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!!
Current cost of a round at Wynn is $550 (£435), or at Shadow Creek, $1,250 (£990).
And let's not forget, Vegas sits on a valley floor, the whole place is flat as a pancake, so there are no ups & downs, just plain flat.
Nearest hill/mountains are 50 miles west, where the I-15 passes through Mountain Pass, & 30 miles east at Summer Mountains.
An oddity of Vegas is there are, literally, no hills, but the entire valley is ringed by mountain ranges. There is no place in Vegas where you cannot see the mountains, unless of course obscured by buildings in the city centre.
PS - & yes, that's snow you can see on the mountain tops.
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.
Very fair point about "comps". I can never be bothered to keep track of them, but for those with an iota of common sense, always sign up for a Rewards Card & always "clock in" your card when gambling. As you say, it can save fortunes.
I just had holiday of a lifetime 4 nights New York 6 Vagas. Initial cost £3k cabs to from airports $240 resort fees $350. Large gin and tonic watching the show Chicago , $40 Beers and hotdog and programme at the Mets $200. Beers anywhere half decent $15 each Poker tournaments 5 x $200. All in had £7k budget. Had a touch with Irish Rose at the Resorts. Me 17th her 3rd. Total spend just £5.5K.
Great time a lot of people said prices up 50 per cent since covid.
If you're not too bothered about Vegas and just want to go and play poker and have a blast, is it more cost effective to go to Reno or Laughlin or A.C. etc.
I would love to make a trip over just to play poker all day every day for say 10 days.
Great thread @Tikay10 and definitely for those that haven't been Vegas it is an amazing experience. I think most people either love it or hate it, very few people in the middle and that's without even taking into consideration whether you win or lose at the tables, slots, wheels etc.
Looking forward to your poker experiences thread, I'm sure you crushed the PLO8 tables..........
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.
You can still find double zero roulette wheels in Vegas strip casinos, but only if you're playing upwards of $30 per spin.
The problem with the triple zero tables is that a lot of the casinos use an emblem as the triple zero, as in your image above.
We were watching someone play roulette in the Excalibur for upwards of $800 per spin. He was covering every number to some extent except the Excalibur emblem thinking that this was a bit of branding.
The ball lands on the emblem eventually, and the croupier starts to rake away all his chips.
He stared for a second and then exclaimed, "what is this?" "witchcraft?" He was totally oblivious to the fact that it was an option to bet on.
Great ramblings here , it's nice to look in on the other side but them prices urgh , it's a dream but i think i'll stick to Greece , glad you had a great time mate
Been 11 times since 2007, last being in 2022.First time I paid £691 for 9 nights, in 2008 I paid £635 for ten nights direct flight at the Strat no resort fees, food really cheap and free drinks while playing slots, used to clock which aisle the waitress used the most and sat in that one playing 5 cent slots, 4 hours later fell of the chair, total cost $20 in tips lol Last visit 2022 over £1400 with resort fee for a week, no direct flight, decent buffet now approaching $50, small poker comps now wanting $200 to $250 where before used to be $100 to $150. The one good thing that came out of it was a $2 dollar bus fare from airport to Downtown, walked out of airport straight onto bus took 35 mins compared with 20 min $50 taxi ride
I'm sure you could find cheaper bars away from the strip, but as others have said, $12 to $15 for an American pint is now commonplace.
A couple of places we have found are, $3 bottles in Casino Royale, between Harrahs and Venetian. Also OYO which is opposite the back of the MGM Grand do $2 bottles, and will have most of the sport on.
A bit like going to Wetherspoons before you head into town.
If you're not too bothered about Vegas and just want to go and play poker and have a blast, is it more cost effective to go to Reno or Laughlin or A.C. etc.
I would love to make a trip over just to play poker all day every day for say 10 days.
It will be cheaper for food and drink in Reno and AC (not been to Laughlin). AC was really run down last time I went. Not sure it has recovered since. Reno was ok but again seemed to be struggling. The Peppermill casino there is as good as the best Vegas ones though.
Poker wise, if you want to play cash all day you will be ok. Tournaments not so much. The low buy in, 3 to 4 hour tournaments in all three have all but dried up. So many poker rooms in Vegas have closed in the last 5 years. You can still plot your way around Vegas playing tournaments all day, but it has become a lot harder, and a lot more expensive. you used to be able to play tournaments all day for around $200, now it will cost you $500+
Borgata seems to be the only place in AC that still does tournaments. There's a couple in Reno but they're not all likely to get enough players to run some days. Peppermill seems only to do one, maybe two tournaments per day.
Fantastic thread @Tikay10 great to have a bit of the day to day info about the place. Question: how neccesary is it to rent a car? I know it's a red hot desert, so i am guessing walking places isn't too feasible. But how is the public transport? Are the casinos close together?
Never been, planning to one day, seems like ive missed the boat with regards to prices though!
Fantastic thread @Tikay10 great to have a bit of the day to day info about the place. Question: how neccesary is it to rent a car? I know it's a red hot desert, so i am guessing walking places isn't too feasible. But how is the public transport? Are the casinos close together?
Never been, planning to one day, seems like ive missed the boat with regards to prices though!
I used to love walking in Vegas. But it is important to remember 2 things:-
1. It's hot. Seriously hot. Usually over 100 degrees all Summer. The only place I ever heard a weather forecast that said "today it is going to be 99 degrees and cool" (first time I ever went to Vegas, I then went to Death Valley. It was 125 F/52 C)!
2. A lot of the casinos (not all) are close together. But it is important to remember that they are not as close as you think. This is because hotel windows in Vegas are massively bigger than everywhere else, causing your brain to think that distances are less than they are...
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;
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.
I've been going to Vegas since 2008, back then it was extremely cheap - I took £550 spending money and came back with plenty (partly by the exchange rate being so favorable and doing extremely well at poker), now you need much more than that. Inflation and the exchange rate being generally terrible are two big contributors but there are others too, I feel like everyone now expects a tip and 20% of the bill no matter what they do (the servers at buffet's expect one, the room cleaning staff, the bar staff) and they are much more vocal about it if the tip doesn't match their expectation. It used to be the case that in a casino waitress staff would be round every few minutes tip them a dollar and they bring you what ever drink you want, now these people are much more rare and if you want them to return reasonably quickly the expectation appears to be tip them $5. Then you have a lot more stealth charges like resort fees (they've cropped up everywhere), service fees added to the bill (these are not tips so don't mistake them), added tax (although that was always a thing). If you stay on the strip now you have to seek out a bargain (we got nine nights at Planet Hollywood for 2024 WSOP at total cost of £550 per person including fees) or consider staying down town which is still much more how it used to be.
Anyway sorry to get on my soapbox, I love Vegas, it's my favorite place to go and I'm thankful that by and large almost every trip has been a profitable one but in recent times the nickel and dime culture is irritated me a little.
Bottle of water & a Sprite for the room from the Hotel shop?
That'll be $13 (£10.33).
One of the best things anyone can do in Vegas is not buy stuff in the hotel shops, just walk to CVS which is never more than a few hundred metres away and most things will be 20-30% cheaper on average.
$8 for a bottle of water should be illegal. I buy a big bottle of water at Walgreens for $3 then just keep filling it up for free outside the gym. No problem paying $20 for an alcoholic drink though.
On renting a car it's only worth it if you're driving hours out of Vegas every day which only Tikay does. Just get an Uber if you want to head down the strip. You can get to a lot of casinos within 20 minutes walking and can cut through a lot of them to avoid the heat.
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.
To all of you that doubt that gambling houses, both in the real world and online, are not greedy .... would never do anything to make even more money.... you are extremely naive....
Comments
Ahh, the days before Resort Fees. Think i paid $25 a night at The Orleans first time I went, same price next year Downtown at GN.
PS - You need to be 21 or older to play in Vegas casinos. You trying to tell us you were 21 or more in 2014, making you 30+ now?
RAISE.
I am absolutely not over 30; I am 29. And 35 months.
Current cost of a round at Wynn is $550 (£435), or at Shadow Creek, $1,250 (£990).
And let's not forget, Vegas sits on a valley floor, the whole place is flat as a pancake, so there are no ups & downs, just plain flat.
Nearest hill/mountains are 50 miles west, where the I-15 passes through Mountain Pass, & 30 miles east at Summer Mountains.
An oddity of Vegas is there are, literally, no hills, but the entire valley is ringed by mountain ranges. There is no place in Vegas where you cannot see the mountains, unless of course obscured by buildings in the city centre.
PS - & yes, that's snow you can see on the mountain tops.
@tai-gar
Very fair point about "comps". I can never be bothered to keep track of them, but for those with an iota of common sense, always sign up for a Rewards Card & always "clock in" your card when gambling. As you say, it can save fortunes.
I just had holiday of a lifetime 4 nights New York 6 Vagas.
Initial cost £3k cabs to from airports $240 resort fees $350.
Large gin and tonic watching the show Chicago , $40
Beers and hotdog and programme at the Mets $200.
Beers anywhere half decent $15 each
Poker tournaments 5 x $200.
All in had £7k budget.
Had a touch with Irish Rose at the Resorts. Me 17th her 3rd.
Total spend just £5.5K.
Great time a lot of people said prices up 50 per cent since covid.
Wouldnt put anyone off but it aint cheap.
Daggers
I would love to make a trip over just to play poker all day every day for say 10 days.
Looking forward to your poker experiences thread, I'm sure you crushed the PLO8 tables..........
The problem with the triple zero tables is that a lot of the casinos use an emblem as the triple zero, as in your image above.
We were watching someone play roulette in the Excalibur for upwards of $800 per spin. He was covering every number to some extent except the Excalibur emblem thinking that this was a bit of branding.
The ball lands on the emblem eventually, and the croupier starts to rake away all his chips.
He stared for a second and then exclaimed, "what is this?" "witchcraft?"
He was totally oblivious to the fact that it was an option to bet on.
Last visit 2022 over £1400 with resort fee for a week, no direct flight, decent buffet now approaching $50, small poker comps now wanting $200 to $250 where before used to be $100 to $150. The one good thing that came out of it was a $2 dollar bus fare from airport to Downtown, walked out of airport straight onto bus took 35 mins compared with 20 min $50 taxi ride
A couple of places we have found are, $3 bottles in Casino Royale, between Harrahs and Venetian. Also OYO which is opposite the back of the MGM Grand do $2 bottles, and will have most of the sport on.
A bit like going to Wetherspoons before you head into town.
Poker wise, if you want to play cash all day you will be ok. Tournaments not so much.
The low buy in, 3 to 4 hour tournaments in all three have all but dried up. So many poker rooms in Vegas have closed in the last 5 years. You can still plot your way around Vegas playing tournaments all day, but it has become a lot harder, and a lot more expensive. you used to be able to play tournaments all day for around $200, now it will cost you $500+
Borgata seems to be the only place in AC that still does tournaments. There's a couple in Reno but they're not all likely to get enough players to run some days. Peppermill seems only to do one, maybe two tournaments per day.
Never been, planning to one day, seems like ive missed the boat with regards to prices though!
1. It's hot. Seriously hot. Usually over 100 degrees all Summer. The only place I ever heard a weather forecast that said "today it is going to be 99 degrees and cool" (first time I ever went to Vegas, I then went to Death Valley. It was 125 F/52 C)!
2. A lot of the casinos (not all) are close together. But it is important to remember that they are not as close as you think. This is because hotel windows in Vegas are massively bigger than everywhere else, causing your brain to think that distances are less than they are...
Anyway sorry to get on my soapbox, I love Vegas, it's my favorite place to go and I'm thankful that by and large almost every trip has been a profitable one but in recent times the nickel and dime culture is irritated me a little.
On renting a car it's only worth it if you're driving hours out of Vegas every day which only Tikay does. Just get an Uber if you want to head down the strip. You can get to a lot of casinos within 20 minutes walking and can cut through a lot of them to avoid the heat.