Anybody highly familiar with Vegas Strip?

[EliminateU]

Am planning a trip to Vegas with spouse in Sept or Oct. Have found cheap rooms at like Circus-Circus, Sahara, and Stratosphere, ( all around $30/night) but their rooms seem cheesy. Have excellent rates ( under $70/night) at Planet Hollywood which looks awesome. Anything better than that? And being that it's mid-strip can I get by without a rental car either walking or taxi ( rental cars between $140-175 for 6 days) for less? PW looks excellent, but poker room has just 10 tables. I plan on spending time with wife for 65% of time. When I'm gaming I'm sending her to the spa and she plays slots.

I'm gonna goof around at Roulette (with progressive betting system, and I know it is favored to lose after roughly 90-150 spins, but short term fun can be had) and Black-Jack for a few hours. May even have some sportsbook fun too. But want to spend many hours at good poker tables. What are best casinos catering to poker?

Also, how do you get the best possible freebies? That has to be some of the fun in Vegas.

[DeadBabySoup]

planet hollywood is ok. they remodeled 2 years ok. so everything is fairly new. i wouldn't stay anywhere with $30 rooms. it'll ruin your vacation. if you don't mind being a couple blocks off the strip, trump has nicer rooms for about the same rate and they've been running specials with spa and/or dining credits. the best way to get freebies is to sign up for a player's card wherever you play. if that's your goal, pick a casino and stick to it. a few points at 10 different casino won't do you any good. even if you don't earn enough points for anything good, a lot of times you'll get discounts at restaurants. the bellagio, venitian and wynn have the nicest poker rooms. i like hard rock too. it's a little different crowd. if you stay on or near the strip, you don't need a rental car. there's a free train that runs up and down the strip. or it's always easy to catch a cab. unless you're out at 2 or 3 am when people are leaving the clubs. you don't want to try walking. the casinos are much bigger than they look and much further away from each other. you should go to a cirque show. they're the best thing in vegas.

[liladypokerpro]

Have you checked into the Luxor rates? A friend of mine from another site said she stayed there for roughly $50 after using an online deal she found and said the rooms are very spacious and nice. If I can get in touch with her, I'll see if I can find the site where she got the deal and post it here for you.

I used to live in Vegas, but that was in 2003-2004, and much has changed since then, so I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But I will find out what I can and get back to you.

As far as freebees, what exact kind of freebees are you looking for? Because I recall a few places that had some pretty great comps for players... but it depends on what kind of freebees you want as to whether or not my info will be of any use to you.

[EliminateU]

Lilady, I guess the freebies I'd be interested in are free/discounts at the big shows like lecirque etc, and the top-end restaurants. Also any gaming freebies like free spins at roulette, free bets at blackjack etc, and also as much free slot credits as possible as that is the only casino game my wife has any interest in. Oh, her biggest thing is getting some great spa deals (she loves the pampering), and she wants to ride the Stratospere rides so what kind of deals are there on those things.

Also, do all the casino's have some nice nightclubs we can go to? Any that stand out?

[liladypokerpro]

Really making me strain my brain here.... I'll try to remember as much as I can...

When I lived out there, the "Stations" Casinos had what they called "Win without winning" - Basically you get a comp card, and then you play any slots that have the "Win without winning" logo on them... 1c slots all the way up to the big money slots... anyway, you stick your card in and every few minutes a random card number is chosen and the jackpot pays out to the person with that card in their machine. My ex walked out with over $600 from it once. So those are pretty cool (if they still are doing it)... the Stations casinos are like Santa Fe Station, Texas Station, Fiesta I think is one also... there are a handful of them.

Get as many comp cards as you can, and always give them to dealers when you play, I don't care if you're only playing one hand. Also, get in good with the pit bosses and you can get comps without earning any points. One of the coolest pit bosses out there is named "Brian" and he works the tables in the Santa Fe Station casino off North Rancho Drive. If you are a new player, he will give you anything you want as long as he sees you around a lot. My ex and I used to go up there a lot and he would just see us walk by and say "Hey you girls hungry tonight?" and he'd hand us a couple of food comps lol So yeah, get to know the bosses... it comes with its own set of perks.

Let's see... if you like cheap blackjack, the 4 Queens casino has the best $2 blackjack tables (I know cuz I used to play on my breaks when I worked in the Subway restaurant in there lol) They also have random drawings every hour for free spins on their "big wheel" (or at least they did when I lived out there).

Also Golden Nugget also has some free slot machine tournaments if you get in fast enough they give out a handful of tickets for it and whoever wins the most out of so many spins wins the prize. Those are really random tho so you kind of have to be in the right place at the right time for those. Let's see... Gold Coast and the casinos out off of Tropicana have a lot of good deals a lot of the time (free dinners, etc), you just have to keep an eye out for the advertisements.

Also don't know if you know this or not but as long as you're playing somewhere in the casino, you get all the free beer, liquor, smokes, etc. that you could ask for. No charge at all. So that's always a plus if you're a drinker / smoker.

Free show, the main one I remember going to see that didn't cost anything was the Treasure Island Pirate Show... they had it at 7:30pm when I lived out there, but you might want to check and see if the time has changed since then. It's been a long time, so I wouldn't doubt it. Also keep your eyes peeled out near MGM because sometimes they have free concerts if you are playing in the casino, they sometimes hand out random tickets. We got to see Dione Warwick that way lol We weren't actually IN MGM, but walking down the sidewalk when we got handed the tickets lol *shrugs* Talk about being in the right place at the right time lol

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head right this minute... oh, I almost forgot, Sahara has a roller coaster that runs thru it, and sometimes you can win a free ride... certain days of the week they have little drawing for a free ride (or at least they did when I lived there).

Like I say tho a lot of things have changed since I was there, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these things have probably changed by now as well... but it's worth checking out.

PS >>> As far as entertainment, Santa Fe Station has a theater and an ice skating rink inside, so if Brian is still a pit boss out there, get in good with him and he'll get you in there for nothing lol

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[EliminateU]

Thanks for the info. I wanted to try out the cool things like that. Vegas seems like a good place for an annual anniversary trip for us. Especially since she suggested it

[liladypokerpro]

No problem, I wish I could remember more/be of more help, but unfortunately 5+ years puts a dent in the old memory bank lol

I was trying to think of the name of the road, but it's out near Sahara somewhere... there's a small casino that looks like a Western saloon... they have bikini bull riding LOL This is, of course, if the wife is okay with it.

Also somewhere on the outskirts of the strip there's a big mall with all sorts of great shopping, so if the wife gets mad at you for something while you're there, take her there and I can guarantee she'll forgive you lol

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[liladypokerpro]

I almost forgot, a lot of the casinos will give you free money on your comp card with which to play slot machines.... I know The Palms did it, among others.... I think The Palms gave out $10 to start out... some others give more or less.... it just depends really. That was one of the main reasons I said get as many comp cards as you can, I just forgot to add that LOL As far as slots, The Palms, Luxor and Fiesta always paid out better for me, but I guess it will vary for everyone.

I found this site - it might help you to find a good deal on one of the nicer hotels like Bellagio or Wynn... hope it helps:

http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/ind...cial/bellagio/

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[liladypokerpro]

Just remembered the free light show on Fremont Street LOL I keep remembering random things, sorry for all the posts... The light show is awesome... I can't remember what time it started tho... I want to say 8 or 9pm... But it's right in the middle of Fremont Street right where 4 Queens and Golden Nugget, etc. is would be the best spot to view it. But it gets real crowded real fast, so try to find out what time it starts and cram in a little early

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGkgqaAo90o"]YouTube - Fremont street Las Vegas NV Light show July 28th 2009 kiss[/ame]

[EliminateU]

Since you actually lived there, how do you rate the lifestyle there as a local? Are the schools good? Outside of the strip, is there a good community? I pretty sure it is like Central Florida economically ( tourism and no income tax), but a bit higher temp and no humidity. Is it a viable place to live, or does "Sin City" spill out everywhere?

[liladypokerpro]

Since you actually lived there, how do you rate the lifestyle there as a local? Are the schools good? Outside of the strip, is there a good community? I pretty sure it is like Central Florida economically ( tourism and no income tax), but a bit higher temp and no humidity. Is it a viable place to live, or does "Sin City" spill out everywhere?

Well, after a while it does wear on someone who is not used to being surrounded by all the glitz and glamor 24/7. I mean, you can't even go into a grocery store or a gas station without being bombarded by slot machines. So it takes a lot of getting used to.

I lived right on North Rancho Drive, so I was not in the midst of the worst that Vegas has to offer. The only thing that I saw out there that bothered me from an emotional stand point was all the homeless people lining the road down Bonanza... it's a really sad sight to see. It makes you really think about things in a broader perspective. On one side, the glitz and glamor, and on the other side, the desperate and distraught. It's such a fine line to walk in a place like that.

I don't have any kids so I really couldn't tell you what the schools are like. However, most of the kids I came across while living there seemed very polite, and I don't recall ever having seen anything in the news about any local kids getting into mischief.

If you were to live somewhere that is close, but far enough away from Vegas to not be engulfed by it, I would suggest the Lake Mead area. It's very nice and quiet... the complete opposite of the Vegas city limits. I also heard from many people that the Henderson area is nice too, but I never visited that area, so I couldn't tell you from a personal stand point.

The best thing is the ease of getting around in Vegas. They have a bus system called "CAT" that will take you anywhere. Also, you will learn all of the main arterial roads fairly quickly. Most all roads intersect an arterial road, so it's very hard to get lost.

I thought this might help you too... since I keep naming all these street names... here's an interactive map that will kind of give you an idea of the area:

http://major.lasvegasnevada.gov/webs...mps/viewer.htm

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[liladypokerpro]

Also, as far as getting employment there, it's a pain in the ass... You have to get a Sheriff's Card, which basically says you can legally work around alcohol and gaming, and you have to get a Health Card and two shots (vaccines against Hepatitis) so that you can legally work around food. So, to get a job in Vegas, you should put aside about $130 or so... that's about what I spent.

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