Paris Opens Overhauled Sportsbook and Bar

By Scott Roeben, on March 27 2023
3 min read 3 comments
Gambling Las Vegas Las Vegas Bars

Paris Las Vegas has quietly unveiled its refreshed sportsbook.

The main sportsbook reopened in mid-February (right after the Super Bowl, don’t ask questions), and the adjoining bar opened a month later.

Here’s a look at the sportsbook.

Let’s sports! The lack of carpeting deters people from walking around barefoot.

We haven’t visited since the sportsbook reopened, so thanks to our friend @JamesinLasVegas for the pics. Let’s just say James gets around.

Yes, the retooled sportsbook is a smidge on the sparse side.

That’s because for most casinos, sportsbooks are an amenity for guests, they don’t add a lot to the bottom line, so the amount of capital invested in them tends to reflect that reality.

The minimal effort design aesthetic extends into the sportsbook’s bar, where the furniture is reminiscent of something you’d get on Facebook Marketplace. All due respect.

No, this isn’t the “before” photo, this is “after.” Why do you have to be so snarky all the time? They have a salve for that now, you know.

Hey, it’ll do in a pinch.

The recent trend is sportsbooks that have a lounge feel, as opposed to the old-school kind where it’s just a bunch of grumpy old men sitting in cubicles starting at screens.

Now, it’s mostly grumpy old men, but also some grumpy younger men, staring at screens. The lounge area is for their girlfriends and wives having cocktails while complaining loudly they picked the wrong guys because sports are lame and while their men can tell you who threw the final strike to clinch the 1946 National League tie-breaker series, they have no clue whatsoever where a G-spot is. At least that’s our take on what’s happening.

Anyway, the renovated sportsbook has a sweet new addition, a ticker thingy on the entrance.

Speaking of the Dodgers, they lost the 1946 tie-breaker series to the Cardinals. How did you not know that?

The sightlines into the sportsbook have really improved a lot, as previously, you might not even be aware there was a sportsbook at Paris.

The sportsbook is near the entrance to the now-shuttered Anthony Cools Theater Experience Tabernacle and Hypnosis Emporium. That is our recollection of the name, it’s been awhile. We do recall Cools used a plant at one point (an older woman with dentures), and that was a little disappointing.

We still miss Anthony Cools, though. We bumped into him about a year ago at Illuminarium, and he was looking good and doing well. He says he’s retired. His show was one of the funniest we ever saw on The Strip. Caesars Entertainment closed several mid-level entertainment venues in mid-2021, his theater was one of them.

Yes, we are far more interested in talking about a show that’s been closed for a year than a new sportsbook. If that surprises you, you must be new here.

The most important thing is the Paris sportsbook bar still has video poker! And liquor. The only things that make sports tolerable. Cheerleaders is the other thing, but mostly video poker and liquor.

The Paris sportsbook entrance is near a small surface parking lot, which was one of our best parking hacks for years. We have no idea what’s involved in parking there now, and some spaces seem reserved for rideshare, so park at your own risk.

There’s a lot to love at Paris, and it’s great to see some attention being paid to neglected venues at the Strip resort.

Now, if they could just find something worthy of the Paris Theater. We used to think it was cursed, then we realized the shows are just not that good. On the bright side, the worst show (“Bat Out of Hell”) is more entertaining than the best sportsball tournament, so there’s that.

 

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