So I’m planning a trip to Vegas and I’ve heard all the stories about how sometimes people get their rooms “comped”. As in, a free room/suite.
How does one go about this? Do you estrablish a line of credit (i.e. deposit a sum of money with) a hotel/casino? Do you spend a certain amount of money? Which hotels offer the best deals? Which have the coolest rooms?
The research I’ve done says it requires sitting at gaming tables and gambling with a player’s card. If that’s true … ehhh, I’d rather pay for the room. Is there some other way to do it that just requires the promise of spending lots of money? Obviously I don’t want to run some scam here, just take advantage of any special offers.
Hook me up with the awesome stuff, experienced Vegas veterans and locals. This trip is for my brothers and I, so there will be three of us.
You play, for high stakes and a long time. They track you, and if you play enough, then you’re the guy they don’t want leaving. You can’t really fool Vegas, they’ve been doing this too long, and they’re all about the grind. They want you in the casino long enough for the odds to catch up to you.
Hmmmm. Well it seems then it’s a better deal to just buy the room.
Oh well, there goes that idea. Next idea … what’s the cool stuff to do? What’s recommended? What are the best places to stay? I’ve been in that crappy pink hotel down the strip (where the first part of Casino was filmed) and Paris.
You’d be surprised how little objective information a Google for this yields.
The rule of thumb these days seems to be about 10-15% of your losses as comps. So, if your hotel room is $150 a night during a peak time, you should be gambling enough that the expected loss is around $1000-$1500. That will be easier to reach if you play stuff with a bigger house edge like roulette, but if you’re at some single-hand blackjack table, you’re going to need to play several hours at more than $25 a hand.
If you count cards & are winning, you probably won’t get much. You can ask, and they may comp your rooms to have a shot at getting some money back from you, but generally they don’t want winners in the hotel. My brother is actually banned from a couple places because he won too much at blackjack.
There used to be ways to play the system (always buying in when the pit boss was watching, etc.), but the casinos track everything very carefully now. Most places track your play with the casino club cards, even at the tables, so be sure to sign up & use the card every time you sit down.
I spent a few days in Vegas last year while the wife was in a Convention/Training seminar. So I’m hardly a regular. But my favorite Casino was the MGM Grand. Had by far the most fun games, the atmosphere was still classy without over the top theme. And it had the best shows of the night that I hung out there.
Three Guapos out and about in Vegas? Sounds like a recipe for delicious YouTube footage. Maybe you should contact Bill Dungsroman, I’m sure he knows the best places to pick up dirty Vegas starlets.
Well you’re not going to get a free room just by calling the right place. Hotels (if you really want to sound like a local, don’t call them “casinos,” call them “hotels” or even “joints” if you want to sound old school) will comp you a free night’s stay in addition to the rooms you already paid for, or they may offer you a free or discounted night’s stay the next time you come back (there’s a reduced rate known as “casino rate”). You need to lose serious money to get rooms/nights that you have already paid for retroactively comped. As in, money you really really don’t want to lose.
It’s not all about the room rate, though. Just by playing and looking like you’re there to play and not really concerned with trying to squeeze out as many freebies as possible (sorry, but you’re not that clever, hotels see people like you all day, every day), you’ll get free drinks (most places serve free drinks as long as you’re actively gambling. However, I’d always tip the waitress at least a buck a drink, otherwise you’ll find they’re magically too busy to get around to you). You’ll also get comps to the various food outlets in the joint, relative to money gambled in either direction (floor supervisors give out comps to losers as consolation and to winners to hopefully get them off the table to break their streak). Don’t ever act like you deserve to get anything, that will just piss them off.
The cheapest hotels are off the Strip or Downtown. Don’t stay Downtown. It sucks. Don’t stay at the Hard Rock (which isn’t on the Strip but prices its rooms like it is), The Palms, Mandalay, Venetian, Caesar’s Palace, Mirage, Wynn, none of these high profile Strip joints. They’ll gut you for your room rate and they see so much action in the pits they’ll barely take notice of you.
Now, if you want to go cheap and be in the middle of it, you can stay at the Imperial Palace. It’s on the Strip, it’s centrally located, but it’s The Hotel Time Forgot. It’s horrid, but it’s surrounded by great places. If you want a little better comfort level, try the Gold Coast or Orleans. They are both about a block or two west of Las Vegas Blvd (“The Strip”), but they offer free shuttles, cab fare is like 5 bucks, and your rate will be cheaper no question. Also, The Gold Coast is right across the street from The Palms, which is one of the hottest joints in town. Similarly, you could stay at The Excalibur, which is sort of shitty but also on the Strip, and is on the same intersection with The MGM and New York New York, which have a far amount of action. Right next to it is The Luxor, which is a bit nicer. You’ll note the B and C-grade joints will appreciate your action more. You can go play a few hands at a bigger joint and feel like a high roller if you like, but you can make your bread and butter at a smaller spot.
If you get almost totally busted out and still want to have a decent time, hit the nickel slots. Yeah, that sounds trashy, but you can still gamble and if you tip the cocktail girl well (especially on your first order), she’ll keep feeding you your drinks (she works mostly tips, she doesn’t care if you’re playing penny slots or $10,000 hands in the VIP room).
I were you, ElG (and by “you” I mean that literally), I’d avoid the IP and shabbier joints. You’re gonna be pulling game, I know you. You need a better spot to lure back a willing girl to seal the deal. I’d go with the Gold Coast. It’s likely to be cheaper, they’ll hit you with freebies for medium-grade action, and it’s by The Rio (which has a decent newer part in the back) and across from The Palms. It was also fairly recently remodelled. You can check the Orleans too, it’s just west of the corner that has the MGM etc. on it, which is near where Mandalay Bay is, which is another hip spot. It’s also near a couple high-grade strip clubs, you dirty old bastard.
I was going to suggest the Orleans as well. As Bill mentioned, it’s just two-three blocks off the strip, next to one of the gentlemen’s clubs areas of town, and has a nice view of the strip at night (ask for a room with east-facing windows). It is also within a couple miles (short cab ride) of some of the hot spots, including the Palms, etc. And it has a decent movie theater and a nightclub or two in the hotel if there’s a night the fellas don’t want to drive anywhere.
Whenever I visit Vegas, if I don’t stay with family, I stay at the Orleans.
That’s the crazy thing about Vegas, if you don’t know what was remodeled/rebuilt in the last year, then you don’t know anything. The last time I was there several years ago, I wouldn’t have stayed in the Orleans for free, but the IP was fairly nice for a budget place.
And, while Downtown may suck, it still has a few joints with the feel of old movie Vegas, like the Golden Gate (cheap shrimp cocktails!) and the Horseshoe, if Harrah’s hasn’t fucked it up too much. (have they?) And it’s great for a silly drunken ramble, if that’s your thing. The strip isn’t really walking-friendly, but Fremont Street is a great stumble. For fun, see if you can convince someone to go to the Western casino. I didn’t have the balls, too many homeless people guarding the doors.
For real things to see and do, you’ve got to do research, because everything is there. I l like to go to Penn and Teller, maybe head out of town for the canyon or Red Rock, see something fun like Blue Man, or just go to dirty downtown for kicks. You may like entirely different things.
Bill pretty much covered the reason why I recommend the Excalibur: fairly cheap and surrounded by the cooler hotels to walk to, so it’s your best bang for your buck.
He also covered why you wouldn’t want to stay there, namely, to impress a woman.
A lot of folks don’t care for the 1/4 to 1/2 mile between casinos, plus the 1/4 mile from the strip to the casino doors, especially in summer. The denser parts at the north end are walking-friendly, but the middle is a pain in the ass.
We stayed at the Venetian when we were there and while, yes, it’s expensive - it’s really beautiful. We were in the tower part which I guess is extra gutting but the privacy was nice. The casino downstairs is clean and the hotel itself is just plain nice to be in. IMO, anyway…
But, again, I agree that it isn’t cheap.
As for the strip, it’s HELLA walking. The casinos are a lot further apart than you imagine. You really need to grab cabs if you plan to be going from place to place.
I walked all over the strip, to the point where I wore out a pair of shoes (bring comfortable walking shoes). You will have a great time.
I would strongly recommend seeing Ka at the MGM. Its the best Cirque du Soleil I’ve ever seen and its just awe inspiring. There is a comedian at the Hooters casino that was lot of fun for a reasonable price. But my wife and I were entertained just to walk through the casinos and gawk at everything (which is really easy on the pocketbook).
The Golden Nugget is fairly nice, too. I like Downtown, but it’s a totally different experience from staying on The Strip. Much less glamorous, but popular with all the people from Hawaii who just go to Vegas with their families to eat and gamble. The girls are much hotter on The Strip, though.
As Supertanker said, if you want to get rated using a player’s card then you must bet at least an aggregate of $25 minimum for table games. Games like blackjack where there is only a single bet must be played at $25 minimum per hand. Games like Let It Ride, craps and other multi bet games require at least $25 in total bets. One way around the blackjack minimum is to have multiple people play on the same table on one player’s card. For example, if you or a friend have a player’s card and are playing at the same blackjack table for $15 bets each, tell the pit boss that you want both bets rated together on the same card. If the pit boss is nice, he will then rate your friend as having made a $30 bet. Always do this if one person is playing without a card or if a one bet is under $25.
As for hotels, Imperial Palace is as cheap as they come (and it shows). Excaliber is a step up. The place across the street from Excaliber and MGM (Harley Davidson?), seems reasonable and it has a Hooters somewhere inside. Look into MGM and Luxor also, as they seem to have specials more often. If you are contacting hotels directly, ask them if they have any special poker rates.
How do they track what you’re betting at blackjack on the player’s card? They just require a $25 bet and then record what you cash in and out and how long you were there?
