I checked out the Eastside Cannery last night, and you will never believe what I found!

A casino.

Yes, I’m as shocked as you are.

There were gaming machines and blackjack tables everywhere!!!

Who knew?

Okay, sarcasm aside it is a very nice place … but it’s still a casino.

I’ve been to many openings.  One too many perhaps,  and at this point I may be a little jaded because of it.  Casino interiors are starting to look the same to me.  Well, not the same … The Bellagio clearly looks different from Planet Hollywood, but I just don’t know that it matters anymore.

When you are watching your cards at the blackjack table, or staring into the glow of a slot machine, or getting shitfaced drunk, I don’t know if the decor is relevant.

That being said, the Eastside is a very nice casino, with the most unique aspect being the tower lighting on the exterior.  It is next door to Sam’s Town, and about a mile south of Arizona Charlie’s.

Parking was rough, and it took 20-30 minutes to find a space.  It is all outdoors and there is no garage, at least no garage that I saw.  Bring the sunshade for your dashboard.

Since this is a local’s casino with no taxi service, they are going to need to address the lack of parking.

Actually, since off-strip casinos have been growing visitor numbers while Strip casinos have been stagnating, I don’t know if it is fair to call this place a 100% “locals” casino.  They clearly have a hotel, and I have no doubt that there will be a fair number of tourists making a pilgrimage here.

The line between “Locals Casino” and “Vegas Casino” is getting blurred with each passing month.

It was quite crowded, and lines for everything were long.  The line to get a Player’s Card was at least an hour.

The inside is perfectly cool.  They have everything you would expect.  A couple of bars, a sportsbook, a poker room, and some eateries.  Upstairs they have a huge bingo hall and several ballrooms for various events.

I kind of don’t know what to say because the videos and pictures speak for themselves.  It’s just a very nice and new casino.  The tower outside is pretty cool.  It changes colors every 15 seconds or so, and when I got back to the near-Strip, I looked out to the East, and could actually see the building in the distance changing colors.  It’s one of the few Boulder Highway buildings which is visible from The Strip.

In the video at the top, I walked completely from one end of the casino to the other.  I began recording before even stepping into the place, so what you see is exactly what I saw for the very first time … therefore, you will get exactly the same initial impressions that I got, and you can draw your own conclusions.

Exterior:

Poker Room: