My Las Vegas Review
Recently I took ten days off and went to Las Vegas! This was my
sixth trip there in the last three years In the last 6 visits I
think I have found out some great places to eat gamble and
sleep- So I am posting this as my offical Las Vegas Review.
If you have never been to Las Vegas or haven't been there in 2
years than this review will be helpful to you. The city is
constantly changing and growing. I love playing Texas Holdem
poker online but after playing everday for quite some time it is
nice to get away. And it is nice to be able to afford to take a
nice vacation like this. Before I became an online poker player
as a profession I would never have dreamed of going to Vegas for
ten days and satying at one of the most beautiful hotels in the
world- The Venetian....
Transportation
On my first trip to Vegas we didn't rent a car. We took a
shuttle for 8 bucks from the airport to out hotel and walked or
took the bus/ taxis for the rest of the trip. Ever since then we
have rented a car. If you go midweek or offseason It is very
cheap to rent a car in Vegas. We never payed more than 25 bucks
a day. If you add up the cost of taxis and shuttles, it seems
much smarter to rent a car.
Beware if you are a timid driver, people drive like maniacs
there! If you prefer to get the exercise than the shuttle may be
the best bet for you. There are buses every 10 min going up and
down the strip, and there are many free mono rail trams going
beetween many of the casinos on the strip.
My reccomendation is to rent a car and bring a wad of singles
with and valet it. If you are like me you will want to go and
see all of the beautiful casinos. There is nothing better than
driving to the front door and having it parked. I usually tip a
buck or two. Otherwise you can park in the parking structures
for free.
Hotels
On my most recent vacation I went with my friend Kurt. Below are
some pics of our hotel room at the Venetian. If you can afford
to I would highly suggest staying here. It was by far the nicest
hotel I have ever been to. The bathroom was HUGE, with a jacuzzi
tub, double sink, seperate shower, the toilet was in a seperate
room with a phone, marble floors.
Our Room
The Venetian and the Bellagio are the 2 nicest hotels in Las
Vegas. They are expensive. I have been to many hotels in Vegas
and it all depends on what you want out of your vacation. Most
people will gamble and drink into the wee hours of the morning
so the hotel won't matter much. If you want to stay at the
cheapest hotel possible and stay close to gambling I reccomend
staying downtown. I stayed at the Las Vegas Club downtown last
year. Midweek you can get a room for 35-45 bucks a night. On
that trip we only slept about 10 hours total the 3 nights we
were there, so the hotel didnt matter much.
However the Las Vegas Club was pretty nice the rooms were very
large thay had a couch. I have stayed at other hotels downtown
and most are in that price range and more expensive weekends and
peak season. So If you want to be pampered and stay somewhere
nice find a hotel on the strip- The Venetian and the Belagio are
very nice, and very expensive. The MGM or Luxor or New York are
mid priced.. If you want to go cheap stay downtown.
Drinks
If you love to gamble and love to drink PERFECT- If you are
gambling drinks are free. So dont spend 8 bucks at the bar, hit
the tables or slots and drink on the house.
Gambling
I have gambled at many-a-casino in Vegas. I think on this last
10 day vacation we hit most of them. My suggestion for gambling
comes down to preference and cash. On weekends and peak times it
is hard to find a blackjack table with a 5 dollar minimum on the
strip. Most are ten bucks and up. So If you are on a budget I
suggest gambling downtown. They have plenty of five dollar
tables and even three dollar tables. They also have single and
double deck blackjack games downtown for lower limits. We found
most casinos on the strip use auto shufflers and are 6+ decks-
This makes for very bad odds. On this trip I mostly played
blackjack. I consider online poker my profession and being on
vacation I needed a little break. So I played mostly blackjack
and the horses.
Some must see casinos are the Venetian, there are shops and the
Venice canals, and beautiful paintings and artwork. Also the
Belagio is a stunning casino, they have a water show in front
set to music. If you are going to bet on horses or sports I
suggest the sportsbook at the Belagio. They have personal flat
screen TV's leather chairs and they have plenty of cocktail
waitreses supplying the drinks. We spent a lot of time here.
Food
Where to eat? We ate so much food on this trip, I must have
gained 20 pounds...Lets start out with the buffets:
The best buffet I have ever had is The Spice Market Buffet in
the Aladdin Casino. It was around $25 and the food was amazing.
They had food in diferent categories, American, Mexican, etc.
Everything I tasted was delicious. The fruit they had was fresh,
the desserts were amazing. I highly recommend this buffet.
Another great buffet is The Buffet at the Belagio. This buffet
was very close in price and taste to the Spice Market buffet. If
you like seafood I would recommend this one. They also have Beef
Wellingtion, Prime rib and Colby beef, very delicious.
The largest buffet would have to be the buffet at the Rio, The
Carnival World Buffet. This buffet was 25-30 bucks. It had a
huge selection but I was not impressed with the food.
The worst buffet we had was breakfast at Bally's buffet. The
food was not very poor. The Orange juice tasted like Tang.
Non- Buffet Eats
Burger?
The best burger would have to be at The Burger Bar in Mandalay
Bay. they have Colby Beef burgers, which are not cheap. Around
16 bucks, but the were very good.
Want a great steak? The best steak I ever ate in Vegas was at
Alan Alberts on the strip. It is a very nice restaraunt, great
service, great food. Pricey but well worth it if your looking
for a mouth watering steak. 3763 Las Vegas Blvd
Italian Food
Want some great Italian food, at a great old school eatery? Try
Batista's Hole in the Wall. The restaurant walls are lined with
celebrity autograpghed pictures. They even have an accordion
player walking from table to table. The food is excellent. Meals
come with your choice of wine, a salad, entree and complimentary
cappuccino. I had the Chicken parm and it was very good. It was
around 20-25 bucks a meal.
Cheap Eats
Lost all your cash at the tables? There are some great deals on
meals all over Vegas. Kurt and tried most of them. If you are
looking for upscale dining skip this section!
At The Las Vegas Club's Upperdeck downtown- We ate NY strip
steak, eggs, hashbrowns and toast for $2.95!!! And it was
actually very good.
Another great deal is the Prime rib at San Remos across from the
MGM. You get bread, salad, prime rib, baked potato, vegetables
all for $5.95. The slice of prime rib was pretty thin but for 6
bucks it was worth it. Another cheap meal we had a few times is,
Steak and Lobster dinner at Careful Kitys in the El Cortez
downtown. It was like 10 bucks and pretty good.
Bars and Clubs
Wanna hit the clubs? One of my favorites is the Ghost Bar on top
of the Palms casino. They filmed MTV's Real World las Vegas at
the Palms, and the cast frequented the Ghost bar.. Its part
outside on the top of the building. The views of the strip are
amazing. Mostly a younger crowd.
Tangerine at Treasure Island was also pretty good. You could
also go outside with views of the strip and the Pirate show.
If you run out of cash and still want to get some drinks- go to
a sportsbook. Kurt perfected this method! Grab a program and a
seat and wait for the cocktail waitress to come around. Make
sure to tip her and she will keep coming back!
Kerry Mann is a professional Online poker player and writer.
Visit his website for more information on making a living at
online poker: http://www.pokerliving.net