Solo Trip to Vegas

Main Street Station is good, but when I was there the table was crowded.

Had a great time shooting craps at The California.

Lots of Hawaiians, but they're pretty cool, and take the game damned seriously.

Quote: ahiromu

2. I'm trying to decide on which players club to join. I am having to decide between MGM and Harrah's, since it seems like they have a duopoly. I'm thinking MGM because Harrah's has been given a pretty bad rap by the Wizard and some of the fellow gamblers on this site.

The upside to Total Rewards is that Harrah's has joints all over the country where you can earn points which also gets you stuff in Vegas, whereas MGM/M Player's Club only works in Vegas, Detroit, Tunica, and Biloxi. Of course, if you don't live near a Harrah's property, then this isn't really an upside.

The downside, of course, is you're giving money to —ing Harrah's.

I wouldn't say that Harrah's has an awful rewards system as it has a very different system. Because it has casinos all over the country, including Chicago, AC, Windsor, Las Vegas, and Mississippi, they market their cards differently.

Cash back is very lean, especially on table games. They offer alot of discounted hotel room deals (0 at Ballys for example) even for their low end gamers. The rewards really come by collecting enough points to become a diamond or platinum member which puts you to the front of the buffet line, gets you more comps, show tickets, and other things.

If you are going just for a few days and are looking for short term comps, stay away from Harrahs. If you are a chronic low level gambler who is looking for great accommodations center-strip at cheap prices on a future visit or are a mid-level gambler who can accumulate the points to become a premier member, Harrahs actually works fairly well.

Agreed. You could do worse than Harrah's. What a lot of people do is focus their play at other properties that have decent games (A.C., Windsor, Rincon, Ak-Chin, and maybe some other places that I'm not thinking of) and then spend their points and offers in Las Vegas.
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But for a one-off trip to Las Vegas, I would not bother giving them much, if any, play. Especially since you live in Seattle where they don't have a property.
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People (including myself) have had good luck at Venetian recently with scoring free room offers with limited green chip play. You could give that a shot and maybe get a suite for a future visit.

Quote: ahiromu

2. I'm trying to decide on which players club to join. I am having to decide between MGM and Harrah's, since it seems like they have a duopoly. I'm thinking MGM because Harrah's has been given a pretty bad rap by the Wizard and some of the fellow gamblers on this site.

Some widely dispersed advice is for you not even to play anwyhere until you've joined the players club. I've joined just about every club there is in every casino I've played in, for all the good that does. A lot of casinos will give you the elastic key-chain and clip to hold several club cards (I got one from Excalibur, Fitzgeralds and Startosphere). It's free and usually only takes a few minutes.

Last count I got cards for the Sahara (stayed there once), Harrahs, MGM/Mirage, Fitzgeralds, Riviera, Stratosphere, Casino Royale, Boyd Gaming (that's Sam's Town, Fremont and others). I dind't get one fro the Golden Nugget or Four Queens because the lines were hideously long the times I went there. I kind of collect them, too, and I try to see as many casinos as I can every trip.

Not to get this thread off track (okay, I will), but I'd hold my collection of player's cards against almost anyone's. (The Wizard probably has me beat). I think I've got cards for every single casino/casino chain in the Las Vegas Valley. I don't have any old/defunct ones. I should take a photo and post them here. I've even got the Siegel Slots and Suites players club card, and that's a tough one to get!
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FWIW, Skyline on Boulder Highway does _not_ have a players club. They are maybe the only ones that don't. I asked to join, and when I was told they didn't have one, I was shocked.
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Edit: I've just realized I don't have a Hooter's Owl Club card! Good heavens ... guess I've never had a reason to go in there. (The $200 "free slot play" isn't much of an incentive.)

Indeed, I have quite the collection. If you stacked them all up, it would be at least six inches, although admittedly with a lot of repeats. I should have every type of card in Vegas, except maybe a few places like Jerry's Nugget. I've got one for every place in the San Diego area, and lots from Reno, Tahoe, Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi, and Macau. I never throw away defunct cards either. I need to find a way to organize them. High levels I have attained are Harrah's Diamond, Venetian Plantinum, and Stations President.

I'm not what you'd call an avid collector. I've modest goals. Like visiting and playing in at least a diferent casino each trip, and getting their club card. Last trip that included Fitz, Fremont, Riviera and Stratosphere. I think next time I'll get a couple more Downtown plus Wynn and Venetian.

If I ever get any sort of level other than the very basic card, I'll frame it (after I have it gilded) ;)

Quote: ahiromu

3. Assuming I go with MGM, is the best place to make my bets at MGM Grand or the Bellagio? I assume one of the bigger properties, if not please inform me of a better venue.

I'd hit up Luxor if you're looking for an MGM property with those betting standards.