My criteria depend upon value for my dollar, mood, opportunity and appreciation. Note that I am a low-roller. And I have a car with which to get around.

1. Green Valley Ranch - attractive, spacious rooms; nice buffet, some moderately priced food venues; attractive, spacious casino with so-so nickel video poker. Not hard to get comped room offers with little machine play. Pleasant employees.

2. Bellagio - can't afford to stay or eat there. But I love the understated elegance of the casino and other public portions of Bellagio. The fountains are a "do-not-miss" attraction.

3. California Hotel & Casino - a taste of Downtown Las Vegas, clean, modestly sized and priced rooms; good deal on a prime rib dinner, including Cherries Jubilee; casino has that "Old Vegas" feel; easy access to its sister property, Main Street Station which has decent VP and a "usually good" buffet.

4. Sunset Station - all-around attractive hotel and casino, several moderately priced eating venues, the usual Stations casinos' so-so video poker.

5. Fiesta Henderson - Advantage VP, even in nickels; tasty and value-priced buffet; rooms are boring for the price, but the VP makes up for it.

6. Palms - Casino has a great selection for VP, although the pay tables have deteriorated severely since they opened; the casino help are very gracious (can be a little difficult to get a drink at the nickel machines); most chipper-friendly casino I have visited; Garduno's and up-and-down-quality buffet for reasonable food. Haven't stayed at Palms, I'm not into the "hip" scene.

7. Venetian - Just for the "lookey-loo" experience.

8. Orleans " I like the spacious, attractive rooms, especially those that face The Strip; good buffet last time I was there (been a while); lots of VP, but pay tables have been pretty well decimated; players' club awards points based on coins out, which is a disadvantage for the occasional player. If I were a local I would probably give them more play.

9. Stratosphere - Easy to get a room upgrade with the �$20 trick�; has one of the best views of Las Vegas from the tower; so-so video poker.

10. Nevada Landing - Feel like a high-roller on a low-roller budget. For almost two years my wife had almost full RFB from nickel VP and video Keno play. Food is not gourmet, but we like "comfort food." The rooms in which we've stayed were shopworn, but were clean and provided a place to sleep. Casino is small, therefore not a lot of choices.

Honorable Mention - Ellis Island has great food bargains, including a $4.95 steak dinner, bargain-priced barbequed ribs and a brew pub (root beer for me). Lots of VP, no hotel.