Vegas

Where do you stay, where do you play when you go? I'm looking to make a weekend trip in a month or two and do marathon poker session. I don't want to spend too much on a hotel room since I won't be there much, only to shower and rest in between the bad beats. I'd rather save the money for my bankroll. I know there will be good action all over town, where have you had the best luck?

Hands down my favorite room was at the MGM. Nightly rates for there are actually quite reasonable as long as there aren't any events planned for that weekend.

CardJunkie wrote:Where do you stay, where do you play when you go? I'm looking to make a weekend trip in a month or two and do marathon poker session. I don't want to spend too much on a hotel room since I won't be there much, only to shower and rest in between the bad beats. I'd rather save the money for my bankroll. I know there will be good action all over town, where have you had the best luck?

Stay at the American Inn or whatever it is called across the street from the MGM and play @ the MGM. I have done that the last few times I was in Vegas and it works out great.

I still enjoy the Mirage poker room. Not as nice as some of the newer places around town, but still one of the best rooms in Vegas. They also provide poker room rates if you log your hours with them. Now I don't know what kind of deal you are looking for, but I believe the poker room rate is $99/night which is a great rate for the Mirage. If you don't do well, there is always the Venetian across the street and Ceasars next door which always have good action. Mirage also has complimentary red bull (+ vodka) and breakfast at 6AM which helps with the 36 hour sessions.

Another suggestion would be The Luxor or Excaliber as their room rates are usually pretty reasonable and it's a short trip to the MGM. Also, if you are there Monday morning Luxor has a high hand promotion for players between 5:00 AM and 9:00 AM. The trick is you must be there at 5 and you can't leave the room until after 9. First place is a cool $500 and they pay the top 4 high hands. My aces over queens went to 5th place in the final 10 minutes last time I was there.

Scrupboy wrote:Another suggestion would be The Luxor or Excaliber as their room rates are usually pretty reasonable and it's a short trip to the MGM. Also, if you are there Monday morning Luxor has a high hand promotion for players between 5:00 AM and 9:00 AM. The trick is you must be there at 5 and you can't leave the room until after 9. First place is a cool $500 and they pay the top 4 high hands. My aces over queens went to 5th place in the final 10 minutes last time I was there.

I would highly vote against the Excalibur. Unless you're there just to save money on the room at the expense of poker, I would say no. The poker room is crap, at least last time I was there. It wasn't even a room. When I was there it was a roped off section in the center of the floor, so unless you smoke, it's a cloud. It appeared as if it was thrown together at the last minute as a "I'm going to find a way to jump onto the NLHE bandwagon."

My memory is getting a bit mixed up and I can't seem to remember the difference between Mandalay bay and the Luxor. I know one room was pretty good and the other was a small cramped closet in the corner. I want to say the Luxor was the closet and Mandalay Bay was a good room, but I can't say for sure. Besides they're only a 2-3 minute walk from one to the other and are both near the northern entrance (the Excalibur side).

NYNY and Paris didn't have a poker rooms (at least I couldn't find them), unless you don't mind sitting next to the blackjack tables and play some 3 card carribean variation.

Mirage was a good room, Bellagio was pretty good (although very cramped), but I will always say the MGM is the best. If I were you, I'd swing by the Aladin as they were working on building one last time I was there.

No matter where you play, make sure you get a player's card. IIRC most casinos offer them for free and will generally provide some kind of comp service (free lunch, rooms, discounts, etc.) based on the amount of time you play and the stakes you play at. Even if you don't get anything for free, the card is free so you didn't waste any money in the process.

Oh an you cannot beat the action in the Rio's room in June

I am copying and pasting this. It's from another forum, but I found it very useful (especially the part about re-bids).

The aforementioned cheapovegas.com is a good website for Vegas info.

Personally I think downtown Vegas is a waste of time but its a matter of opinion.

Don't stay at Stratosphere. Its at the very north end of the strip and the hotel sucks.

Follow my advice and you will get the best rates.

If you really want to get a cheap hotel room at a decent place go through Priceline and learn how to do free rebids. You can get places like Palazzo/Venetian/Mandalay Bay for like $160/night or a 4 star hotel for 80ish a night. Heres a link with a basic explanation about free rebids. I've used them a lot but only do it if you're a smart guy and know what you're doing. If you're dumb then I can't explain it to you and its not worth your time because if you don't know what you're donig you're gonna end up overpaying for a hotel somewhere not even on the strip and you will be SOL because its no refunds once you submit bids. Heres another link to a forum about bidding for hotel rooms in Vegas and you can see the types of rates people are getting.

Another way to get a cheap hotel room but not quite as cheap as the Priceline method is to search for hotel promo codes. I do this often as well. Heres a forum I use with some Vegas hotel promo codes. Click on the thread about Las Vegas hotel promos. That thread is continuously updated in the 1st post when people find new promo codes so keep checking back. MGM Grand is running a stay 2 nights get 3rd night free that I'm using for my March 19-22 trip. Even if the MGM deals say they're expiring soon people will usually post up new ones to replace the expired ones.

March isn't a great time to go. Lots of conventions/spring break. April is pretty good. Its usually a bad idea to go when there is a huge convention going on. Check out the convention calendarto find out what conventions are going on at what dates. There are always conventions going on but you want to avoid going during a time when there is a HUGE convention. For example, March 11-15 is the CONEXPO with 135,000 attendees. Terrible week to go.

For flights I like Kayak.com. It searches several search engines including the airlines website for the best rates.

Mix and match and compare the rates that you get with my previously linked methods with some of the Orbitz packages. Just put some effort into it and you'll find a good deal

Hooters is right across the street from MGM. It's a shithole, but has a bed/shower and is in a good location.

Stallion wrote:...but has a bed/shower and is in a good location.

That's all you really need. And if you're going out there for a poker marathon, both the bed and shower become optional.

If you want to save a ton of money, try this:
fly out Friday night,
sit down at the first casino that grabs you (or you can scout out a bit),
play poker until Sunday (lots of red bull-vodka's, plus the casino coffee really isn't that bad),
fly back sunday
sleep on the plane.

No hotel room needed, food is only a short walk away from any poker room, and drinks are delivered. you get to sit down and play poker, that's all you came for right?

I have a friend that will fly out Friday, play as soon as his feet hit the ground. Sit at the table until mid-day Saturday, checks his player's card. If he has a comp room he goes up and takes a quick nap, if he doesn't have a comp room, he'll play until he does (Sometimes takes up to 14-16 hours of table time). Returns to the table Saturday evening and plays all night, he might catch a quick nap and / or shower before heading back to the airport, and sleep on the way back.

Stallion wrote:Hooters is right across the street from MGM. It's a shithole, but has a bed/shower and is in a good location.

I dropped like $800 there playing $1/2 NL about an hour before I hopped the plane out of Vegas on my WSOP trip. Fuck that place

[quote="dexman1349"]

Stallion wrote:...

No hotel room needed, food is only a short walk away from any poker room, and drinks are delivered. you get to sit down and play poker, that's all you came for right?.

All you have to do is pick the poker room that slides bedpans underneath the seats, and you're good to go!

Thanks everyone for all the info, I definitely came to the right place.

I love the idea of playing straight through the weekend, no hotel. That's hardcore, I know there are guys that do it but my limit is usually about 14 hours. It seems like when that 13th hour strikes my brain turns to mush. So many times I have played for long hours and slowly but surely built a nice chip stack only to lose it all in a couple of terribly played hands. I like to turn into a calling station when I get really tired, I think I get too lazy to bet.

CardJunkie wrote:Thanks everyone for all the info, I definitely came to the right place.

I love the idea of playing straight through the weekend, no hotel. That's hardcore, I know there are guys that do it but my limit is usually about 14 hours. It seems like when that 13th hour strikes my brain turns to mush. So many times I have played for long hours and slowly but surely built a nice chip stack only to lose it all in a couple of terribly played hands. I like to turn into a calling station when I get really tired, I think I get too lazy to bet.

Serisouly Dirk... The Americas Best. I used Priceline.com and found my tickets quick and with stay. It went smooth and I had the time of my life. The only problem I had was the wifi was down which sucked real real bad but other than that it was an awesome time and I dont remember exactly what the stay cost but it wasn't that bad.

The last couple of times I was there I stayed at the Tropicana for like $49/nite midweek. The rooms are decent but who spends much time in the room anyway? It's across the street from MGM, so there's that action, plus it has its own small poker room that usually has a 1/2 NL game going.

Last time that I played at Mirage I wasn't very impressed. Lots of tables but a little cramped. Two places I really liked were Caesars and Venetian. Both had large rooms with a good variety of games. Wynn has a very nice room also.

In new news...Hooters was purchased and is being rebranded and remodeled...not sure yet into what.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/16209327.html

In yesterday's news, the Hooters casino is being remodeled and rebranded:

http://www.lvrj.com/business/16209327.html

Wetdog wrote:The last couple of times I was there I stayed at the Tropicana for like $49/nite midweek. The rooms are decent but who spends much time in the room anyway? It's across the street from MGM, so there's that action, plus it has its own small poker room that usually has a 1/2 NL game going.

Last time that I played at Mirage I wasn't very impressed. Lots of tables but a little cramped. Two places I really liked were Caesars and Venetian. Both had large rooms with a good variety of games. Wynn has a very nice room also.

I think that Ceasars, Venetian, Wynn, etc.... attract more of the local low stakes sharks....the worst thing you can do is play in a tight $1/$2 NL game.....you can't make any money....I prefer to play at places like Bally's, Paris, PH, IP, etc....many more weekend tourist donks...

I also start to play bad after really long sessions.....not saying I hit and run but I do limit my sessions in order to stay focused...probably why I don't do well in longer all day tournies...

Just get a wife like mine and receive comps to any room on the strip. The suites are especially nice! Of course all you have to do is let her lose a few thousand here and there.

I must brag about my wife here....15 of the buddies from college heading to Vegas....she's the first one the say buy a ticket or do I have to buy it for you. GO

Then she tells me I should go a day early to get another tourney in, so I agree and chop 2nd/3rd in the $200 Ceasar's tourney for $1800, proceed to freeroll the rest of the weekend and spend the time with the guys.

Last week, emails start circulating about another trip later this year and even though I'm stuck in bed after my car accident, she says you'll be better in August, buy you ticket now!!! Cheap rooms because of splitting the cost so many ways; lots of gambling, golf, debauchery, and a kick in the ass to get my ticket early before prices go up.

Gotta love a great wife!!!

By the way...you'll be in Vegas, who cares where you stay. There are always couches in poker rooms or benches on the Strip to sleep on.

idh78 wrote:

Wetdog wrote:The last couple of times I was there I stayed at the Tropicana for like $49/nite midweek. The rooms are decent but who spends much time in the room anyway? It's across the street from MGM, so there's that action, plus it has its own small poker room that usually has a 1/2 NL game going.

Last time that I played at Mirage I wasn't very impressed. Lots of tables but a little cramped. Two places I really liked were Caesars and Venetian. Both had large rooms with a good variety of games. Wynn has a very nice room also.

I think that Ceasars, Venetian, Wynn, etc.... attract more of the local low stakes sharks....the worst thing you can do is play in a tight $1/$2 NL game.....you can't make any money....I prefer to play at places like Bally's, Paris, PH, IP, etc....many more weekend tourist donks...

I also start to play bad after really long sessions.....not saying I hit and run but I do limit my sessions in order to stay focused...probably why I don't do well in longer all day tournies...

Last time I was at Caesars, I played in the $60 11PM tourney. Busted out in 45 minutes when my AK<66. Get in a new 1/2 table just starting up. I sit in the middle of a bachelor party that was out golfing earlier (mid July - high temps ~120F!!) and was now re-hydrating with beer. Two hours later I'm up $300 and the party breaks up. I cash out shortly thereafter (stand in line at the cashier next to Jim Cramer of CNBC's "Mad Money" and give him a "BOOYAH") and take a cab back to the Trop, where I had earlier made another $200 before going to Caesars for the tourney. Some time later, after being up for about 27 hours, the brush WAKES ME UP at the table and tells me I have to leave. He cashes me out up another $550. I didn't want that day to ever end.

So late late night at the big casinos are profitable, given the right circumstances.

Scrupboy wrote:Just get a wife like mine and receive comps to any room on the strip. The suites are especially nice! Of course all you have to do is let her lose a few thousand here and there.

Hmmn sounds a lot like someone I know.....

Wetdog wrote:

So late late night at the big casinos are profitable, given the right circumstances.

yes they sure can be.....most of the time you can tell within about 5 hands whether or not the game has potential to be profitable or not...

any table that has even a couple people looking to have fun first, win money second is a table you want to be at.