I’m spending my last spring break in Las Vegas. I’m there for four days and staying at the MGM (cheap!). I’ve already bought tickets to see George Carlin, O, and everyone’s favorite gay, animal loving magicians, Sigfried and Roy.
What hotel attractions are good? What casinos have the friendliest black jack dealers, the loosest slots, the best buffets, and what are some of the good places to eat a nice meal or shop?Is the Hoover Dam worth a day trip? Is there any formula to getting comp’d? Please let me know anything you’d recommend (or warn) about Sin City. Gracias amigos.
The Bellagio fountain show is a must see. For shopping, I’d recommend the Forum Shops at Ceasar’s Palace. For comps, make sure you sign up for the player’s club cards everywhere you go and use it EVERY time you gamble in that casino. The more you gamble in a particular casino, the more your chances of getting something.
As for finding good tables, my personal preference is gambling very late at night. Less crowded, less harried dealers and you meet some really interesting people.
Go to Las Vegas Gun Shop. Rent a submachine gun. Blast away. They rent lots of different guns for you to shoot in their indoor range. Keep your experience a secret if you’re a liberal.
Hoover dam is a must-see. When you get there, try to imagine how the gorge looked before the dam was built. If they are having tours inside the dam, go for it.
If you like thrill rides, then the “big shot” ride on top of the Stratosphere is for you. 1,000 feet up, and very exciting. Try it at night if you can.
Go downtown at night to check out the light show. The casinos downtown are much different than the resorts on the strip.
Dont go walking in the area between the North end of the Strip, and downtown. A pretty bad area.
Buffets are in all of the hotel/casinos. The buffets are like the casinos they are located in, the cheaper the hotel/casino, the cheaper and less nice the buffet. The better the hotel casino, the better and more expensive the buffet.
MGM is a nice casino, but fricking huge. I’ve never stayed there, but I’ve been in the casino many times. They have an enclosed lion area in the casino. You can even have your picture taken with lion cubs. There is also a small amusement park in the back of MGM.
My personal favorite Vegas casino is Monte Carlo. It’s across the street from MGM.
Oh, in case no one mentioned it yet, the pirate show in front of Treasure Island is pretty good.
Friendly blackjack dealers - I’ve always liked the dealers at the Flamingo. They’re my favorite (of course, there’s always exceptions), but I’ve had fun at the Mirage and downtown at The Golden Nugget as well.
Loosest slots - According to the Wizard of Odds, the Palms has very loose slots for the Strip area (although the article linked to is from two years ago, so it may not still be true). Also, the Station casinos (Palace Station, Sunset Station, etc.). In general, from what I understand, the downtown casinos have higher payouts on their slots than on the strip.
Best buffets - for breakfast, definitely try the one at the Paris or at the Bellagio. For a little less money, but not of terribly less quality, the breakfast buffet at the Aladdin is very, very good.
Comps - What games do you play the most of? The best way to get comps is to stick to one casino, but that’s not as much fun, of course. Things are pretty lean in Vegas right now, due to the economy and the casinos not getting as many high rollers from Asia at the moment, so as a results, comps are harder to come by. If you’re betting less than $25 a hand, you’re probably not going to get anything. If you’re serious about getting comps, check out Comp City by Max Rubin, an in-depth book on getting comps.
Hoover Dam is definitely worth a day trip, but I would seriously consider Red Rock Canyon. It’s only 17 miles west of Vegas, and absolutely stunning.
Do the Hoover Dam thing, but don’t do the day tours.
Rent a car and you can beat the bus tours out there ( It’s what, 45 minutes away? I was *shocked * at how close it was, and get into the Dam Tour. Renting the car and doing your own thing is cheaper, faster and more fun than being trapped on a bus with a bunch of old people. YMMV.
Funny you bring this up–I just got back from Vegas a week ago.
Blackjack: If you want to look at good looking dealers (and others), go to the Hard Rock Casino. During the weekends its packed with attractive and well-dressed people. However, the blackjack games there start at $15 and have unfavorable rules. Binion’s Horshoe in the downtown area has the best single deck I could find in town.
Buffets: Rio has the best buffet I’ve sampled with the largest variety. Usually its $18 a head, but during the day you can pick up 2-for-1 coupons for it outside of Harrah’s. At $9 a head its one of the best deals in town.
As Hermann said the area starting north of the Stratosphere is pretty squalid and crime-ridden.
Shirley, I really want to go to the Dam, but I’d have to convince a few other college-age people to leave the tables and the pool for a few hours. It’s not worth it to me if they’re going to be complaining about learning something when they could be bathing brain cells in absinthe. Is it a sufficiently cool trip that they might shut up an enjoy it?
Drop by Imperial Palace after 11pm. They have this really cheap special of a roast beef sandwich at The Tea House, which is on the second floor, right above the slots in the main casino.
Bally’s has one of the best seafood buffets in town, second only to Rio. Their service is quite good considering how busy it gets.
I loved Bottoms Up. It’s at the Flamingo, I think. It funny, which is good, and topless, which is great. I felt the humor was old fashioned in a way but not corny. I loved the show, actually. But that may have more to do with fact that it looked like one of girls was looking right at me. I think that I imagined that, though.
The buffet at the Mirage had the most delicious pot-stickers I ever had. There’s no guarantee that they still have them, obviously.
The World buffet at the Rio was delicious as well. All of it.
Also, an apparently knowledgeable bus driver told me that if you tip the usher at a show that doesn’t have assigned seating (no number on the ticket) you will get good seats. Five bucks will get you up front. Ten will get you your choice of seats. I tried it and it worked! I felt so cool handing the discreetly folded money to the usher. Like James Bond
I live in Las Vegas, and I’ve noticed that most of the locals go to The Orleans…because it’s off the strip (but a close enough drive from LV Blvd), and that casino is where people win the most money. Go to the main strip to see the sights, but don’t go to gamble, it isn’t worth it.
The buffet at the Rio sucks ass.
The one at the Orleans is pretty damn good.
Out of all the casinos on The Strip, I would say the most disappointing is the Monte Carlo…it’s not as impressive as the others and is rather dark and cheesy. Aladdin and Caesar’s Palace are both great for shopping…I happen to work at the Aladdin :D.
You’ll have a lot of fun, it looks like you have a lot of shows booked. I’ve seen Carlin at MGM, and he’s totally worth every penny you spend on the ticket, and I’ve heard great things about the other shows.
Word of warning though, when you’re crossing the streets on The Strip, for the love of God PLEASE DON’T JAYWALK. People are constantly being hit by taxi drivers, and believe me, they’re assholes and would probably flee the seen after doing it.
It is your opinion that the MC is not as impressive as the others on the Strip? Thats pretty jacked up, considering that it has a high rating. Are you saying it has a lower rating than Circus Circus, Stardust, Imperial Palace, Harrahs, and Stratosphere?
As far as “dark and gloomy”, I know that that is bullshit. One of the main reasons I like Monte Carlo is because the casino is bright and well lit. That means I can keep playing late at night and not get sleepy.
cainx It’s been a few years since we did the Dam Tour, Mr. Ujest just was agog over it all. I, not being engineer-minded, was happy to get in there before the boatloads of busses came rolling in. Yes, its a wonder of the world, but frankly, I’d rather see the pyramids.
I say if it is important to you, you do it. You don’t know when you are going to get the chance again to get there. Poo-poo to your friends.
What about taking in a show? Seigfried and Roy are great…that is all I can think of right now.
