Downtown’s Four Queens casino is replacing its carpeting!

Yes, there’s a whole tribe of Vegas fans that obsesses over casino carpeting.

There’s a Silver Strike tribe. There’s a Sigma Derby tribe. And there’s a Fickle Dip tribe. There’s even a Criss Angel tribe, but that one only consists of six people, most of whom are Criss Angel’s relatives.

Members of the casino carpeting tribe understand the importance carpeting plays in a casino. Some of the more fanatical ones have carpeting scraps, say, from when Binion’s (same owner as Four Queens) replaced its carpeting a while back, and we keep meaning to throw it out because it’s disgusting, but just can’t bring ourselves to do it.

Don’t judge. We don’t judge your miniature train thing or your swizzle stick thing or your ball gag thing, probably.

There’s whole lore that surrounds casino carpeting, most of which is, in the parlance of casino interior design, “bullshit.”

There’s a myth that says casino carpeting is “busy” (or even “visually repugnant”) because casinos secretly want customers to avoid looking down. That way, they can focus on looking at the slot machines.

This is complete nonsense, of course.

Casinos have “busy” carpeting because casinos have a hell-ton of foot traffic (as well as intoxicated people carrying drinks) and such carpeting helps disguise spills and stains.

We’d make the case colorful, even garish, carpeting attracts attention, but it doesn’t repel it.

Besides, one person’s “tacky” is another’s “glorious.”

The former Four Queens carpeting has seen things.

Casino carpets are colorful because color conveys fun, the whole point of casinos in the first place.

Carpeting is an expression of a casino’s unique brand, which is why you never see the same carpeting in two different casinos.

It’s rare to find a casino without carpeting. Ellis Island leaps to mind, mainly because of the distinctive sound a trash bin makes when its wheels are being dragged across the tile. Don’t get us started.

If it seems like casino carpeting upgrades aren’t happening as frequently as they have in the past, that’s due to those pesky “supply chain issues.” Custom carpeting is especially difficult to get now.

You can resist being a casino carpet person, but resistance is futile.

Watching a casino upgrade its carpeting is fascinating.

The goal, of course, is to remove the old carpeting and install the new carpeting as quickly and efficiently as possible to avoid disruption to the casino floor (and gambling).

That’s why casinos typically do such work early in the week and late at night. Four Queens was hard at work on its upgrade on a Monday night.

Four Queens had to move some of its slot machines outside during the carpeting upgrade. Vegas needs more outdoor slot machine spaces, frankly.

As casino carpet watcher, we love the new carpeting at Four Queens.

It feels like a variation of the existing carpeting. The last thing you want your longtime customers to experience is disorientation caused by a dramatic change in their
surroundings. Which is why some of the employees at Four Queens have been there since the Coolidge administration.

Four Queens customers like Four Queens just the way it is. A little gritty, a little dark, a little old-school, and a lot of fun, with a focus on what made Las Vegas great in the first place: drinking and gambling.

The carpet upgrade at Four Queens was long overdue, and you never really see how dirty a casino carpet can get until it’s being replaced.

Let us know what you think of the new carpeting a Four Queens in the comments. We’ll see you there to help break it in.