Yay! Vegas! (Three stupid questions)

[Wolf]

Hey Nate, get a rental car. Cabs will run ya more than double what a rental will run. That way you can check out the whole town on your 4 day stay. Also nice to have a trunk to stash presents/t-shirts etc. when you are a long way from your hotel. If you are worried about drivin/drinkin just park in a central location and walk to 3 or 4 hotels. Sober up a lttle then re-attack the roadway later.

Its about 30 bucks roundtrip by cab from strip to downtown. I just got back (orbitz 3 day intermediate car was 88. total)

Golden Nugget tourney 11am daily was fun and well run. 58 players/rebuy paid 1300 for first 33. entry

Raising your ATM limit is the way to go for cashish.

Try the Gold Margarita at the Border Grill in Mandalay (by shark tank) 2 or 3 and you will wish you came by cab!

[sucka]

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Try the Gold Margarita at the Border Grill in Mandalay (by shark tank) 2 or 3 and you will wish you came by cab!

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Best Margarita in Vegas is this Vanilla Bean Rita at a mexican joint on the canal inside the Venetian. Bar none...

[slamdunkpro]

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Its about 30 bucks roundtrip by cab from strip to downtown

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!!!!

Someone saw you coming - I've never paid more than $18 Luxor to Freemont Street. (tip included).

[slamdunkpro]

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1) There are some "3-star" hotels available for as little as $30 per night on Orbitz. Would I be doing myself a disservice by not staying somewhere nicer? I'm not a particularly cost-averse person, but on the other hand I don't expect to be spending a whole lot of time doing things other than playing poker and drinking. FWIW, I'm a twentysomething, and am not planning on having a car.


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OK - my 2 cents. Three days isn't enough to "see the world, play poker & drink" in Vegas.

Call the Golden Nugget and see if they've started their poker program yet. The've expressed an interest in bending over backwards for poker players. Even if they haven't, you should be able to get a $40 - $50 room there during your stay. If you stay downtown you can play Binions; The Nuggett & The Plaza. The Nugget usually has a good 10-20 game going and the pace isn't quite as fast and furious as the Mirage.

Stay downtown and you can catch a cab to the Mirage for about $12 or to The Bellagio for $14 to hit the bigger games. Try the 20-40 at the Mirage or, if there is more than 1 table going hit the 15-30 at The Bellagio.

Since you're in over a weekend don't miss the Sunday buffet at Mandalay Bay (Ok it's at the other end of the strip, but worth it!) Try the 4/8 half kill at MB while you're there. Not big limits but VERY soft.

If you stay downtown, there's all kinds of cheep eats and drink.

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Stupidest question of all. What's the best way to have a lot of money available in a short time?

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Get a neck pouch or a money belt (or both) with NO METAL and stuff it. When you go to the airport make sure you've got nothing on to set off the metal detectors. When you get to town, get a Safe deposit box at the Hotel.

[Porcupine]

3) As someone mentioned, raising your ATM limit is one of the easiest ways to have better access to cash. Also, I have written checks for cash at the cage at several casinos (some where I was a guest, others where I've never stayed and didn't even have a comp card).

[drewjustdrew]

I have cashed checks at casinos that I was not even staying at. It takes about a half hour because they check your account balance with the bank, but it is free. They want your money and are willing to accomodate.

But then again, I have walked around with 5K in my pocket and not been worried about it either. Just break up the money and put it in various pockets. In the highly unlikely situation that you get robbed, only give up one pocket worth.

[Wolf]

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Someone saw you coming - I've never paid more than $18 Luxor to Freemont Street. (tip included).

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You must have missed the part where I said "roundtrip"

[nolanfan34]

Pitching in my 2 cents:

Regarding hotels, call and ask for the poker rate. A lot of the hotels offer a reduced rate if you're playing poker. Staying relatively close to where you're playing I think is worth it. A $30 hotel "right off the strip" sounds like a good deal, but after one time walking from there up and down the strip, you'll realize you're going to spend a few bucks on cab fare. And by a few bucks I mean $10 at a time, which will make you wish you had sprung an extra $40 or $50 for the mere logistics of staying on the strip.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but I think the Flamingo offers a decent poker room rate, and it's close to the Bellagio. Little bit of a hike to the Mirage, but not bad. Regardless, when it's 4 in the morning, and you don't have a car, you're not going to want to be walking back to an off-strip hotel, or flagging down a cab with a bunch of cash on hand after you clean up the $20/$40 game [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

If you've played in a B&M at all, you shouldn't have a problem playing at a level you're comfortable with. I think the games at all levels in Vegas are softer than you'd imagine, especially at night.

If you haven't played at a B&M, I would suggest sitting in a lower game for an hour or two just to get the feel of the pace of play. And this is going to sound stupid, but I think it's worth it just to practice keeping track of the pot size. Playing online can make a person pretty lazy about this, since you can keep track of the pot size so easily. But playing live, I know I've run into spots where it's bet and raised to me on the turn, and I've wished I was paying better attention to how many bets were in the pot.

Most of all, have fun, there's no better feeling than sitting down to play poker in Vegas for the first time!

[Wolf]

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Call the Golden Nugget and see if they've started their poker program yet. The've expressed an interest in bending over backwards for poker players. Even if they haven't, you should be able to get a $40 - $50 room there during your stay. If you stay downtown you can play Binions; The Nuggett & The Plaza. The Nugget usually has a good 10-20 game going and the pace isn't quite as fast and furious as the Mirage

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1st time in Vegas and you are gonna recommend staying downtown? Yuck.

The Nugget is nice, but downtown is dead. He will spend most of his time where the action is (the strip). Nightlife? The Strip. So he goes out at night and has to come all the way back to the Nugget?

Explore all the way from Mandalay to Venetian, lotsa good poker, bars, people watchin. Check out Downtown for half a day, you will leave unimpressed.

Lotsa babes do hang at the Plaza and Binions though. Plus Larry Monetti (Magnum PI) is the celebrity buffet guest this week!

[oddjob]

i like downtown, but i would ablsolutely agree here. if this is your first trip, then stay on the strip. or at teh least the sahara. with the monorail opening it'll be easier to get to the main part of the strip.

sahara is cheap, in terms of other gambling. they have a poker room that is filled with horrible young players.

weekend nights are filled iwth a youngish crowd, that is more down to earth then the hardrock youngsters (which i prefer)

but you're a $10 cab ride probably to the main strip or downtown if you choose to check that out.