I'm going to Vegas for a week! Help!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m gathering up the old college friends and having a last hurrah in Vegas. We’re all starting to drift apart and settle down, so this might be our last chance for the classic Vegas trip. Pretty stereotypical, right?

Well, not *that *stereotypical. We’re mostly planning to camp in Red Rocks, check out Death Valley, and really only spend a couple of days in Vegas proper.

Questions:

  1. Gambling: I’ve gambled a bit in Reno. But I’ve never played anything but poker and blackjack. I might want to branch out a bit–maybe craps? (I saw the Reno thread). What are the best games as far as odds? What games maximize my time at the table, assuming I don’t want to spend a lot of money? Are there any games that are really fun, even if the odds are shitty? Anyone got suggestions for good blackjack websites?

  2. Casino etiquette: Do you tip the guy that brings around drinks like you’d tip a bartender? Is it faux pas to go to crowded craps table as a newbie?

  3. Which Casino: I figured we’d hang out at the Mirage (where we’re staying), but I don’t know anything about their casino. Will it be a bunch of old rich people, or hip young ones? Does anyone have a sense for the vibe of the different well-known casinos? I’ll probably play a bit of Hold 'Em, but it’s so popular these days I’m a little wary. Are any of the poker rooms notoriously soft?

  4. What else: I figure we might take in a show or something. Where’s the good magic? Is Cirque de Soleil worth the dough? Who has the best buffet?

I need insider tips!

2
  1. The best odds are at blackjack and craps if you take the odds. You can spend a lot of time at a craps table if you just play the pass line with odds.

Personally, I love Let It Ride, even though the odds aren’t all that great.

  1. Always tip the waitress. A buck a drink will do.

  2. Don’t know about the poker, since I refuse to play it, but the cranking young spots are the Palms and Rio and Mandalay. Caesar’s is high-roller and staid, Casino Royale is bottom-feeder only.

  3. Go see Penn & Teller. Well worth the price. The best buffets are the Spice Market at Planet Hollywood, Bellagio and Wynn.

3

Thanks silenus! Does “take the odds” for craps mean that you bet whatever ratio is allowed on the pass odds each time? What is the usual minimum bet?

4

Yup, a buck a drink to the cocktail waitress. Craps is a great social game, but don’t show up at a crowded table as a newbie. There’s too many ways to commit a faux pas. The game will move so fast that it’ll make your head spin. Most casinos will have a late morning “lesson” in craps where they will teach you the basics. I’m good at math, but craps was pretty confusing to me. Go to an empty table, and the croupier will tell you how to play. They’ll be happy to take your money. Tip the boys if by some miracle you happen to win a lot of money.

Be prepared to throw out some serious dough on the strip. At night on Friday and Saturday it’s near impossible to find a $10 blackjack table, even at a cheesy “family” casino like the Excalibur.

The only casino that is a lot different for me is the Hard Rock. HOT-TAH! Definitely the hottest women in town. For a slightly cheaper casino, I like Hooters. They are way tolerant of really stupid behavior. There was a guy who was playing third base when I was there who was so hammered he was barely conscious. He broke every rule in the book many times, picking up his cards with both hands, not being able to add his cards correctly, and spilling his drink twice. My friend and I had an over under bet on how many minutes it would be until he fell out of his chair,

5

The Cirque show “O” was awesome. I’ve seen 4 or 5 cirque shows and so far O has been the best. I don’t know how buffets go since I don’t eat at many but we tried the one in the Belagio and it was pretty good. But I’ve got nothing to compare it with but I was pretty happy with the selection.

6

My website has some info on hotels and cheap things to do, as well as on shows.
Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.

One bit of advice - if you absolutely want to see a specific show (LOVE or Bette Midler or any of the other big shows) be sure to order tickets in advance. Often people find that there aren’t any tickets available when they get here.

Have fun and report back on how things went!

7

i recommend a $5 tip to the waitress on your first drink. $1 a drink after that. you will never want for a drink and will probably have a problem keeping an empty glass in front of you.

if you want to be treated like a ‘high roller’ without spending a few hundred, go to the lesser known casinos - casino royal, fitzgeralds, hooters, etc. Bet $5 -15 a hand at those casinos, and the pit bosses will know your name within 30 minutes.

And finally, if you just want to gamble, socialize and drink ‘free’ drinks, i recommend pia gow poker. Typically $10 a hand, but you will push with the dealer more often than lose. the game looks complex, but it is very simple to learn, you are only playing against the casino, so if you screw up, the rest of the table does not get upset with you.

8

My wife and I are looking to spend a few days in Las Vegas at the end of May, part of a south Utah/Grand Canyon road trip. Thank you to all Dopers who replied to this thread and the other similar threads in the past year or so. Special thanks to DMark – your website has been interesting and helpful.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a “tacky” hotel? Mrs. H. finds tacky funny as long as it isn’t too sleazy or dangerous. I’m all for it as long as it isn’t too far away from The Strip or additionally expensive. By tacky I think we mean heart shaped beds and tubs (I did notice some places with the tubs for a bit extra per night) and even perhaps mirrored ceilings. Any thoughts?

9
  1. Gambling.
    Craps is one of the better games as far as odds BUT you really need to do your homework in order to take advantage of this. The thing about craps is that there are lots of ways to play. In the Reno thread, the advice for someone starting out was to learn just the most basic way to play: pass line. Just playing the passline (which I agree is the best way to learn) doesn’t give you great odds, but does get you on the table, and you can experience the fun of craps.
    Unless you have an experienced player/friend to “follow”, I would not recommend going to a crowded crap table if you don’t know how to play (even the basic). It disrupts the “flow” too much, and is distracting. Tip: go to an empty crap table, and they’ll be happy to teach you. Tip #2: you can find empty crap tables in the mornings.

As far as a game that maximizes your time on a table, I’d recommend Pai Gow poker. It can be a little intimidating to watch, but if you play poker, you can play Pai Gow Poker. The thing is - you push a lot. So you may not win a lot, but likewise you don’t lose all that quickly either. You can spend a lot of time at a table (which is also a downside - it may be difficult to get on a table as a full table may stay full for a long time). Again, find an empty table, and they’ll be happy to teach you. Also, if you’re ever not sure, you can simply ask the dealer how best to play your hand, and they’ll show you how the house would play.

  1. Tipping. I only drink sodas or water, so I only tip if I’m up (which is not all that often, unfortunately). It’s up to you.

  2. Where to gamble: on the strip, except for the small places, the table stakes will be higher. I like Treasure Island next door. The Mirage tables are all a bit high for me. If you go downtown, you can find the lower table stake tables (all games). If you are going to play poker/hold 'em, I’ll tell that Binion’s (downtown) is for the serious, hardcore poker players. So if that’s what you’re looking for, that’s the place. But if you’re looking for “fun”, then I’d try somewhere else.
    “Vibe” is across the board on the strip, in my opinion. You can find a mix of anything at pretty much any casino. At the newer/nicer casinos (Bellagio, Venetian, Mirage, Mandalay Bay) there tends to be more upscale folks. But likewise there will be a mix of everyone else just passing through.
    The one exception might be the Wynn (killer buffet, there, BTW). This one is much more upscale. Table minimums are quite high (only place I’ve seen $25 and $100 minimum crap tables - not in the “high roller” room either !).

  3. Shows. If it’s still there, I would highly recommend “Spamalot” at the Wynn. Hilarious (and I’m a big Monty Python/“Holy Grail” fan).
    I’ve see “O” (Bellagio), “Mystere” (Treasure Island), and the “Love” Cirque Du Soleil shows. All were great in their own ways. You would not go wrong with any of these (unless you really don’t like the Beatles, in which case you should pass on “Love”). But as mentioned above, get your tickets in advance.

10

Thanks for the compliment! Glad the site was of help.

Regarding the “tacky” hotel…I suppose there might be some motels like that on the seedier end of the Strip, but I wouldn’t suggest staying there. The Palms has some eye-popping theme suites (with bowling alleys, basketball courts, light shows in the shower, etc.), but at their prices, you might have to skip paying your mortgage for a few months to stay there. The Venetian (and brand new Palazzo addition) has the best “standard” room on the Strip…so if you could get a deal there, grab it.

But to be quite honest, forget worrying about your hotel room…there is enough tackiness in Las Vegas to go around and as I mention on my site, paying a lot for a room in Las Vegas is kinda silly…you will be so busy running around you will only go to your room to crash - even most newlyweds spend less time in their room than they planned.

11

Here is a very helpful tutorial on shooting craps. Good luck.

12

I was going to tell you screw Vegas, go hang out in Red Rocks or something, but I see you’ve got it covered… :smiley:

13

I feel the need to fill in the gaps for anyone who ends up pulling this out of the archives.

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/ has a customizable, printable strategy calculator. Standard Vegas strip rules are Hit Soft 17, Double Any, Double After Split, Late Surrender, Dealer Peeks.

And Blackjack - Wizard of Odds has the best explanation of the rules and odds, period.

As a rough generalization, the further north you go, the older, and the more ritzy a hotel is, the richer the crowd (duh). I only really know about the Strip between Mandalay Bay and Wynn, and most of what I know comes from 1998-2005, so it might be a little outdated.

Key:
20: caters to 20-somethings. Clothing optional pools, table dancers, loud rap music, etc.
40: caters to 40+. Nice spas, soft lighting, live jazz band, etc.
kid: caters to families with children. Under 18 entertainment, wave pools, etc.
$$$: most expensive ~1/3
$$: middle ~1/3
$: cheapest ~1/3 (but still more expensive than off-Strip hotels)
hos: where the hooker density is highest (you decide whether this is a plus or minus)

Mandalay Bay: 20, $$$
Luxor: 20, Excalibur: kid,
Tropicana: kid, $$
NYNY: 20, kid, $$
MGM Grand: 20, kid, $$
Monte Carlo: kid, $
Bellagio: 40, $$$
Planet Hollywood: 20, $$, hos
Paris: $$
Bally’s: $, hos
Caesars Palace: 40, $$$
Bill’s: Flamingo: 20, kid,
Harrah: Imperial Palace:
Mirage: $$
Venetian: 40, $$$
Treasure Island: 20?, kid?, $$
Wynn: 40, $$$
Palms: 20, $$
Hard Rock: 20, $$

14

As far as Vegas goes, I’ve stayed in Excalibur, the Sands, and recently at Caesars on a good Southwest package. The problem with Caesars is that it is one of those places that thinks if you can afford to stay there you can afford to be ripped off.

I don’t play craps, but don’t worry about the casino in your hotel. If you are on the strip casino hopping is the thing to do.

Friends of ours have a timeshare, and we stayed with them also for a while. The casinos outside town (you need a car) are less flashy than the strip ones but not bad for gambling, since a lot of them are for locals who have more of a choice.

As for Death Valley, I was just there in January, and it is awesome. I understand the flowers have come out now. Be aware that everything is very far away from other things. We stayed at the cheaper hotel in the Park which was a good move.

15

Oops, that’s the Sahara, not the Sands I stayed at. Didn’t they just tear down the Flamingo?

16

No, that was the Stardust and the Frontier hotels that recently came down.

17

I was in vegas a few weeks ago, and I went to see Penn & Teller, and it may have been a good show, but I went to see Cirque (KA) and it made Penn & Teller seem kinda lame.

As for the 3rd point, I would suggest just checking out The Wynn. That’s where I stayed (although at my company’s expense, not my own!), and it was amazing. Just go and take a look around. I know they have texas hold em poker tournaments there too if you’re interested. Not sure of the buy in though.

18

I gambled at Circus Circus, Stratosphere, The Mirage, The Tropicana, New York New York, MGM Grand, Excalibur. Circus Circus had, unexpectedly, the most interesting people. The Trop has sort of an old-school thing going (without being the Cortez), which I dug. The rest were sort of meh. I would not ever go back to Excalibur, which sucketh. I visited, but did not gamble at the Bellagio (had brunch there) and Caesar’s Palace. They were pretty awesome—I wish I could have afforded the minimums to stick around.

Played a lot of blackjack. I managed to find, to my surprise, plenty of $10 tables and a few $5. My bankroll swung wildly, but I came out just slightly below even. And I played craps for the first time. It was an awesome way to get free drinks and not lose any money and the people were more amusing than at the cheap blackjack tables. But the game itself was pretty boring to me.

I didn’t see any shows, which I regret, but I couldn’t talk my friends into Cirque or a magic show.

On the camping front, we skipped Red Rocks (we heard the campsites aren’t so great) and went to the Mojave. It was a lot of fun, but even though I was prepared for cold nights, I wasn’t quite prepared enough. It gets COLD in the desert. But the Mojave is great. It has a little of everything: Dunes, Rocky Outcroppings, Cactuses, etc. Beautiful sunsets and nice campsites. Sort of crappy climbing…a good bouldering spot or two but a lot of very chossy rock.

Final tips for anyone that comes across this thread:

The Clark County Public Library is a great place to use free internet (wireless or wired) if you have a car.

Be sure to check if your hotel/casino is being remodeled during your stay (as the Mirage was and many are).

Grab a nice buffet. It’s $20 extremely well spent.

Do not speed through northern Nevada, especially Wells.

19

Thanks for the update! Always interesting to hear how things went…

Sounds like you had a good time, and as usual, didn’t quite accomplish everything on your list. Join the club. Most people come to Las Vegas with a huge list of “must-do’s” and wind up doing almost none of them.

It is easy to wander along the Strip and suddenly realize you have walked several miles and killed about eight hours and not really done much other than eat, drink and drop a few coins. This is why I tell people to go ahead and do some research before you come, but just go with the flow and see what happens once you get here. Amazing how time flies once you are here, isn’t it?

But at least you had a good chance to do some people-watching, and boy, this is the city for it!

So, does this mean you might be making a return visit someday?

20

Definitely. I was a nice mix of relaxing outdoors and man-made audacity.