Could someone describe a week in las vegas of....

[bad beetz]

Could someone describe a week of poker playing in Las Vegas whereby one would not pay for food all week?

[HDPM]

Play a few hours at Binion's, get buffet comp. Get sick. Stop eating for a week. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

(Disclaimer: I have eaten at Binions and have not gotten sick.)

Basically to do this you will be playing low limits in several different smaller rooms a lot, and maybe not eating all that well.

[Dynasty]

It can't practically be done without moving around a lot. Even then, you'll probably have to spend a litte of your own money. Also, you won't be eating very well. You'll be eating only fast food and sandwiches.

In order to get a $4-$6 comp in the small rooms, you need to play 4-5 hours of poker there. So, if you play four hours at Mandalay Bay, you get a $5 comp and can get a sandwich. However, the sandwich will probably cost $5.50 and you'll have to spend some change plus buy a drink or have tap water. Then, you would have to go to another room and play there for four hours, get another comp, and use that for a meal. You can't get comped twice a day at any room. You can't even get comped twice a week at the Bellagio or Mirage.

Circus Circus and Excalibur offer free food at dinner times on weekdays. The food is usually simple stuff like chicken nuggets and french fries.

If you don't mind eating simply, you could probably get by paying less than $5 a day on food and drinks.

[Hobart]

You should not be playing poker if you depend on the poker rooms for comps and food. You can go on a diet very quickly waiting for a comp at the Mirage etc. Pack your peanut butter and jelly.

[Howard Burroughs]

I think you have some great advice so far from the above posters. But let me take a stab at the one week free food in Vegas for you anyway. As Dynasty pointed out, this is not five star dining we are talking about. But hey, it's free!









Everyday but Saturday, the Exalibur brings out the free food Dynasty was talking about in his post. Some days it's pretty good stuff, some days it's hot dogs. You get the picture. Get there at 4:30 pm each day, get on the list if there is one and eat away. After you eat, leave (they won't mind if you don't stay too long, it's a very friendly room). Go to the Orleans. Sign up for their poker player's comp card at the poker room. Play live poker here. You will get $1.25 an hour back in comps for the first four hours of play each day. After that you will get $.50 back until you reach $9 per day. So get your free Excalibur hot dog, etc everyday (remember you don't have to stay in the room that long), then do most of your playing at the Orleans and get your $9 per day there. Lots of restaurants at the Orleans BTW. Make sure you fit in a free Mirage buffet on your visit. Get to the room on say, a Tuesday night at around 7:00 or 7:30pm. Get on the poker list for the game of your choice. At ten minutes until 8:00, go get in the line by the back clock, near the poker cashier.(you could play the Orleans earlier or later on this day if you still want your daily $9 from them). Tell the comp lady your name and what table you are playing on and if they have enough comps (ie, you are not too far back in the line) you will come back in twenty minutes to pick it up. Play as long as you want and go enjoy your free $15 buffet (but remember the buffet closes at 10:00pm). If you were out of luck and they are out of comp tickets by the time you get to the comp lady, they take your name down and you will come back tomorrow and be comped for sure. The Mirage also brings out free finger food (pastrys,etc.) at around 4:00am or so most mornings (if you like to play on graveyard, this is nice to know).









Well,there you have it. One way to eat everyday for free while playing poker in Vegas. There are a few ways to fine tune things and get a little more creative but that's the basics.







Best of Luck, H.B.

[bad beetz]

I don't depend on it, I'm not even sure if I'll ask for any. I was just curious if a break even player could "subsist" on casino card rooms.

I eat three meals a day at FatBurger when I'm in vegas. sometimes four, if you include the drunken meal at 5:10 am I like to call "super-dinner"

[bad beetz]

thanX for the info. The belagio works like the mirage, right? with the one free buffet a week?

[Howard Burroughs]

Bellagio is once a week also. I could not tell you if they track your hours there or not though (remember, the Mirage does not track your hours. At least not on swing shift). BTW, Bellagio is a great room but I always feel a little out of place there (that Grey Poupon crowd you know) with my nose rings, tatoos and Metallica t-shirt and all.


Good Luck, H.B.

[Homer]

What and where is FatBurger (I've been to Vegas but once /forums/images/icons/frown.gif )?

Thanks.

-- Homer

[bad beetz]

fatburger is on the strip near and accross from the Holiday inn boardwalk.

It is a pricier and much better version of In-and-Out burgers (however, you may not have ever heard of In-and-Out if you in fact live anywhere near springfield /forums/images/icons/wink.gif . In-and-Out is the northern californian answer to southern california's FatBurger.

It'll cost you about $8.00 for their equivalent of a whopper value meal and is worth thrice that in my opinion. One of my favorite things about vegas.

[bad beetz]

I was feeling really out of place (I'm too young, and my income was under 9 figures, no knowledge of fine wines, I think I had a shirt with Deniro's mo-hawked head from "Taxi Driver" on.) ntil a rastafarian with dreads, a huge top hat, mega-bloodshot eyes, REEKING of weed, sat down next to me. I think he drew some attention away from me.

[Ted Geisel]

If you are not joking, my advise to you is do not chase food comps in Las Vegas ... by and large they are not worth the time, compared to picking the best game to sit in. The EV difference will buy you a much better meal.

For example, players complain about the Bellagio's virtual no-comp policy, forgetting the casino sank $1.3 billion into the ground with the express purpose of luring in gamblers looking for entertainment. What more do you want from an operator than "gamblers looking for entertainment" to play against .... Would you prefer playing amongest tightwads looking for a free buffet ticket ???

[Ted Geisel]

Puhleeze, at least 60% of the players in any given 4-8 game at the Bellagio are locals. Believe me, they are not a fine wine set, well-dressed, or cultured. They also could care less about the wardrobes you described, they just want your money.

The attention you perceived was that akind to that afforded a cow in an abatoir

[Terry]

If you are fairly conservativly dressed and can be rather bold, watch the BJ pit for the dealers going on break (every 20 minutes). Follow them. Many of them will be going to the Employee Cafeteria.

Just act like you know what you're doing, get your food, and sit down alone. Should anyone question you (unlikely), just sort of mumble something like "Oh, I just keep an eye on things" and they'll assume you work surveillance. If the person is wearing a name tag, make it "Oh, I see you every day, Jim." Shuts 'em up quick.

This will be best pulled off during "normal" business hours, 9 to 5, when all the office staffs, etc., are around... the non-uniformed people...you won't stand out as a stranger, although swing shift should be busy enough in a larger place to provide plenty of cover. With a couple thousand or more employees around, new faces are very common.

Chow down on the buffet quality food and delight in your little adventure.

Oh, and pay attention on the way in. Those back of house hallways are a real maze... you want to be able to find your way back out. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[Ted Geisel]

LOL, This post is great, if you are looking for free room and board from Clark County for the week.

If you actually tried this and got away with it, great for you. However, I think your risk/reward analysis needs fine tuning. If you try it and get caught, do not try and lie your way out if it ... that's the worst you could do. Just show ignorance about where you are, ask "Isn't this the buffet area ?", and look really stupid.

[Dynasty]

Did you just tell him that lying was the worst thing he could do and then immediately give him your preffered lie to get out of trouble?

[pauly2x]

A buddy of mine were at the Mandalay Bay last summer, and trying to get a comp there was like pulling teeth. I had a players card from the casino and I asked the guy up front if they tracked play, etc. He said, no, only for a poker rate for the rooms (though they were giving away small handheld organizers for locals who played a bunch of hours during the month). So after about seven or eight hours there, my buddy tells me he got a coupon for the buffet (which, incidentally is fantastic). I go up to the desk and ask for one. He tells me if I haven't signed in he can't give me one. I told him that I had been playing for nearly eight hours and have seen every dealer go all the way around the room about four times. Finally, after getting a little peeved he gives me the lousy coupon. I'm normally not such a whore for free stuff, but it's not like they don't give stuff like that away. If it was their policy not to, that's one thing, but don't try and tell me I haven't been sitting there playing all day long. About an hour later, my buddy decides he's done playing for the day and goes to the washroom and to cash out. He comes back to tell me where he's going to be in the casino so I can find him when I'm finished. One of the cardroom guys asks him for an ID when he walks back in. My buddy says, are you kidding me, I've been playing here for the last eight hours and you want to card me now when I'm not even playing? (not in a smart arse way, but more in amusement) We were 24, but apparently looked we were 12, because he got carded again later that night in the same casino. It was about 5 a.m. and we were passing the time playing roulette at the Mandalay, waiting for the 10 a.m. tournament at the Luxor. This woman was sitting at the table playing roulette and pounding down drinks (by that time of the night/morning, we had already sobered up and were about to switch to coffee to snatch a third wind). So we play a couple of spins, and then this woman demands to see his ID. She says she works for the NGC. My buddy looks at the dealer (or whatever you call the roulette table person), and the dealer says, yeah, she's serious. So he shows her the ID and all is OK. It just kind of struck me as funny (funny strange) that somebody working in a casino for the NGC would be drunk off her rear end and gambling at 5 a.m. But maybe it's just me. I told him I would have asked for her credentials first.

[Terry]

Yeah, forget about lying. In any Vegas casino, anywhere, anytime, if two guys with guns "ask" you to leave, just do it... quickly and quietly.

Although my post was intended as a bit of a spoof on the Free Lunch crowd, there really isn't any reason it wouldn't work. I've eaten in many help's halls over the years while visiting friends at casinos at which I didn't work and have never been questioned, nor have I ever questioned any of the new faces at the places I did work, except for occasionally wondering "Who ARE all these people?"

I put the risk of actually getting arrested at very near zero. With 2000 to 4000 employees each spending three or more breaks a day in the cafeteria, unrecognized faces are the norm.

There is no chance that a real surveillance person will sit down with you. The snitches sit alone.

[Hat Trick]

You should have asked for a badge, NGC employees are forbiden from gambling in ANY WAY in Nevada. They are not even allowed to go to a bingo hall. Juast an FYI from the Travel Channel. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[Ted Geisel]

No, I advised him not to do it. If he went ahead anyway and was caught/challenged, to 1. show ignorance, 2. ask if it was the buffet, and 3. look stupid. Foe anyone foolish enough to try this scam, all three would be pretty natural.

The stupidest thing to do would be to impersonate a casino employee in a restricted area. In contrast, being a stupid tourist creates less of a legal liability.

[TomBMichigan]

I never understood the desire of people to score free food in Vegas. Of course you can get a meal in almost any poker room (except Bellagio and Mirage) on a daily basis. But, why would you want to? Taking it from someone who likes to eat, Vegas is such a great place to dine. Why try to score a $2 meal from the poker room ? Warning shouting ahead -- SPEND THE MONEY ON A DECENT MEAL.

A quick story, One time my brother and I were in Vegas. I pick him up at the IP, where he's been playing PAI-Gow poker all day. He was soo excited because he scored an ESP. What's an ESP you ask? It's short for Every Suckers Perk, also known as a buffet comp. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif So, we just had to go to the second worst buffet in vegas. My stomach still rooolls thinking about that meal. (One of the travel guides rated the IP buffet as the second worse in vegas, I dread to think what they thought was the worst)

Bottom line, Play poker, pick up your chips, go eat a decent meal and really enjoy vegas.

Or, you can be just like a local and grovel for buffet comps and wonder why you're stomach is allways rooling.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[Dynasty]

Why try to score a $2 meal from the poker room ? Warning shouting ahead -- SPEND THE MONEY ON A DECENT MEAL.

In general, I agree. One of the reasons I like the Monte Carlo for small stakes poker is that I use their $6 comp at a decent moderately priced restaurant.

[eldo77]

that some people will spend hundreds of dollars on airfare and hotels, and then sit up and beg like a mangy dog for a $10 meal comp.

[True Poker CEO]

... I think a certain online site is giving away a trip to Las Vegas every day this month ... airfare included.

[Porcupine]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I pick him up at the IP, where he's been playing PAI-Gow poker all day. He was soo excited because he scored an ESP. What's an ESP you ask? It's short for Every Suckers Perk, also known as a buffet comp. So, we just had to go to the second worst buffet in vegas. My stomach still rooolls thinking about that meal. (One of the travel guides rated the IP buffet as the second worse in vegas, I dread to think what they thought was the worst)

[/ QUOTE ]

Reminds of several years ago (before we became semi-regulars) when I scored 4 IP buffet comps and was able to "treat" my whole group to dinner. They can't save I never gave them anything /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[Herb N.]

I agree I suppose If I was in Vegas for a 3/4 day vacation what differance does $50,or $100 make?This poster was talking about a week.I normaly go for at LEAST two weeks,and up to a month.Spending this long in Vegas if I'm carfull I can save some serious money.I'm from Michigan too,West Michigan the conservative side of the state.

[bad beetz]

you certainly have a pair on you. Unless it was a dare, I don't think I'll have to take this route.

[bad beetz]

I was craving chinese food, so my buddy and I went to IP for the buffet. OH. NOT F*CKING CHINESE FOOD. It's just crap, like the worst dorm food I ever had in college, no, it was worse than that. Of course no one was kind enought to tell me before we got in there, I just assumed.

I gotta ask, what's the #1 worst, you said IP was the second?

[bad beetz]

couldn't get a buffet comp'ed at the belagio

[Terry]

I worked in casinos for 22 years. No pair required.

[AmericanAirlines]

When dealing at one casino I saw a chef put his cooking tools on the bench you sit on to get dressed.

Oh yeah, I want that food.

The Chefs in Vegas carry thier personal tool sets in a little black nylon case. A union thing I think.