Getting excited about next Trip January 7 - Any Advice?

I have not been to Las Vegas since July and my friends and I are very much looking forward to coming out on January 7. I'm staying at Treasure Island, my friend (who is a seven star) will be staying at Caesars, and I was able to get a free room for my other friend (who pretty much only plays low limit paigow) at the California then he has a third night at the downtown grand. He really likes downtown. I am actually most looking forward to watching the national championship game of college football and having some bets going on that but wildcard weekend will be a lot of fun also. I just hope the Chiefs get a bye so they won't be playing!

I want to have " The worlds greatest pancakes" which I have never done and check out the new Giordanos.

I like to play a pretty wide variety of games including some tables. I guess we like paigow the best for table games. I am usually a winning poker player for minor amounts although I typically lose quite a bit more doing other things. Our game of choice is video poker, and I have certainly been on the wrong side of variance as far as that goes lately.

I'm far from an AP but I try to take advantage of opportunities when I see them. I will take a quick glance through some Ultimate X machines for example before I start playing them but it is very rare that I would look at more than one or two machines that I actually intend on playing eventually. The entire reason we started going to the downtown grand is because they had that loss rebate, my friend the seven star and I agreed to share winnings and losses and that worked out pretty well because he won about $600 on that deal and then I got most of my losses back.

I guess what I'm requesting as if anyone has any simple advice they could give us we would appreciate it. I'm not asking any AP's to give away a big secret here but simple advice would be greatly appreciated. Please don't assume something is too obvious and we already know it! If someone would prefer to send me a message and keep this off the board I would appreciate and respect that also do not share that information except with my friend who I will be gambling with. Of course, I understand and respect the need for discretion about those who choose not to share anything with us. I figured it doesn't hurt to ask!

Hey Zourah! Glad to hear you're heading back to most of our playground =P. I guess I'm not quite sure what advice you're looking for? Are you looking for fun things to do? It sounds like you're more/less looking for gaming advice, but you've already stated that you're not really much of an AP... so if you don't count cards then any advice about good games would be moot. If you don't know how to do more advanced plays, then again the advice would be moot (beyond the fact that most people wouldn't share this type of information).

I guess one other thing I could share (since you know how to vulture) would be must hits. Some slot machines have bonuses that MUST HIT by a certain number (and they will say it on the machine just below the jackpot number). So if you see a machine that has a bonus/jackpot of $93 and below that it says "MUST HIT BY $100" then I would play that machine. Figuring out which machines are positive expectation is a good math exercise, and I believe Mission has several articles on this site about Must Hits. So similar to vulturing in UltX you wait for the jackpot to be very very close to this number (like $90/$100) and then you play the machine until you get the bonus. These can produce some pretty wild variance though, so be warned of that. Not sure if you already knew about those, but if not then one more thing to add to your list =).

Don't get excited. Stay calm when money is involved.

Want to try a few new games? You mentioned small stakes poker: visit the opulent Venetian poker room and perhaps try your luck while you are there. They will spread Chinese poker if there sufficient people who want it.

Go over the web sites of the casinos you know you will be going to. See if they have any specials.

Try an early morning craps table at 5 dollars a bet. It will give you more exercise than sitting at a table game.

If your alma mater is playing basketball, bet against them.

You should catch one of the last half point parlay cards, I think.

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/sports/26864-half-point-parlay-cards-2016-season/

Short version. Take advantage of the old point spreads on the cards, when compared to the new point spreads that have been dictated by the market.

Quote: Rigondeaux

You should catch one of the last half point parlay cards, I think.

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/sports/26864-half-point-parlay-cards-2016-season/

Short version. Take advantage of the old point spreads on the cards, when compared to the new point spreads that have been dictated by the market.

No money in half points, everyone's solid. Can I suggest pleasers? They are awesome, you can get a huge payout if you pick the right teams.


Fine print: you'll give up like 6 points per pick so your +3.5 dog becomes a -2.5 favorite. But the payouts are yuge.

Looks like all of you are staying in different hotels and one in DT (Cal). I've done a trip similar to yours (folks staying in different hotels STRIP/DT) and we all must have spent over $300 in cab fares over a 3 day weekend trying to meet with each other all over Vegas to include from/to the Airport. In hindsight, renting a car for $25 a day would have been the most AP thing we could have done.

Maybe your 7* friend will have a lot of comps, so you can minimize on food spendings if he/she's nice enough to cover for you, but I have to say there are much better food/restaurant options off strip than on strip. Having a vehicle enables you to visit hidden gems.