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6 Nights in Vegas - On a Budget

A little background on us. I’m 35 my wife is 28. We aren’t major gamblers by any stretch, but we usually hit up a local casino maybe once a month, twice if we do good, and usually gambling about $100 a piece each time. We are both huge sports fans, especially college sports (Notre Dame). I’m a bit of a tightwad most of the time.
The morning of April 2, 2016 I asked her if she wanted to marry me (both of us have been married once before), she said yes. I bought tickets that morning, didn’t tell anyone our plans and drove from South Bend Indiana area to Chicago O’Hare, and arrived in Vegas right around dark.
The first couple of Hotels I tried for were booked, but we ended up finding a room at Planet Hollywood (which we spent all of about 4 hours in). We then flew out the next morning, spending a total of about 12 hours in Vegas.
This time around, after finding out my kids would be with their mom over Spring Break, I decided to save up and actually plan a trip this time. We debated Florida, Canada, the Smokies, and ended up deciding on Vegas.
Tuesday – March 27 We stayed the night at Blue Chip Casino (BOYD Gaming) in Michigan City Indiana (halfway to O’Hare). Both of us had comps for a free room and Buffet’s as well and about $75 worth of food credit that we had been saving for our Vegas trip. They also gave me a $25 gas card. We decided to gamble $100, and lost pretty quickly. After eating our “free buffets” we decided to go to bed, anticipating an early morning.
Wednesday – March 28 Once we got to O’Hare, we went and checked our 1 bag in at the Spirit Airlines desk. Everything at Spirit is A la Carte, and I had paid for 1 checked bag, however the lady in front of me discovered that their checked bags cost even more if over 40lbs. I had gone with Spirit to save a buck, and overall the experience wasn’t terrible, but I’ve had much better experiences with other non-discount airlines. After arriving in Vegas, we rode the bus from the airport to the Rental Car facility, and in short time had our new car for the week. The nice lady at Payless tried selling me several extras, and I politely declined each of them. I’ve come to expect the sales pitch no matter what rental company I use, and overall my experience with these guys was very good. We ended up changing reservations last minute for our Hotel due to additional offers I received while at Blue Chip. After checking in at the Fremont (all 6 nights) we unpacked, stopped at IN & OUT Burger, and made a run to Wal-Mart for snacks and drinks. We then decided to go check out the Nuwu Dispensary, we were both very impressed with the selection, cleanliness, and friendliness of everyone we talked to there (we are novices at this lol). After making a “small” purchase, we decided to drive out to Mount Charleston for the evening and ended up catching the sunset before driving back into town. We spent the rest of the evening walking around Fremont Street mostly just people watching, before we grabbed a snack from the Café inside the Fremont and went back to our room for the night. The food was average at best, but the price was right, even if I hadn’t used my points.
Thursday – March 29 We slept in until about 9:30, and slowly made our way over to the Hoover Dam. On our way to the Dam, we stopped at Sunset Station for their Brunch Buffet, and were really impressed, especially for the $7 price. After gambling a little and not winning we continued to the Dam. Waze had me going some crazy roads that I’d never taken before to get there, and took us about 3 times longer than I had ever remembered. After getting closer and seeing all of the traffic/road construction I now knew why. All of the lower parking lots were full, so we drove to the little gift shop on the Arizona side (I was surprised to see the road now ends here), got a couple of little souvenirs for our boys, and walked around a little bit before exploring Lake Meade a little and driving back to Fremont. After relaxing for a little bit we again decided to walk around Fremont Street and ended up getting Margaritas and Enchilada Nacho’s at Nachodaddy’s. I would highly recommend this place if you want a good drink and great nachos, we both loved it, and our bartenders were great. After walking back to the Fremont and going back and forth on winning/losing at the slot machines, my wife got a bonus feature on the machine she was playing, when I noticed a guy standing behind her watching. He looked really familiar, and after seeing “Deez Nuts” on the back of his jacket, I realized he was the youtube star from the Deez Nuts video. He posed for a picture with my wife and then went on his way. We gambled for a few hours and went to bed about even on the day.
Friday – March 30 After grabbing coffee from Dunkin Donuts inside the Fremont, we decided to drive down to Primm, because my wife had never been to California. We stopped at the truck stop and decided against topping off on gas, due to the price being over $4/gallon. We walked around the shop, found some more souvenirs for the kids, and ate lunch at Qdoba. After driving around behind the outlet mall, I realized there wasn’t a sign saying welcome to California, so I hopped on I15 and continued South/West until she got to see her sign. We went a few exits and decided a trip all the way to Baker wasn’t worth the drive, so we turned around just past the giant solar farm on the right. In the stretch from about a mile outside of Primm to where we turned around, we passed probably a dozen of each Nevada State Police and California Highway Patrol, many of which were on motorcycles and all of which had at least 1 car pulled over. About the time we made it back into Vegas, my buddy’s flight from Washington DC had arrived (he’s getting ready to leave for Japan for the next 3 years) so we went and picked him up at his hotel (Hooters). My wife won some money on the “Vacation” machine in Hooters and we decided to go walk the strip, which wasn’t a bad walk at all. We ended up going through the MGM, across to the Aria/Monte Carlo area and decided all the bars were a bit too busy due to a Golden Knights game getting ready to start. We walked over to Excalibur and rode the monorail to Mandalay Bay. We spent the rest of the evening here, and I decided to bet on Notre Dame Women, which turned out to be a good bet. My buddy, being born in Connecticut bet on UConn and that pretty much set the tone for his luck the rest of his trip. My wife and I ended up getting a giant hot dog/pepsi combo for $3.99 at the Café inside the Fremont after returning, and it was a better bet than the Chinese food we had tried earlier in the week.
Saturday – March 31 Another buddy of ours had moved to Vegas about 6 weeks ago, while his wife and kids are moving out there today. He called me late Saturday morning, and had us meet him out at the RV Dealership he works for. After getting a tour of their half million dollar Motorhomes (built here in Indiana), we hopped in his convertible and rode out to Red Rock Canyon. The line to get in was about 100 cars long, and it looked like they were only letting a few in every 15 minutes, so we drove out along that area and headed back a different way to the south side of town. The company he works for sponsors the Horse Arena at the South Point Casino, so we rode over, watched some of the show, and got the behind the scenes tour of the stalls, practice arena, and got to meet the horses/cowboys. We ended up spending most of the day at South Point, and we really enjoyed it, probably our favorite one on the “strip” so to speak. We ate dinner at Baja Miguel’s and all enjoyed our food. Later on Saturday night we rode back to downtown. My buddy that now lives in Vegas, took us to Container Park, which was really cool. After that we walked back down Fremont Street and I had bet earlier on Michigan beating Loyola in Men’s basketball. Another good choice, however I had to find a casino with a sports book that could cash me out. We ended up going to “The D” and really enjoyed the atmosphere/older machines. My wife ended up playing the old school Horse Racing Quarter Machine upstairs and stayed on it for quite a while. We ended up heading back to the Fremont, where we gambled the rest of our “$200 limit” for the day, and did pretty good. After several hours of gambling, we decided we were hungry, so we walked over to the Café at Binions, and were really impressed with what we had.
Sunday – April 1 We ate the Breakfast Buffet at the Fremont (comped), took an Uber back to our rental car on the other side of town, picked our buddy up at Hooters and headed north to Zion National Park. A couple hours later we arrived and were somewhat surprised that it wasn’t completely packed. My buddy has a free pass (Military) so we saved $30 on the gate fee. We spent most of the day at Zion, climbing, hiking, and exploring, it was my 4th time there, but the first time for my wife and buddy, and while my wife isn’t a hiker like me, she really enjoyed it and mentioned that it was one of her top 3 things we did on our trip. On our way back to town we stopped at Casa Blanca in Mesquite for a few hours, we didn’t do any good, but enjoyed the change of pace from the Vegas casinos.
Monday – April 2 We walked the strip again, and ate the brunch buffet at the Bellagio. It was really good, but if I hadn’t used the buy 1 get 1 free coupon I had, I wouldn’t have been quite as impressed. We walked around the strip some more, and ended up buying tickets to X-Country for my wife and I for the 10pm show at Harrah’s. The lady at the Box Office didn’t offer any discount, but when I asked about using my players card, she gave me a $10/ticket discount on the tickets. After that we drove across town to Sams Town (Boyd Gaming) and gambled for a few hours, I remembered a Steak House from several years back that I really enjoyed here, but we ended deciding against it for our anniversary meal. After going back to our hotel to change and shower, we ended up going to Viva Zapata’s (based on Reddit reviews). We weren’t disappointed! The food was amazing, the atmosphere even better, and the wait staff was the best! Our waiter asked what brought us out there, I told him it was our 2 year anniversary and we had flown in from Indiana to celebrate. We were enjoying the live Mariachi music, but started getting a little anxious as we were waiting on our bill (we wanted to get to Harrah’s by 9:30). A few minutes later here came the wait staff/musician to our table, put giant sombrero’s on us, gave us a couple of churros and each of us a shot of Tequila (no charge) while they sang us a song. I tipped them well and we were on our way to the show. My wife is a huge country music fan, and while I enjoy some of the older stuff, I’m more of a metalhead. I was pleasantly surprised at the price of our tickets, and for the money, the show wasn’t bad. 1 of the dancers really stood out from the rest though, but all in all it was a good experience. I wanted to go see Absinthe but found out they weren’t playing on Monday night. After our show we walked down to the Bellagio Fountains to see a show before heading back to the hotel.
Tuesday – April 3 We spent most of the morning packing up from our 6 nights at the Fremont, I checked with the Casino host to see about possibly comping more than 2 of our nights, but she showed me where my score in their algorithm was only a 65, and needed to be 100 to qualify for more. I still only paid $165 for the 4 nights I had to pay for, which was more than fair in my opinion, considering how little time we actually spent in the room. We went to Hooters and gambled for about 20 minutes, winning a couple hundred dollars, then took my buddy to the airport. Our flight wasn’t until 6:30pm, so we drove back North and had to try another Reddit suggestion for our last meal in town. We ended up at Hamburger Hut as we love to eat wings, and although the location and building were a bit sketchy, we ordered hot wings, a hot dog, and chili fries, this was our favorite food of the trip. We also really enjoyed hanging with some of the locals while we ate lunch. After eating lunch we hit up Walmart by the airport to find some last minute souvenirs to take back home, and then returned our rental car and waited a few hours for our flight back home.
What I would recommend
Sight Seeing - Zion National Park, Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead, Container Park (especially if you have kids)
Food - Hamburger Hut, Viva Zapata’s, In & Out Burger, Nachodaddy, Hotdogs at South Point, Breakfast Buffet at Sunset Station, also saved a bunch of money by getting snacks and drinks for our room at the grocery store on day 1.
Casinos – As a gambler, the ones off the Strip seemed to pay better, but the ones on the strip were much classier and had newer slots you can’t find elsewhere. My 3 favorite were the Fremont, The D, and South Point. My wife really enjoyed seeing the sights at the Bellagio, the Flamingo, and others on the Strip. No matter what, if you’re going to gamble, get a players card, it saved me a bunch of money.
Transportation – If you like to do more than just stay in town and walk all week, I’d highly recommend getting a rental car like we did (about $200 for the week for a nice sized car), but if you don’t plan on going on long day trips like we did, UbeLyft would be great.
Entertainment – XCountry at Harrahs wasn’t the top show I’ve ever seen, but 2 tickets for $80 something and a happy wife, I can’t complain at all. Watching all the entrepreneurs on Fremont Street as well as the stage shows for free was hard to beat, and any trip to Vegas should include the Bellagio Fountains, the Flamingo Habitat, and any other free entertainment you can find along the strip.
What I wouldn’t recommend
Airlines – don’t go with the budget airlines expecting to save a bunch of money if you plan on taking a bag with you, checked or carry on, prefer to pick your seats out in advance, or want to get a snack while flying.
Food – While we didn’t really have any “bad” experiences, the café and Buffet at the Fremont were probably my least favorite, but I can’t complain because I didn’t have to pay for anything at either of them. Also I was looking forward to checking out Heart Attack Grill (based on Ducktales review), but they were packed and took Cash Only fyi.
Sight Seeing – Fremont Street after dark really isn’t the place to take your small kids but be sure to take them to Container Park during the day, Hoover Dam (unless you go early), Red Rock Canyon scenic trail on a holiday weekend. Pawn Stars was packed and if you’ve seen it once, the excitement kind of wore off, and they apparently charge for parking now. I parked up the street for free and only had a short walk, but the people trying to push you to buy extras outside of the store really kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Trip Report - Not your usual Vegas trip, 5 Nights @ Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo

This is our second trip to Vegas this year. This was not a typical Vegas trip as we planned on staying in most of our vacation.
The first trip, my wife and I dutifully spent 4 days visiting and sightseeing as much as possible.
This time around we were looking for a staycation away from home, and Vegas at this time was the most affordable.

Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo
I dont know how old this property is, but it seems newish. I booked it in a hurry because it came with a one bedroom suite and a full kitchen. We wanted to stay in and just unplug so this place seemed perfect.
After booking we found out that the Flamingo Go Pool plays loud music everyday 9AM - 6PM during the warm seasons and that a lot of guests were super mad about being able to hear the non-stop music in their hotel room.
This worried me a lot and I tried to do more research on the place, but there was no conclusive evidence that the music wouldnt be bothersome. Some guests reported that the music was no bother, and others were furious.
Since I was staying 5 nights, I tried to tip the front desk $50 and asked for the quietest room they could get me because I heard about all the complaints. The receptionist refused the tip and said there wasnt much they could do but give me two options of rooms. One on a higher floor, overlooking the party pool, and the other on a very low floor in the corner. I guessed the lower floor would be quieter, because the higher room was directly in line of sight with the speakers.
Good new was that were not at all bothered with the music. Most days we couldnt hear it without focusing on it.

Day One - The entrance to the Hilton is hidden off to the right on the way to the Flamingo valet area. After unpacking real quick we headed out to get food and supplies for the week. We planned on going to Costco, but it was closed. We ended up going to Sprouts (which is great, but the meat and seafood counter didnt seem as fresh as in SoCal), Albertsons/Vons. We got a case of water, beer, steaks, cheeses, breads, and some veggies. When we got back to the hotel, we had the bellman bring up our groceries and got started on some steaks. We watched Game of Thrones and went to bed.
Day Two - We woke up, watched Game of Thrones, went to the Hilton pool (this is a separate pool from the Go Pool), drank some beers, made some lunch, and got dressed. Not necessarily in that order. In the evening we watched Beatles Love and it was awesome if you like the Beatles. We wanted to try Spagos, but they were closed so we walked across the street to White Castle. White Castle here is great, although I've never had it other than the frozen stuff. The frozen stuff actually tastes a like the fresh stuff, but I dont know if its a good or bad thing. We ate a bunch and were happy tho. Then we go some $1 beers at Casino Royale, lost $40 to slots and walked home.
Day Three - Same morning routine. Wake up, eat, drink, Game of Thrones, Minecraft. We met a friend and checked out Downtown Las Vegas. The entire street is fun with street performers and lots of bars. We decided on pizza at Pizza Rock, and was not impressed. Their famous margarita pizza is burnt. I like burnt charred foods, but the pizza was a little too much char and a little underdone. We tried a regular pepperoni pizza, which was better but nothing special. Then we spent most of our time at Oddfellows drinking cheap beer and waiting for karaoke. Oddfellows was a cool bar and they were playing Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (my favorite). The place reminded me if a hip bar scene in Los Angeles. We never made it to karaoke and retired for the night.
Day Four - Same morning routine. We went to lunch at Lotus of Siam. Great spot. We love Thai, and have our favorites here in LA. This place was as good as or better than some of our favorite spots. This video with Anthony Bourdain is a good guide for this place. We werent happy with our pizza the previous day, so we went out in search of Secret Pizza. Secret Pizza did not dissapoint. What I assume is the owner was working the pizza and he looked like he could have been related to the owner of one of my favorite NY pizza places. Last time we tried Pin-up Pizza, and its hard to say which one is better. They were both pretty close.
Day Five - We tried out the Go Pool. As a guest of HGV at Flamingo, we had a line pass to get in. The pool isnt as big as I imagined and it was bustling. It was surprisingly fun, and the DJ played some good songs. We hung out and enjoyed the pool for an hour or so. Watch where you step here though, I thought there were stairs leading into the pool and mis-stepped landing on my butt. I bruised my tailbone and it still hurts. :( We then went thrift store shopping. There are some large Goodwills here and we went to Savers. After thrift store shopping, we went back to the strip to the Hermes store in Caesars. We bought a nice scarf and checked out Spago's. Spago's was delicious, but we found that it wasnt as experimental feeling as the one in Los Angeles. No complaints about the food. We then checked out the High Roller. There was a guy selling tickets at the street entrance and sold tickets for $5 off. The High Roller was pretty amazing even without booze. It goes around once during your 30 minute ride and it is massive. Because it looks like a ferris wheel, I dont think people can wrap around their heads how big and how high this thing goes.
Day Six - We packed up and went to Wicked Spoon. First we went to the Las Vegas Advisor office to buy a coupon book for $37. It included a BOGO Wicked Spoon coupon, and we might use the other coupons later. Wicked Spoon is a nice buffet. The carving station meats were are very well done (the beef was served rare, but it was well done as in delicious). There were a lot of delicious things to try. In comparison with The Bachannal, we liked this place better. For the price, Bachannal wasnt worth it for us. The Wicked Spoon hit a good price to value ratio. On our way out, we played some roulette and won a little spending money. We hurried back to the Hermes store and picked up another scarf! On the way home to Los Angeles, we stopped by the oldest Del Taco. The food they had was of better quality than a regular Del Taco.

Anyway, I'd stay at the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo again. Its right by the strip near the center. Its a great value, and it comes with a bedroom and kitchen (they have a one room bedroom only rooms too)
Thanks Vegas!

What happened to Las Vegas?

Las Vegas as a destination...sucks. It seems like like the hotels nickel and dime people FOR EVERYTHING. Want to use the pool, or the gym, or the concierge? Well, today is your lucky day! The hotels took all of the services and activities that used to be FREE and used them as an excuse to charge a resort fee... If that wans't bad enough, now the hotels are charging for PARKING! But don't worry, they are only charging so they can provide you with new infrastructure and better service... if you believe that I know a Nigerian prince that would like to talk to you.
So you payed to park, you paid for your over priced room, and finally you paid the stupid resort fee. Now it should get better right? I mean, you payed so much the hotels have to offer something right? NOPE! Gone are free buffet vouchers, gone are free drinks, gone is pretty much any sign of value. The drinks at the casino bars are about 4-5x overpriced - NO, I don't want to pay 22 dollars for a real cadallac margarita (patron gold, lime juice, Contreau w/ Grand Marnier. I was told that Vegas is transitioning from a gambling destination to luxery nightclubs and high end pool parties. They wonder why people don't gamble as much, sure the economy plays a part but the main reason is: no one wins anymore!! The slots and other machines have been tightened down to the point where not only do you expect to lose money, it isn't even fun anymore. Put $100 bucks in lose it all before even 1 "bonus game" comes up. Don't get me wrong, you will "win". Ya, you "win" $0.15... too bad the spin cost ya $5. The casinos don't bother to run any worth while promos anymore, the slot and video poker machines have been tightened up, and the casinos don't comp shit anymore. Instead of a free buffet, now you get 10% off a buffet! Instead of a free night, you get a "Super Special Player's Club Rate" (great, 8% off...on the weekdays).
So back to this Luxery night club scene. Here is a Vegas night club explained: Charge guests at least $30 to get in, drinks have to be $20 each and be light on anything that is not RC Cola or cheap sugary syrup, for music - choose between electronic that all sounds the same after 45 minutes or whatever rap songs that everyone heard 1000 times on the radio making the drive, Man... really? Am I the ONLY one here that is sick of nightclubs?
I can't be the only one that is sick of these "cool" hotels. The only guy I know that brags about staying in the [Fancy Pants Hotel] is a 350 fat guy who posts quotes like "It's hard being friends with girls when all they want is sex" on Facebook daily - who although he swears he has "boned a ton of super hot girls, some models even", he has NEVER had a GF. In fact, no one has EVER seen him spit game, touch a girl (the notorious arm gram doesn't count, might even prove my point further), or bring a girl home (Maybe you have met his brother - the guy that is always showing of his bottle of Cristal, the same one he has had for 5 years...) . However, it seems that there are enough of these losers dying to impress women by their baller ~~economy room with view~~ "penthouse" that go to those Luxury nightclubs to make Vegas turn into douche bag central.
Sure, there are still a couple of good values left - but they are dying fast. One can get 4 real Patron Cadillac margaritas for the price of one at [fancy pants hotel] by taking a trip down the strip to Circus Circus or Stratusphere. If you can stomach the smell of regret and cheap hookers. The Hard Rock is still doing the 777 deal, however the cab ride is probably going to cost ya triple that each way. The Casino Royale has Michelobe Ultra's (a type of beer that no one knows exists outside that small casino) and what they call "margaritas" for $1. Plus they have the only 100x odds craps on the strip (which is actually pretty damn good, craps has one of the lowest house edges available). The Magnoila cafe has a descent prime rib dinner that with coupon comes to ~$10. Sure one can go downtown and have some fun for less, but lets be honest. If the fancy lights aren't above you, you have a good chance to getting robbed/mugged/assaulted.
The sad thing is I don't see the last good values lasting too long. Iconic hotels like the Riviera and the Sands is just the beginning, in a couple more years all the values on the strip will be replaced with "luxury hotels" following MGM's lead: Charge for Parking, Charge Resort fees, Charge for what used be complimentary. RAPE people for nightclub entrance, nightclub drinks and Shows (although last time I went I did get a good deal on Blue Man Group and Phantom of the Opera tickets...but only after I spent hours looking). One has to wonder, what the fuck are they going to charge for next? House keeping? Towels? Soap and Shampoo? Is there going to be a curtain over the window next time I go, with a dollar fee to open for 15 minutes? Is the AC going to be p4p?
Sorry for the rant, I just honestly think that resort fees and having to pay for parking in a place like Las Vegas should be criminal. I remember my mom grabbing a handful of my quarters (that I was using at the ARCADE) to play the slots while waiting for my pops to come down from the room and winning 400 in quarters. I remember my neighbor that would get so many free nights he couldn't possibly using them all just from comps from buying in $800 at the poker table. I remember my friends parents going to Vegas every weekend they could, and winning. They used to keep track of their winnings vs. money spent on gambling, room, food, etc. They said they hardly ever had years where they were in the red more than 1k - and most of the time they either didn't spend anything or came home with more than they left with. Those same people not only don't keep track anymore - they have basically stopped gambling. They both played Video Poker, and it has gotten to the point where they don't even enjoy it anymore. Last time I saw them in Vegas we met up at a hotel for dinner. I went to get my friend, her dad and I drinks from the bar (because all they would comp was "mixed drinks", that could best be described as a splash of the lowest of the low plastic bottle rum or vodka - honestly can't tell which its so god awful - combined with "soda" that makes those shitty bargain brand sodas seem like nectar of the gods). I was gone no longer than 5 minutes, and when I returned her dad wanted to leave. He had lost almost $300 dollars in video poker...in less than 5 minutes. He wasn't playing a crazy high roller machine either, he was playing $0.50/credit and 5 credits. He didn't win (not counting pairs) one hand. He didn't even get dealt a 3 of a kind (which anyone who plays video poker knows, is one of the most exciting things because your praying for that 4th one and a nice win!) once!
Tl;Dr: Vegas sucks. With the addition of resort fees and parking fees and the transition from a gambling destination to a luxury night club destination it is quickly turning into tool central.

Boys Weekend in Biloxi May 14/15 2016

Visiting 28th-1st... Are we doing it right? Can you help us do it better!?

[Table] I am a casino executive. AMA

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2013-06-16
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
What's you're best story about someone trying to con/steel from the casino?	I figure you're looking for some kind of crazy Oceans 11 story (of which there are several in the industry but none on my watch), but honestly the best ones are people trying to steal from the fucking buffet.
	Mom comes in with two kids and says they're not eating so she shouldn't have to pay. The cashier says OK.
	Fast forward 15 minutes and the cashier notices that the kids are missing.
	THE FUCKING MOTHER IS FEEDING THEM UNDER THE TABLE LIKE FUCKING DOGS.
Best AMA response ever. have an upvote!	We had set out in the foyer those bags for your umbrella so the floor doesn't get wet.
	Lady takes one, goes to the buffet, and starts filling it with food. Brazenly. Not trying to hide it.
	We stop her and she says "what? this is all you can eat?!"
"Sit down and eat the contents of the bag then..."	We found a HUGE ziplock bag of food by a table. The "customer" had obviously left it behind.
	She realized she forgot it and came back to get it about 30 minutes later.
You should hire me as a buffet monitor i can pose as a customer then obnoxiously call them out for stuffing their purses with chicken fingers and mashed potatoes w/gravy. "HEY FAT LADAYYY I SEE YOU STEALIN THEM CHIKKAN FINGAZ!"	Have a lady who consistently bitches about having to pay full price since she can't consume a lot because of her gastric bypass.
Do you actually have a policy to ask people to leave if you feel they lost more than they can afford? i watched a piece by loius theroux once where he asked this question to some of the managers of a casino and they all said "oh, i know they can afford it, of course we would ask them to stop if they couldnt". but obviously, from a business perspective, this is counter-intuitive towards making profits. so what is your take on this whole thing? and what is the overhead like for running a casino? what are some expenses you have which may be surprisingly high?	We never make judgment on whether or not they can afford it. We really only step in if they come to us or start doing something overt like begging for money or asking for loans, etc. In the macro view, it's very bad for business if we don't do something about problem gambling when it presents itself.
	Overhead... EBITDA margin of 30% is great.
	Expenses... I guess crab legs would be too obvious? Besides that, maybe table games labor. You have a 0.5% house advantage at blackjack and have to have a physical person here 24/7 plus a supervisor for every 5-6 games.
What games are the biggest money makers for the casino? and coincidentally, Ace, ever ran a sports book?	Penny slots by far.
	Ha. No. But have worked in casinos that have them.
But why do I always win/come out ahead max-betting on the fucking Sex and the City penny slot?	Google "law of large numbers"
1) How do you like the city? (So many people hate on it, and I don't understand why). Also, how did you like UNLV and when were you there?	1.) I actually just moved away for a job. I just think Vegas is OK. I moved there when I was in my mid-20s with a decent job so it was cool and exciting then. Fast forward a decade or so and the allure isn't there anymore. It's not "home" and I don't think it will ever will be because of how transient the population is.
2) to me it seems like a pretty small about of locals gamble (at least at the strip properties), do you guys keep tabs on those numbers? If so, what is the ratio of your gambling customers?	2.) I don't have the numbers in front of me, but we did a study one time and showed that Vegas has the highest incidence of regularly gambling activity in the nation. I always just felt that was a function of accessibility and self selection on the part of the residents. But you're right that locals don't go to the strip. The marketing offers are terrible compared to the non-strip properties and it's a pain to get to the strip just to get your gambling fix.
To what extent is organized crime still present in or around the casinos? Any personal encounters?	Virtually none AFAIK.
	The industry is very, very heavily regulated. When you get to the executive ranks you have to go through very, very thorough background checks. 5 years of tax returns, 5 years of all cancelled checks, explanations of all withdrawals > $200 and deposits > $500, in depth interview with an agent, etc.
	The last time I've heard of legit organized crime here in the states (places like Macau are an entirely different story) was in Rosemont, IL I think in the mid-90s.
	Link to casinoconnectionac.com
Damn, all withdrawals over $200? For the past 5 years? "Uh, I dunno, I don't really remember why I withdrew $300 from an ATM 3 years ago. Maybe I spent it buying some off of Craig's List, I dunno."	Yeah, it's really ridiculous.
Explain Macau?	The Triad are heavily influential there. Kind of like what you'd imagine in Vegas in the 50s.
Holy shit, I live in Des Plaines.	Des Plaines' only problem now is how to more quickly count all the money they're making
The scene from Skyfall comes to mind.	Yep.
Organized crime is the muscle of the casino, the security guards, the directors of security, the private investigators, the small business owners, the gamblers who launder money through the casinos. Of course the mob isn't like the movies anymore.	Well i'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on everything except the money laundering despite the fact we have to live by Title 31 Link to en.wikipedia.org
It is true that if a person is on a helluva winning streak and is consistantly winning and you cant figure out why... you will demand that he take his winnings and leave and never show his face in the place again? (kick him out for winning).	It's possible but relatively rare. you have to have enough cash to really turn out our lights to get to that point. for the vast vast majority of people, we have more money than you so as long as feel like we can get you back in the door, go ahead and win away
So that scene in Rain man is totally bullshit then? Where they consistently win and make $80,000 from a couple of thousand... then are told to GTFO after the casino guys couldnt figure out how they were doing it.	Bullshit only in the sense that couldn't figure out what was going on
What gives a person the best odds when playing Blackjack-playing with more decks or less decks? i seem to win more with tables that use 6 decks and my friends do better with 4 decks..	It's a lot more than the number of decks and the casinos use that information asymmetry to their advantage (e.g., $5 SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK!!!) Everything being the same, the less amount of decks the better but we will change the payouts for BJ, rules for splitting and double down, etc. to our advantage. So you can have a 6-deck shoe with otherwise very liberal rules that have a lower house advantage than a single deck show with very unfavorable rules.
So with the same set of rules, less decks is more favourable?	Yes everything else being equal
Is that just because it's easier to count or is it fancy math stuff.	Fancy math stuff.
	USING FEWER DECKS.
	Six Decks: -0.02% Five Decks: -0.03% Four Decks: -0.06% Two Decks: -0.19% One Deck: -0.48%
	Link to www.onlineblackjack.com
Ever seen anyone get naked or have sex in the casino or bathrooms?	Boobs pop out of the cocktail waitresses' uniforms relatively often because they'll get tops 3 sizes too small in order to get bigger cleveage/tips.
	Saw chick blowing a dude at a slot machine at the entrance of a club.
	And Vegas has all of these European-style pools so if you're out there "inspecting the grounds" then all those girls are topless.
Sweet. What'd you do with the BJ couple? Pic of one of the pools please?	Security was running towards them so I just assumed they got the boot.
	Pools = just go to imagefap and look for topless beaches.
Do you ever feel guilty for all the money people lose to your business?	Of course.
Did you see the fictional series "Tilt" on ESPN about 5-7 years ago? Any opinions on it? Did you find it entertaining? Did you find any of it accurate at all?	Vaguely. And when I say that I mean I remember the series and watching a bit of it and that's it.
	To us, the holy grail of Casino movies is Casino and Rounders.
Thanks for the response! I love Rounders, but it seemed to focus more on the players, and more on non-casino-based games, whereas Tilt was as much about the casino management as anything else. I should watch Casino.	Yeah if you're interested in the casino management piece then Casino.
Does your casino make any efforts to stop problem gamblers from betting more than they can afford?	Every casino company has policies regarding problem gambling that are audited by the state. Each state also has its own minimum guidelines like mandating that brochures be placed in very visible areas of the casinos, hotline numbers printed on every ad, etc.
	It's a delicate situation when you think someone might have a problem because, well it might not be a problem. So we generally only do things if they specifically ask us to (e.g., they can ban themselves) or if they start doing something really egregious like asking players or employees for loans at which point we'd probably pull them aside and hand them a brochure and ask if there's anything we can do to help because what they're currently doing is unacceptable (the begging).
There's a casino near my house that keeps a full time car appraiser on staff. I've always felt that's a little shady. You ever run into anything like that?	No way.
Even though I believe casino gambling should be legal, I find the practice of casino's providing credit to be morally indefensible. What is your opinion on the practice? Would it be a reasonable compromise to allow for more casinos on the stipulation that gambling on a margin is banned?	So if I'm a high worth individual who likes to gamble, your expectation is that I just bring in a suitcase of $100s to gamble with?
No, a debit card.	Reasonable.
A debit card? not reasonable...a credit limit is the only feasible way some patrons can gamble...most people do not want to walk around with 50k in there pocket...and I'm not sure how you would go about withdrawing thousands of dollars from an ATM machine.	I was being sarcastic. It's a huge competitive disadvantage to not be able to offer credit (e.g., Missouri) because no high roller wants to play there. You'd have to physically go to the bank, withdraw 20K cash or whatever, somehow survive walking to your car, and then somehow survive walking to the casino from your car. TBF, there's also what is called front money which is where you can wire money to us and we will hold it for you but you have to pay the fees vs us offering you credit free. I did have a millionaire player who strictly got his money off of a variety of credit cards and would just do cash advances. We obviously never questioned it but he had apparently had a huge credit line (evidenced by the amount he was able to withdraw) and enough to pay it back (evidenced by him able to come often).
notjabba...no one cares if "you believe casino gambling should or shouldn't be legal"
How do you know if i am card counting, and do you care if i am not playing for big money?	Primarily odd fluctuations in your betting patterns. $5, 5, 5, 5, then $1,000, then $5, 5, 5, 5 would catch our eye big time.
, big money!	We care. Small wins add up.
What if i went 5,5,5,20? Would you care then?	At those low levels no one would be on the lookout for you.
How automated is the alerting system for this? Pit boss getting info from the sky I assume?	Not very automated. There are a variety of technologies out there designed to thwart this but they're expensive and casinos are too staid to invest.
	So basically it's just either surveillance or the pit supervisor noticing something odd then starting to keep track of the bets.
Might be a silly question, but does stuff ever go down like it does in the movies? Like, say some guy is cheating in one way or another or doesn't take a hint to leave. Is he going to get taken into a back room and get his ass kicked or just escorted out? Taking fingers, breaking knee caps etc. etc.	Nah, too highly regulated these days.
At what point do you start looking for card counters? If I'm playing with a $50-200 bet spread am I noticeable? Is the the spread (4:1, 8:1, 20:1) the dollar figure or a combination?	Sorry this isn't my area of expertise so I can't with this level of specificity. I'd think a 4X spread wouldn't be bad, though, but just an educated guess.
	You could buy a membership to the Green Chip forum (bj21.com), though and read up on the reverse engineering they've done.
I would venture a guess that electronic card games have pattern recognition built right in?	I don't know how they do the shuffle. I'd imagine it's a fresh shuffle before every hand like in video poker thus nullifying counting.
Well I understand that, but profits on a casino are through the roof, are they not? I assume that there is a relatively low amount of card counters , and that you still will make a very good profit.	Profits aren't as good as you'd think post 2008 economy.
	Bottom line is that it ain't ever gonna happen. Sorry.
What is the biggest amount you have seen someone lose?	I was working at Wynn when Andy Beal played "The Corporation" so that was like $16.5MM he lost to them I believe.
That's fucking cool, I read the book detailing the events of this, Link to en.m.wikipedia.org. Any cool stories etc from your point of view from then?	Honestly, everything I found out about it at the time was from 2+2. I didn't have direct access to the players so it wasn't really like I could analyze the session with Phil afterwards.
Urban legends of someone winning big at the slots but having it taken away to a glitch. Has this really happened to your knowledge?	Not urban legend. Many cases like this. The player never wins. Google it and you'll find tons of them. E.g.,
	Link to www.lasvegassun.com
	This one is international but I think is the funniest. Not only did you "win" $55MM on a machine that stated the max jackpot was $50K but after winning $55MM, you went ahead and played another spin... just in case...
	Link to www.thanhniennews.com
Damn that sucks. Well here is one for you. Did you know that in Panama you can double down at the black jack tables at any point. It gives you a huge advantage and you can win a lot of money that way.	I'd heard something like that. My best friend (avid gambler) went to Costa Rica and basically came back saying he had to totally re-learn BJ when he was down there because of all of their crazy rules.
	If that's true about Panama, I'm surprised there aren't people haven't just set up shop down there and pillaged that place until they went bust.
No i didnt have sex with the hooker but my friend did make out with her drunk.	As would I. What's up with fucking people who just make out? Fucking amateur hour. This isn't fucking 7th grade.
He didn't know that she was a hooker and was just putting the moves on her. He thought he was just really smooth with his broken spanish. What he didn't know what that I paid her to keep quiet about it. He looked REALLY sad when someone else bought her and he realized what she was.	I actually did something similar for my friend after he split up with his whore wife. We wanted to boost his spirits so gave a hooker $100 to go and flirt with him.
Shit man in Panama you can get a lot more than flirting for a hundo. Granted she won me a grand and i think i threw her 50 back. Well that and she got to make out with my friend...Worth it. Did your friend end up with the hooker hilarious movie style?	Nah, this was in Vegas, he's cheap, and we're not that generous.
How do Vegas casinos differ from Native American casinos? Or are they essentially the same?	Depends in the jurisdiction. in some there is no difference (e.g florida) while others are wildly different (e.g north Carolina)
I'm curious as to how they differ. I'm from NC but haven't been to any of the casinos around here.	In NC, for example, games have to be "games of skill" so like on the slot machines you don't just pull the handle and watch the reels go round and round, you have to physically touch the game to stop each reel.
That's not true (I've been there).	Admittedly it's been awhile since I've dealt with them (I used to work for Harrah's) but it was like that for awhile.
	Link to wizardofodds.com (scroll down a bit)
They might have some that are like that, but the handful I played (there are a shit ton) were not. Apparently they've got table games there now, too, which is new from when I was last there just a year ago.	Well the states quickly understand that they're leaving money on the table (no pun intended) but creating this arcane regulations.
Fastest growing casino region? AC? Vegas? Macau?	Macau.
	Absolutely nothing domestically.
Why? Distance to the large volume of middle and wealthy chinese?	Yes, and whose culture has a high propensity for gambling.
Why isn't counting cards allowed? Lets say I was a math genius, isn't it just part of the game then?	Because we reserve the right to serve whomever we please as long as we're not discriminatory against a protected class.
I see. It just seems like mocking people for being good. Maybe if I was a black math genius with down syndrome I could get along with it. No offense to either btw.	Perhaps but we're not particularly concerned.
	Btw, I'm a bit of an advantage gambler myself. I only play low house advantage games, maximize my coupons and promotions etc. so I'm sympathetic but there's just nothing that can be done on the card counting front.
Private business CAN discriminate based on protected classes, just bad business to do so.	Then don't come to my casino.
Semi-serious question: have you ever crashed someone's hand with a hammer because he/she was found cheating?	Boy do I wish, but no.
Could you explain why it is so difficult to get casinos in states that do not already have them? Im from Dallas, and it seems that the Oklahoma casinos are 70%+ Texans. It seems our state is losing a ton of $ to other states. (Oklahoma, Louisiana...)	In Texas it's because your legislature meets relatively irregularly. expansion since the 90s has been predicated on budget shortfalls and using gaming to patch up those holes.
	Texas' economy has been relatively good so combine that with a conservative legislature that doesn't meet often as we'd have have to have the perfect storm of you having a bad economic run at the same time the legislature is meeting.
	Trust me, we are ready to pounce when that happens.
Okay so a couple of years ago there was a show called "Las Vegas" and it was about a casino.	Hosts are basically your sales team to high worth players. The compensation structure is just like any other salesperson: base + commission.
Not sure if you ever saw it, but there was a character named Sam and she was a casino hostess and she was kind of a bitch but I always wanted to be that (casino host not bitch). How can I get into that?	So, if you've never done that kind of work before or sales at all for that matter, you just need to take anykind of remotely similar job and then just keep trying to plug along with the job search.
Well I cant wait until it happens. I will gladly donate my fair share for a free Paula Dean buffet.	We've owned land for decades in preparation.
	You see where companies like PENN have already bought stakes in racetracks there, taking a bet that racinos (adding slots to tracks) will be the states first foray.
The owner of Landry's (also owns the Nugget) has said repeatedly that as soon as the law is passed he can have working slots in Galveston overnight.	Yeah. His family (Fertitta) started Stations casinos in Vegas (and MMA) and really big shots in town.
Yeah, as a Houstonian and gambler, I am really hoping one day it finally happens. I hate hate HATE driving to Louisiana and I haven't been able to make it out to Vegas in 2+ years.	The folks in Lake Charles and Shreveport do not share your sentiment.
I'm sure they don't. Bud of mine wanted to make an ad campaign of just going to Isle of Capri and showing the license plates.	You mean Pile of Debris.
Highest progressive payout you've ever seen paid out? And what was the game? And any good stories about throwing out patrons?	That I've physically seen? Probably like a $75K Caribbean Stud.
I have been encouraged by many people to get a job there, but no one, even me, knows where I should start. Personally, I don't enjoy gambling and have only been in the Hard Rock a couple times, just to see the lobby and buy shirts with some out of town guests.	Probably on the non-gaming side. Not sure of your educational background but NA with degrees go very, very far very, very quickly.
So my question is where would you recommend someone to start in the casino industry, if they don't particulary like/understand gambling?	If you want to work the front line, then hotel front desk or something like that.
I don't have a degree yet, but I do have 10 years in B2B (business to business) sales in telephony, so I know a lot about circuits/phone systems/general telecom.	Native American.
EDIT: what does "NA" stand for?	So then in your case either work in IT or maybe some kind of sales position like convention sales?
Oh I didn't know there would be some sort of sales team with a casino. Sweet. I considered IT, but I assumed it would be in the realm of network security, which I know little to nothing about.	Who do you think maintains the phone switch, PCs, servers, etc.?
Proof?	What would suffice without outing me?
You would know best what you have, however this sounds like it would be easier to prove confidentially to the mods. Things such as work ID, paystub, business card, etc are acceptable forms of confidential verification.	I'll send a pic over to them. Never done this before so wasn't sure.
I have a BA in Accounting and am currently a Project Manager (Prior exp in Cost, Tax and Accural accounting, worked for the Big 4, Now I make Warheads for the Army). If I wanted to get into the Casino industry what jobs should I persue. What is the best way to persue them? Do people telecommute? Whats the pay range?	We always need good finance people. There are always other industries they can work in so it's hard to find good people.
	So I'd say just go be an accountant?
	We post on all the major job boards and casinocareers.com is the main industry-specific job board.
	Telecommuting is not a regularly accepted practice.
	For finance, it's just market rate salary.
How did you get your job?	Was in undergrad and needed a job. responded to ad in paper for entry level job. worked my way up.
I'm going to guess that wasn't a typo.	Not going to edit for the lulz.
You know what, why the hell not? Best way to make money fast?	Well, assuming you have one and only one bet to make, the math always says banker on baccarat.
Any tips/secrets for slot machine players? Which one's your favorite type/brand?	Learn to play video poker, blackjack, baccarat, or craps.
Anything video scares me..are there 'rules' in place for video poker or Bj blackjack to guarantee payouts or is it completely random? If random, how do we know the game isn't rigged in your favor?	Completely Random.
	Because it behooves the state not to let us rig the games so they employ strict regulations to prevent such.
	For example, many states mandate that this company verify the legitimacy of a game: Link to www.gaminglabs.com
	Those states that don't, do it themselves.
I accidently got my gf addicted to video poker but it paid well. Its a better chance and payoff than video slots IMO.	No opinion about it, it is true.
Does this only go for high roller tables? Or does it also go for some guy that hits a big jackpot on the slots?	Both.
Are security as horrible as people say in Vegas? I've heard from my relatives that purse snatching and such happens quite a bit and security shows up minutes after they were called (so pretty much useless). On the other hand, I've heard some amazing quick response time in Macau. Are these myths?	Need some reference point. Horrible as compared to what. You've got a 3-mile long street with literally a million people on it. There's gonna be crime.
Hmmm... how about relative to san diego or fort worth?	I'd say on par to Gaslamp but I'm no criminologist.
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT!? I'm serious, I want the gritty details... You use a sleep number? Memory foam? Standard matress with some box springs? And what kind of pillow to. Oh, oh, and what is the thread count of your sheets...	I'm a minimalist. Same mattress I've had for literally 15 years that I got at a department store. Hypoallergenic pillows from Target. 800 count. Also from Target.
Nice! Glad I registered my wedding at Target. Sounds like they got the good stuff.	Decent and reasonably priced. The girls can't tell the difference between it and the really nice stuff.
Counting cards actually means that you are playing the game very well and it isn't cheating. How can you justify kicking someone out of a casino for being too good at the game? Also as far as I'm aware it isn't illegal.	No it is not illegal but just like any other business we reserve the right to serve whomever we please (as long as we're not discriminating against a protected class, of course).
	In essence you are keeping track of how many 10s/face cards and low cards are in the deck because high cards help the player, low cards help the dealer.
	So if you know that the deck is rich in high cards you bet more and vice versa.
I will be attending UNLV for hospitality management in the fall. any tips?	For undergrad? Make the program what you want out of it. Just by graduating no one is going to hand you a huge job but if you do well the brand recognition can really work in your favor.
Yep for undergrad. thanks for the answer!	Go Rebels!
Does your business invest in gambling addictions or have employee training to prevent those who are gambling addicts from playing in your casino?	I take it you mean gambling addiction treatment... And yes, we do: Link to www.americangaming.org
	And every employee, at least in the majority of casinos, is trained on how to identify problem gaming.
How do you hire trust worthy people, meaning do you have some dude or gal that is like HR on steroids watching people? I imagine you have seen more than one case where there is employee theft or people who are running a front for money laundering?	Well everyone goes through a background check through the state with fingerprints and whatnot then executives go through an FBI-style background check where they check all of your bank records and stuff.
	But with so much cash floating around there is theft but it's basically like a bank so I can't imagine the incidence to be much higher than with tellers at banks.
How much do you make?	Six figures + bonus.
Awesome. What was your path to this career choice? Like education/jobs.	I just happened into it. Got entry level job during undergrad and worked my way up. Picked up master's while working.
Nice. Went to school for business I presume?	For my master's yes. Have doo doo lib arts degree for undergrad.
Awesome! So you managed to get the entry level job with just an arts degrees then worked your way up? Or was the MBA necessary for where you are at now?	I was in undergrad I got the job. It as entry level. $10/hr.
	Master's not necessary but very helpful to stick out of the crowd.
Just noticed your name...classic. At around what limits are you able to get comps for free rooms out in either AC or Vegas? I would assume that Vegas is easier due to the vast amount of rooms, but what are your tips to earning comps faster?	Depends on the property and depends on the game. And by rooms, do you mean like direct mail offers or the ability to walk up to someone and say "bitch, I'm a baller - hook me up!"
What do you know of online gambling?	I did a bunch of preliminary work when I was a corporate person.

Last updated: 2013-06-21 00:10 UTC
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