Golden Gate Celebrates 119th Birthday, We Remember the Best Craps Game in Vegas

^{The oldest and newest casinos in Downtown Las Vegas, with Golden Gate and Circa marking the west end of Fremont Street. (Image: Wikimedia)} 

Golden Gate Hotel and Casino at 1 Fremont Street was built in 1905 and is the oldest standing and operating hotel in Las Vegas. The downtown casino owned by Derek Stevens (of Circa and The D fame) celebrated its birthday on Thursday, and I was there to get a behind-the-scenes look while taking a walk down memory lane. 

Casinos.com toured this historic property with Stevens, who showed us everything from the basement to the penthouses. I’ve spent a lot of time at Golden Gate eating, drinking and gambling over the years and thought I’d seen everything. But oh no … turns out there were a few surprises. 

One of the most adorable things about the Golden Gate is how they embrace the history of the joint. Having said that, nothing about the property seems old. There’s current technology everywhere you look and it doesn’t take away the vintage vibe. It’s a fabulous mix of old and new, traditional and contemporary, 20th and 21st century.

While the property no longer has a restaurant, the gambling experience at Golden Gate is unlike any other in Las Vegas. I’ve probably been here 100 times, and just walking through the casino floor still takes me back to what was my favorite craps game ever found in Las Vegas. 

A Little History About the Golden Gate Casino

Golden Gate Hotel and Casino has changed over the decades -- generations really. It originally opened as Hotel Nevada in 1906. Rooms were $1 and there was no resort fee added to the bill.

Gambling was in and out of the casino in its early days. Table games were put away in 1910 but were back for good in 1932 when Nevada officially legalized casino gaming.

The property first expanded with a one-level retail space in 1927. Three floors were added in 1931 and another two in 1932, when the property was renamed Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backwards). 

The Sal Sagev hotel opened a 9,500 square-foot gaming floor in 1955 and dubbed it the Golden Gate casino. In 1972, the entire property was officially renamed Golden Gate Hotel & Casino. This was more than a decade after the signage you still see today on Fremont Street was installed.

Many reminisce about Rat Packers Frank, Sammy and Dean spending time at the Golden Gate, and at least one little birdie has told us about a guy named Michael Jackson who used to sit at the long dark bar here in the early 2000s -- positions four and five mostly at what’s now known as the Prohibition Bar -- and go relatively unnoticed. 

Touring Golden Gate Casino

Stevens and his brother Greg bought the Golden Gate in 2008, In 2012 they embarked on the casino-hotel's first renovation in 50 years, which transformed the place into the modern vintage hotel and casino we know today.

After a few words from owner and CEO Stevens outside the hotel, we entered Golden Gate from the Main Street entrance across from the Plaza. Those familiar with the property might remember this space as the entrance to DuPar’s, a classic diner and bakery. Now it’s just slot machines. 

The high-limit slots lounge is relatively small with fewer than 20 machines. If you explore the nook beyond the games you’ll find a fountain from 1909, and if you look through a certain peephole, you can see the property’s original bricks. 

As mentioned, this casino-hotel embraces its historical significance in Las Vegas, and throughout the property there are signs telling its story, almost like a museum. I recommended they make this permanent so everyone could find these sweet spots.

Stevens took our tour group to the basement and shared a few secrets. 

The first thing anyone notices when you step into the Golden Gate are its low ceilings. I mean really low -- less than 6 feet high in some spots. While Stevens had to hunch over at times, we short kings could stand proudly without hitting the ceiling (so long as we didn’t jump.

The basement was home to a place to drink in secret named the Keyhole Bar. During the tour, we saw a Prohibition-era stairwell that could have been used as an escape route. 

Evidently, there are power surges frequently at Golden Gate and we experienced it while exploring the basement. When we got back to the casino floor some slot machines were still rebooting.

Before checking out the original 10 hotel rooms, we passed the vintage slot machines on display by the Golden Gate’s reception area. 

Fun fact: these were called “fruit machines” back in the day. You’ll end up in a British wormhole or worse if you search for this term.

Golden Gate has preserved the first 10 hotel rooms from Hotel Nevada on the second floor. There’s a marker on the wall so visitors can see where the original property stands and where the additions have been made.

Like most old hotel rooms the Golden Gate accommodations were tiny because the people were smaller in the early 1900s. While the rooms are the same size, I’m happy to say the rooms are much cleaner than when I stayed at the Golden Gate more than a decade ago, prior to. 

Our tour ended on the fifth floor exploring the fantastic penthouse suites. These two rooms occupy the entire floor and are the antithesis of the Original 10 rooms. 

Each penthouse has two bedrooms, a living room, full bathrooms, a powder room, dining space, and an outdoor patio with a grill. These penthouses would be great for large groups visiting Las Vegas for March Madness or the Super Bowl. These sweet suites are as low as the hundreds midweek. Check the site as prices change with all hotel rooms.

My Favorite Craps Game In Las Vegas

When I gamble I’m always looking for a combination of a great vibe and the good odds. The latter is easy to find in downtown Las Vegas. The vibes are mixed.

Main Street Station, a few blocks north of Golden Gate, has been offering the current best 20x odds on craps for years. But these games and all their table games are only available on weekends now. While the odds are great, the vibe is kinda meh. At best.

Golden Gate is one of a few downtown Las Vegas casinos that has fair minimum bet limits and 10x odds. This old casino also has the vibe I want when playing craps. 

The dice crews at Golden Gate have changed over the years but they’re always on point making sure all players have their bets placed as they want but also helping novices. 

I used to work in the music industry and have seen hundreds if not thousands of shows. The best experiences are when a band plays in a venue clearly too small to contain the crowd like when Pearl Jam played the Trocadero in Philadelphia on their way to stardom way back in 1992. 

Playing craps at Golden Gate is similarly amazing. The low ceilings, loud music, great dealers, quick drink service, and fair odds are unmatched. 

There are casinos with some of these features but none with all of them. The hair on my arms stands when I think about the great craps sessions I’ve had at Golden Gate. They weren’t always winning sessions but they were always fun.

The casino also has fair blackjack games and plenty of slot machines but nothing matches the fun of playing craps at Golden Gate. 

There are only a handful of Las Vegas casinos that have impacted me the way Golden Gate has. It was fun to relive some of those memories while the casino is still operating unlike my  just before it closed last year.