How reliable Top 40?

Or maybe a better idea is rather than to try to classify places to simply list the services offered.

Chitown, I've made the same point before, that the distinction between places that are accepted on this list as strip clubs vs. places that aren't is pretty arbitrary. Personally I wouldn't attempt to draw those kinds of distinctions, I'd accept any public place that provides live adult entertainment. But I'd also try to classificy them according to the type of place each is. For example, I've read reviews here of several "modeling studios" that disappeared after a couple of days, presumably because someone decided that they weren't strip clubs, even though the whole point of the place is for girls to get naked and entertain customers. And yet there are lots of other very similar places that are listed here as strip clubs. I'd be curoius to know how founder defines a strip club. What's required and why are some places excluded?

Silver Dollar in Eugene, Oregon was once rated #4 on the top 40 list, but it fell off for not having enough reviews. This is also a great club.

I have been to two of the clubs---Mitchell Brothers in San Francisco and Tootsie's in Miami. Both were excellent. The list is undoubtedly biased towards big city clubs. There are probably some great club in small towns and cities that don't make the list because they don't have enough reviews. But I do agree with the policy of requiring a minimum number of reviews in order to make the list. My all time favorite club, the Cheetah in Atlanta, was on the list at one time but fell off--some guys gave it low ratings because there is no contact. Uptown Cabaret in Charlotte was on the list but fell off--that is also a good club but probably not good enough to be in the top 40.

To the top!

It has become more reliable since one Midwestern club dropped from an incredibly inflated low teens to a much more realistic and accurate high thirties. Probably should be gone entirely.

I have, however, always wondered about the Adelita Bar in Tiajuana. I have never been there, but it seems pretty clear from the reviews that the strip club is really just a promo for the bordello. In that case, and if that is true, is it really fair to compare it to US clubs which, although they may provide extras under certain circumstances, are primarily strip clubs rather than brothels.

In other words, does Adelita belong on this board? Or should it more properly be outsources to Theeroticreview.com (or one of its competitors)?

FONDL-

Maybe it's only us message board posters who prefer cheap to fancy.

DD, I've found that there tends to be more variation in contact levels out in the boonies. In a metro area the clubs are all fairly similar in that department. But when you get away from a metro area some clubs are very high contact and others very low. You can find some real jems in the boonies, if contact is your highest priority. And these clubs rarely get reviewed, at least not often enough to be considered for the top 40 list. Also they tend to be a lot less fancy so they get lower ratings. And the fact that they're usually a lot cheaper doens't seem to offset that. We all say we prefer cheap to fancy but the ratings don't seem to reflect that.

I think the list is legit, but it also assumes you live in a large metropolitan area. My personal favorite club is Shotgun Geniez in Hamburg, Iowa, which is the middle of nowhere (or maybe the edge of nowhere, since it's right at the Iowa/Missouri border). I'm certain if they were in a legitimate metropolitan area they would be a highly ranked club, since more people who write reviews here would go there.

List by rating score can be trusted to result in above-average mileage - it wouldn't be rated that high by so many if it was a table dance club where the bouncer watched you the whole time.

I've travelled once to many of the historically top 40's over the past 10 years. Rarely have I been back to them unless I was in that city for other reasons and had the time. Mons Venus is a club that all SCer's in the world need to go to ONCE - just to experience it. Unless I lived near Tampa or visited Tampa frequently, doubt that I would fly 6 hours out of my way to visit it otherwise. It's a 10! Same with MBOT.

I've never been to Treasures in Houston, but eventually I will go - simply because it's in the top 40. In its heyday, MSC was unique; today, I probably wouldn't bother to go in even if the plane crashed right in to it.

When I visit TUSCL, I generally start with a quick scan of Recent Reviews - the 9 and 10 ratings - just to see if I might be missing out on something...like mileage. Then I proceed to this Board for some truly philosophical, occasionally childish, but always elighting fare.

Are you seriously going to let this or any other message board influnce an entire road trip / vacation? Pretty sharp on your part to trust a bunch of feebs and losers with an agenda. (Don't tell me most posted reviews aren't written with a specific result in mind. They are editorialized by nature not just a straight report.)

I only see the top 40 as a rough and crude guide of what some people like. All it takes is 8 local guys who like a club in their town to make their club the best club in the nation. I certainly don't necessarily think it may be the best club or what you may be looking for on any given night but the locals in that town may consider it the best club in their town. If clubs were rated for certain categories the top 40 would look a lot different (for instance high contact versus low contact, hottest looking girls, lowest drink prices, best other entertainment -tv's, pool tables, arcade,etc.) A overall rating depends a lot on the reviewer and what he/she is looking for at any given moment. For instance in South Carolina if I had a little mini transporter as in beam me up Scottie, but it was limited to this state, I would visit Derriere's in Myrtle Beach for some great nude eye candy and then beam over to Columbia for lap dances. Derriere's isn't even on the list but in terms of brightly lit clubs with lots of nice looking and nude dancers, I would rate it very high. As far as contact goes, it wouldn't and doesn't make the list.

I agree 100% with shadowcat. rankings and numbers can be manipulated very easily. I look for the guys who have been around, guys whose reviews I trust. I too have been emailed numerous times by others looking for more info about a review I posted or a club I really like.

Only abt half of t40 clubs I've been to would I build a vacation/w.e. getaway/road trip around. IMO, a top 40 club,or 1 w. 10 grade should be just that kind of club. HOWEVER, grades are still useful. Prior to my Tuscl sub. I spent some winter vacs in Phoenix. Relative TUSCL ranking of the clubs I randomly visited: Christies, GABC, Amazon, Babes, LG, DP. My personal ranking: GABC, Christies, Babes, Amazons, LG, DP. So relative grade rankings is fairly reliable, clubs that moved up or down in my ratings had very similar grades.

I just checked the top-40 list for the first time. I've been to 4 of them in recent years - Playhouse Lounge (#2), Nepals (#26), Industrial Strip (#29), and Brad's (#30). I would rate those clubs as follows, from best to worst - Brad's, Nepals, IS, and PL. But if you rate them according to level of contact they would be as follows (most to least) - IS and PL tied, Brad's, Nepals. Interesting.

There are some really fun clubs that don't make the list.

FONDL, I think you imply in your discussion precisely why the number of reviews is important. A small out of the way club is not likely to get as many visitors, let alone reviews as a big famous club. The chances of the smaller club making the top 40 are therefore reduced since 8 unique reviewers are required to even be considered. I do agree that there is a selection bias for the locals. Compare any DC club to any, say Niagra Falls club. The DC clubs are mostly no-contact dives, yet still regularly get ratings of 7+.

I don't think the number of reviews is very meaningful. I think the number of reviews is largely a function of two things: how big the place is and how heavily populated the area is. A lot of really fun clubs are very small and in out-of-the-way areas and don't get many reviews. The other problem with clubs with a lot of reviews is that I'm convinced many of them are phony, guys writing reviews based on other reviews even though they've never been to the club, so they can read the reviews. I also think managment writes a lot of phony reviews to boost their club, and that's especially true for places that are ranked highly.

minnow, I was talking about clubs with 20-50 reviews in the Top 40 list, not any club. The way I see it, there's something wrong with any club that's popular enough to crack the Top 40 list but not popular enough to get more than 20-50 reviews.

FONDL: Agreed, I've had wonderful times in plenty of clubs not in T40. When going to a town w. dozens of clubs, don't have time to wade thru reviews. Instead, look for top 3-6 graded clubs, then more detailed perusals. I have often found relative grade rankings in towns to be reliable. JC: I've had great times in clubs w. only 20-50 reviews, even found worthwhile times in clubs w. 12 revs. No club in Phoenix had over 45 reviews, are ya gonna sit in hotel room & watch the tube there?

I just took a look at the Top 40 for maybe the second time ever. It's better than I expected. Of the clubs I've been to, the good outnumber the bad or so-so by 2 or 3 to 1. Still, when I'm using the site to look for a club to try, I totally ignore the ratings (and the number of reviews!?) and just read the reviews.

I ignore any club on that list with less than 20 reviews and regard clubs with less than 50 reviews with skepticism.

The problem is that most ratings are given by the locals who frequent a particular club, so it may be an OK indicator for comparing a place to other clubs in it's area but doesn't help much for comparing clubs in one region to another. Also I think that the glitzy GC's and the places with very high contact tend to get rated higher than other places, so if that's not what you're looking for the ratings aren't very helpful. I've had a lot of great times in places with average ratings and some bad times in places rated highly. You're better off reading the reviews and finding a place that sounds like you'd enjoy it, regardless of it's rating.