Postcard from Vegas (very belated), Part 2. Vegas is great, but cheap it's not

Tikay10

A much delayed Part 2. I drafted this two weeks ago, but then, when Sky issued me with a new laptop & I lost everything, including all my photos, so I've had to try to reconstruct it.

Anyway, off we go.

This time we'll look at the cost of spending time in Vegas.

If you enjoy poker, & gambling generally, Vegas is the absolute best place on earth, & I'd not swap my Vegas memories for anything. But if you are a bit skint, trust me, it's a terrible experience, as nothing - absolutely nothing -in Vegas is cheap.

There are always work-arounds of course. We always rent a car, & toddle off to Walmart where they do have sensible prices & a great choice. And American Supermarkets, especially Walmart, are unbelievably large & are quite an experience. And you save a fortune on stuff like soft drinks ("soda"), & snacks.

Tikay10

The Airport at Vegas recently changed names, it will always be McCarron to many of us, but then Mr McCarron got "cancelled" & it's new name is Harry Reid International. It's very close to the Strip, though a Taxi from the Airport to the Strip will cost you $30, + tip. Each way. So there's $60 (£48) gone already.

And it's at the airport - which is magnificently spacious - where we get our first shock.



Luggage Carts

Luggage carts are available throughout the airport. Locations include Parking Garages, outside both terminal’s Ticketing/Check-in levels, Arrivals/Baggage Claim, and the Departure levels. Rental costs $6 per cart.

From here;


https://www.airwise.com/airports/us/las-vegas/luggage


$6 (££4.75) for a luggage trolley. Yikes. Pretty **** exciting Airport though.

Tikay10

Hotel Room Rates

These vary enormously, & they use dynamic pricing, so they vary from day to day. I stayed on for an extra week at Palazzo, I got 4 nights at $160 (£127) per night, 1 night at $220 (£175) & two nights at $515 (£409) per night. Call it £1,500 for the week

But wait, we have not done yet. All Vegas Hotels now charge a "Resort Fee" in addition to Room Rates. It's mandatory, in effect, they just add a bit to the room rate.

Resort Fee

Here's what Venetian/Palazzo charge PER NIGHT as Resort Fee;



Rates do not include a daily resort fee of $45 plus applicable tax per night, payable upon check-in. The Resort Fee includes: Access for two to the fitness facility within the Canyon Ranch® spa + fitness. In-suite internet access

So another 7 x $45 = $315 (£250) which gets us access to in-room Wifi.

Car Rental

Roughly $90 per day. Call it £500.

Car Parking

Traditionally, car parking at Vegas Hotels/Casinos has been free, but in the last few years, they have realised they can get extra revenue by charging you to park the car which you've probably rented from the Hertz booth in the hotel.

The cost to park your car is similar at most Vegas venues, but as an example, at Venetian/Palazzo, these are the charges;


Self-Parking:

Registered Hotel Guests: $18/day
Visitors:
Monday – Thursday: $18/day
Friday – Sunday: $23/day
Valet: $35/day

So based on the Guest rate, add $126 (£100) per week to your budget.


Should add, if underground car parks are your thing, it's a beaut, surely one of the biggest in the world.

Tikay10

Bottle of water & a Sprite for the room from the Hotel shop?

That'll be $13 (£10.33).

Tikay10

Coffee? No problem, there are at least a dozen coffee bars in Venetian/Palazzo.

Cost of a large latte? $8.56 (£6.80). So, one for you, one for your partner, & you can kiss goodbye to almost £14. So even if you only have one each per day (we generally had two each per day) that's £98 for the week.

Tikay10

If you can find a less appetising burger & chips than this, which was at The Rio, good luck to you. Generally though the food is excellent.

Cost, including a soda? $19.50 (£15.50).

Tikay10

MTT Reg Fees

The Orleans, typical $200 buy-in

"From each entry, $52 will be withheld for admin, staffing, and promotional fees. All addons will be added directly to the prize pool with no fees withheld".

So that's equivalent to a 35% Reg Fee.


Venetian Deep Stack typical $200 Buy-In



"8. $40 of the $200 Buy In will be withheld as house fees (Rake + Staff). $160 of the $200 Buy In will be withheld
for the total prize pool."

Which equates to a 25% Reg Fee.


Try making a profit at those reg fees...

For balance, most Vegas Poker Rooms are magnificent, well run, wall to wall plasma TV's, with nice comfy adjustable leather seats.

Tikay10

Maybe roulette is your thing, we all know the odds there. Or do we?

Basically, in European single zero roulette, the house edge is 2.7%.

But you won't find single zero roulette in Vegas, they introduced Double Zero some years ago & then more recently it became triple zero roulette.

Single Zero House Edge = 2.7%

Double Zero House Edge = 5.26%

Triple Zero House Edge = 7.69%

You are going to lose your money eventually if you play roulette long-term, you just are. But with Triple Zero, you'll just lose it a whole lot quicker.

Tikay10

Next up, in Part 3 - if anyone's interested - my poker experiences this year in Vegas.


Ooh, that'll be exciting...

waller02

Vegas is on my bucket list, even after seeing those prices.

More please

goldnballz

Excellent write ups as always Tikay, more please

hope you won't mind the hijack....

I can only echo what Tikay has said regarding prices - I have been lucky enough to go twice pre-covid & once post-covid- the difference really was outrageous - EVERYTHING has doubled or tripled, or more, in price - Paula bought 2 330ml bottles of bud for $25 at the bar in Caesars - forget about the waitress girls offering "free/$1 drinks btw" they are few & VERY far between.

Vegas was my favourite place on earth pre-covid - we could never wait to get back. This time felt different.... (kids everywhere too, wtf?!)

Do not go if you've not got $5k+ in your pocket (IMO)

roddy28

Yeah agree Vegas has got very expensive over last few years. I also feel the service has gone down a lot, you are always waiting in a que for ages to get anything as it is far too busy. Just has feel like everyone is there to take money off you not just as poker table too,

Funny you mention double zero wheels the alea in Glasgow has just recently got a double zero roulette wheel, should be illegal imo it just pure robbery, but idiots will still play them over single ones.

Tikay10

@goldnballz

Don't mind the "hijack" at all Keith, quite the opposite.

And I agree 100%, the price of everything in Vegas has rocketed post-COVID. 2 bottles of Bud for $25 does not surprise me at all.

"Do not go if you've not got $5k+ in your pocket (IMO)"

For a couple, who want to enjoy themselves without going overboard, $5,000 feels about right to me for spending money. This excludes cost of the hotel, flight, car rental etc. (Travel/Insurance alone cost me £600, though that's age & health related).

I was there 2 weeks & if we exclude gambling, I spent around $2,500, & Gill, who was there 10 days, spent about the same.

Tikay10

roddy28 said:

Yeah agree Vegas has got very expensive over last few years. I also feel the service has gone down a lot, you are always waiting in a que for ages to get anything as it is far too busy. Just has feel like everyone is there to take money off you not just as poker table too,

Funny you mention double zero wheels the alea in Glasgow has just recently got a double zero roulette wheel, should be illegal imo it just pure robbery, but idiots will still play them over single ones.

@roddy28

I used to go to the Starby's at the bottom of the Lift Lobby at 6am every morning. The queue at 6am would be around 20 people, by 7am & all morning the queue would be 50 yards long.

And yes, Triple Zero roulette is absolute daylight robbery. And yet folks still happily play it. One of life's great mysteries. And we can ignore the idiot conspiracy theorists who claim it's rigged. Why rig it when you have a guaranteed house edge of nearly 8%?

Tikay10

PS - am chuffed to bits to get a bit of feedback. Keep it coming please.

MAXALLY

Tikay10 said:

PS - am chuffed to bits to get a bit of feedback. Keep it coming please.

I would rather read Haysie's threads.

Still on my bucket list, but now know how expensive it will be in 'real' terms. It does seem to be a city were you need to go and not be under funded.

Oh, @goldnballz .....I raise! No way did Paula ONLY buy two bottles of bud.

Essexphil

Always love these write-ups. The highlight will undoubtedly be Part 3. Not least because PLO8 and O8 fascinate me.

Seems a little sad that Vegas seems to have raised its prices so much. Is that also true for some of the off-strip gems like Orleans/Gold Coast?

HUGHMANS

Yeah, good thread TK and all. Last time I went 4 years ago, they lost my luggage. Cost me nearly £200 in phone calls to insurance co/airline/airports. There is another additional unexpected expense not covered by said insurance! And dont mention the cost of golf!!

Tikay10

Essexphil said:

Always love these write-ups. The highlight will undoubtedly be Part 3. Not least because PLO8 and O8 fascinate me.

Seems a little sad that Vegas seems to have raised its prices so much. Is that also true for some of the off-strip gems like Orleans/Gold Coast?

@Essexphil

Both still seem to offer decent value. As you know, both are off-Strip, which helps with price, in fact they are barely half a mile apart & are both part of the Boyd Gaming Group who generally run a tight ship in my experience. Excellent venues at the "budget" end in Vegas terms.

I just looked at prices for a basic room for this Friday night. Orleans want $144, +13% Tax plus a Resort Fee of $41.80, Gold Coast want $134.30, + 13% Tax plus a resort fee of $36.27.

So around $200 per night which seems quite pricey to me. It's a lot cheaper midweek to be fair.

tai-gar

Nice write up @Tikay10 it does make me want to go at least once more.

Vegas has been kind to us for over 25 years giving free accommodation food and even show tickets on occasions. All I have to say from a reasonable winning streak on our first visit.

If you did manage to get into the "Comps" fraternity they treated you exceptionally well. No queues, free this, free that and please come again. Not like the really High Rollers you see on tv but not bad at all.

We used to go to The Bellagio a couple of times a year but haven't been for about 5-6 years.

If things have changed as dramatically as you describe since Covid they have probably changed the Comps system as well.

Anyway IMO it is always worth asking about Comps which are normally based upon how much you wager rather than wins or losses.

aynaricol

I remember staying at Flamingo in 2014 and paying something like $30 a night with no resort fees