Open since 2003, Emerald Island is located in the Water Street District of downtown Henderson, right behind Rainbow Club and Eldorado. Emerald Island prides itself in being the only ALL penny slots casino, hosting over 400 slots and video poker machines with denominations of $0.01.
Emerald Island offers just one restaurant; Emerald Island Grille. The menu consists of a variety of American favorites. There are daily specials, each with a different theme from 4 PM to 10 PM as well as a Sunday brunch menu.
Emerald Island does not have a hotel. There is a small parking lot as well as city parking along the street and a small public deck. All parking is free.
One of Emerald Island’s main draws is that it features a different promotion each day. Some involve earning enough points for cash or a wheel spin, while others award players a wheel spin for a bonus round on a slot of $100 or more. Emerald Island spreads such low stakes that it hand pays all jackpots of $400 or more and announces these winners over the speaker.
The property has expanded twice since it opened in 2003. First, in 2015, the restaurant size was doubled and more gaming areas were created. In 2018, a second set of restrooms and 800 square feet of gaming were added.
Casino at Emerald Island
The casino floor at Emerald Casino is just 9,300 square feet, which is exceptionally small when compared to other Las Vegas casinos. All of the games here are electronic, and include video poker, virtual keno and – of course – slot machines.
Video Poker at Emerald Island
Emerald Island is best-known among players as being home to 10/6 Double Double Bonus on three, five and ten-play machines. It is not truly full-pay, as a straight flush only pays 40-1. This makes the return-to-player 99.96% (before comps) when playing five or more coins at perfect strategy. This game and all other machines like it offer penny, two-cent and nickel denominations and permit up to 30 coins per line. A player needs to only play five coins to get 800-1 on a royal flush.
Other games on these multi-hand machines include Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild, full-pay Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker.
There are an additional four other video poker variants available at Emerald Island Casino. The 10-play machines have Ultimate X. There are standalone Split Card, Ultimate X Bonus Streak and Ultimate X Spin Poker. These all have penny, two-cent and nickel denominations. Three, five and ten-play is available on these video poker exotics with a max bet of five coins (plus the bonus trigger amount equal to it).
The bar has video poker machines with penny, two-cent, nickel, dime and quarter denominations. Some limits have a progressive jackpot, but the best game at the bar is definitely Bonus Poker.
There are U1 machines with a variety of games. These include keno, slots and video poker. The denominations start at a penny. The limit depends on the game.
Slots at Emerald Island
The slots selection at Emerald Island consists mostly of modern video reel machines in the penny denomination. They feature some of the latest slots titles that you would expect any other Las Vegas casino to carry, with bonus rounds and progressive jackpots.
The many daily promotions available here give players that hit a bonus round of $75 or more a chance to spin the wheel. The top prize on the wheel is $100, however, most spots are covered with $10 and $15 prizes.
Dining & Restaurants at Emerald Island
Emerald Island Grille is the only dining option at the casino. Fortunately, however, the grille is open 24 hours a day. It is a typical casino café but with above average food. Unlike most casino cafés that serve breakfast 24 hours a day, the Emerald Island Grille only serves breakfast from 11 PM to 3 PM daily.
The regular menu includes a range of meal variety which includes sandwiches, salads, steak and chicken. There are also daily specials that have a different theme:
Monday – Italian night with dishes that include lasagna, linguini and clams, sausage and peppers and veal parmesan.
Tuesday – Home cooking specials include pot roast, half-chicken and fresh catch of the day.
Wednesday – BBQ night includes burnt ends sandwiches, ribs and links.
Thursday – Specials include choice filet, crab cakes and shrimp and fried chicken.
Friday – The Friday special is surf and turf. It includes a combo with a choice filet, lobster tail and shrimp cocktail. There is also a catch of the day.
Saturday – Saturday is steakhouse night. Specials include a New York Strip, ribeye, filet, ribs and the catch of the day.
Sunday – Sunday starts with a brunch menu. Dinner options include prime rib, ribeye and shrimp and pot roast.
Emerald Island Players Club
The Emerald Island Casino players club is exclusive to this casino only. It is not valid at any other property in Las Vegas. It uses points earned during each of a year’s four quarters to determine a player’s tier. Players earn one point for every dollar wagered at slots and video poker. The points earned by players may be exchanged for comps at the restaurant at a rate of 1,500 points for every $1.
There are several unusual players club features at Emerald Island. One such feature is that points may be used to buy items in a case at the rewards center. These items include cigarettes, jewelry and electronics. There are also more than 20 local establishments that accept points from Emerald Island. These include mechanic shops, restaurants and the Cowabunga Bay water park.
Tiers in the Players Club
There are four tiers in the Emerald Island players club. All players start at Jade, which offers nothing more than access to promotions.
A player that earns 5,000 base points in a quarter achieves the Ruby tier. This gives the player one $15 meal comp each week and two 50% coupons.
Earning 30,000 points is a quarter gets the Sapphire tier. These players get three $15 meal comps each week. Players that get to 60,000 points in a quarter hit Emerald status. These players eat for free daily.
Emerald Island Promotions
Emerald Island runs promotions during every hour of every day. Each graveyard shift has a wheel spin promotion for all slot jackpots over $100.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, a player spins the wheel when making a perfect keno card with at least six numbers. A video slots player that gets a $75 bonus round receives a wheel spin.
There is a four of a kind bonus on Mondays that allows a player to spin the wheel after six quads in a night on a single line game.
Players that earn 700 points on Tuesday receive $10 in cash automatically, while generating 1,400 in points gets $20. Players that hit a slots jackpot of $400 or more receive a wheel spin.
Fridays offer a wheel spin for royal flushes on single line video poker machines. Players that get one higher than $400 spin the wheel twice. Winning more than $1,000 on a royal flush triggers a multiplier on the wheel.