Gaming at Flamingo?

Just booked my February trip to Vegas. For a Tuesday-Friday trip, I was offered three free nights at the Flamingo (resort fees only).

How is the gaming there? I'm mainly interested in these games and stakes:

- Midi-Baccarat (If they have less than $100 on offer for Midi, I'll be delightfully surprised.)
- Pai Gow Poker ($25-100 a hand. Dragon hand offered is a big plus.)
- Ultimate Texas Hold'em ($5-15 ante/blinds)
- High Card Flush ($5-$25 a hand)
- Craps if they have good odds on offer
- Poker

Based on all the reviews I've read here and elsewhere, it sounds like the Flamingo hotel leaves a bit to be desired, but you can't beat free. Do they tend to waive resort fees if they're satisfied with your play? Furthermore, has anyone stayed there recently who can report favorably?

I understand the general rule when getting comped rooms is "Play Where You Stay". Would you recommend I play pretty exclusively at the Flamingo, or will playing at any Total Rewards joint be good enough? After all, there's Caesars, Cromwell, Linq and Harrahs right across the street from me.

- Midi-Baccarat (If they have less than $100 on offer for Midi, I'll be delightfully surprised.): They have 1 midi table in high limit which stands at $100 pretty much always. A $10-$15 dollar mini and EZ table is out on the general floor.

- Pai Gow Poker ($25-100 a hand. Dragon hand offered is a big plus.): Dragon is offered

- Ultimate Texas Hold'em ($5-15 ante/blinds): They have 1 table at the desired mins

- High Card Flush ($5-$25 a hand): They have 1 table at the desired mins

- Craps if they have good odds on offer: Standard 3x4x5xc but Cromwell across the street has $5 100x

- Poker: good poker room, usually a handful of $1-$2 tables going

Quote: Deucekies

Based on all the reviews I've read here and elsewhere, it sounds like the Flamingo hotel leaves a bit to be desired, but you can't beat free. Do they tend to waive resort fees if they're satisfied with your play? Furthermore, has anyone stayed there recently who can report favorably?

Been 8 or more years, but I like the place for what it is. Good value in a say 3.5 star place in the middle of the Strip. Get a strip view room and you can watch the Bellagio fountains and figure out how to heist the vault as you relax. Their food is average at best, go elsewhere. The room looks the same when you sleep.

Quote: Deucekies

I understand the general rule when getting comped rooms is "Play Where You Stay". Would you recommend I play pretty exclusively at the Flamingo, or will playing at any Total Rewards joint be good enough? After all, there's Caesars, Cromwell, Linq and Harrahs right across the street from me.

my understanding is that all tier points get lumped together by city.
so all Vegas counts as a 1 place

same with atlantic city.

it doesn't matter where you play in the locale.
my offers codes for vegas are all identical no matter which casino I click on.
you can only use them once. so use it at rio, and it wont be valid anymore for any other casino

A lot of these older CET properties are partially updated. I've stayed in a 4.5/5 star room at Flamingo (Go room I think), but I've also stayed in a motel quality room (deluxe?, fab?). The nicer room will have an effect on your backend comps (speak with a host on duty when you leave). I have no idea about the resort fee, I forget what life was like before diamond.

Above is correct, play at any property in Vegas is the exact same as where you are staying, at least in terms of the math (Mlife is different). Cromwell has 100x odds, play there.

" The nicer room will have an effect on your backend comps (speak with a host on duty when you leave). "

What do u mean by this?

In Caesars Ac, The front desk upgraded me from the forum tower to their nicest tower.
Should I have turned it down?

And what would speaking to a host at the end of the trip do?
(I don't have a host assigned to me)

Quote: ahiromu

The nicer room will have an effect on your backend comps (speak with a host on duty when you leave).

I'd like to know what this means as well. I was going to try and $20-trick my way into a nicer room. Are you suggesting I don't do that?

Backend comps mean going to the Host's office and negotiating after they've seen your play, right?

Backend comp calculations involve subtracting your room value rack rate from your comp balance. If you take a room with a higher rack rate, you will get fewer charges comped.

With that said, I don't know what the differences are between rooms, or if a high level room has a higher rack rate than a lower level room. I can't tell you whether to take the room upgrade, but I always do.

Quote: Deucekies

Backend comps mean going to the Host's office and negotiating after they've seen your play, right?

Correct. The host (usually host on duty at diamond check in) does some basic arithmetic and takes charges off. There isnt much discussion about previous trips or actual loss, just cold hard math. If you're staying at a property where you have a host, they have more leeway and can do it by email.

Quote: ahiromu

Correct. The host (usually host on duty at diamond check in) does some basic arithmetic and takes charges off. There isnt much discussion about previous trips or actual loss, just cold hard math. If you're staying at a property where you have a host, they have more leeway and can do it by email.

meh.. I never charge anything to my room.
food at diamond lounges FTW!

and even if I did charge stuff to my room (ie: spa), the host can only take off AFTER I've depleted my rewards credits, right?

Correct, though I think it's still possible to sweet talk your way around that, it's not something I have ever done.

I like playing at the Flamingo. During the week
they have $5 mini bac in the afternoons. The
dealers also seem like they've been there
forever, which is a good thing. I don't like
the long walk from valet parking, oh well.

Quote: EvenBob

I like playing at the Flamingo. During the week
they have $5 mini bac in the afternoons. The
dealers also seem like they've been there
forever, which is a good thing. I don't like
the long walk from valet parking, oh well.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that long walk and horrible parking from the parking garage, it's a pain in the ass.