Four QueensFacts and statistics Address: 202 East Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Opening date: 1966
Casino type: Land-Based
Theme: Victorian Carnival
Owner: TLC Casino Enterprises, Inc.
No. of rooms: 690
Total gaming space: 50,000 ft²
Signature attractions: Queen’s Machine
Notable restaurants: Hugo’s Cellar,Magnolia’s
Years renovated: 1976, 1977, 1981, 1999
Website: The Four Queens
Coordinates: 36°10′11″N 115°8′37″W
The Four Queens Hotel and Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas on the Fremont Street Experience. Home to the Queen’s Machine, the world’s largest slot machine, the 690 room hotel and 40,000 square foot casino is owned and operated by TLC Enterprises, which acquired the property from the Elsinore Corporation in 2003.
History
Construction began on November 16, 1964, opening in 1966. The casino is named after the builder Ben Goffstein’s four daughters, Faith, Hope, Benita, and Michele. It originally contained only 120 rooms and a 20,000 square foot casino.
In 1976 the casino expanded to 33,000 square feet and changed decor to be warmer.
Today the casino occupies the entire block comprised of Fremont St, Casino Center, Third Street, and Carson Avenue. The Four Queens was also a partner in renovating the downtown area and creating the Fremont Street experience.
In April 2007 the Canyon Club opened at the Four Queens providing the first downtown casino club.
Bonus is a special feature of the particular game theme, which is activated when certain symbols appear in a winning combination. In the bonus, the player is presented with several items on a screen from which to choose. As the player chooses items, a number of credits is revealed and awarded. Some bonuses use a mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel, that works in conjunction with the bonus to display the amount won.
Candle is a light on top of the slot machine. It flashes to alert the operator that a hand pay is requested or that there is a problem with the machine.
Carousel refers to a grouping of slot machines.
Coin hopper is a container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held. The hopper is a mechanical device that rotates coins into the coin tray when a player collects his credits/coins (by pressing a “Cash Out” button). When a certain preset coin capacity is reached, a coin diverter automatically redirects, or “drops”, excess coin into a “drop bucket” or “drop box”.
Credit meter is a visual display of the amount of money or credits on the machine.
Drop bucket or drop box is a container located in a slot machine’s base where excess coins are diverted from the hopper. Typically, a drop bucket is used for low denomination slot machines and a drop box is used for high denomination slot machines. A drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks whereas a drop bucket does not contain a lid. The contents of drop buckets and drop boxes are collected and counted by the casino on a scheduled basis.
Hand pay refers to a payout made by a slot attendant or cage, rather than the slot machine. A hand pay occurs when the amount of the payout exceeds the maximum amount that was preset by the slot machine’s operator. Usually, the maximum amount is set at the level where the operator must begin to deduct taxes. A hand pay could also be necessary as a result of a short pay.
Hopper fill slip is a document used to record the replenishments of the coin in the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to players. The slip indicates the amount of coin placed into the hoppers, as well as the signatures of the employees involved in the transaction, the slot machine number and the location and the date.
Low Level or Slant Top slot machines include a stool so you can sit and play. Stand Up or Upright slot machines are played while standing.
Optimal play is a payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.
Payline is a straight or zig-zagged line that crosses through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated. Classic spinning reel machines usually have up to nine paylines, while video slot machines may have as many as fifty.
Rollup is the process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the meters count up to the amount that has been won.
Short pay refers to a partial payout made by a slot machine, which is less than the amount due to the player. This occurs if the coin hopper has been depleted as a result of making earlier payouts to players. The remaining amount due to the player is paid as a hand pay.
Tilt In the old mechanical days, slot machines had tilt switches. Any kind of mechanical failure (door switch in the wrong state, reel motor failure, etc) is still called a “tilt”. Just a historical thing.
Theoretical Hold Worksheet is a document provided by the manufacturer for all slot machines, which indicates the theoretical percentage that the slot machine should hold based on adequate levels of coin-in. The worksheet also indicates the reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, the payout schedule, the number of reels and other information descriptive of the particular type of slot machine.
Weight count is an American term, referring to the dollar amount of coins or tokens removed from a slot machine’s drop bucket or drop box and counted by the casino’s hard count team through the use of a weigh scale.
Pay Table
Each machine has a table that lists the number of credits the player will receive if the symbols listed on the pay table line up on the pay line of the machine. Some symbols are wild and will pay if they are visible in any position, even if they are not on the pay line. Especially on older machines, the pay table is listed on the face of the machine, usually above and below the area containing the wheels. Most video machines display the pay table when the player presses a “pay table” button or touches “pay table” on the screen; some have the pay table listed on the cabinet as well.
The Flamingo Las Vegas is owned and operated by Harrah’s Entertainment and is located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The property offers a 77,000 ft² (7,200 m²) casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms. The hotel is sometimes referred to as the pink hotel from the pink neon on the building similar to the color of flamingos. The 15 ac (61,000 m²) site is landscaped in a Caribbean theme, with the central area housing an exhibit of flamingos and penguins as part of a wildlife habitat.
The Flamingo has a Las Vegas Monorail station at the rear of the property.
History
The Pink Flamingo Hotel & Casino (as it was originally named), had only 77 rooms when it was built and opened by Bugsy Siegel and his partner Meyer Lansky on December 26, 1946. “The Flamingo” was named after the pet name for Virginia Hill, that name given to her by casino dealers in Mexico because of her exibitionist style of dancing; Hill would raise her skirts to show off her long legs while swinging her flaming red hair. Funding for the casino came from mob money and it was conceptualized and its construction was supervised by Bugsy. When it had been discovered that Bugsy was skimming money from the building funds, his death was ordered and management for the casino changed hands. The Flamingo changed names to The Fabulous Flamingo on March 1, 1947.
The Flamingo hotel boasted lavish shows and glorious accommodations for its day. The casino became well known for its comfortable, air conditioned rooms, beautiful gardens and fabulous swimming pools. The Flamingo helped popularize the concept of offering a “complete experience” as opposed to simple gambling.
Kirk Kerkorian acquired the property in 1967.
The hotel was acquired by the Hilton Corporation in 1972 and became the Flamingo Hilton in 1974. The last of the original Flamingo Hotel structure was torn down on December 14, 1993 and the hotel’s garden was built on the site, complete with a plaque to Bugsy Siegel.
In the 1998 spin off of Hilton’s gaming operations ownership was changed to Park Place Entertainment which was renamed to Caesars Entertainment in 2004.
In September 1999 the Flamingo Hilton and its sister property in Laughlin, Nevada ended their long standing relationship with Hilton Hotels. The Hilton name was removed and the property was renamed to Flamingo Las Vegas.
To enhance the hotel’s Caribbean theme, a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurant was opened in 2004.
In 2005 Harrah’s Entertainment purchased Caesars Entertainment and the property became part of Harrah’s Entertainment company.
Toni Braxton replaced Wayne Newton as the Flamingo’s new headlining act on August 3, 2006. The show, Toni Braxton: Revealed, ran through April 7, 2008. Although scheduled to run until August 2008, the show was canceled early due to Braxton’s health problems.
Film history
The 1960 version of Ocean’s Eleven was filmed here. Also a flashback sequence from the 2001 version of Ocean’s Eleven was filmed at Flamingo.
Anaconda is a variety of the card game Poker, also called “Pass The Trash Poker.”
Simple Play
This version of the game is also called “3-2-1 Anaconda” or “3-2-1 Left.”
Each player is dealt 6 cards. They then each select 3 cards to be passed to the player on their left. These cards are simply set on the table near their left-most opponent. No players get to see their new 3 cards until everyone has made a pass. Afterward, the players repeat the process, only with 2 cards, then again with 1 card. Players then discard 1 card to make their best 5-card Poker hand.
In this version of the game, up to 8 people can play, passing out a total of 48 cards and having 4 left over. A 9th person can be added with the use of both Jokers as Wild cards.
Betting
Betting can be included in the simple version of the game. Set up general Poker staples such as the dealer button, blinds, and/or antes. Have a round of betting occur before the first pass of 3 cards, then again after every card pass is made, and ending with a showdown if necessary. If a player folds at anytime, then they are no longer involved in card passing.
Variations
Anaconda can be changed in many possible ways, such as:
Altering the amount of starting cards (7 cards is common).
Altering the amount of cards passed.
Altering who the cards are passed to, possibly per round.
Incorporating Joker cards.
Including only one betting round & showdown after all passing rounds.
Removing all betting rounds and playing without money/chips.
