The Neon Gutter
Tales from the seedier side of Las Vegas and the gang who turned it upside down with scams, mischief, and mayhem.
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Episodes
Tuesday Dec 23, 2025
Tuesday Dec 23, 2025
It's Man versus Machine as the podcast takes on A.I. in a battle for Gutter supremacy. Find out if Artificial Intelligence knows as much about being a Vegas cheapskate as the very natural and unintelligent Neon Gutter Crew on finding the best deals, cheapest meals, and scariest thrills.
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Monday Nov 17, 2025
Climb into the wayback machine with us. 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 and Dan both tried to take under their wings and teach about the "Real Vegas." He loved it! At least, we think he did. We sort of lost track of him that weekend. Buckle up for strip clubs, ice cream socials, violent penny slot tournaments, horrific hot dogs, the death march to the Western, and more accordion than your recommended annual allowance.
Monday Sep 22, 2025
Monday Sep 22, 2025
Season 3 of the Neon Gutter kicks off with Burt, Matt, and Dan spending 24 straight hours at the Poker Palace with no escape. Join us as we arrive in the dead of night to play the games, meet the people, see the sights, smell the smells, microwave food, and hear the music that makes the Poker Palace the cheapest, friendliest, most fun casino in Las Vegas. 24 hours later, we'd won poker tournaments, bingo jackpots, hit royal flushes, and made many new friends. This is your last chance to visit this version of the Poker Palace, which will close at the end of September 2025.
Wednesday Sep 10, 2025
Wednesday Sep 10, 2025
Join the Neon Gutter crew in our grimy local second-run theater for a viewing of "Fever Pitch," a terrible, terrible 1985 movie loaded with classic Vegas action, vintage neon, a villain called "The Dutchman", a lady nicknamed "Boobsie Babs", and a cameo from one of Las Vegas's greatest legends. Visit neongutter.com for a link to the movie and play along.
Sunday Aug 17, 2025
Sunday Aug 17, 2025
Dan steps in as host to get the skinny from Matt and Burt about their whirlwind trip to Las Vegas to broker a major deal that successfully launched the Neon Gutter into the big leagues with their very first massive marketing campaign. Hear the exciting details of that power brokering and of the free and cheap deals they took advantage of, including free pools, free entertainment, and newly lowered table game limits!
Monday Jun 23, 2025
Monday Jun 23, 2025
Burt, Dan, and Matt 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 for cheapskates. This episode details Summer 2025's dozens of meals under $10, all the $5 table games, and hotels throwing free beverages, cheap rooms and complimentary cabanas at the swelling ranks of low rollers armed with pitchforks and thin wallets. This is the NEON GUTTER SUMMER!
Monday Jun 09, 2025
Monday Jun 09, 2025
The Neon Gutter Crew talks about Bob Stupak's dreams, including the ones successful and unsuccessful, sane and insane. There is talk about giant gorillas, lions, a Tic-tac-toe playing chicken, a Titanic-themed hotel, runs for mayor, and the many, many ways that he reimagined games like blackjack and craps.
Monday May 12, 2025
Monday May 12, 2025
Matt and Burt thrill guest host Dan with the conclusion to Matt's retirement party, complete with a cake, large knives, dangerous poker, some thrilling craps, and penny video poker. There's some tasty cajun food and a reference to Star Wars.
Join Us In the Neon Gutter
The Neon Gutter Podcast features Host Burt Cohen, and raconteurs Dan and Matt as they recall a forgotten Las Vegas, the dives and dumps, the thick haze of smoke, the pungent smells, hustlers, anglers, and watered-down cocktails served in paper cups by waitresses older (and possibly more dead) than your grandmothers. And the smells that never wash out. This is a podcast you can really smell.
The Neon Gutter recounts a time after the Rat Pack, when the mob was in decline and the corporate bean counters hadn’t yet set their sights on Las Vegas. Casinos were still owned by families who enticed a dwindling crowd to take a seat at their nickel slots with two-dollar steaks, topless showgirls, and free decks of cards.
While the Neon Gutter is a time and a feeling, it’s also a place. Specifically, the title refers to the rough edges of town, where intrepid seekers of adventure wandered off the beaten path to find cheap and unsavory thrills in casinos and bars not listed in travel guides and not welcoming of tourists. It’s a Vegas in the shadows of the giants, where the neon flickered, the carpet was worn through, and blood occasionally spilled.
Dan, Matt, and their friends wandered down every alley, into every smoke-hazed den and uninviting bar, and danced in every lounge that posted a “No Dancing” sign. They ate 15-cent hot dogs, pumped rolls of pennies into decrepit slots, climbed through windows and went through closed doors to find the backside of Las Vegas. Theirs are the stories of hustles, pranks, shrimp cocktail eating contests, condemned hotels, shady strip joints, impromptu accordion concerts, and decades-long friendships. And the smells. Oh, lord, the smells.