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Old 11 Oct 08, 10:13 PM  
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Diamonddog2801
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Join Date: Nov 07
Coupons

'Couponomy' is a Las Vegas tradition. You can save a lot of money by taking advantage of coupons. You will often find coupons in your check in welcome pack from your hotel (certainly this year, The Palazzo, The Flamingo & Caesars Palace had coupons for food discounts and gaming tokens). You may also get coupons for buffets and rides etc, simply by signing up for a players club card. You can also find coupons on most casino floors - normally by the check in/check out lobby, concierge or vehicle rental units. You may also get pestered by timeshare people trying to entice you with coupons - if you are being offered discounted trips to the Grand Canyon (for instance), you can pretty much bet it's in exchange for a two/three hour visit to a timeshare property. You may be prepared to do this - just beware of what you're getting into. The worst place for Timeshare sales people is around the Excalibur and Luxor,as I recall .

It is, generally, a good idea to pick up all free magazines you see. You can often find these in taxis, monorail stations, and hotel lobbies. (You used to be able to get a decent booklet in the shuttle to the Manor rooms at Circus Circus, for instance - is this still the case?). The show deals coupons in these magazines can usually be undercut by going to the half price ticket outlets mentioned earlier, however - if they are selling tickets for the same shows, that is.

If you really want to save some serious money (and who doesn't?) it's a good idea to invest in one of the following :



The Las Vegas Advisor Pocketbook of Values (POV) will pay for itself very quickly just by making use of one or two of best coupons . By joining LVA for a years online membership of $37 (I think it's $43 if it's posted to the UK) you get one book of values. You can have the book delivered for a charge or pick it up free from the LVA offices in Las Vegas . Here is a list of what coupons it has in it

lasvegasadvisor/whyjoin-povdetails.cfm


The 2 for 1 coupon for the excellent Jubilee show at Ballys(which does not appear at tix4tonite either) will save you $88 alone! And the 2 for 1 buffet at the fantastic Carnival World Buffet at The Rio is another $26 saving. You also get Daily deal coupons from the LVA website and more information on Las Vegas than you could ever really need (being a member gives you full use of the site lasvegasadvisor, others only get partial use) - you also get to print out the monthly bulletins (16 pages, filled with great insider info) as part of your membership. It's a no brainer, really.



The American Casino Guide (above) is not specifically targetted on Las Vegas - it has coupons for all over North America. Nonetheless, it has some really powerful coupons (an $86 bus tour to the Grand Canyon, normally costing $150, for instance), so it may be worth having this as well as the POV. Have a look at the coupons:

americancasinoguide/S...ons-2008.shtml

and see which would be useful to you (and aren't in the POV).

You can buy it direct st:

americancasinoguide/Store/general.shtml

or from Amazon:

amazon/American-Cas...0578886&sr=8-1

Just be careful you are buying the year you need, in both cases.

Lastly, these are free and can be printed off and exchanged for a booklet of coupons at certain Vegas shopping malls:

lasvegas-nv/las-vegas-coupons.htm

I'm sure there are others - just let me know, please?

Gambling



I thought I'd leave this to last because, despite all of the above, the reason Las Vegas is what it is, is because of gambling. This is unavoidably the truth. However, and this is really, really important - you do not have to gamble in Las Vegas. There, I've said it, because so many that haven't visited Vegas before, feel a bit (how can one say?) silly about asking the question. Now you know. You do not have to gamble to enter a casino either. You can legally enter any casino in Las Vegas (as long as you are over 21) and stay as long as you want, without once placing a bet of any type. So, that's that out of the way!

In the great Vegas film "Casino", Robert De Niro's character gave a speech that should stick in everyones mind:

"What do you think we're doing out here in the middle of the desert?
It's all this money. This is the end result of all the bright lights and
the comped trips, of all the champagne and free hotel suites, and all the
broads and all the booze. It's all been arranged just for us to get
your money. That's the truth about Las Vegas"




And don't you forget it! The opulence, the extravagance, the sheer overwhelming ridiculousness of some of the spectacles (which also make Las Vegas what it is) is because of one thing - THEY WANT YOUR MONEY! Whilst the proportion of profit that gambling contributes to the overall casino operation has gone down in recent years (being replaced by rooms, shopping and food/drink increases), a casino still aims for at least 50% of its operating profit to come from gambling. Never lose sight of this, please?!

To give you an idea of the kind of money we're looking at - when The Mirage opened in October '89, it was declared that it needed to clear $1 million per day! Now, that's staggering, but... when Wynn opened recently, it has to clear $15 million, every day! These are the type of numbers we are dealing with - it makes it all seem just a little clearer when you look at these super-plush palaces and think "Why do they do that?!"...



So, if you are going to gamble, what's the best way to walk out a winner? To answer that, we need to understand a little thing called "house edge". The house edge is the advantage the casino holds over the player in any game - it ranges from less than 1% with blackjack (indeed, played perfectly, blackjack is virtually a theoretical tie), to over 20% with games like the 'wheel of fortune', with roulette sitting at just over 5%. What that % means is that, over a period of time, for every $100 invested at roulette, you will only get just under $95 back. It doesn't sound like much, but if you think of how much is played in a casino over the course of a day, you can see how these places are paid for - and by who!

So, how does one overcome 'house edge'? Follow these rules:

a) find a game with a low house edge (blackjack & craps, or some video poker, for instance),
b) find casinos with decent rules - there are some subtle differences in rules that can make huge differences in expected payouts (a common one is paying less for a blackjack in video poker ($6 win for a $5 stake - as opposed to $7.50win for a $5 stake - the first is a 6/5 jackpot machine, the second a full pay jackpot machine), so it is worth doing a bit of homework, once you've decided which game you want to play.



Once you've done that, what else can you do to improve your chances of winning - or, at least, minimising your losses?

The house edge is, in essence, the mathematical certainty of the inbuilt advantage the casino has. It has this over the course of its trading. What the casino cannot do is expect to win on every hand of cards - it wins some, it loses some. But it will, over time, win just slightly more than it loses. And it will win slightly more when it wins, than it loses when it loses. That's how it ends up winning - it grinds out its advantage. So, the best way to beat it, is to play for as short a time as possible, and hope you get lucky within that timeframe. Believe me, sitting at a blackjack table for 8 hours, trying to grind out a win, is absolutely no fun. I've been there and done that! So, the secret is to try and maximise your winnings over a short period of time.



a) set yourself a strict budget and stick to it. Do not take more money with you than you are prepared to lose - it is too much of a temptation. There is nothing worse than 'getting in over your head'. It's a sure way to ruin what could be a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.
b) when fortune favours you, be prepared to walk away. It is an idea to set yourself a winning limit, as well as a losing one. Be realistic - you are highly unlikely to change $100 into $1000. But $100 to $250? Yes, that is possible. So try to be disciplined, when both up and down.
c) do not play whilst drunk. The casino gives those drinks away for a reason, you know - and it isn't because they're a charitable trust!
d) Join the Players club. Every casino has one (many are linked together, like the MGM Group) and you usually get freebies just for signing up. Also, it puts you on the Casinos mailing list for future offers, and will give you 'comps' if you gamble enough.



Comps are what the casino rewards or gives you back for your play. By offering incentives like free shows, meals etc, it keeps you returning, enabling it take more of your money. The % given back is based on the rating of your expected loss - it depends upon which game you play, what your average bet is and how long you play for. It is returning a part of what the casino expects you lose, for your level of play. If, however, you win - you still get the comps - because the odds were still the same on you losing. You just bucked the trend, that's all!

Most casinos offer 'beginners games' where you can go and play against other 'novices' and learn how to play certain games. The stakes are much lower than is normal, so you can play without risking 'breaking the bank'. If you have the time, they are a great way to get over any inhibitions you may have about casino gambling.




You can find endless sources of information on gambling on the internet or in books etc. I would politely suggest that blackjack, poker and craps are the best table games, and some video poker machines are the best form of machine gambling. It's probably best to play 'Off Strip' to be honest - the big casinos rules are getting tighter each year (they don't have to be as generous - they're always full, right?), but I understand that's not always practical. Stick to the rules above, and your gambling can be fun - even if you lose. But don't think you're going to be the one to 'break the bank' - that way leads to rack and ruin, my friend!

Try reading this:

lasvegasadvisor/games.cfm

to give you an insight into Las Vegas gambling, and the different games available. It may help your next stay be just a little cheaper and just a little more fun!

--------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's it for now everyone.

I'm sure I've made mistakes - point them out to me, and I'll correct them.

If there's anything else you think I should have included, let me know.

If you want to just add info yourself, feel free to do so (as some of you already have - thanks).

I have one 'vacant post' left - I think I'll include a quick summation of some of the casinos in there. It may tak a bit of time - but I think it will be worth it.

Again, thanks to you all for your messages of support, both on here and via pm's. They're very much appreciated. I hope everyone can take a bit away from the series of posts - it may just make you interested enough to visit, for the first time. It may help you choose where you're going to stay. It may give you an idea of where and what you want to gamble. It may suggest you're better off shopping! Whatever it does, I hope it works for you - and stay lucky!

Edited at 03:04 PM.
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