First time in Vegas - advice ?

0xDeadBeef

Thinking about planning a vacation to Vegas sometime before the end of the year. I've never been there before, and know little about what to expect. I was hoping to get some advice from anyone who've travelled down there before. Please share.

Where should I stay ?

Where should I play ? (haha - and how do I avoid the prosharks !?)

Where is the best place to eat <caveman>Mmm ... steak</caveman> ?

What are the best places to visit within Vegas?


Thanks in advance for all your feedback and comments!

~:spade:

Quasi

I can't really answer any of your questions but I would suggest when booking your trip to at least check out expedia.ca.

Mailman

I was in Vegas back in May. I was there for the start of the WSOP and actually played in a $50 satellite (sadly, I didn't win).

We stayed a Caesar's Palace. It was nice but I was more impressed with Mandalay Bay. I plan on staying there next time I go.

I played poker a few different places. The Luxor has the "friendliest" games. They mainly play $1/$2 LHE. If you are looking for bigger stakes, the Bellagio has a really nice poker room but it is pretty crowded and you may have to wait a while for a seat.

The best place I had steak was at Nero's in Caesar's. We also had a great meal at Aureole in mandalay Bay. They have a three story wine tower and a woman travels up and down on a pully system to fetch your bottle. You will not have a difficult time finding great places to eat, there are plenty of fantastic restaurants. Oh, and find a Krispy Creme donut shop (One in tha Alladin and one in the Venetian). Get a donut while the red light is on. I had never had Krispy Cremes before and I'm glad they don't have them here because I would weight 400 pounds.

We mainly stayed on the strip. There is tons to do and see there. Definately take in a couple of shows. I highly recommend O at the Bellagio. I didn't think I would enjoy it (my wife really wanted to go) but it was amazing. Make sure you go to Freemont street at night. The light show is really cool. We also rented a car one day and did some hiking at Red Rock Canyon, which was fun if you are in to that sort of thing.

When you are walking down the strip, there will be people trying to hand you things. Don't make eye contact and just pretend they aren't there. They are trying to hand out magazines for advertisements for prostitutes. There are also plenty of people trying to sell timeshares. Just ignore everyone on the street trying to hand you something.

I'll post more if I can think of anything else.

twosnaces

I was also in Vegas back in May and present for the opening of the WSOP.

Stayed at the Flamingo and yet never gambled there... it's right on the Strip and is pretty reasonable price wise.

Played $1/$3 Limit hold 'em at Excalibur and never had to wait long for a table. The Bellagio and the Mirage both have very nice Poker rooms but I'm not sure what the limits are and how long the wait is...

I had a amazing meal at the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio. It's just off the strip and has an amazing view. I had the Voodoo Menage (Filet Mignon, Lobster tail, and shrimp). Probably the best meal I've had in my life and luckily paid for by my poker winnings.

st0neC0ldNutz

I am going to vegas at the begining of december for about 8-9 days...I have done some research on the net to find out about cheap(er) NL tourneys.
It looks like (if what I read was right) the Orleans has quite a few re-buy tourneys each day (look @ their website for details).
The Luxor offers freezeouts from $25 to $100 (and you have to sign up early in the morning in person from what I hear so look into it....)
And Mandalay Bay offers freezeouts from $30-$50.

Again this is what I have heard/read on the net...so give these casinos a call when you get down there.

Oh yes, there are freezeouts at the bellagio as well, but Im not ready to pay that much just yet !

Good luck :canada:

Mailman

I played a couple of tournaments at the Luxor. I don't recommend playing there because they only start you with 250 chips and the blinds start at 5/10. It is limit poker for the first few rounds then it turns the no-limit. I think they do this because the tournament takes up all their tables and they want to get it over with quickly so they can get back to the cash games. The tournament only took a couple of hours to complete.

0xDeadBeef

Mailman wrote:

We stayed a Caesar's Palace. It was nice but I was more impressed with Mandalay Bay. I plan on staying there next time I go.

...

Oh, and find a Krispy Creme donut shop (One in tha Alladin and one in the Venetian). Get a donut while the red light is on. I had never had Krispy Cremes before and I'm glad they don't have them here because I would weight 400 pounds.

Mailman - was there anything in particular about The Mandalay Bay which impressed you? It actually caught my eye during my research.


Haha - there was a Krispy Kreme built in Kitchener sometime 2 years ago, and people have stopped bringing them into work for the exact same reason I feel like I need to lie down after eating one of those fat bastards.

~:spade:

Mailman

0xDeadBeef wrote:

Mailman - was there anything in particular about The Mandalay Bay which impressed you? It actually caught my eye during my research.


Haha - there was a Krispy Kreme built in Kitchener sometime 2 years ago, and people have stopped bringing them into work for the exact same reason I feel like I need to lie down after eating one of those fat bastards.

~:spade:

When I originally researched which hotel to stay at, it came down to Mandalay Bay or Caesar's. This was based primarily on reviews I found online from people who had stayed in Vegas (I wish I could remember the website). We picked Caesar's primarily because it was in the middel of the stip while Mandalay Bay is at the end. This ended up not making a lot of difference because the bus system is really good and really cheap.

The casino is what really sets the two apart. Mandalay Bay's casino is huge and when you walk in you can pretty much see from one end to the other. Everything is arranged in a grid fashion and it is easy to make your way around. On the other hand, Caesar's casino is a nightmare. Even after a week, I had trouble making my way through the casino. It is purposely designed so that you have a hard time finding your way out. Another big reason to choose Mandalay Bay over Caesar's is that they have a poker room and Caesar's doesn't. If you want to play other games (I don't know why anyone would ), like blackjack, the limits were insane at Caesar's. On the weekend, the lowest blackjack table was $25 minimum bets. I would have gotten a lot more poker time in if I could have left my wife at a $5 BJ table.

One other thing I forgot to mention - whatever hotel you do pick, make sure you ask for a room upgrade when you check in. If the hotel isn't packed and they have lots of rooms available, most hotels will upgrade you for free.

literation

I haven't been yet but also heard the Rio is one good place to eat.

We're planning to go in February. Interesting, I can't find Mandalay listed in the packages at Expedia.

Quasi

Well I'm leaving next Thursday for the weekend, I can let you know where I played and how I liked it when I get back if you like. I'm going with 3 friends who aren't huge into Poker so I might just have to ditch them at night and head out to play.

jester777

Most people do not know, but the Imperial Palace has tournaments also (their poker room is relatively new, within the last year I believe). I played in one of these tournaments (29 players) on my trip last year and won it, and I don't consider myself a very good NL tournament player. Also, the Imperial Palace offers excellent comps while playing poker. You get $3/Hour of comp dollars while you play, which can be used for room/food/gift shop. This is an excellent deal!! On top of that, you get free refreshments/sandwiches when playing.

Hope this helps.

vinsanity

Was just there last month. I stayed at the Excalibur for 50 a night. They have 1-3 and 2-6 spread limit as well as a 100 buyin no limit game there. No wait and Easy games. Luxor has 2/4, 4/8 and a 50 buyin no limit with 3 blinds, 1-1-3. Again, very easy game. The mirage has 3/6, 6/12/ 10/20 and up. I played in the early morn but it was very busy at 9pm or so. Nice room and very good dealers. Bellagio was very busy and crowded. You'll see a lot of poker celebrities there for sure but the games are tougher. Starts at 4/8, 8/16 and up. also a 200 buyin no limit with 2/5 blinds. The Bellagio buffet was amazing. As for tourist attractions, it might be because I was drunk out of my mind but I had blast at the wax museum by the Venetian. Having pictures of you playing poker with Affleck, spanking J.Lo's ass and grinding with Beyonce's pretty fun. Also checkout cheapovegas.com and allvegaspoker.com

Vegas is great, you will have fun. I'm already planning to go back.

edit - I played in one Luxor tourney and a Sahara one but I wouldn't recommend them. They really speed the structure up to free up the tables and there's very little play to it.

ScottyZ

As for tourist attractions, it might be because I was drunk out of my mind but I had blast at the wax museum by the Venetian. Having pictures of you playing poker with Affleck, spanking J.Lo's ass and grinding with Beyonce's pretty fun.

But how was the wax museum?

ScottyZ

0xDeadBeef

Mailman wrote:

I would have gotten a lot more poker time in if I could have left my wife at a $5 BJ table.

:eek: :eek: :eek: WHAT KIND OF CASINO DID YOU GO TO !!!?
And where the hell are these magical BJ tables ! ($5 is certainly a bargain;) )


Haha - just kidding. Thanks for the tips about the Mandalay Bay. According to this site (http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/poker/tournaments.php) there are a whole bunch of tournaments there on a regular basis.

Also - the CheapoVegas site has got a very detailed writeup about that hotel : http://cheapovegas.com/vegas_casino_full.php?hotel_id=1036.

Thanks again !
~ :spade:

Unknown

I don't think I did the right things when I went to Vegas.

NurseHoliday

ScottyZ wrote:

But how was the wax museum?

ScottyZ

ROFL - Good one scotty

NurseHoliday

0xDeadBeef wrote:

:eek: :eek: :eek: WHAT KIND OF CASINO DID YOU GO TO !!!?
And where the hell are these magical BJ tables ! ($5 is certainly a bargain;) )

This was even funnier

And I am doing all I can to resist making some kind of crack about playing more than one hand at a time........ :frown:

rezdog

just back from Vegas 2 weeks ago. I stayed at the Luxor, they have 1-2, 2-4, 4-8, and a $50 buy in NL game, all games easy. Luxor also offers a $3000 freeroll. All you need is too log 10 hours at the table and you qualify for the Tourney. They also have 3 tourney per day, I signed up about 1 hr before each tourney, tourney was 3 tables. All tourney was NL from start to finish. Played at the Horseshoe, games tougher there. Bellagio was packed did not play there, the WPT's Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship was going on, so i watched the tourney. If you go to the Horseshoe check out the Steakhouse you will at be disappointed. Buffets-- check out the Aladdins buffet it was voted best buffet in 2001 & 2003 Cost is $24 for dinner and well worth it. Which is cheaper then the Bellagio buffet and rates right up there with the Bellagio

PhallicPhil

Do's and Don'ts for Las Vegas

DO: Stay at a Strip Hotel -- everything's accessible and the hotels are generally nicer (offstrip hotels like the Stratosphere are cheap but kind of crappy and in a bad location).

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: Play 2-4 Hold'em at the Sahara -- they hand you money.

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: See the old strip -- downtown is seedy, but neat.

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: Check out the view from atop the Stratosphere. The ride that shoots you up in the air is pretty cool too.

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: Drink one of those ridiculously large slushy drinks from Fat Tuesdays. You'll look like a schmo carrying around the enormous phallic drink container, but they're delicious. I recommend the extra large Orange Octane drink with an extra shot of everclear (I believe my eyesight will return one day).

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: Go shopping. You can't walk four feet without seeing a store that sells 10 shirts for a nickel or something like that. Lots of good deals.

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

DO: Go to the Spice Market buffet at the Alladin. Pricey, but awesome.

DON'T: Just trust me. Don't eat it.

DO: Have fun!!!

Phil

ScottyZ

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

Hmmm... anything that costs less than 1.00 cent does seem a little suspect.

Good place for cheap eats on the strip = O'Shea's

ScottyZ

MickeyHoldem

DON'T: Eat the .99 cent hotdog at SlotsAFun

Hmmm... anything that costs less than 1.00 cent does seem a little suspect.

Sounds like a Montreal radio ad for some breakfast place (I can't remember the name).... the closing line of the ad....

"If you can find a cheaper breakfast somewhere else... maybe you shouldn't put it in your mouth!"

ice

my eating tip would be go to Ellis Island for the $4.99 steak special. Its not on the menu, but ask and ye shall receive. Also, a lot of the casino/hotels have cheap midnite eats like the Orleans, $1.99 for some breakfast arrangements and $2.49 for steak and eggs. The 2 24hr buffets are found at the boardwalk and riviera. I love to eat, I am HUGE! beefcake!