Free Play Article

Greetings!

For those interested, my Free Play article is up:

https://wizardofvegas.com/article/free-play/

Enjoy!

I already read it.
good article!
many useful tips.

Quote: Mission146

Greetings!

For those interested, my Free Play article is up:

https://wizardofvegas.com/article/free-play/

Enjoy!

SUMS SUMS ~$270

Where is the SUMS and how do I get that coupon ;)

The sad part of all this is, before so much information was spread around on the internet and books (Jean Scott type books) about all of this stuff your value of $270 doing all of that would be multiplied by at least 5 for $1350. Not to mention all the others good things to do along the way, a new player to Vegas could really clean up.

Plenty of $50 and $25 match plays and Aces. $25 -$100 new members, Free buffets, Free fun books everywhere with tons of good stuff in them. 4 of a kind bonuses worth hundreds.

It was not easy to get all the information, people would have to spend time and figure it out for themselves. I have seen the rapid decline of good things as the free information grows.

*SHRUG*

I don't see mention of the 'push your 22' blackjack bet, coupon in ACG, for the D. That coupon has a value of $25.

The article was quite interesting and I am amazed you actually visited all those places and got the free plays. Obviously this type of trip will appeal to someone who gets entertainment value from the hunt for free stuff. Personally when I am in Vegas I would rather maximize my time doing the things I enjoy even if it costs money.

Do you think anyone would actually enjoy a trip like this if they followed ALL your advice? Specifically the no -EV gambling and no tipping rules would detract a lot from my enjoyment. For one thing it is hard to get decent drink service as a slow, cheapass gambler if you stiff the waitress every time.

Quote: kewlj

I don't see mention of the 'push your 22' blackjack bet, coupon in ACG, for the D. That coupon has a value of $25.

I didn't mention that, mainly because for the purposes of the Free Trip thing I would not advise playing it. There's too much Variance, it's possible to go down entirely too much before the value of the coupon is realized. That's the same reason that I didn't list the Golden Gate 2:1 Blackjack.

I do recommend playing these things, don't get me wrong, but playing them is not 'Safe,' in relation to the purposes of a free trip.

Quote: AxelWolf

The sad part of all this is, before so much information was spread around on the internet and books (Jean Scott type books) about all of this stuff your value of $270 doing all of that would be multiplied by at least 5 for $1350. Not to mention all the others good things to do along the way, a new player to Vegas could really clean up.

Plenty of $50 and $25 match plays and Aces. $25 -$100 new members, Free buffets, Free fun books everywhere with tons of good stuff in them. 4 of a kind bonuses worth hundreds.

Right, and actually, I probably should have mentioned the Four Queens funbook in my article and neglected to do so. Although, they give it to you whenever you sign up for the Player's Club anyway, so it's not like anyone is going to miss out for reading my article and not knowing about it.

You talk about years ago, let's discuss just a few months ago (December), had Beth been down with doing the run-around then, we'd have had ~$350 in EV each just because of all the coupons and New Member offers. The New Member (internal) offers have really dropped off just in the last few months.

This is evident by the fact that LVH currently has nothing (did have Free Play & a Funbook) and Cosmopolitan has nothing where they had that great loss rebate for a long time.

Quote: jml24

The article was quite interesting and I am amazed you actually visited all those places and got the free plays.

Thanks for the compliments! Surprisingly, visiting all of these places is not even as remotely difficult as people seem to think it should be. These are not long walks, and even then, you're in an air-conditioned casino in between stops, so you can cool down and everything like that. The hardest walk was from Sam's Town to Boulder Station along Boulder Highway which I would never advise anyone to do, and even that walk in and of itself was not difficult.

For all of the other walks, you're not as far between places as the map seems to imply. I think I did Mandalay Bay to Hooters, front door to front door, in about twenty minutes. I went from Hooters to Ellis Island, probably another twenty minutes. The point is, the break (cool air) to walking ratio is actually quite balanced. Riviera to LVH was a pain in the posterior, mainly because I went too far up LV Boulevard and had to turn around, and secondly, because LVH didn't end up having anything.

The most important thing, really, is to make good use of those BConnected shuttles. I plan for my next Vegas trip to be five nights again, I think I am going to do one or two Reviews, stay at Golden Gate one night (unless I get D offers) and I'll possibly stay at Fremont the other two nights as a gesture of my appreciation for all the free rides.

Quote:

Obviously this type of trip will appeal to someone who gets entertainment value from the hunt for free stuff. Personally when I am in Vegas I would rather maximize my time doing the things I enjoy even if it costs money.

I agree with you 100%! Like I said, this trip is not going to be for everyone, especially people who hate walking. I thoroughly enjoy walking around all over the place and taking everything in nice and slowly, I like (discreetly) watching everyone around me and eavesdropping on partial conversations to hear about what everyone is doing and planning on doing. I like getting stuff for free, even if the value isn't all that great, every time.

This is definitely the sort of thing that appeals to a specific sub-set of people, but at the same time, getting the few hundred value doesn't hurt anybody.

Quote:

Do you think anyone would actually enjoy a trip like this if they followed ALL your advice? Specifically the no -EV gambling and no tipping rules would detract a lot from my enjoyment. For one thing it is hard to get decent drink service as a slow, cheapass gambler if you stiff the waitress every time.

I'm sure somebody would, but this is really meant as more of a guideline to what a person could do, so I really think just about everyone could find value in taking bits and pieces of what I suggest rather than doing the entire thing according to the plan.

In terms of the no -EV gambling, I don't really expect too many people to follow that, except for those otherwise not entirely inclined to gamble...in which case, this is an excellent plan for them!!! It's just something that I felt a responsibility to throw in there as being vitally important to the, 'Free,' aspect of it.

Again, I think people can come up with their own alternatives to what I propose. Someone might say, "You know what, I want to do gambling other than this, but I think I will only gamble my winnings from the coupons and take advantage of the other offers." That's something I could see someone doing.

I mentioned that I would never follow the, "No tipping," Rule, I just felt a responsibility to mention it as beneficial to a free trip. Someone savvy enough could go out of their way to sit by someone tipping correctly, and then they won't lose anything in service speed.

Quote: Mission146

8. Don't Buy The Water — The conveniently placed person selling water out of a cooler on a warm day on the Strip seems too good to be true, especially since she only wants a $1.00 for it, which would be reasonable anywhere...this is because she is too good to be true. If you pull out your wallet to hand her a dollar, you're going to have beggars, people that claimed to be in movies and want to sell you, “A collection of their works,” people claiming just to need bus fare and people wanting to sell you any other manner of things on you like a pack of wolves on a three-legged deer. It's not worth it, get water from a proper store and carry it with you. These people will even follow you for a few steps and talk your ear off about how you desperately need one of their $5 glow necklaces.

This has not been my experience. I have bought water from these folks several times and haven't been bothered by anyone.

Quote: JimRockford

This has not been my experience. I have bought water from these folks several times and haven't been bothered by anyone.

I agree with you completely. i think those $1 waters are one of the best values.

Quote: DRich

I agree with you completely. i think those $1 waters are one of the best values.

+2, last time we were there it was 110 out. I even worked a deal with a guy to get 6 bottle for $5.

Quote: GWAE

+2, last time we were there it was 110 out. I even worked a deal with a guy to get 6 bottle for $5.

Aren't they all "donations" now, due to the recent law change? So technically, you could just take one and not "donate." Or donate 25 cents. Granted the guy would be pissed, and some of those guys I would not want to piss off. But they require that you pay a certain price anymore.

Great article, Mission. I could have written this exact same article. I did the same thing about three or four times. Like AxelWolf pointed out, the E.V. went down each time, but it was still damn profitable.

Best water play is 2 500ml or 1 1L bottle for $1 from ABC Stores.

I'm going to keep that water deal in mind next trip! Thanks for the compliment!

google maps will calculate walking times. I checked it out a little bit. Of course, this must be inaccurate in the extreme compared to information from someone who has actually done the walk.

Somebody in some thread mentioned once that the apparent walking distance can be deceiving, and that is one thing I remember about Las Vegas in my one trip there in 2003 or so.

I was checking out weather forecasts. Seems that on 100 degree days, the next low might be expected to be mid-70s. For walking in that kind of heat, midnight to 9 AM would be your best window!

Check out today's hourly weather graph. The low dewpoints will make < 85 degrees do-able I think.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=36.11890&lon=-115.123&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical

Quote: DRich

I agree with you completely. i think those $1 waters are one of the best values.

I've heard its just refilled bottles.

Get a waitress to brink you a bottle of water. One waitress at The Venetian brought me three. I must have looked thirsty.

Quote: odiousgambit

google maps will calculate walking times. I checked it out a little bit. Of course, this must be inaccurate in the extreme compared to information from someone who has actually done the walk.

Somebody in some thread mentioned once that the apparent walking distance can be deceiving, and that is one thing I remember about Las Vegas in my one trip there in 2003 or so.

I would say that this is especially true on the Strip proper. The main reason why is because you occasionally have to go up an escalator (or steps) to cross one street South-North, then get off of that and go up another to cross over East-West, then get off of that and cross over another from North back to South and then finally go onto the desired street to continue where you are going. The ultimate result is (up to) an estimated quarter mile of walking to ultimately proceed a few hundred feet!!!

Aside from that, I didn't really think anything around the Strip was that far, certainly didn't seem as far as Google Maps would have it. I think the only one that was a bit further than I expected (in terms of time) was Hooters to Ellis Island, but it was made up for on the back end because Ellis Island was much closer to the Wynn than I thought it would be.

Quote: FleaStiff

I've heard its just refilled bottles.

Get a waitress to brink you a bottle of water. One waitress at The Venetian brought me three. I must have looked thirsty.

This is not a JOKE people were digging out bottles of water from the trash can and refilling them. I heard some people were even Super gluing the caps to make them seem sealed.

Quote: AxelWolf

This is not a JOKE people were digging out bottles of water from the trash can and refilling them. I heard some people were even Super gluing the caps to make them seem sealed.

I really don't know for sure. Alot of those cases of water are available through charity or government relief programs. I'd sure not like to take the risk though. You get sick, it ruins your whole trip. Some "savings" for trying to help out a guy down on his luck.

Has anyone had any experience vulturing departing visitors bus passes at the airport? Seems like you could get someone to give you a bus pass with some time on it since they are leaving.

Awfully long article. You have an agenda like you said.

Question your title "Free Vegas Vacation". Sounds more like plenty of hard work to me.

No tipping. Against Wizard 10 Commandments and unAmer.....

Quote: FleaStiff

I've heard its just refilled bottles.

It's not, the lids have always been sealed. They sell those 16oz bottles at the grocery store on sale for $2.99 for a 24 pack. They are still making good money selling them for a $1.

Quote: Deck007

Awfully long article. You have an agenda like you said.

Question your title "Free Vegas Vacation". Sounds more like plenty of hard work to me.

No tipping. Against Wizard 10 Commandments and unAmer.....

I would hardly consider any of it, "Hard work," tedious, perhaps, especially MyVegas.

I kind of put a disclaimer on 'No tipping,' basically to the extent that I would never actually do that. I tend to tip cocktail waitresses a dollar every round, but I think a dollar every two rounds is...chintzy, but adequate enough.

Great info, especially the free play coupons.

Quote:

However, I would not walk down Boulder Highway again, just stay within the confines of Sam's Club, Eastside Cannery and Longhorn Casino if you are there.

I've caught myself making this error in writing before, too.

Sam's Club! LOL

That's great!

I suppose I'll have to send Wizard a PM to Edit that...

Thanks for the compliment on the info, by the way.

deleted

Quote: Mission146

Sam's Club! LOL

That's great!

I suppose I'll have to send Wizard a PM to Edit that...

Thanks for the compliment on the info, by the way.

Both have old pickers. Sam's Town has vultures, and Sam's Club has the free food samples.

Quote: FleaStiff

I've heard its just refilled bottles.

Get a waitress to brink you a bottle of water. One waitress at The Venetian brought me three. I must have looked thirsty.

There have been investigations by newspapers and TV stations about refilling water bottles with tap water from who knows where. It's been alleged that bottles are taken from trash bins and reused. I'm sure it can be looked up.

Quote: 1BB

There have been investigations by newspapers and TV stations about refilling water bottles with tap water from who knows where. It's been alleged that bottles are taken from trash bins and reused. I'm sure it can be looked up.

gotta be a crap shoot at least

Quote: 1BB

There have been investigations by newspapers and TV stations about refilling water bottles with tap water from who knows where. It's been alleged that bottles are taken from trash bins and reused. I'm sure it can be looked up.

That's why water bottles are sealed. Don't buy it (or at least don't drink it) if it's not sealed.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

That's why water bottles are sealed. Don't buy it (or at least don't drink it) if it's not sealed.

superglue has been used

Quote: AxelWolf

superglue has been used

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I always check the status of the little plastic ring to make sure it's still attached to the lid.

Quote: Venthus

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I always check the status of the little plastic ring to make sure it's still attached to the lid.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "sealed". The plastic ring should be attached to the cap.

I am not sure how superglue would help here. I have never actually bought one of these things (there is free water in the casino; why would I buy water from an overpass between two casinos?) but if I did I would check it to make sure it had not been tampered with before drinking it. Worst case, I toss it and I'm out $1.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

Yeah, that's what I meant by "sealed". The plastic ring should be attached to the cap.

I am not sure how superglue would help here. I have never actually bought one of these things (there is free water in the casino; why would I buy water from an overpass between two casinos?) but if I did I would check it to make sure it had not been tampered with before drinking it. Worst case, I toss it and I'm out $1.

Well, the ring just drops around the neck of the bottle below the nipple or cap, and it's usually white or clear, so if you just filled it, held the ring back up and swiped a tiny bit of superglue on 2-3 points at the join, I think it would take a pretty detailed look to realize it had been doctored. The little points where it's originally attached would act as spacers to make it look right, and if the bottle is dewy from being in an ice chest, so much the better. You'd have the initial resistance again in opening it and not think twice about it.

I realize that water can easily be found for 2.99/24 pack, but maybe that's a lot of money to those folks. Or maybe they like getting one over on the tourists. Or they're severe ecologists who want to reuse EVERYthing. Who knows? But I have also heard that this is happening specifically along the Strip. So I don't buy water there.

What I don't get is those casinos which insist on opening the water and throwing away the cap. I like to be able to travel with it, from machine to machine, or table to table, or even take it up to my room and have it there (instead of the 1 liter for $3 sitting on the table some places). What's that about?

Quote: ncfatcat

Has anyone had any experience vulturing departing visitors bus passes at the airport? Seems like you could get someone to give you a bus pass with some time on it since they are leaving.

In Seattle, years ago, there was a rack of bus route schedules at the airport and one slot was labeled Passes... departing passengers would leave them in the box for arriving tourists to utilize.

Quote: beachbumbabs

What I don't get is those casinos which insist on opening the water and throwing away the cap. I like to be able to travel with it, from machine to machine, or table to table, or even take it up to my room and have it there (instead of the 1 liter for $3 sitting on the table some places). What's that about?

Come on Babs, you don't get it? It is about them wanting you to stay in the casino. They don't want you taking your drink and leaving. With the cap it is more convenient for you to leave.

Quote: beachbumbabs

What I don't get is those casinos which insist on opening the water and throwing away the cap. I like to be able to travel with it, from machine to machine, or table to table, or even take it up to my room and have it there (instead of the 1 liter for $3 sitting on the table some places). What's that about?

Its a very short sighted policy. I can understand a casino wanting you to consume an alcoholic drink in their casino and not go wandering off elsewhere with it, but a bottle of water? The normal ebb and flow of casino patrons often involves toting drinks with them, its no big deal. When the waitress in the Venetian greeted me and un-asked gave me two glasses of orange juice and three bottles of water she sure didn't do any such cheapie move as to try to unscrew them for me. I wound up taking one of the bottles up to my room and it never occurred to me to use that in room mini bar at its astronomical rates.

First time I stayed at the Seminole Hard Rock the bell man who brought up my luggage warned me that the bottles of water on the table and all the items in the concealed refrigerator were sold as charitable donations and so the prices were extremely high and not subject to being comped.

It only annoys their customers when casinos are extremely "cheap" and do annoying things like tossing away the cap and handing you an already opened bottle. Particularly in this day and age when all women everywhere are alert to the dangers of date rape drugs in drinks and most of them are also aware that even a bottle of water can be drugged despite a slight bitter taste. At a Fraternity party it is customary, if beer is served in cans, to hand the cans of beer out unopened so the Sorrority girls won't be alarmed but about an hour before the bar closes all cans will be served already opened so people don't put cans in the pockets before leaving the party. Any way you look at though, tossing the cap off the bottle of water is just cheap!

Quote: Venthus

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I always check the status of the little plastic ring to make sure it's still attached to the lid.

Needles have been injected.
ok, I'm kidding about that.

Yes that's a good idea to check the cap. Personally I just order it from the cocktail waitresses.

I'm sure reputable companies are fine.
I was more talking about individuals doing this, guy's who look a bit sketchy. You can tell who they are.

I have seen some interesting things on the strip, I will give a few bucks, if it catches my eye and I think its unique.

I seen a guy making weaved stuff crosses, animals, spelling Vegas out etc, all out of dried palm tree strips. He looked down on his luck. I thought this was clever as he was getting the dried leaves or whatever it is, for free from the casinos and Strip, I felt this was better then begging for money. I didn't want one, but I gave him a few bucks just to watch him make them.

Off the strip, I always have the window washers (properly equipped) do my car windows. I respect that much more then the beggars.

At Walmart I occasionally listen for about 5 seconds to see if they have anything interesting to sell, Gift cards, computers etc. If they ask for money I say oh man I was just going to ask you for some money. If im in a rush, they just get the, talk to the hand move.

Soon I will be taking a trip to the Home Depot and hiring a few Mexican guys to paint and do some labor work. I have had great success with this, they work hard for a fair price(to me anyways).

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

I have never actually bought one of these things (there is free water in the casino; why would I buy water from an overpass between two casinos?)

I mostly agree with you, but the waters you get in the casinos are TINY, like usually half the size of a regular bottle of water. So occasionally if it's hot or I am dehydrated (happens to me commonly in Vegas due to alcohol consumption), I will toss the guy on the overpass a buck for a normally-sized bottle. But I drink a lot of water.

Better play is to walk into the ABC store, where you can get a jumbo sized bottle (I think 1 liter) for the same dollar.

Quote: AcesAndEights

I mostly agree with you, but the waters you get in the casinos are TINY, like usually half the size of a regular bottle of water. So occasionally if it's hot or I am dehydrated (happens to me commonly in Vegas due to alcohol consumption), I will toss the guy on the overpass a buck for a normally-sized bottle. But I drink a lot of water.

Better play is to walk into the ABC store, where you can get a jumbo sized bottle (I think 1 liter) for the same dollar.

If they have the tiny bottles and I am thirsty, I ask for 2. I also always ask for Fiji.

If I'm drinking booze, I ask for a bottle of water at the same time. That way I always drink 1 bottle of water per alcoholic drink, so I stay hydrated, and I can drink more :)

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

If they have the tiny bottles and I am thirsty, I ask for 2. I also always ask for Fiji.

If I'm drinking booze, I ask for a bottle of water at the same time. That way I always drink 1 bottle of water per alcoholic drink, so I stay hydrated, and I can drink more :)

That's a great strategy. I should do that more. Also I feel bad stiffing the waitress if they bring just a water. But if they're bringing a boozy drink and a water, I won't feel bad about a total $1 tip for that trip.

Here again, the Venetian comes through: good sized bottles to anyone in the casino who wants one, even if not actively gambling at the time.

Best thing is to have your cab or limo driver make a detour from the airport. There is a "Convenient Store" (Oriental mistake perhaps for Convenience Store) that ALL the taxi drivers know about. You don't have to tell the driver which one or where it is. The Seven Eleven a block away will have an empty parking lot, the Convenient Store will be chock full and most of the cars will be cabbies. The store carries EVERYTHING and if a cabby is in a hurry that's okay, he can throw down the approximate amount and he will get his change even if its a few weeks before he next comes in. They carry everything and its real cheap.

That way you can still get free water in a casino but you will have a whole pack of it in your room and will never have to take any risk, real or imagined, with a street side vendor.

Quote: AcesAndEights

That's a great strategy. I should do that more. Also I feel bad stiffing the waitress if they bring just a water. But if they're bringing a boozy drink and a water, I won't feel bad about a total $1 tip for that trip.

I normally tip per drink. So If I want booze and water, I tip at least $2.

I have bought water from the bridge sellers a couple of times and never had any ill effects.

I like the idea of ordering a water with every (or maybe every other) drink.

Thanks for the tip!

Mission146, I'm hoping to do some couponing on my next trip to Vegas, and I have a really basic question: did you get any flak from any casino when trying to use an ACG and an LVA coupon at the same time?

For at least a few casinos, you can tell they basically gave the same offer (free play, match play, whatever) to both books, and generally you have to take the coupon to the player's desk to get the real coupon to use at the table. I'm wondering if you ever walked up with the coupons from each book and did them both at the same time.

Quote: AcesAndEights

Mission146, I'm hoping to do some couponing on my next trip to Vegas, and I have a really basic question: did you get any flak from any casino when trying to use an ACG and an LVA coupon at the same time?

For at least a few casinos, you can tell they basically gave the same offer (free play, match play, whatever) to both books, and generally you have to take the coupon to the player's desk to get the real coupon to use at the table. I'm wondering if you ever walked up with the coupons from each book and did them both at the same time.

You might want to get the Vegas Rover gold package as well.

Quote: AxelWolf

You might want to get the Vegas Rover gold package as well.

I dunno I heard those guys were scammers.









(jokes, jokes)

Quote: AcesAndEights

Mission146, I'm hoping to do some couponing on my next trip to Vegas, and I have a really basic question: did you get any flak from any casino when trying to use an ACG and an LVA coupon at the same time?

For at least a few casinos, you can tell they basically gave the same offer (free play, match play, whatever) to both books, and generally you have to take the coupon to the player's desk to get the real coupon to use at the table. I'm wondering if you ever walked up with the coupons from each book and did them both at the same time.

The only house that gave me any issue when there were essentially the same coupons was El Cortez, who said I had to redeem them on different days. Since I stayed DT every day except one (Cannery, NLV) that wasn't an issue for me.

Quote: Mission146

The only house that gave me any issue when there were essentially the same coupons was El Cortez, who said I had to redeem them on different days. Since I stayed DT every day except one (Cannery, NLV) that wasn't an issue for me.

Cool, thanks.

I'm still debating getting the two books...I won't have a car on this trip, so I'll only be able to use the downtown and near-off-strip coupons. There is enough +EV at just those places to make up for the cost of the books, but not much more on top of that...

Quote: AcesAndEights

Cool, thanks.

I'm still debating getting the two books...I won't have a car on this trip, so I'll only be able to use the downtown and near-off-strip coupons. There is enough +EV at just those places to make up for the cost of the books, but not much more on top of that...

That's not at all true, you can take the free shuttle from Fremont or California to Sam's Town which enables you to hit there, Longhorn and Eastside Cannery (if you have anything Webpass). From Sam's Town, you can shuttle to Harrah's (or back to/from Downtown) and from Harrah's to Gold Coast and/or The Orleans.

You can pretty much hit the entire Strip and Off-Strip with ease as well as Downtown and a couple of the Boulder Highway places. If you don't feel like doing much walking, then you can ignore places such as Westgate, Hooters and Ellis Island...though there is a lot of great value at Ellis Island and it's a really fun place, in my opinion.