Ellis Island Shows Off Casino Expansion Digital Display

By Scott Roeben, on June 30 2025
6 min read 12 comments
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Our home away from home, Ellis Island Casino, is making slow and steady progress on its casino expansion.

The long-awaited unveil of a new bar, high limit room and rooftop lounge should be happening in the next couple of months, but in the meantime, the off-Strip casino is testing its digital display and we’ve got a first look.

It’s no Harmon Corner or Aria or that monstrosity in front of Horseshoe, but it’s charming and a big leap for Ellis Island, so just play along.

Fun fact: Ellis Island’s construction foreman previously worked for the Nevada Department of Transportation. It’s a sloth joke.

We shared a slew of casino expansion renderings back in Oct. 2024, including one of the west-facing flair wall.

That might be helpful for context.

It’s fancier, but not fancy. Ellis Island doesn’t really do fancy.

The casino’s last big addition was the Front Yard, which you can see to the left of the new casino expansion. No, they don’t match. Sometimes, it’s best just to appreciate new things without analyzing them to death. Do as we say, not as we do.

The video screen is being put through its paces, so here’s a look at the first batch of content being displayed.

Sorry about the commentary, we were very excited and blocking traffic. Big thanks to the security guard for not being a jerk when he brought this to our attention.

Our friends at Ellis Island are a little cagey when asked about when the expansion might open, probably because any number of target dates have passed.

We blame F1.

Oh, side note: The casino expansion construction has resulted in the hotel’s porte cochere being closed for a couple of months, so guests have to drive around the back to get to self-park. While this has been an inconvenience for customers, Ellis Island’s new partnership with F1 (there was a disruption-related lawsuit, but it’s been settled) should be unaffected because there’s access on E. Rochelle Ave. What we’re trying to say is F1 might need to make deliveries to Ellis Island, and thanks to the back entrance, Ellis Island is expected to take it in the rear from F1 again this year.

Yes, it was a long way to go for that joke, but we found it satisfying, so don’t hate.

We hear guests asking about the expansion every night. They most often ask about whether Metro Pizza and Via Focaccia are coming back. The answer is yes, thankfully.

They also ask about the beloved but smelly casino bar. It was demolished within the first couple of weeks of the renovation.

Never fear, there’s a new bar in the works. We’ve seen some construction shots, and it’s taking shape. There will be lots of video poker, of course. Despite that, we will continue to play on our two favorite machines until they are removed from the casino floor because we are beating the pants off the house.

Told you Metro Pizza is coming back.

The expansion will result in an additional 250 machines for Ellis Island.

People sometimes ask why we play at Ellis Island so much. It’s because we like the staff and also because it’s the only place we consistently win money. Pretty straightforward.

In a funny turn of events, our car’s computer recently showed us the option of “Work” as a destination. Which is odd, because we work at home.

When we hit the “Work” option, the directions were from our home to (wait for it) Ellis Island.

This is one of the most Las Vegas local things, ever.

We found this somewhat hilarious. We are a bit of a creature of habit (most local gamblers are), and the computer nails our Cane’s ritual and our Chick-fil-A ritual and our improv show ritual and our parental visit ritual, and usually when we get into the car it shows Ellis Island as the first option.

“Work,” though?

This will no doubt cause our Twitter troll’s head to explode, as the drooling idiot constantly posts that we work for Ellis Island and other casinos in some secret pact we’re lying about because we couldn’t possibly make a living from blogging for Casino.org, the most generous company in the world.

Anyway, we don’t work with or for Ellis Island or any casino. We have never done sponsored posts or other content. We just love Ellis Island. Yes, despite the karaoke.

One of the reasons Ellis Island is a special place is because it’s family-owned. It used to be special in that it brewed beer on-site, but that’s no longer the case, despite the fact you still see “Ellis Island Casino & Brewery” sometimes, even on the casino’s own site. The brewery closed in 2022. You might not know that based upon the fact Ellis Island still uses a photo of its brewing takes on its Web site. (Then again, under the “Now Open” on their site, Via Focaccia, Metro Pizza and Ellis Island BBQ are listed, despite those having been close for many months.) The Ellis family still brews their own beer, but it’s done in Utah now, not at Ellis Island.

What else? We love that Ellis Island gives free play back in real time as you gamble.

We also love their Moolah marker system on slots. You get approved credit, then can draw upon that credit without leaving the machine (if you win, you can pay your marker without going to the cage). The system has occasional glitches, but it’s a convenient to avoid getting dinged ATM charges. Moolah charges 1% of the money withdrawn as a fee.

Ellis Island also offers “Keys to Credit,” their fast pay system for handpays. You get approved once, then when you hit jackpots, you just enter your code and keep playing. You can collect your I.R.S. paperwork at the end of the session (tipping once, rather than for each handpay, by the way).

We are also a fan of the non-stop promotions going on at the casino. At last count, Ellis Island has approximately 540 promotions going on. There’s the Wheel of Fortune tournament, the one with the dice, the one with the money booth, the free snack for the olds ones, the hard hat one, the free gift one, the cruise one, they are endless. Many of the promotions and drawings are based upon entries earned from gambling, so the same handful of regulars tend to win, but we have earned it so stop your whining.

Shout-out to Brian S., our arch-nemesis in Ellis Island free play giveaways.

Because we can always find something to complain about, the Wheel of Fortune promotion hurts our arm and the money booth one almost moved our hair. Rude.

Things we hate about Ellis Island: There are no cup holders in the Front Yard’s restrooms.

While we do enjoy gambling, not like this!

Also, the sink area in those restrooms is unisex. It is really uncomfortable primping in front of members of the opposite sex. It’s creepy for the women, too.

We also hate that the steak in the Village Pub & Cafe often has the texture and taste of human feet. To make things even worse, in certain parts of the cafe, there’s an open door to the karaoke bar, a situation comparable to Hell, but at least in Hell, nobody is screaming their way through “Sweet Caroline.”

What more proof do you need that we don’t work for Ellis Island, troll?

Oh, here’s a love-hate item: We have Front Yard’s version of a Pizookie nearly every time we eat there. It’s amazing. The hate part? When there’s a delay in delivery and the ice cream sits on the hot cookie too long.

We order the ice cream on the side now, but the trauma lingers.

Oh, another plus for Ellis Island, if you play much at all, you’ll get to know their hosts. If you feel like a number on The Strip, you will love Ellis Island. They get to know their guests and customize perks based upon their preferences. In our case, that means chocolate chip cookies.

Fun story! We were chatting with Nik Fava, Ellis Island’s Host-in-Chief (see below), and another freelance Ellis Island host, Steven Cyr (author of “Whale Hunt in the Desert”), and the subject of our play came up. We are rarely stunned, but each knew our “coin-in” for 2024 to the dollar. It was just in their brains somewhere. They also knew how much we’d gotten in comps for our play, and our losses for the year. Not only was it a stunning mental feat, it illustrated just how hands-on hosts are at Ellis Island.

We gambled nearly as much at Red Rock Casino that year and crickets. We are a little like Norm on “Cheers.” We like to play where everybody knows our name.

Don’t pester Nik. He is very busy catering to our every whim.

For our fellow youths, “Cheers” was a TV sitcom that ended 32 years ago.

Anyhoo, Ellis Island’s casino is coming along nicely, and we have been promised a first look inside. More than likely, though, an employee is going to snap some pics and send it to that bastard @LasVegasLocally, about which we will not be bitter at all, despite the fact Locally’s car has never designated Ellis Island as “Work.” Ahem.

We trust there will be more news from Ellis Island in the weeks and months and possibly years to come, so stay tuned.