Sports book fans visiting Las Vegas are starting to discover that the cost of staying at a property on the strip is starting to rise again. As Sin City continues to rebound, there are fewer strip hotels that offer value without the compromise of an outdated sports book or guest rooms that are showing some wear. Treasure Island (or TI, whichever you prefer) certainly fits the bill as a property that has competitive room rates and a great strip location with rooms and amenities that are above par. My recent visit, in which I spent a lot of time at the TI sports book, certainly left me impressed.
Treasure Island Sports Book
The TI sports book is a scaled down version of some of the older “Super Books” in town. Still, there is plenty of seating and the betting windows are staffed appropriately so waiting in line to make a horse racing or sports bet is a rarity. The ticket writers here are some of the friendliest in town and I observed that they had a great rapport with regulars and were more than happy to help a newbie asking how to make a run-line bet for a baseball game.
Free Drinks
The sports book supervisor is in charge of drink tickets and the ticket writer will direct you to the supervisor if you would like to receive comped drinks. The two sports book supervisors I dealt with during my time at the TI sports book were friendly and presented me with several free drink tickets when requested without any problem.
Treasure Island Sports Book Free Drink Tickets
My advice is to ask for free drink tickets in a friendly yet confident tone and make sure you have your betting ticket(s) visible. At some Vegas casinos, I often feel that the sports book is a forgotten place to cocktail servers; however at TI this wasn’t the case at all as the cocktail server came around often.
Screens
The quality and number of screens at the TI sports book is good but not great. There are big screens that are laid out appropriately to show multiple games and the jumbo screen is typically used to show horse racing. Some sports books only offer horse racing channels on the individual monitors, however the individual monitors at the TI are linked into sports as well as horse racing. This is a plus if you have a favorite team that you want to watch or a key game that will decide the fate of your parlay ticket.
Food
Canters Deli is long-gone, however the space directly across from the sports book is now occupied by Little Richie’s Chicago Style Beef & Dogs, which is a good spot for a quick to-go order that is super close to the sports book. The real winner at TI as far as sports book food goes however is Francesco’s Pizza, which serves up some of the best thin crust New York style pizza this side of Flamingo Road. Definitely get a to-go slice or two and take it back to the sports book – you won’t be disappointed.
Treasure Island Francesco’s Pizza – Good Stuff
There are a lot of great sports books in this area of the strip: Mirage, Lagasse’s Stadium at Palazzo, and Venetian to name a few. However, if you are looking for a well-run sports book with friendly staff and where comped drinks are easier to come by the TI sports book is certainly worth your while.
Odds and Ends
The Mojito Bar, located next to the TI buffet is a good alternative if you prefer the bar scene or some video poker while you catch the sports action.
Mojito Bar at TI – A Good Spot for Sports Viewing
There are multiple flat screens within this space and there are some decent happy hour specials as well. The crowd here gets lively during the evening.
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