowl and everyone would have still gotten drunk. The fans came in droves and filled
the gaming tables, adding millions to the casino coffers. The casino also signed Barbra
Steisand -- which meant the big casino had a lock on arguably two of the biggest names in
popular music. The International was also featured in the 1971 James Bond movie,
"Diamonds Are Forever" (one of the best Bond pictures, by the way).
The hotel expanded. First, it doubled, then it tripled in size. At one
point, it was the largest hotel in the world in terms of number of rooms. In the 1970s,
the Hilton Corporation bought The International from founder and CEO (Kirk Kerkorian, I
believe was the founder) and the casino-hotel has since been known as the "Las Vegas
Hilton."
The Hilton (not to be confused with the Flaming Hilton) has also enjoyed
some notoriety. In the early 1990s, the infamous scandal "Tailhook" took place
here. Presumably, a few female Navy cadets were sexually assaulted in the hallways and the
incident became a national story (get this -- they're in Las Vegas, drinking, running the
hallways late at night, half naked -- do the freakin' math people!).
Today, the Hilton benefits from its ultra-convenient location smack dab
next to the Las Vegas Convention Center. In fact, there is a walkway between the main
convention hall and the casino (you must conveniently pass through the casino to get from
the rooms to the convention -- what a coincidence). The hotel is filled with many
excellent restaurants and provides a wide variety of entertainment. Poker is no longer
offered at this establishment, which is a minor annoyance, but the casino remains one of
the most elegant in the city. The mammoth crystal chandeliers over the main casino floor
are as impressive and anything I've seen in Las Vegas.
Just like the casino, the Race and Sportsbook is unique in many ways. It's
best attribute is its easy access directly from the parking lot. Visitors need not valet
park or wander aimlessly through the casino looking for the book. You can simply drive to
the rear of the Hilton and park literally within steps of the main entrance. This
convenience ranks right up there with any sportsbook in the city. You can get from your
car to the betting window within a minute. Unfortunately, that's about the best thing I
can say for this corporate monstrosity that has ABSOLUTELY NO COMMON SENSE about how to
serve sports bettors.
Once inside, here's where the problems begin:
First, the Super Book should actually be called "the RACE
Book." Sports betting is secondary in the minds of management at the Hilton. If
you are a sports bettor, make no mistake about it -- you are a second-calls citizen.
Horseracing gets about three-fourths of the seats in the room. THREE-FOURTHS! In fact,
horseracing gets ALL of the giant TVs in the room. Despite sports fans outnumbering racing
fans on any given weekend, the books typically show $10,000 claiming races on giant
screens from glue factories like Balmoral and Hawthorne, then put the big feature NFL game
on a TV screen half the size. It just doesn't make sense to give so much room and comfort
to a bunch of $2 bettors, when the majority of people in this room have considerably more
money riding on the outcome of sporting events. This is typical of many Las Vegas
sportsbooks,but UNFORGIVABLE for a casino that supposedly caters to a serious sports
crowd.
The sports area is scrunched over in the far left side of the room.
Imagine a DMV office, if you will. That's the first ting I thought about while watching a
game in here. It was like visiting the DMV getting a drivers license. The sports area is
packed against the main entrance from the casino and flanked in the rear by noisy slot
machines. Forget about listening to the broadcast. All you can hear are wheels spinning
and bells ringing on those crack-addict machines. If you are crazy enough to actually
watch an entire game in this fleabag joint, bring a fucking neck brace. You'll need it!
You will be looking up at the screens like your watching airplanes take off at McCarren.
You'll sit in a small uncomfortable char, attached to rows of other chairs, and be staring
up at the screens until you pass out from lack of blood flowing up to the brain. After a
couple of hours in this hellhole, I had a massive headache. And, it wasn't from my bets.
Worse, while you are watching the games -- you can entertain yourself by
monitoring all the action in the buffet line. Incredibly, in what has to be the WORST
layout of any sportsbook I HAVE EVER SEEN, some jackass decided to make the line to the
buffet directly underneath all of the TV screens in the sportsbook! So, you can watch
hordes of broke tourists snaking through the lines to gorge themselves on overpriced food
while you bitch about your parlay ticket. It is INCOMPREHENSIBLE that any architect could
possibly put the buffet line directly in front and underneath the MAIN sports viewing
area, but this is what this rat hole has done. The only thing worse would have been to put
the restrooms there. Or. Maybe a giant dumpster.
In most sportsbooks, the odds are posted up on the main board. The
boards are either electronic or with colored markers on a white background. Not here! The
Hilton sportsbook is large enough to put up lots of information. Incredibly, the odds only
appear on TV screens which are rotated constantly. It's difficult, if not impossible to
track odds and scores unless you know exactly where to look. On a recent Saturday, at
least a dozen times I heard questions from puzzled bystanders wanting to know where the
score of a game could be found. Trouble is, you have to know which TV screen to
look at. Then, you have to wait several minutes for the score or the odds to roll around.
Talk about dumb! On a busy day with lots of college basketball, THIS IS INCREDIBLY
ANNOYING. It's much easier to just watch the electronic sports ticker (which by the way is
off to the side where it can't be seen without getting a case of whiplash). The Hilton
thinks they are being "modern" by keeping the scores and odds on close circuit
TV and rotating the information. In fact, they are confusing people and in some cases
misleading the public since we can't always see the line changes that are constantly
popping up in other sportsbooks. This is a HORRIBLE way to get information. Shame!
The staff here is remarkably friendly and efficient. In terms of
personnel, this is one of the best sportsbooks in the city -- without question. The Hilton
also prides itself on its Handicappers Challenge contest. The picks are posted inside the
sportsbook each week for the public to see. This is the one of the few redeeming factors
which saves this sportsbook from getting ranked alongside the dungeons of sports betting
-- such as the MGM Grand.
I have no idea how and why this "sportsbook" screws sports
bettors with such second-class treatment, while giving racing bettors so much space and
comfort. If the numbers of customers were there to support this imbalance, I would
understand. But every time I have been in the Hilton, the race area is (at most) HALF
full. Meanwhile, the sports bettors are left to one tiny side of the room and have to
listen to slot machines and watch brain-dead tourists on holiday standing in the buffet
line.
Even "the King" would be disappointed at The Hilton Super Book.
When Elvis sang, "Don’t' Be Cruel" on stage in the big showroom, he must
have been thinking about the piss-poor treatment sportsbettors receive in this so-called
legendary establishment. Maybe "Jailhouse Rock" would have been more
appropriate.
ATMOSPHERE: C
COMFORT: F
TV SCREENS: F
STAFF: A
COMMITTED TO SPORTS GAMBLING: A
OVERALL: C
