I wrote down some advice for the best Vegas experiece and saved it for these occasions, here it goes... I’ve been to Vegas several times. I go one or two times a year. I feel like I could write a book on it. This year Im going in April, hopefully around Final Four time. If I were you I would Stay at Bellagio. It’s the nicest hotel on the middle of the strip, so it’s not too far from anything. Sure the rooms are pricey, but it’s a nice stay. If your looking for something a little less pricier try Ceasars, Aladin, or Paris. Search the hotels web sites for internet promotions. I got to stay at Bellagio once for a good deal because of these. The Venetian is the nicest Hotel in Vegas right now, until the Wynn opens in late April, but it’s at the very end of the Strip. Bellagio also has The Best Buffet. If I were you I would hit up their Sunday Champagne Brunch. Hands down the best in town. The Rio also has a very good buffet, for a little less money. If your into Sushi, the best spot by far is Hamada of Japan at the Polo Towers. They have like five different locations in Vegas, but stick to that one as it’s better priced and a little less crowded. You will also get better service and a better menu. A couple of other notable restaraunts are; Wolfgang Pucks Grill and Emrils Fish House, both at MGM. A surprise winner for steaks is Steakhouse Les Artiste at Paris. The Peppermill down near the Sahara is great for late late night snacks. They have a lounge with a fire pit which has a nice vibe and could be a place to meet drunk women trying to sober up. The only problem is you can only have appetizers in the lounge as far as food, but they are plenty. The best clubs are Rain and Ghost Bar at the Palms. ICE is off the strip, but should be a good spot now , since there is a reality television show about it. Another good place to check out women is the Hard Rock Café Pool. You will need to get a “Players Card” so you can show it to the pool guard when he ask you for I.D. The pool is supposed to be for guest only. So tell him you left your key in your room with your sleeping hung over wife (or some other bs), and you just want to play pool side blackjack. The view will be worth the trouble. For shows I recommend ”O” at the Bellagio. Ive also seen Blue Man Group, Zumanity, Mystere, but I recommend “O”. It’s mind blowing. Im probably going to take in Penn and Teller at the Rio, and Ka at the MGM when I go in April. It’s also a good idea to search and see what performers will be in town for your visit. Last time I caught David Copperfield at the MGM and he was amazing. The MGM usually have good performances. If you gamble, please learn to do so before going out there. I recommend reading a book on Black Jack to learn the “Basic Strategy”. If the book doesnt contain “Basic Strategy” put it down. This will give you the best odds in Vegas. It was a formula proven by computers to beat the dealer! Practice “Basic Strategy” on a PC game if possible. You can find Black Jack online at gamehouse.com for free. Stay away from the fancy large strip hotels when gambling, and stick to the older ones; Excalibur, San Remo, Imperial Palace, Sahara, and the Down Town Casinos. These older casinos have to increase the odds in your favor a little bit in order to stay in competition with the newer ones. The fancier ones usually have higher table limits, and the odds are not so good. STAY AWAY FROM TABLES WITH SHUFFLING MACHINES. They kill your odds if you are examining if a high or low card could come out, because they are shuffling constantly! If you win a pretty big sum of money, don’t put it back on the table. From my experience, doubling what you sit down with is a pretty good win. Get up and enjoy your winnings. The biggest mistake people make is they ride the streak until they lose it all back. Make tiny budgets of what your willing to win or lose at each table. Win you hit that limit get up from that table. The best thing about Vegas is if your not winning, you can always go look for the hot table elsewhere. ___________________________________________________ I think Super Bowl Weekend and Final Four are the 2 busiest weekends in Vegas. This means all the room rates will sky rocket, and so will the table rates (gambling). Not a good idea to go during these times if your looking to save money, but it may be more fun socially (Clubing, watching the games, etc.). Just make sure you make reservations for restaraunts/shows and show up early to the night clubs if you choose to go at these times. Yes, the Sahara has been completely redone. My boss is pretty cheap and he stays at the San Remo right behind Tropicana. I've been staying at Excalibur the last couple of times because of comps. I stayed at NYNY on a comp also. MGM is Nice. The order of Hotels I've stayed in would go like this from best to worst: Bellagio MGM NYNY Excalibur Circus Circus The next time I am going to treat myself to a nice stay, I'm thinking; Mandaly Bay, Venetian, Wynn, or Bellagio.
Gummi Clutch got most of it right. However, playing basic strategy on blackjack will not give you an edge over the house unless you count cards. Simply playing basic strategy will lower the house edge to below 1%, though, although some casinos have really tightened up their rules on bj (hitting soft 17s, 6:5 bj payouts, etc). The bet which offers no house edge is taking the odds on the pass line in craps. The house has no edge on your odds bet. However, you have to bet the pass line also, which does have a slight house advantage. Craps, BJ and Baccarat have the best odds in the casino. In terms of clubs, Body English at the Hard Rock and Light at Bellagio are the two toughest to get into now. I went to Rain over New Years and agree that it is awesome. I will give you one bit of advice: The best way to ruin a trip to Vegas is to constantly pinch pennies.
Great advice, thanks everyone. I'll probably spend a few hours tomorrow and see what I can find as far as travel prices. I'm worried that prices might be jacked up for Valentine's weekend, just because many people will go there to get married. Might have to settle for the next weekend or something.
* If you can go during the week it's a lot cheaper... * Check out Cheapo Vegas for hotel reviews, etc... * Try Southwest Airlines Vacations for deals. * Try MGM Mirage Vacations as well. * Try Priceline.com * Did I mention that if you go during the week it's a LOT cheaper? If it's your first time stay somewhere nice and don't worry too much about getting a super good deal (you won't). It will cost as much as staying anywhere else (even more during hot weekends). However, once you've "been there, done that" and you just want to gamble some of the older properties offer good rates and clean rooms at the expense of all the Vegas over the top decor. For example, Imperial Palace is not a "nice" hotel as it's pretty old but you can get a decent room for pretty cheap and you can't beat it's location. Also, the hotels downtown tend to be cheaper (with better gambling odds) than the ones on the strip. You can spend a lot of time just checking out all the casinos on the strip for free (worth it on the first trip) which will save you money. If you plan on going to a show (I recomend Mystere at Treasure Island - it's a Cirque du Soleil show) get tickets online in advance. It sells out days in advance. They go for about $100 a piece. They have a monorail that runs behind the casinos on the Venetian side of the strip. It's cheap and can take you from one end of the strip to the other pretty quickly. You can get a one day or three day pass. Look for coupons and don't be ashamed to use them. Expect to be handed p*rn advertisments while walking on the strip.
Travel Zoo Sends weekly deals and happens to have Vegas this week...I've been thinking of going myself, but not sure it'll happen before Summer...
BigTexx, You do not have to bet on the pass line on the come out if you don't want to. You can simply wait for the point to be established and then bet the pass line with odds. DD
I rent a car when I go out there now. It's cheaper than what I would spend on cab fair since my gf isnt into walking the strip in the desert heat. There is also a bus that goes up and down the strip that only cost you about $1.50, but there can be some characters on there. I forgot to include Shopping. The best shopping locations are the Bellagio Shops, and the Forum Shops at Ceasars. If your looking for good deals there is also an Outlet Mall just south of the strip, you cant miss it. I like the Nike Store there. One time I saw Shaq at the Palms, he looked like Godzilla pillaging through the Slot Machines!!!
You're right. What I meant to say is that you have to bet the pass line to make the odds bet. Thanks for the clarification.
It's Vegas week on the Travel Channel. I love it. I've stayed at the Aladdin, Paris and Treasure Island. We're thinking of downgrading our hotel next time when it's just the guys because we don't spend anytime in our rooms anyway. We all prefer the old school places too when we gamble. This time, we're gonna hit all the places the locals go, like The Orleans and the Station casinos, in addition to spending time on the Strip. Luckily, we'd all rather save the money on the room and use the savings on the real reason we're in Vegas. Golf, gambling, booze, boobies. I think we're going in late-April, early-May. On our last trip, we found our favorite thing to do. Get to one of the nicer sports books (I really enjoy the Venetian), everyone make a parlay type bet where the odds are high. We all picked our own bets, put $20 down and agreed to split if any came through. We had a four baseball game bet that would've netted the four of us around $550 each and it was a blast sitting there drinking our free drinks watching the games unfold. This time, we want to be able to bet on the NBA playoffs as well. I can't freakin' wait.
thanks so much for everyone's help, esp gummi clutch. we will be watching O, hitting a few clubs, eating and shopping. no superbowl betting or gambling for us ladies. just need to book a hotel this weekend. thanks again for all your help!!!
