Las Vegas for the Adventurous
The Neon Gutter talks Jackie Gaughan, the most unassuming casino titan Las Vegas has ever known. Owner of the Plaza, Las Vegas Club, El Cortez Gold Spike, Western, and many other downtown properties, Jackie was a champion of the low-roller and common man. Jackie walked his floors every day, he
Continue readingSeason 3, Episode 6 – Jackie Gaughan, Las Vegas Legend
The Neon Gutter Crew discusses that time they became popular by creating CheapoVegas.com and introducing the world to Casino Boy. … Continue readingSeason 3, Episode 5 – Cheapovegas
The Neon Gutter Crew ventures back to Las Vegas and encounters dragons, avoids scorpions, and embarks on a deeply important project involving Cheetos. Along the way, there are tiny horses, cheap craps, Las Vegas’s sexiest aviation-themed burlesque, and the best Monday night dance party in the Valley. … Continue readingSeason 3, Episode 4 – Cheetos, Scorpions, and Dragons
The intellectual might of A.I. machines is put to the test against the Neon Gutter crew in a battle for Las Vegas cheapskate supremacy. Can Grok, Gemini, and ChatGPT give good advice to low-rollers? Is it friend or foe in the battle against resort fees, $24 cocktails, and triple-zero roulette?
Continue readingSeason 3, Episode 3 – Neon Gutter vs. the Machines
Climb into our wayback machine with us, and bring lots of quarters because that’s what it runs on. We’re turning the dial all the way to 1999, the very first time Burt joined the antics of Matt and Dan. And so did Jerry, a “Las Vegas newbie”Vegas Virgin” who Matt
As a tribute to the soon-to-close Poker Palace, Burt, Dan, and Matt spent 24 straight hours soaking in its awesomeness and smoke. The Poker Palace is a locals casino in North Las Vegas slated to close September 30, 2025. It has certainly seen better days, but it also has $3
Continue readingSeason 3, Episode 1 – 24 Hours in the Poker Palace
We wrap up Season 2 of the Neon Gutter with a Bonus Episode of “Fever Pitch.” And you know what bonus means. It means you’re getting the leftover slop. It’s like sticking around Sizzler until closing time and getting whatever popcorn shrimp nobody ate. Instead of shrimp, we invite you
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 14 – BONUS EPISODE – Fever Pitch
Dan steps into the host shoes and quizzes Burt and Matt on their BIG Neon Gutter business trip to Las Vegas. Our trips are usually purely for pleasure, but this one was to finalize the Neon Gutter’s biggest and most important marketing campaign ever. To prepare and to avoid distractions,
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 13 – The Neon Gutter Goes Big
Congratulations! The power of the Neon Gutter and its legion of listeners has brought Vegas to its knees. In this episode, The Neon Gutter crew proudly share the cornucopia of cheap sleeping, eating, and gambling deals popping up all over Vegas in trembling response to the Neon Gutter’s powerful lobby
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 12 – Summer Deals 2025 (The Gutter Effect)
Burt, Dan, and Matt take a deep dive into the history of Bob Stupak, including his scheming and plotting to become someone in Las Vegas. There’s talk about his early casinos, how he came up with his carnival games, and about all of his insane plans that he never achieved.
The Neon Gutter Crew celebrates Matt’s Retirement with a party at the Poker Palace.
… Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 10 – The Retirement Party, Part 2
Burt and Matt tell Dan about the Neon Gutter Crew’s latest trip to Vegas, this time able to spend more than $39 a Day (Think $40 or $41). In Part 1, they luxuriate in free rooms, eat “healthy” food, invent new cocktails, win and lose at poker, blackjack, and craps,
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 9 – The Retirement Party, Part 1
Up your game with the advice of the World’s Greatest gambler! Lucky Ned joins the Neon Gutter crew and shares advice on how to win, win, win using the techniques from the unorthodox Lucky Ned Incredisystems (TM). And follow along as Ned demonstrates his winning skills, his life coach tips, and his uncanny ability to get free cocktails. Plus, if Ned owes you money (as he does most of us), listen for clues to where to find him and recoup the debt. … Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 8 – Gambling Expert Lucky Ned
One of the word’s foremost authority on Sigma Derby crawls down into the Neon gutter and tells Burt, Dan, and Matt all about the “Sport of Plastic Kings.” Ski has ridden the rail for over 50,000 Sigma Derby races and shares his insight on the tiny galloping horses. He schools
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 7 – The Sigma Derby Handicapper’s Corner
Matt, Dan, and Burt talk about the web site that started it all, the Big Empire, and the friendships it created, the shenanigans it inspired, and the unexpected fame it gave them. They talk about the trip reports, the jokes, haikus, and why they created a web site in the
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 6 – The Rise of the Big Empire
Burt, Dan, and Matt drag their sorry asses over the finish line of their 72-hour journey into the belly of stupidity and unreasonable penny-pinching. … Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 5 – Las Vegas on $39 a Day – Part 2
Burt, Dan and Matt literally walk through the first half of their brand new Las Vegas trip on $39 a Day, covering all lodging, transportation, food, entertainment, and vomit cleanup. The Neon Gutter crew encounter boutique magicians, Dracula weddings, a lot of coupons, tired feet, very smelly buses, and a
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 4 – Las Vegas on $39 a Day – Part 1
Burt, Dan, and Matt talk through their plan to visit Las Vegas for 72 hours on $39 a Day, a recreation of the infamous $19 a Day trip (plus inflation). There are two main rules: 1) $39 covers all meals, lodging, travel, entertainment, and gambling; 2) they crew can’t take
Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 3 – Doing it Again – Preparing for $39 a Day
Matt recounts the second half of the infamous $19 a Day Las Vegas trip. … Continue readingSeason 2, Episode 2: $19 a Day – Part 2
Matt drags Burt and Dan down a harrowing memory lane as he details the infamous $19 a Day Las Vegas vacation that he, Stinky and Robert undertook. That $19 per person covered all food, lodging, transportation, entertainment, gambling, and medical supplies. Strap in to hear about $2 breakfasts, $16 rooms,
This episode of The Neon Gutter is a gift to you. And keeping it in the gutter, it’s cheap and may be hazardous to your ears. So, listeners be forewarned that you are entering the Stupak Community Center where the Neon Gutter gang played “Stupak: the Game,” designed by Bob Stupak. … Continue readingBONUS: Episode 7 – Stupak: the Game
The Neon Gutter crew takes a live stroll down Fremont Street, from the headwaters of the Plaza Hotel at Main Street past Binion’s, the Golden Nugget and all the way East, past the D, the El Cortez and on to the husk of the Western. … Continue readingEpisode 6 – A Live Stroll Down Fremont Street
Burt grills Matt, Dan, and their guest Phil on the crummiest, dirtiest, smelliest, and most fun casinos they ever wandered into or escaped from. … Continue readingEpisode 5 – Shithole Casinos, or where losing money is the least of your worries
Burt queries Matt and Dan about all the terrible places they stayed in Vegas, including why in the world they stayed in them. … Continue readingEpisode 4 – Shithole Hotels, AKA Scrotels
Matt and Dan are joined by Phil and Mike for a look back to their first group trip to Las Vegas, when they were just babes in the woods, thrilled at the prospect of cheap buffets, free decks of cards, and a chance to see naked ladies. … Continue readingEpisode 3 – Our First Time
The Neon Gutter recounts the many ways they thanked Bob Stupak for the free money, free rooms, and free drinks with a series of practical jokes involving a lump of beef, police tape, Jell-o, and the most advanced printing technology the era offered to college kids. … Continue readingEpisode 2 – The Beef Tongue Matter
In this episode, Burt, Dan, and Matt recall what was surely the strangest major hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the space-themed Bob Stupak’s Vegas World, its maverick owner, and how the Neon Gutter crew exploited a loophole to enrich themselves while the property fell into decay. Or click here to find
Continue readingEpisode 1 – Bob Stupak, Vegas World, and all the Free Money