VEGAS TRIP!!!
I usually play at the bar so I can't tell about CW service.
Wife and I will be there 2nd week of April. Few days in Laughlin, few in LV, tour of Rex Bell's/Clara Bow's walkingbox ranch.
Quote: IAchance5So my Vegas trip is officially booked! I'm going out there the first weekend in April and staying at Paris (had some Harrahs offers). I have now switched from being a 100% table games players, to now being mostly a VP and slot player....the main reason is because I have felt that I was not getting correctly rated for my play, and with VP and slots, I know I'm getting rated corrected. Does anyone have any suggestions for some good places to play $1 or $5 slot machines? Also, what casino has the fastest beverage service? I'm only going to be in for Thursday-Sunday, so I have to cram as much stuff in as I can! Sleep will be secondary for that weekend.....
Suggest you toddle over to the Palms--they apparently have the best slot returns in town. They'll be much better than any Harrah's/Strip property, that's for sure. And the slot club gives .25% free play. They have $1 10/7 Double Bonus with a progressive, which is a +EV game all by itself.
Drink service at the Palms is pretty good, and if you tip regularly, it's very good.
The Palms is a fifteen-minute walk or a very short cab ride from Paris.
Quote: mkl654321Suggest you toddle over to the Palms--they apparently have the best slot returns in town. They'll be much better than any Harrah's/Strip property, that's for sure. And the slot club gives .25% free play. They have $1 10/7 Double Bonus with a progressive, which is a +EV game all by itself.
Drink service at the Palms is pretty good, and if you tip regularly, it's very good.
The Palms is a fifteen-minute walk or a very short cab ride from Paris.
Or take the free shuttle from Paris to the Rio and be very close to the Palms and Gold Coast, but those aren't Harrah's properties if he's looking to get rated for Harrah's offers. The Rio has crappy VP and slot percentages, so you'd probably get rated fairly highly if you played there but your bankroll will suffer in the process.
Quote: FarFromVegasOr take the free shuttle from Paris to the Rio and be very close to the Palms and Gold Coast, but those aren't Harrah's properties if he's looking to get rated for Harrah's offers. The Rio has crappy VP and slot percentages, so you'd probably get rated fairly highly if you played there but your bankroll will suffer in the process.
Well, Harrah's has it figured out to a T how to make the losses it takes to get rated far exceed the benefits, or to put it another way, the raping will outweigh the rating.
Quote: mkl654321Suggest you toddle over to the Palms--they apparently have the best slot returns in town. They'll be much better than any Harrah's/Strip property, that's for sure. And the slot club gives .25% free play. They have $1 10/7 Double Bonus with a progressive, which is a +EV game all by itself.
Drink service at the Palms is pretty good, and if you tip regularly, it's very good.
The Palms is a fifteen-minute walk or a very short cab ride from Paris.
So the Palms is the best place? I would never have thought that because on TV, it seems like "the place to be" anyway, so why would they also give you great hold %? But I'll take it! My room at the Paris is comped at least for one night, so I'll still have to gamble there some, but if you think it's worth it to take a cab over there, I'll do it! Who owns the Palms? Are the hotel stay offers pretty liberal from there too? I went to the website, but the hotel rates for the Palms are still pretty high, especially for being off the strip....
Quote: FarFromVegasOr take the free shuttle from Paris to the Rio
Acutally the Rio shuttle departs from Bally's now. There's also one at Harrah's.
Quote: mkl654321
The Palms is a fifteen-minute walk or a very short cab ride from Paris.
No chance you can walk from Paris to Palms in 15 minutes. Just take the cab. Palms is pretty nice, and drink service is pretty good.
OTOH I definitely do not recommend going to the Palms specifically to play. If you're there on a weekend you'll see the place inundated with LA punks and thugs, every slut in town makes a pass through the place, and there's too many big-mouthed phonies to navigate around. During the week you'll find an over-abundance of local know-it-all failed video poker advantage players wandering around with glazed eyes and confused looks on their faces, trying to understand how life could have gone so wrong for them in the face of +ev vp machines.
Good luck on your trip!
Quote: JerryLogan
OTOH I definitely do not recommend going to the Palms specifically to play. If you're there on a weekend you'll see the place inundated with LA punks and thugs, every slut in town makes a pass through the place, and there's too many big-mouthed phonies to navigate around. During the week you'll find an over-abundance of local know-it-all failed video poker advantage players wandering around with glazed eyes and confused looks on their faces, trying to understand how life could have gone so wrong for them in the face of +ev vp machines.
Good luck on your trip!
LOL you are a talented writer Jerry!
It's only 1.35 miles.Quote: FinsRuleNo chance you can walk from Paris to Palms in 15 minutes. Just take the cab. Palms is pretty nice, and drink service is pretty good.
That's a 20 minute walk at the typical 4mph. Step it up a bit, and you can do it in 15 minutes.
Quote: JerryLoganSince you already play at Harrah's properties then I suggest if you're going to play vp, play at the Rio. The bevertainers are very good if you don't sit at one of their bars. You already know how liberal their comp policies are. Take it from someone who actually plays the game and plays it BIG at times: Never mind all that arm chair talk about the "terrible" pay tables by people who probably don't even play compared to how much they dream about it and write a big game about it on the forums. For the amount of time you'll be playing, a lower pay table isn't going to make or break your bankroll or even come close. You can win on any machine, as my recent two training sessions with the Master RS has shown.
OTOH I definitely do not recommend going to the Palms specifically to play. If you're there on a weekend you'll see the place inundated with LA punks and thugs, every slut in town makes a pass through the place, and there's too many big-mouthed phonies to navigate around. During the week you'll find an over-abundance of local know-it-all failed video poker advantage players wandering around with glazed eyes and confused looks on their faces, trying to understand how life could have gone so wrong for them in the face of +ev vp machines.
Good luck on your trip!
Sometimes I just think you deliberately take the exact opposite position compared to mkl just so you can argue with him some more. Also to throw thinly veiled insults at him.
As a side note, is Harrah's really that good with it's comp policies in Vegas? The Harrah's local to me sucks. It's probably the worst in town!
Quote: ElectricDreamsSometimes I just think you deliberately take the exact opposite position compared to mkl just so you can argue with him some more. Also to throw thinly veiled insults at him.
As a side note, is Harrah's really that good with it's comp policies in Vegas? The Harrah's local to me sucks. It's probably the worst in town!
Your first point: No, it's just that I actually have BEEN to the Palms a thousand times and I don't make believe I know all about it after reading vpfree or their website.
Yes, their comp policy is the best there is if you're a visitor. Get a diamond card and they'll send you off to many of their properties around the country. The place you put in most of your action will shower you with gifts and special offers, you'll get many many on-line offers for other LV hotels on their web site, and if you just want to sit around and drink with exceptional service while watching JL's football picks win on various flat screens, the Diamond Lounge at the Rio is an excellent spot for that.
DJTeddybear said: That's a 20 minute walk at the typical 4mph. Step it up a bit, and you can do it in 15 minutes.
Takes me 10.
Quote: dmYou detest it so badly you've been there a thousand times. That should give MKL a good laugh.
Here's the good laugh: I've played there a lot. I've played at Texas Station a lot and I hate that place. But lucky is lucky. So is their movie theaters, playboy club, restaurants, and other things you and MKL can only make believe you go to.
If you really want to defend the por guy, help him out while he's in the middle of a whitewash by the entire forum, who's collectively laughing at his IQ claims....and subsequent face-saving retractions.
Quote: IAchance5So the Palms is the best place? I would never have thought that because on TV, it seems like "the place to be" anyway, so why would they also give you great hold %? But I'll take it! My room at the Paris is comped at least for one night, so I'll still have to gamble there some, but if you think it's worth it to take a cab over there, I'll do it! Who owns the Palms? Are the hotel stay offers pretty liberal from there too? I went to the website, but the hotel rates for the Palms are still pretty high, especially for being off the strip....
The Palms is owned by George Maloof. The reason why his casino offers good gambling is precisely because as a sole proprietor, he DOESN'T have the "corporate mentality".
The room offers I got in the past were pretty decent--two or three free nights, plus $75-100 in free play, and I was a $1 or .25 player at the time. I don't know what they're like now, since I haven't given them much play recently. I would like to add that the rooms at the Palms are very nice, with very comfortable beds.
Possibly the best parlay is to stay and eat at the Gold Coast, and to walk across the street to gamble at the Palms. The GC is pretty good for table games. Don't bother with the Rio, it's the most Harrahsized of Harrah's properties. Overpriced restaurants, horrible gambling, and a general rip-off-the-sucker attitude; it's a place meant to fleece those who are either too ignorant or too rich to care about things like "house advantage".
Quote: NicksGamingStuffGold Cost rooms succccccccck, even for the pennies they are, see my review on this site! I still haven't forgiven them for "making" me walk from Bills gambling hall (where their shuttle departs) to the gold cost at midnight because it was the last shuttle and there was no more room on it, but on a side note, who is going to be in Vegas 2/27-3/2, I can't believe I am turning 25, where did all the time go? At least I will be in my favorite vacation destination, and I will be staying at the Aria!
Those kinds of evaluations are subjective, and IMHO, the GC rooms are basic, but perfectly OK. One thing is certain, though--if I stay at the GC instead of a Strip megatoilet, I'll have $100 more in my pocket every day. And all I use my hotel room for when I come to Vegas is a crash pad--so I don't really care if the room is fancy or not.
Re the shuttle: the driver could lose his job/his license if he overloads the shuttle, and if it was the last one, you probably should have made sure you were in line early. At any rate, it's a ten-minute walk from Bill's to the GC--piece of cake for a young, vigorous lad.
Quote: IAchance5So it seems like I'm getting mixed reviews about taking a trip over to the Palms.....but my friends and I are still in our 20's, so we may go over there just to check out the scenery. Does anyone recommend taking a cab to the downtown casinos?? I heard that all of the table games are $5 mins even on weekends, but is it really worth it to go down there?
Do you consider the low minimums to be a good thing, or a bad thing?
One thing about downtown is that you can check out several casinos at once. The atmosphere is different than on the Strip. Some people like it; some people don't. It's different enough that you should probably check it out for that reason alone.
The most important thing is to get off the Strip, one way or another, and to stay out of any Harrah's property.
Quote: IAchance5So it seems like I'm getting mixed reviews about taking a trip over to the Palms.....but my friends and I are still in our 20's, so we may go over there just to check out the scenery. Does anyone recommend taking a cab to the downtown casinos?? I heard that all of the table games are $5 mins even on weekends, but is it really worth it to go down there?
You can be sure that anyone who tells you to stay at GC's crappy rooms and eat at their crappy restaurants, is either stumbling while trying to look impressive, or they have no clue because all they do is read other cheapskate's reviews. Listen to Nick, who's actually been there.
You should definitely take that cab to check out the downtown scene, and if you & your friend are in your 20's then you guys will have no trouble staying up all night to see the "scenery" at the Palms afterwards.
Quote: JerryLogan
DJTeddybear said: That's a 20 minute walk at the typical 4mph. Step it up a bit, and you can do it in 15 minutes.
Takes me 10.
HA! Now there's a bet I will take. 10 minutes from the Paris casino to the Palms casino walking. (One foot on the ground at all times).
4 mph is not a typical walk. That's walking about as fast as an average person can walk. 10 minutes, impossible. I'm willing to put $100 on that easy.
Quote: mkl654321Do you consider the low minimums to be a good thing, or a bad thing?
One thing about downtown is that you can check out several casinos at once. The atmosphere is different than on the Strip. Some people like it; some people don't. It's different enough that you should probably check it out for that reason alone.
The most important thing is to get off the Strip, one way or another, and to stay out of any Harrah's property.
Low mins would be a good thing, because then you end up paying less for the drinks! ;) It's going to be hard to stay out of a Harrah's property because I'm staying at one.....I got a really good rate, free Thurs, $40 Fri, and $60 for Sat....I guess I need to check out the Palms, as well as the downtown area. How much is cab fare from the Paris to downtown area?
Quote: FinsRuleHA! Now there's a bet I will take. 10 minutes from the Paris casino to the Palms casino walking. (One foot on the ground at all times).
4 mph is not a typical walk. That's walking about as fast as an average person can walk. 10 minutes, impossible. I'm willing to put $100 on that easy.
Actually, the hard part would be not getting caught at the cross walks at Bills and over the interstate, plus the long curving bridge over the interstate towards the Palms.
It's about a mile and half... that's not a ten minute walk even on flat, terrain with no obstructions. I'd stick $50 on it as well you can't walk it in 10 minutes, and I'd be pretty sure it's hard to do in 10, on foot jogging during the day.
Quote: FinsRuleHA! Now there's a bet I will take. 10 minutes from the Paris casino to the Palms casino walking. (One foot on the ground at all times).
4 mph is not a typical walk. That's walking about as fast as an average person can walk. 10 minutes, impossible. I'm willing to put $100 on that easy.
"Takes me 10" meant jogging. I'm not a gimp, I'm not an old man, and I'm definitely not a pile of blubber.
Quote: IAchance5Low mins would be a good thing, because then you end up paying less for the drinks! ;) It's going to be hard to stay out of a Harrah's property because I'm staying at one.....I got a really good rate, free Thurs, $40 Fri, and $60 for Sat....I guess I need to check out the Palms, as well as the downtown area. How much is cab fare from the Paris to downtown area?
It depends--if the Strip is busy, you could rack up $10 or more just getting to the freeway, while you sat there and the meter clicked away. I would basically kiss off $25, each way.
The ACE Strip express bus is a much better way to go. Of course, if there are several in your party, the cab might be OK. Just realize that you might not get there any faster.
Quote: mkl654321It depends--if the Strip is busy, you could rack up $10 or more just getting to the freeway, while you sat there and the meter clicked away. I would basically kiss off $25, each way.
The ACE Strip express bus is a much better way to go. Of course, if there are several in your party, the cab might be OK. Just realize that you might not get there any faster.
Some people don't mind a $25 taxi fare because they have a job that kind of makes them that way. Now taking a LV bus anywhere is a different story. Look at any of those bus stops and you'll be treated to an instant John Rocker nightmare.
Quote: FinsRule
4 mph is not a typical walk. .
Why anybody would walk anywhere in Vegas is a mystery to me. I've been going for 35 years and I'll take a cab to the Strip casino next door rather than walk. I'm there to gamble, I can walk when I'm home.
Quote: EvenBobWhy anybody would walk anywhere in Vegas is a mystery to me. I've been going for 35 years and I'll take a cab to the Strip casino next door rather than walk. I'm there to gamble, I can walk when I'm home.
Now there's something I 100% agree with because it's exactly what I do when on my mini LV vacations compared to when I'm home. Even if I have a car in valet, which I almost always do, I'd take a cab.
Quote: JerryLoganNow there's something I 100% agree with because it's exactly what I do when on my mini LV vacations compared to when I'm home. Even if I have a car in valet, which I almost always do, I'd take a cab.
Yup, thats what I do. Use valet at MGM and takes cabs to the other casinos. Saves tons of time. Costs a little more, but if you're there for just a few days, time is far more valuable than money saved on cab fare. Cab drivers don't mind because its a fast fare and they keep 40% of what they take in, unlike leasing the cab, which is what most cities do.
Quote: EvenbobWhy anybody would walk anywhere in Vegas is a mystery to me. I've been going for 35 years and I'll take a cab to the Strip casino next door rather than walk. I'm there to gamble, I can walk when I'm home.
You can easily walk most places on the LV strip. Why you would want to waste cabfare on a trip to a next door casino is beyond me, unless you are disabled. Even then, you'd be better off riding a scooter. On a Fri. or Sat. night you could spend a great deal of time waiting in taxi lines and in traffic, even if the cab is running down Koval or Frank Sinatra instead of the strip.
I suspect that you don't go to LV often or that you haven't been there in a long while.
The monrail is also a great alternative, especially on weekends and it's cheap.
-Keyser
Quote: boymimboThe wife and I always walk Vegas. It's good to get the fresh air, sunshine and exercise. You build up an appetite for the nice dinners too. And there are lots of Vegas sites that you get on foot -- the music and fountains of Bellagio, the Volcanos of Treasure Island, and sheer appreciation of the architecture and scale of the hotels.
Exercize? In LV?? Who goes to LV to do that? Smart people exercize and stay in shape when they're home, and when they're on vacation they live like there's no tomorrow. And I have zero desire to walk the strip with a bunch of foreigners, slags, backpackers, pick-pockets, and the biggest collection of drunks this side of the roomful of men who banged Joy Behar.
Quote: boymimboThe wife and I always walk Vegas. It's good to get the fresh air, sunshine and exercise. You build up an appetite for the nice dinners too. And there are lots of Vegas sites that you get on foot -- the music and fountains of Bellagio, the Volcanos of Treasure Island, and sheer appreciation of the architecture and scale of the hotels.
Since just about any kind of gambling involves sitting or standing for long periods of time, I like to walk from one place to another just to get a little exercise. And on or near the Strip. walking is often the fastest way to get from one casino to another. I agree with you, that the sights and sounds can be fun, too.
Quote: mkl654321Don't bother with the Rio, it's the most Harrahsized of Harrah's properties. Overpriced restaurants, horrible gambling, and a general rip-off-the-sucker attitude; it's a place meant to fleece those who are either too ignorant or too rich to care about things like "house advantage".
I'm still not sure why, but Harrahs's gave us 3 or 4 free nights there last summer. So that was nice ! ! ! Especially for being essentially low rollers.
Anyways, good luck with your next visit.
ps: Haven't seen any good offers lately, so I guess there marketing dept knows a little bit about what they are doing.
,Quote: JerryLoganAnd I have zero desire to walk the strip with a bunch of foreigners, slags, backpackers, pick-pockets, and the biggest collection of drunks this side of the roomful of men who banged Joy Behar.
Yo, JEEERY, welcome back. You da' man !. Say hello to Joyce for me the next time you see her !
Quote: JohnnyQI'm still not sure why, but Harrahs's gave us 3 or 4 free nights there last summer. So that was nice ! ! ! Especially for being essentially low rollers.
Anyways, good luck with your next visit.
ps: Haven't seen any good offers lately, so I guess there marketing dept knows a little bit about what they are doing.
Heck, they've been sending me free room offers for five years. They still are doing so even though I haven't gambled a dime at any Harrah's property for two+ years. Obviously, they figure that even a "free" room is revenue-positive for them, on average.
The last time I was there, for the WSOP in 2008, I remember walking up to the Indian restaurant, thinking that I might want a nice Indian meal, and I saw that the tandoori chicken was $37 (just the entree!). I walked away laughing. I also didn't wind up playing any live poker, because they jacked the rake up to $5, which is absurd. Plus, the live room had a completely unwinnable "jackpot", for which they snatched an additional dollar. I ate at the buffet, the price of which had been ratcheted up to $24.95, in honor of the WSOP. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't worth $24.95.
You'll find that the offers ebb and flow. You won't hear from them for months, then you'll get a free room offer in the mail. I would actually recommend staying there, since it's only a short walk to the Palms, Gold Coast, or the Strip. Just don't gamble there!
Quote: KeyserOn a Fri. or Sat. night you could spend a great deal of time waiting in taxi lines
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Who goes to the Strip on Fri and Sat night? I go during the week in the daytime, I seldom gamble at night. Cabs are easy to find in the daytime. You go ahead and walk in 110 degree heat, I'll take a cab.
Who goes to LV when it's 110 degrees?
Wait, I do. I'm there each month. :)
Quote: EvenBobWho goes to the Strip on Fri and Sat night? I go during the week in the daytime, I seldom gamble at night. Cabs are easy to find in the daytime. You go ahead and walk in 110 degree heat, I'll take a cab.
Yes, as Yogi Bob, er, Berra once said, nobody goes there anymore--it's too crowded.
Quote: KeyserIt's certainly not 110 degrees right now
Cool, hot, there are still cab lines at night. I only play in the daytime, I relax at night. Knock yourself out, waste all your time walking, you lose less that way.
Quote: IAchance5So my Vegas trip is officially booked! I'm going out there the first weekend in April and staying at Paris (had some Harrahs offers). I have now switched from being a 100% table games players, to now being mostly a VP and slot player....the main reason is because I have felt that I was not getting correctly rated for my play, and with VP and slots, I know I'm getting rated corrected. Does anyone have any suggestions for some good places to play $1 or $5 slot machines? Also, what casino has the fastest beverage service? I'm only going to be in for Thursday-Sunday, so I have to cram as much stuff in as I can! Sleep will be secondary for that weekend.....
Bet ya never thought this innocuous post would become fodder for the narcissists of the forum. Mummy didn't hug me so listen to me on the web.
Quote: JerryLoganmingle with the minions on the sidewalks..
I have to agree, I'll do anything to get out of mingling with the rabble. Ick..
Quote: AussieWhy are people so keen to walk everywhere in Vegas? Theres plenty of easy transport options so I dont know why you would bother. I would walk to the casino next door or across the road but that is about it. The distance gets too far and it takes too long. Do it once your first time in town if you want to take a thousand photos of the strip but other than that forget it.
You just need to be careful.
Nareed's Sixth law of Vegas states: "6) Buildings and/or landmarks in Vegas do NOT get farther away the more you walk towards them, but it sure seems that way. Even so, your journey won't be shorter if you walk backwards."
This is a consequence of what I call the Las Vegas Distorted Perception Effect (LVDPE). The nearly flat ground, added to the sizes of buildings and signage, plus the clear air, create the illusion that things are a lot closer than they really are. One is tempted to wlak from the airport to the Stratosphere because it seems to be only a couple of blocks away.
But why not take a cab from Circus Circus to Slots a Fun? Because we're not lazy and wasteful. Unless you're over 80 and/or hooked to an oxygen tank, there's no reason not to walk a bit.
Quote: FinsRuleHA! Now there's a bet I will take. 10 minutes from the Paris casino to the Palms casino walking. (One foot on the ground at all times).
4 mph is not a typical walk. That's walking about as fast as an average person can walk. 10 minutes, impossible. I'm willing to put $100 on that easy.
I will put up another $100 as well. I have walked between the Rio and Caesars many times and it takes me just under 15 minutes at a brisk walk.
