Yes, I am a Vegas fanatic. Yes I have been to Vegas 20 times since I turned 21 seven years ago. Yes, that means that I have experienced a lot of Las Vegas. Yes, I write a blog on Las Vegas for fun. Yes, I know what’s fun for me to do in Las Vegas. No, I’m not going to list off things you should do in Vegas.

You know what I’m talking about. It’s the person in your office who knows you love Las Vegas or it’s the friend of a friend who is going to Las Vegas for the first time in a while (or ever). They know you’re into the city and ask, “what should I do there?”

That question could not be more annoying. There are a million things to do in Las Vegas that cater to almost any palate. What I like about visiting Las Vegas may not be the same things you like. That’s what makes Las Vegas great. It appeals to a wide array of people. I may have been there a lot, but don’t ask me generically what do to there.

If you want my advice, ask a specific question. Good things to ask are “What’s a good show that is a bit off the beaten path?” or “Where can I get a great steak” or “Where can I find low blackjack minimums”.  Those are questions that someone who has been to Vegas a lot can answer. Or if you ask me about nightclubs I can politely tell you that I’ve never been to any of them.

The fact is that there are a million things that are fun in Vegas. If you have something specific you are looking for, I’m glad to draw upon my experiences. But that being said, I always respond to generic questions the same way: “What makes Vegas great is that each person experiences it differently, do what interests you, I promise it will be awesome”. However, anytime you want specific advice, I’m your guy.

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What has been rumored and leaked for weeks on VegasTripping was officially announced today: That MGM will remodel the strip-facing facades of New York New York and Monte Carlo and create a new corridor of bars and restaurants leading to an Arena behind MOnte Carlo called The Park.  I’ll spare you a rehashing the details, VegastTripping has already done a stand-up job on that.  What intrigues me is the incredible lack of creativity in Las Vegas these days.

It seems that Las Vegas has entered the era of one-upping each other. If downtown can have a zipline, why not Rio or Excalibur? If Caesars is building a ferris wheel, why not build a second or third? If Wynn is selling out XS and Surrender, why not build Hakkassan? And if Caesars is going to build a new street of restaurants and bars, why should MGM do the same?

Originality is completely lost.  The Park is basically a mirror image of the Linq. At the end of the Linq is the High Roller Observation Wheel and The Park will have an Arena at the end of it’s corridor.  Is there a point where the strip just can’t sustain these things? How many restaurant and bar districts does it really need? How many night clubs or ferris wheels need to exist on a 4 mile stretch of road? I’m not sure we know the answer to this yet, but there has to be a saturation point.

And this isn’t just a budget gambler bitching about the strip moving in a direction that is counter to his interests.  That’s a problem for me personally, especially with Bill’s, O’Sheas, and Imperial Palace all having gone the way of 3/2 blackjack.  I want to get excited about new projects, but it’s impossible to get excited about mirror images of the same project.

The concept of having a small boutique hotel was interesting when Vdara was announced.  It got less interesting as Nobu was announced, then Delano, and now Gansevoort.  Linq and the high roller were interesting, but the Park is less interesting.  With only two major players on the strip, there just isn’t much pushing these corporations to innovate.

And this is where the excitement of Genting comes in.  If Resorts World Las Vegas happens as announced, it is exactly what the strip needs: an infusion of originality and the desire to take a risk.  It’s interesting and different.  I’m much more excited about where that could lead las Vegas than another row of bars and restaurants, no matter how cool, hip, or trendy they may seem.

This post was compromised a bit by a listener call on the most recent Five Hundy By Midnight podcast, but that also probably lit the fire to finally write this post.  So without further adieu….

This last Vegas trip, I was flying in solo a few hours ahead of some friends who were meeting me from Denver. We were staying downtown and the idea of paying a full cab fare to downtown seemed less than ideal, so I thought I would see how long a bus ride to Fremont St from the airport would take. I was pretty shocked to find that only one bus runs from McCarran to Fremont Street, the Westcliff Airport Express (WAX) bus.

The WAX departs on weekdays at approximately 5 hours past the hour (2:05, 3:05, 4:05, etc.) from the level just below the baggage claim.  It costs $2 (exact change, cash only), but only takes 20 minutes from the time it leaves McCarran to Fremont Street.  The Fremont Street exit is technically called 4th and Carson.  Don’t miss it because after that stop, the bus goes express on the highway and you’ll end up way out in the suburbs.

The bus ride itself was interesting. The bus that left McCarran at 6:05 PM.  I met a nice older lady at the stop who was the only person to get on the bus with me.  When we reached the stop outside of New York New York, a variety of interesting people got on the bus.  The most interesting guy was counting $1 and $5 dollar bills that he was storing in his baseball cap.  He was also asking people if they liked good rap and handing out his CD.  His rapping name was Richie Rich and he asked everyone to email him any positive feedback or constructive criticism.  He was quite the character.

Other than that, the bus ride was relatively painless.  Now I’m a bit biased since I’m used to taking buses and other modes of public transportation here in Chicago.  But nonetheless it went off without a hitch and wasn’t sketchy at all.  That being said, whether I take it again completely depends on the timing of my flight, as I don’t know that I would wait an hour for the bus.  But for $2, no worries of long hauling, and only a $20 minute ride, if the timing were right I wouldn’t hesitate

One of the fun things about finally locking down a trip to Las Vegas is to start planning the vacation. While Five Hundy has coined Vegas Lent for the 40 days leading up to a Vegas trip where you start planning details, planning for the hotel room months in advance can also be a good time.  However, this is beginning to be more of a chore than a pleasure.

It used to be a quick search online showed several bargains and some interesting options to check out a new strip property.  Now that some of the budget options on the strip have closed or remodeled and rates aren’t as friendly, picking a room is more of a challenge. Even this wouldn’t be enough to slow down my excitement, but resort fees are.

The problem isn’t just that hotels charge resort fees; although this problem would go away if they didn’t.  The problem is that the resort fees are hidden, always changing, and inconsistent.  So how do you know what your hotel truly costs?  Well, you could go to each site and search dates and click all the way through to just before purchase.  Or, you could do what I did and create a complex spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet is nice, but it comes down to simplicity.  I shouldn’t have to need a spreadsheet to book a Las Vegas strip.  Resort fees in Las Vegas range anywhere from $3.99 – $25, so it’s hard to just ballpark their impact without one.  If you want a copy of the spreadsheet, I’m happy to share.  If it’s the only way to know the full cost of a room, then so be it.  But it shouldn’t have to be this way.

Alright, I finally made it to Part 4 of the trip recap.  Yes it’s a month after the trip, but I made it.  Click here to see parts 1, 2, and 3.

We woke up on Monday morning at LVH and hit the monorail to the strip.  We got off at the Flamingo stop to walk over to Caesars Palace to check out Gordon Ramsey Pub.  As luck would have it, the pub was closed for a training event, so we decided to eat lunch at Munchbar.  it wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was fine.

From Caesars we headed over to Cosmopolitan to play video poker at Book and Stage.  We were disappointed to find that the menu had changed, but the servers were able to make us some of the old drinks anyway.  As always, I can’t speak highly enough of the place.  It’s definitely a top-notch stop for video poker and drinks.

After walking through Aria we stopped at Starbucks to get some iced coffee.  I noticed that next door was a daiquiri bar, so I decided to see if they could throw some Kahlua into the iced coffee.  As it turns out, they wanted $11 for a shot of Kahlua, so we passed on that and got small daiquiris for $8.

We walked from there to MGM Grand to try our luck at the Lion’s Share machine.  The machine was not in a friendly mood and quickly disposed of our $20 buy-ins each.  SaggyMonkey was flying out Monday night, so we grabbed a monorail ride back to LVH to grab his suitcase.  From there we headed back on the Monorail to MGM Grand for him to pick up a cab.

After sending SaggyMonkey off to the airport, DiceRunner and I headed over to Hooters.  I hadn’t been in that casino in forever and it didn’t take long to remember why.  The casino had no energy and there weren’t any games that I wanted to play.  So from Hooters we walked over to Tropicana, New York New York, and eventually settled in at that bar Brand Stakehouse at Monte Carlo for double bourbon-on-the-rocks.

After Monte Carlo we headed to China Poblano for dinner.  I had the tacos which were very good, but as far as dining at Cosmopolitan goes I probably wouldn’t go back.  Holsteins and Secret Pizza are much much better options.  After swinging by Casino Royale for $1 Michelobs, we walked up through Wynn to Circus Circus.

We got very annoyed at Circus Circus within a few minutes due to the number of kids and decided to go see if anything was going on across the street at Riviera.  It turned out there was an open $5 craps table.  I can’t resist such a thing, so we pulled up to the table and bought in.  We had a great run and the dealers were a blast.  It’s probably the first time I had a very positive experience at Riviera.

From Riviera we walked to the Stratosphere.  We played even more craps at Stratosphere before catching a cab downtown.  We played more craps at Plaza and Las Vegas Club before attempting to go to Mob Bar, but they were closing.  We decided it was time to cab back to LVH.

At LVH we sat down at a $5 blackjack table that was pretty even.  The dealer got pissed at our cursing, so we decided to leave.  It’s absurd that a dealer who is dealing the 3am shift at the LVH on a Monday night would throw a fit, but it’s fine.  She just lost out on getting tipped.

The next morning after lunch at the Peppermill it was time to go to the airport and head home.  Overall it was a great trip and I already can’t wait to go back.  Stay tuned for more specific thoughts on parts of the trip.  

Yesterday a surprise announcement was made that Boyd would sell their strip acreage from the old Stardust site to Genting for $350 Million.  The deal must have been in the works for a while, as they already were prepared with renderings of what their asian themed Resorts World Las Vegas will look like.  While the property looks like what would happen if Wynn and Imperial Palace had an illegitimate child, it certainly intrigues beyond design.

First off, after years of nothing but negative news about the north strip, we finally have had two positive developments in less than a month.  The folks at SBE have supposedly found financing for SLS Las Vegas and now it appears that we will have a brand spanking new resort to look forward to come 2016.

But it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.  The first phase of the project costs $2 Billion and the full project will cost $7 Billion.  That is a lot of cash to build a resort in an isolated area of the strip when hotels still aren’t filling at optimal levels.  Additionally there are still plenty of other blights in the area, like the old Frontier land and Fountainebleau that need to be resolved before we get ready to declare the north strip back in action.  Also, we’re only another economic shift from having an even worse semi-finished frame on the old Stardust land.

I’m clearly not too bullish on this project, but that’s logic speaking.  I really want this project to happen.  I want it to spark development in the north strip and I want it to help SLS be successful.  I want Vegas to continue to develop and open new and different properties.  One of the things that I enjoy most about Las Vegas is that it historically has always been changing.  Lately I’ve been clinging to smaller projects like Linq and Drais to satisfy that feeling, but a full-scale resort the size of Resorts World would be incredible.

And that’s really what this news is all about.  While I’m not even sure I’m 50% confident that it will happen, it provides some hope for the north strip.  And really, with where I was two days ago, how could I ask for more?

Welcome back.  This is Part 3 of my recent Vegas trip recap.  Parts 1 and 2 can be found on the homepage or clicking the previous links.

I woke up on Sunday morning and had to pack and get organized to switch hotels to the LVH.  Originally we planned on staying at New York New York on the second half of the trip, but after getting an awesome deal on an upgraded LVH room, we decided to stay there.  One friend who lives in California and  was on his way out of town gave us a ride to LVH.  We checked in, and our room was ready, so we dropped off our luggage and headed to Cosmopolitan for secret pizza for lunch.

Here’s a word of advice.  If you know you are going to Cosmopolitan for Secret Pizza ahead of time, they take calls to order a whole pie in advance.  So while we were driving over we called in the pizza order.  When we got to Cosmopolitan, I was blown away by how technologically efficient their self parking was.  The parking lot knows exactly how many open spaces there ar,e and you can quickly scan the aisles for red and green lights to identify where an open space may be.  More parking garages should have this.

After some secret pizza, we headed to the liquor store behind Bills (Drais?) to grab 40s of Mickeys in typical DenverGamber and DiceRunner tradition.  Along the way we decided to stop in the Quad and see if anything was different.  At this point we were disappointed to see that it was still basically the Imperial Palace (yes, this has changed by now).  We played a couple slot machines and headed towards Treasure Island.

We stopped in the Margarita Bar outside of TI and got Skull Mugs of beer.  That sounds silly, but it was something we had done on a trip before that had turned into a night of pouring all drinks into skull mugs.  So it was more funny to us than it should have been.  After playing some single deck blackjack at TI, we started heading back towards LVH.  DiceRunner had some freeplay to use up at Riviera, so we walked in that direction.

We swung into the Fireside Lounge at the Peppermill to sit at the bar and have a drink and some appetizers.  When I clicked the Video Poker machines in the bar, I was surprised to see that they have 9/6 Jacks or better at the bar.  We played a decent amount of Video Poker and had a couple drinks before hitting up the Riviera.  DiceRunner grabbed his freeplay and worked through it pretty quick, so we headed back to LVH.

On this night we had reservations at Benihana for dinner.  It’s a birthday tradition of mine since I was five, so we had to find time to fit it into the Vegas trip.  As we were a bit early, we posted up to the LVH bar for Video Poker.  We played for a little bit and hit up dinner.  It did not disappoint.  But from Benihana we played some craps at LVH before deciding to catch a cab back to Fremont Street for the night.

The cab dropped us off at The D where we played plenty of craps.  I really enjoy the D casino.  It’s often very busy and almost too busy, but I enjoy the environment and the new vibe.  They have done great things there.  After playing craps for a bit, we hit up Mob Bar for video poker and drinks.  The rest of the night is a bit of a blur.

I know we spent some time at El Cortez and had a bitch of a deeler who seemed annoyed to be doing her job.  I know we stopped into La Bayou for the quickest cocktail service in Vegas.  I also know we played more craps at Golden Gate.  I like the Golden Gate, but there was a dealer at craps who was an absolute jerk.  At one point he grabbed the dice in mid air because they were “too high” even though they weren’t going off the table.  It sucks for the rest of the dealers that the table didn’t get tipped because of him.

Even with the Golden Gate incident, it was a really fun 3rd night, and it was very profitable.  Stay tuned for the 4th and final night in Vegas.

On Monday I shared with you night one of my recent birthday trip to Vegas.  Now I’ll keep the ball rolling with Night 2.

I woke up around 10:30am on Saturday and I was definitely still a little buzzed from the night before.  After pulling myself together, we decided to go get some breakfast and for some reason we decided to go to the Cafe Cortez at El Cortez. There is nothing special to say about the Cafe Cortez except I don’t plan on eating there ever again.  I had eggs that were basically tasteless, and SaggyMonkey had the most sad looking omelette I have ever seen.

From the Cafe Cortez we walked over to the D to hang out in the upstairs vintage casino and play some Sigma Derby.  We hung out there for a bit and were joined by EastCoastGambler.  I owed a $25 bet to Mr ECG as I didn’t think the Jets would win 6 games this season.  As it turned out they won 6, so he chose to place his $25 on a hard way bet at the Four Queens.  Two rolls later and the bet sevened out.  It was just as anticlimactic as it sounds.

From Four Queens we decided to play blackjack at the Gold Spike.  Since they are no longer doing the Sexy Blackjack game, we dubbed it Fat Guy Blackjack.  As it turns out, Fat Guy Blackjack didn’t open until 3:00, so we decided to hit up the El Cortez for some drinks and Video Poker at the Lobby bar.  The bartender wasn’t very friendly, but the drinks were good and I hit four sixes, so I had a good time.

Once we wrapped up Video Poker, it was time to go play Fat Guy Blackjack.  They had a $3 table open and we sat down and played for 2-3 hours.  No one lost more than $20 and we had an awesome time.  They also had a $.05 Video Poker machine with a really good progressive.  I played that for a bit and eventually cashed out with the $20 I bought in with.  As it turns out, the Gold Spike doesn’t have coin or ticket machines, so I had to wait for my $20 handpay.

We hit up Mob Bar for dinner where I had the obligatory Chicken Parm Sliders.  They are just as awesome as I remember, and I can’t recommend them highly enough.  After dinner we went and played some craps at El Cortez before hitting up our reservation at The Laundry Room, which is the speakeasy at Commonwealth.  The Laundry Room was awesome.  The drinks were amazing and the seasoning on the popcorn on the table was worth writing about.  It was just too bad DiceRunner couldn’t enjoy the popcorn due to his new braces.

After The Laundry Room we hit up the Plaza for more Craps.  We had a friend of SaggyMonkey’s  with us and he was a craps beginner, so I decided to bet the fire bet for beginners luck.  As luck would have it, he hit four different points, so not only did we win on a good roll, but also on a nice 30-1 fire bet.  From Plaza we went and played blackjack at Golden Gate and Main Street Station before needing a late night meal.

As we had gone to DuPars the night before, we decided to hit up American Coney Island for some Chili Dogs.  After annihilating the dogs and fries, we went back to Mob Bar for Video Poker and drinks.  We spent a long time at Mob bar and had plenty of drinks for our video poker buy-in.  Afterwards we went back to American Coney Island for more Chili Dogs before calling it a night.

Two nights down and two to go, so stay tuned for parts III and IV.

It has been almost two weeks since I got back, and I think I have finally recovered to the point where I have enough energy to write a recap.  As usual, we did a lot in Vegas, so the trip recap will be broken down into several parts over the next few days.  So without further adieu, here is the first part of the Vegas recap.

I landed in Vegas at about 5:30pm Pacific time.  I was travelling solo and meeting DiceRunner and SaggyMonkey who were both flying in from Denver at about 10:00pm.  Our first two nights we were staying downtown and some quick research showed that there is an RTC bus that will take you from McCarran to downtown with only 5 or 6 stops between.  With some time to kill and wanting to try something different, I decided to take the bus.

The bus was an experience worthy of it’s own post, so more on that at a later date.  When I got to the Fremont hotel, I checked in and immediately went to go find some dinner.  I ended up at D Grill and ordered the half rack of ribs.  While I wasn’t super impressed with the overall place, I did really like the ribs and the staff was super friendly.

On my way out of the D, I decided I wanted to sit at Longbar and play some video poker while watching college basketball.  There I ran into Derek Stevens, owner of the D and Golden Gate, who invited me to have a drink with him.  We posted up at the end of the bar by the main entrance, and I had a great time chatting with him and several other Higher-Ups who swung by.

After several hours and several beers, DiceRunner and SaggyMonkey finally made it downtown.  Let me tell you, when you’re drinking with the owner of a casino, the bartenders don’t let your glass get empty.  So at this point I was feeling pretty good.  We dropped DiceRunner’s stuff off at the Fremont and went to check out SaggyMonkey’s room at the Gold Spike.  He was staying in the Oasis Motel rooms which weren’t terrible, but nothing to write home about.

When we got back to the Gold Spike casino, we noticed that there were plenty of open spaces around for their $5 double deck game.  It pays 3:2 and has all of your standard blackjack rules.  In other words, they aren’t trying to screw you by not letting you double certain hands or not letting you resplit, etc.  We played there for a while and had a good time.  The Gold Spike’s casino is cheap and clean and the drink service is quick.  It’s a great place to play blackjack downtown.

I couldn’t tell you where else we went on Friday night.  I know we gambled a lot more.  We played a decent amount of craps and some blackjack.  I also know we ended up at DuPars for a late night meal.  By 4:00am we were playing blackjack at El Cortez and my body was shutting down.  When you find yourself not being able to stay awake at the blackjack table, it’s time to call it a night.  So from the El Cortez we headed back to the Fremont.

That was only night one of four, stay tuned for shenanigans from the next three nights.

Yes it is February, yes one month has passed in 2013, so yes I’m getting to this post awfully late. Things happen. Anyway, I really took my 2012 resolutions to heart. I tried some different Craps strategies, I gave Baccarat a go, and even did my best to get that Royal Flush. Unfortunately, the Royal didn’t work out. More on that later. For now, on to my gambling resolutions for 2013.

Get Back to Blackjack – In 2012 I wanted to try different Craps strategies.  I did this to mixed success, and my gambling sessions were much more volatile than before.  This year I want to get back to playing Blackjack.  I played a little bit earlier this month, and I think its predictability a good compliment for the volatility of Craps.

Play 3 Numbers at Craps – Over 2012, I found that the best Craps strategy for me was to play the pass line with odds and take two come bets with odds.  While taking more numbers is great for long rolls, it is a disaster for a short roll.  Three numbers seems to be the perfect mix of risk and reward.

Get my First Royal Flush – I’m bringing this one back for 2013.  I’m still in the same boat as 2012.  I have never hit a Royal.  I have never hit one in a casino, I have never hit one playing WinPoker, Ihave never hit one in any medium of any kind.  So I’m going for it again, hopefully 2013 will be the lucky year.

I’ll be in Las Vegas in one week for my annual birthday trip.  I have already started sharpening my video poker skills to get ready to hit that royal.  As always, follow me on twitter at @DenverGambler if you want to keep up with things.  Last year I used #RoyalFlush2012 as a hashtag to follow for the year.  I’m going to continue with the same thing this year.  So keep an eye out for #RoyalFlush2013 and may there be many royals to go around!