This month I continued my series of downtown Las Vegas forays by revisiting a couple of properties I wrote about earlier this year for Blackjack Insider. On a recent Thursday evening, both of these historic Fremont Street properties were bustling. A relatively new promotion was probably the reason at the first property I visited. The second, located directly across the street, seems to have a fair amount of traffic whenever I walk through and is a popular destination. In the space below, I'll recap what I found and offer a few ideas how you can maximize your visit to each. Let's get started.

This once legendary property has seen better days. Formerly Binion's Horseshoe (and often called the Horseshoe Casino) this property is located literally in the epicenter of the Fremont Street Experience. Named for its founder, Benny Binion, the property opened in 1951 after Binion purchased the Eldorado Club and the Apache Hotel on Fremont Street and combined the spaces to form his new casino and hotel. The Binion family ran the property from its founding in 1951 until 2004. Thanks to merger and acquisition activity, Caesar's Entertainment Corporation owns the rights to the "Horseshoe" name, and the casino and hotel was purchased by the owners of the Four Queens, TLC Casino Enterprises, in March 2008.

When you enter Binion's from Fremont Street, you're greeted by the "Cowgirl Party Pit." It features ladies wearing cowgirl hats and boots; short-sleeve shirts with halter top views and bare midriffs; fishnet stockings; and Daisy Duke-style denim shorts (though nothing comparable to the original Daisy Mae Duke, actress Catherine Bach). The casino space is deceptively larger than it appears at first glance from this entrance. Binion's features almost 30 table games and approximately 800 slot and video poker machines.

The "Cowgirl Party Pit" features ten games including the property's three craps tables, a mini-pit offering High Card Flush, Three Card Poker, and an eight-deck blackjack game paying only 6:5 on player blackjacks. There's another "mini-pit" manned by the cowgirls that offers a six-deck blackjack game and a pair of single-deck games. These games pay 3:2 for player blackjacks and are dubbed "Bonus Spin Blackjack." The reason is there's an optional $5 side bet and if the player is dealt a blackjack, they are allowed to press an automated button that spins a virtual wheel to win various money denominations or the top prize, a custom-built motorcycle from Count's Kustoms in Las Vegas. Needless to say, the odds are pretty long against you. If you are dealt an Ace as one of your two first cards, your side bet returns even money. Anything else, short of a blackjack, is a loser. Remember, in the long-run you should be dealt a blackjack about once every 21 hands. The single-deck versions only allow doubling down on player 10s and 11s. Table minimums and maximums were $5 and $10 up to $500. There's also a Big 6 Wheel in this area by the entrance. The game isn't worth slowing down for, but the cowgirl blonde manning it certainly is!

Earlier this year I called the blackjack games at Binion's "some of the worst blackjack games you'll find west of the Mississippi" and I recommended that "if you had a horse, I'd say saddle up and keep riding." I'll stand by those comments with one exception (teaser alert). Almost all of the games pay 6:5 on player blackjacks. These include, not only some of the single-deck games, but the numerous eight-deck offerings as well! To add insult to injury, these games allow players to split Aces only once, dealers hit soft 17, and surrender is not permitted. At least you can double-down on any first two cards (DOA) and after splits (DAS) on the eight-deck monsters. On the single-deck versions, DAS is not allowed and double-downs are only allowed on two-card player hands of 10 or 11. Table min/max limits range from $5 or $10 up to $500.

On my most recent visit, there was also a $25 minimum single-deck game with $1,000 maximum bets. Player blackjacks paid 3:2. There was no more than one player at this table during my visit and five hands were dealt between dealer shuffles. I suppose this game could be an option if you want to fire up some big bets and play heads-up with the dealer. However, only being allowed to double-down on 10 or 11 costs you 0.25%; plus you're giving up an additional 0.13% by not being able to double down after splits. That's a rather large tariff. The rest of the table rules are the same as those mentioned above.