Worth Asking for Comps?

Say I'm a poor grad student going to Vegas for the first time on a low budget to take a break from dissertating.

If I stay at a downtown casino like, say El Cortez, for $30 a night and play $5 BJ for 4 or 5 hours with a gambling budget of $200/day. Would they comp the room and/or meal? Is it worth asking for it? or will the embarrassement of asking scar me for the rest of my life?

Unless getting turned down for comps is going to traumatize you forever, ask. They usually are pretty respectful of the way they say no, but there is a chance someone will be rude. Don't sweat it!!

Have fun!!

Not a bad question but I can say that at $5/hand for 5 hrs there's zero chance you'll get a room. A meal, possibly. I won' take the time to delve into how comps are calculated (a simple web search will give you dozens of sites that have that info) but my advice: have fun! The El Cortez is a great property and definitely a nice place to unwind from the rigors of academia without the pressures one can feel on the Strip.

Enjoy yourself!

Jeff

El Cortez:

$5 double-deck blackjack with 80% penetration.

You MUST check out the bubble craps machine. $1 min bet, 5x odds. Beat that!

Edit- sorry no help with your comps question.

As an addendum (since I kinda downplayed the Strip which was not really my intention): since it sounds like you are on a budget and are looking at El Cortez (I think you mentioned a $30/night room rate), the Imperial Palace is advertising rooms in Dec for $18/night WITH NO RESORT FEE (this is huge). Only problem is that you will have a harder time finding a $5 table. Just passing the info along.

Unfortunately at $5 a hand, you will not get a free room or even a discounted room. If you are polite and play long enough you might get a meal comp though. And of course, free booze!

I can tell you that my experience with the EC is that they will comp your room if you average 2000 slot/ video poker points per day, which is $2000 dollars of coin in, but a room there is generally only approximately$35 on a weeknight. Buy the American Casino Guide, Downtown alone they will give you $10 at the el cortez, $10 at Plaza, and $10 at Vegas club, and a $25 match play at Golden Gate, which will more than cover the cost of the book. Then use the 50% off coupon for Flame Steakhouse at El Cortez. Gordon Ramsey it is not, but it is a great value, the food is good and reasonably priced. With the coupon you can get a steak for maybe $12 and the sides will be like $2.50 each. Come to think of it I believe there is a room discount coupon in the ACG.

Thank you for all the info. I'm thinking I'll do some non-gambling activities during the day. Check out The Pawn Star store, Clark County Museum, National Atomic Testing Museum, Hoover Dam, etc. And check out the chick dealers at Golden Gate in the evenings.

Quote: bigfoot66

Buy the American Casino Guide, Downtown alone they will give you $10 at the el cortez, $10 at Plaza, and $10 at Vegas club, and a $25 match play at Golden Gate, which will more than cover the cost of the book. Then use the 50% off coupon for Flame Steakhouse at El Cortez. Gordon Ramsey it is not, but it is a great value, the food is good and reasonably priced. With the coupon you can get a steak for maybe $12 and the sides will be like $2.50 each. Come to think of it I believe there is a room discount coupon in the ACG.

Thank you for the info. I will get one. It looks like it only costs $12.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Casino-Guide-2012-Edition/dp/1883768217/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352743125&sr=8-3&keywords=american+casino+guide+2013+coupon+list

If you put in several hours of play don't be ashamed to ask for a free meal, or a meal credit for say 10-15 dollars. The worst thing they can do is say no. Looks like you have a nice trip planned! El Cortez has some of the best odds in Vegas. Good luck!