text: I received an invite to join a friend for the NASCAR races so I booked my flight and made arrangements to head to that desert oasis of downtown Las Vegas nnMy friend asked if I could provide accommodations so I contacted a casino host at the Stratosphere who offered free nights but my friend was insistent that we stay at this classic hotel so considering that he was providing the NASCAR tickets good camaraderie I agreed nnNo arguments with other reviewers the El Cortez Hotel really does offer positives including nn to payout single deck Blackjack as low as hand n A small poker room populated by rejects from the movie Rounders n A reasonably priced steakhouse n Downtown location just outside of the Fremont Street Experience n Located across the street from my new favorite Mexican restaurant nnFootnotesn Its proximity to our charter bus pickup spot was his reasoning n In the movie Matt Damon states that if you cannot quickly figure out who the chump at the table is then it is you Most of this loose knit group of friends were more than willing to take my poker chips so it is back to online poker for me