Do Vegas right

[AvgAmericanM]

I have vacation the same week as UFC197, never been to Vegas, thinking I may head out there and catch my second live UFC (87 was my first).

How do I do Vegas right? Most bang for my buck, etc.

I'd like to stay somewhere decent, good location (central?), good value?

Other than the weigh-ins, open workouts, maybe a show or two, I want to play a lot of poker. Want good action games at small stakes $2-5, comps would be cool. Which rooms?

Best/cheap places to eat, buffets, etc.? Any shows I might want to check out? How do I get free or discounted shit?

Recommendations, advice?

 

[ezflyer]

i'll yield to nunya and others who have been there on this one -- never been to vegas..

 

[lucky]

if u are going to play alot of poker i would stay at strip hotel near where u wanna play. aria bellagio venetian wynn are the spots for 2-5. but there rms are lil more. everyone has 1-2. harrahs ballys and flamingo are cheaper rms. dnt stay at circus circus stratosphere or downtown unless u have a car
signup for players card at casino and use it when gambling.
i advise against buying drugs and hos on strip. but i understand its vegas, so just be careful.

 

[NunyaBidness]

What's your budget like? How long you going to be there?

What do you mean by "bang for the buck"

Check my thread on beating live casinos for some info

 

[NunyaBidness]

Best of vegas, IMO:

Buffet: Caesars Bachannal or Wicked Spoon at the Cosmo. Both pricey. If you're on a budget, the Main Street buffet is very good for the price.

Steakhouses: Really like Carne Vino in the venetian. The theatre menu is a decent experience and pretty affordable, around $70/person iirc.

Burgers: KGB Burger in Harrah's is probably the best spot. May be closed now that the owner died. In n' Out is worth a trip if you're not from a place that has em.

Places to avoid: Mon Ami Gabi. People act like its so great, but its really quite forgettable.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Getting free/discounted shit, there's a few ways to go about it.

Assuming you mean comps, you need to put in some action. The more expensive the hotel, the more action you're going to need to get anything worthwhile. If you want your Room comped at Bellagio you need to count on playing $300/hand at blackjack for around 4 hours a day. You can probably get it comped downtown at $15/hand.

Poker and sports are pretty much worthless for accruing comps. Poker tends to be about $1.50/hour depending on the room.

You definitely want to download the bravo poker app, you can see all the games running in town without having to foot it around.

Other ways of getting free/discounted shit:
Buy, The American Casino Guide, or get the discount book from Las Vegas Advisor. Lots of good matchplays, discount coupons in there. Changes every year, but the matchplays alone are usually worth a few hundred. Lots of 2 for 1 buffet coupons.

If you're going to be out there for a while and like to drink, I recommend buying your way into Diamond status at Caesars properties. Will cost you around $400, but you can get free drinks in various lounges all day long, as well as free not very good food. Good places to watch the games from as well.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Best show in town is without a doubt Love at the Mirage.

 

[AvgAmericanM]

Stay about a week.
Not going to play table games, just poker and some bets on the fight. I wouldn't mind hitting up a sports book and just drink/sweat games all day one day, but not much in the way of sports going on around that time... just NBA which I hate.
Budget is flexible, I'd like to keep the room as nice as possible for as cheap as possible and not have to walk everywhere, though I hear the temps are nice and cool early March so walking wouldn't be terrible I guess. Max $200/night. Lower would be nice. I'm open to splurging on a few good meals/shows during the week. A few $100-200/per dinners and a similar range for good shows. I didn't realize there were so many Cirque's.
Bang for buck... if there's a good buffet that isn't crazy expensive where I can drunk grub a few night/mornings that'd be cool, also somewhere to get cheap drinks and pregame before the fights would be nice. Just so I'm not going all out every meal. Some cheap to offset the expensive.

Some good places to start in your previous posts.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Here's what I do for cheap drinks, my friends hate it, but I'm not paying for drinks in vegas.

Find a cocktail waitress, step in front of her, and order a drink, sit at a machine. Throw some cash in the machine. When she starts coming back around, cash out your ticket, tip her for the drink and leave.

If you're betting sports, make sure to ask the clerk for drink tickets. You can usually persuade them to give you more than what they give you initially if you tip. They usually don't give any if you don't ask.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Cirques, skip Zumanity in my opinion. All the rest are terrific. Check out the Tix4tonite booths, they're all over the place, can occasionally find half priced tickets for one of them. Can always find half priced tickets for comedy clubs, and there's quite a few now.

Trick with vegas hotels is the weekends are always insanely expensive, and weekdays can be really cheap. If you're willing to move hotels, you can stay a nice place sun-thursday, and slum it up fri-sat and save a lot of money.

I prefer saving cash to having a nice place to sleep anyway. Staying downtown really isn't a problem, the bus to the strip doesn't take very long, and you save lots of cash. The Downtown Grand, Four Queens, and Golden Nugget all have decent rooms at a good price. Gold Coast/Orleans/Rio off strip aren't bad choices either, they have free shuttles to the strip that only take a few minutes.

If you really want to spend $200/night though, I'd look at the Cosmo.

 

[NunyaBidness]

Oh, here's a good one, this works EVERY TIME I've tried it except once. And should definitely work off season.

It's the $20 trick.

When you check in, sandwich a $20 bill between your drivers license and credit card. The clerk will usually ask if you want change or something. Smile, and say, "I was wondering if there were any complimentary upgrades available?"

If the hotel isn't sold out, you're pretty much guaranteed to get the best room she can get you. I've gotten gigantic two room suites at several hotels, while only paying for a basic room.

 

[BoxScout]

Where are you from? It helps to know since recs can be tailored to what you normally lack access to.

I generally dislike Buffets, but the one at CP is legit. good. The one at Harrah's is about $25 and fast. The carved meats are good. (KGB Burger is indeed closed).

There are a few places to grab a slice of pizza, which is a good lunch option. 5fifty in Aria is very good, next to the poker room. About 5-6 bucks a slice. One of the tricks of vegas though, is NEVER buy sodas or stuff like that at these places. It will be like $5. Either get it from cocktails or, better yet, stop by a store on your way in from the airport. Buy a bunch of drinks, alcoholic and non. Buy some granola bars and fruit or whatever. This will save you $100.

Bally's lacks the dumpy qualities of some of the other cheap places. I would be cheap on rooms, since you don't spend much waking time there. $50 a night in rooms = dinner at some elite restaurant.

Rao's at CP is one of my favorites in terms of bang for buck. Old school italian. The chicken scarpariello is unbelievable. Dip bread in sauce, inject into veins. I believe it's $30.

Aquanox at Venetian/Pallazo is a great sea food place. It's maybe $30-$40 an entre, but better than some more expensive places in my opinion. That's where I always steer people in Venetian.

If you want an experience, Rose Rabbit Lie is just insanely hip and affected, but I found it fun. Our waitress carried her purse. They have some kind of show, but we just ate there. The food was creative and tasty. It is more expensive, but not quite to the crazy Guy Savoy type levels. I wanna say $150 a head or so.

A more conventional fine dining place is the eiffel tower restaurant. You have to wear a jacket, which is kind of fun in a place as ridiculously casual as Vegas. You get a view of the Bellagio fountain from above and it's like watching someone make giant, abstract paintings.

One of the best thai places in the U.S. according to Anthony Bordain and people like that is about a mile off the strip. It's not expensive. It's called lotus of siam. You need reservations. There's also a big asian area off the strip on Spring Mountain. If you normally don't get stuff like Vietnamese, there it is.

 

[BoxScout]

Oh yeah. I think walking by the facade of aria, to the Cosmo and through it is a great experience. I love the architecture and design and I think everyone is afraid to admit how beautiful they are because it's Vegas.

In Cosmo, drinks at Chandelier are fun and good.

Another special/unique dish is the fried chicken at Blue Ribbon Sushi. Often listed among the top fried chickens. Kind of Asian-y, as you'd expect, and served with this spicy honey sauce. It is very good.

 

[NunyaBidness]

If you're flying in, make sure to tell the cabby to NOT take the tunnel. Better yet, look up directions on your phone and have him follow them.

A cab ride to the strip from the airport should be $12-$16 depending on the time of the day, but if they think you're a newb, you're gonna get longhauled through the tunnel and pay $30 every time.

 

[lucky]

Sht if u on strip they have shuttles frm airport for like 7bucks. Also uber and lyft have been offerin free rides since they started here. Not sure on all the details as im local and have a car

 

[NunyaBidness]

Dunno anything about the uber situation but those shuttles are pretty awful. They stop at pretty much all the hotels, so if you're not first up you might be on it for an hour.

 

[PSUMike]

Spearmint Rhino...trust me on this one

I've only been there twice, once on business and once for a bachelor party. Both times we stayed at Planet Hollywood but went across the street to the Bellagio to gamble. The blackjack dealers in the Planet Hollywood pit area thing are all top shelf btw.

 

[Beelzebubzy]

Any thoughts on La Reve? Might be going on Friday

 

[lucky]

Haven't seen it. But has good reviews. Spearmint rhino always has a good show. Ask for trixie

 

[NunyaBidness]

La Reve about the only major show I haven't been to in Vegas.