It might have all the clichés of New Orleans without any of the gritty authenticity of that city, but as soon as you get off your high horse and embrace the Vegas-like cheesiness, the Mardi Gras Casino emerges as a fun place to blow loads of cash. In addition to the regular gambling necessities like slots and cards, this place offers an odd mix of showgirls in Carnival attire, controversial greyhound racing (made less controversial with a greyhound adoption program sponsored by the casino), and good-ol', all-American events like slider-eating competitions. But it gets better — as of presstime, the casino's featured performer every Sunday was Ghaleb, a Miami-based singer from Venezuela who was booted off American Idol after a good, albeit heavily accented, performance of Marc Anthony's "You Sang to Me." Simon Cowell wasn't impressed, but the young singer garnered a spirited following, and he's now the top billing at the Mardi Gras.

If your idea of the perfect pool hall is a place where the cigarette smoke hangs as heavy as the clouds of chalk left lingering after breaking your fifth round, then Toby's is your place. You won't find any coin slots or torn tables here, just perfect rows of green, red, and blue felt and plenty of challengers (no sharks!). It has nine tables for your shooting pleasure. And the best part? If you buy a drink — a bottle of water, even — you shoot for free until 7 p.m. Stick that in your corner pocket.

Readers' Choice: The Original Fat Cats

Imagine you stumble upon a massive shipment of cocaine on the beach and are able to sell it off without ending up as dinner for a cartel boss' pet barracuda. You're suddenly rich! Where's the best place to live out all your 1 percent fantasies? The W Fort Lauderdale is the swankiest of swank spots, not only along Fort Lauderdale Beach but in all of South Florida. Just walking through the gleaming modern building gives you the sense you're now a member of a different tax bracket. From the slick rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer beach views to neon-blue 15-foot aquariums lining the walls of onsite restaurant Steak 954, the place oozes the kind of chic tastefulness that's rare in South Florida's garish landscape. Plus, the W's second-floor balcony off the bar is probably the best place in town to sip a drink.

Readers' Choice: W Fort Lauderdale

Nothing's cheaper than free, and nothing's more thrilling than live music. For years now, the amphitheater at Hollywood's Young Circle has hosted diverse acts, from Galactic to Seu Jorge to the Wood Brothers. This summer's calendar includes a night of Caribbean music on June 20 and sounds from Argentina on July 18, and Afro-Brazilian big band Orchestra Rumpilezz makes its U.S. debut performance August 1. All of these gigs and more are perfect for lying out on the grass or making use of your dancing shoes with your fellow cheap-thrill seekers. There is generally food for sale, but the true cheap thrillists know to bring a picnic dinner.

The inaugural Fort Lauderdale Fringe Festival was like an all-you-can-eat buffet of theater. Three separate Broward College classrooms were converted into black-box-style theaters that would house ten hours of more than 20 plays — largely crafted by local talent. Vanessa Elise, a playwright and Carbonell-nominated actor, was brought on by Broward College (which hosted the event) as a consulting artistic director. "That's the beauty of the fringe: Every piece is absolutely different," she told New Times. "We have one that is a musical in Spanglish. We have a theatrical composition that was submitted as a proposal — they built the script as they rehearsed. There's even a Noh [Japanese musical drama] play written by Cynthia Joyce Clay — it's very slow and poetic and quite beautiful." All that variety helped fill a hole in the Broward arts scene that has been sorely missing for, like, ever. And we really hope the festival returns, bigger and better than ever, in 2016.

Readers' Choice: SunFest

If you have some friends, an hour or two, and a high tolerance for anxiety, the mind-bending puzzles at Escape the Quest will make for a memorable experience. You and your pals are stuck together in a room, given a scenario, and must figure out how to extract yourself. In a crime-scene scenario, you have to use clues to figure out a way to escape without becoming a suspect yourself. In a "Stay of Execution" game, you better hope the governor pardons you before the clock ticks down. The company started in South Beach in 2014. Games are good for kids age 7 and up, though one player must be at least 16. A session starts at $100. They can also organize corporate events.

You're swiping right like crazy, just waiting for something to connect. Finally, a match! Who knows what this creature will be when you encounter it in real life, but the messages are flying back and forth. But where do you go with this potential future partner? Do you meet at a bar? Nah, too good a chance you'll end up shitfaced and alone, puking on your shoes. Meet at a coffee shop! We've got the perfect little peach-colored, wooden house with outdoor seating. This is the Alchemist, so besides the cool, laid-back, and earth-friendly vibe, chances are you will have cosmically good chemistry with your new partner. Order a hot chocolate — you add natural chocolate sticks to steaming milk. Or grab a fresh coconut to sip from as a conversation starter. If romance doesn't bloom (sorry, babe), you can flee with a tasty treat in hand.

Pick a spot in Fort Lauderdale. Any spot. Chances are, in five years — five weeks, even — that spot will look very different from what it does now. Sure, construction is the sign of a healthy, growing city, but in a way, it's sad. It's nice to have a little permanence in life. However, there is one part of Fort Lauderdale — one very tiny slice — that has remained unchanged since 1951. For the past 64 years, the Classic Gateway movie theater has been scooping popcorn and making pictures come to life. Within walking distance of the beach, the Gateway marquee is a comforting sight to any native and just about the only good thing about being stuck in the mechanical hernia that is Sunrise Boulevard traffic. These days, it's one of the only places to catch indie movies in Fort Lauderdale, and even though the seats are a little creaky, Gateway has found a way to remain relevant and fresh in today's Fort Lauderdale. Keep your fully reclining seats and artisanal organic sodas, modern movie theaters! This is how movies are meant to be watched.

Readers' Choice: iPic Theaters at Mizner Park

When you see Daisy Deadpetals in action — spouting out caustic jokes, laying down some wily dance moves, and looking better than any Boca bitch — it's hard to believe that men who dress up as women were ever considered weird. When Daisy hosts events like dance parties at Camelot and "new meat contests" at Boardwalk or when she simply roams the streets of Wilton Manors, it is with nuclear levels of ferocity. Wish we had a fraction of the confidence.

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Readers' Choice: Daisy Deadpetals

Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is a hedge-fund manager who in the early 2000s was accused of paying underaged girls for sex in his beachside mansion. His sordid tale of hunting for happy endings among mall rats took on new life this past year when his victims turned around and named members of the British and Ivy League aristocracy as the perv's co-debauchees. Multiple allegations of solicitation of minors had been whittled down to a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal for Epstein in 2008, but that arrangement prompted a federal civil suit; the victims sued the government, alleging they hadn't been made aware of the plea-deal negotiations. As part of legal filings in that case, it was alleged that Epstein passed at least one teen girl around like a party favor to his high and mighty friends, including Prince Andrew and Harvard prof and renowned litigator Alan Dershowitz (who helped broker Epstein's plea deal). The two have denied it, but the civil suit drags on.