The Neon Gutter
Tales from the seedier side of Las Vegas and the gang who turned it upside down with scams, mischief, and mayhem.
Episodes
Jun 9, 2025
Jun 9, 2025
1hr 21 min
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.
May 12, 2025
May 12, 2025
46 min
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.
May 4, 2025
May 4, 2025
1hr 11 min
The gang returns from their latest trip to Vegas, which Matt expected to be an elaborate celebration of his recent retirement, wholly forgetting what flakes and cheapskates his friends are, and that they really don't care about his personal life. There is drama, excitement, bus rides, plastic horse racing, magic shows, "healthy" food, cheap gaming, and fancy dressing, featuring the return of Sigma Derby Expert Ski, and a new Sigma Derby-themed song.
Mar 31, 2025
Mar 31, 2025
1hr 3 min
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, and 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 on where to find him and recoup the debt.
Mar 3, 2025
Mar 3, 2025
1hr 8 min
Burt, Matt, and Dan drag one of the world's foremost authority on Sigma Derby into the Neon Gutter. Ski shares his knowledge of the world's most fun mechanical horse racing game earned from observing and wagering on more than 50,000 races. He schools the Neon Gutter crew on history, the joy of wagering on tiny plastic horses with friends, and the effect of yelling on race outcomes.
Feb 10, 2025
Feb 10, 2025
59 min
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 first place.
Jan 13, 2025
Jan 13, 2025
1hr 31 min
The Neon Gutter completes their $39 a day adventure with slightly less walking, a huge free play score, a disagreement that sends Matt, Dan and Burt in different directions, an outrageous expenditure, a stuffed baboon, and one member's fitful night of sleep.
Jan 6, 2025
Jan 6, 2025
1hr 40 min
The Neon Gutter Crew has lived to tell the tale of their $39 a Day trip to Las Vegas, starting with Part 1, which features lonely magicians, Dracula weddings, late night treks through the desert, and a lot of bus rides.
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.