My first trip to Las Vegas (Jan 2025) (2 Viewers)

[mns99]

I planning to trip to Las Vegas and Cali at Jan 2025. (Sorry, it's very far into the future.)
It's maybe my first trip abroad too.

My trip objective:

• Poker
• Craps
• Chip Harvesting
• Sightseeing (Hoover dam, desert, and more.)

Budget: Max 2,000 dollars. (Gaming only. Excludes accommodation and air tickets. I have 300 dollars now.)

I think trip 2 weeks.

Please advise on the following:

1. Is the time right to travel? (I would like to avoid it during the summer.)
2. I planning to stay Downtown Vegas. Separate hotel to stay and to play (and to harvest), foolish choice?
   Can travel by bus from Downtown to Strip.
3. Can chip harvesting in Cali?
4. (Off-topic) Recommended sightseeing spots? I planning to trip around San Francisco outside of Nevada.

Thanks!

 

[greenchip]

Nice to come to Vegas.

1. Yes unless it’s F1 and crazy. Summer is very hot in the west coast so prepared for that. Also, avoid major US Federal Holidays such as July 4th and Christmas (more crowds, more traffic, and higher table minimums). New Year’s Eve is the worst. Slots are very hard to win in Vegas, they are terrible. Also, table game payouts are very bad at the strip, except at high limit tables.

2. Golden Nugget Las Vegas is located in downtown Vegas. They have great chips and so have poker. Not all casinos have poker (Texas holdem). Slots are terrible in Golden Nugget, you win nothing.

3. Yes and I live in Cali, so I do just like Vegas it but not often. There’s even a card room with nude girl chip like an hour drive from where I live, called Lucky Lady Casino.

4. San Francisco is not safe now. Southern California is pretty nice.

I think you’ll need more than $2,000 if you are harvesting. Money goes very very fast in Vegas.

I’ve harvested a lot in the past year, maybe I spent tens of thousands. Maybe you’ll need more money since you’ll have way too many chips you want, especially first time visiting!

Cali chips are boring…

 

[NVFlip]

Hi there. Sound like a great trip. I live in California but work in Vegas. If you'd like I can extend to you my MGM employee discounts. I can pass along employee room rates and show tickets. It's as easy as sending you an email. Your trip is far enough in the future so you can really plan where you want to stay although most MGM properties are not downtown. I thought I'd just give you some ideas with a discount.

I agree with avoiding Vegas on New Years eve unless you really want to drink and gamble, then Downtown Vegas is the place to be. It's far more affordable to drink, eat and stay there than the strip at any time of the year. I avoided working from Nov. 16-18 because of all the F1 traffic on the strip. The construction added 5-10 minutes in my commute through the strip and that's typically around 4-5 am. I can only imagine the headache during normal hours. Thanksgiving, Christmas and winter are not as busy, imo. That also means a smaller player pool especially in tournament play. Cash games run 24/7 so that shouldn't be a problem. Table games are much more affordable off strip. You can find games at Ellis Island (right behind The Horseshoe) for $2-5 depending on the day and time but no live poker. I don't do table games so I only see these in passing on my way to eat at the brewery or cafe that has a pretty popular steak special. They also brew their own beers which I enjoy quite a bit. Can't go wrong with $4 beers.

Go to https://www.pokeratlas.com/poker-tournaments/las-vegas-nevada/upcoming to see any and all advertised scheduled and upcoming tournaments. It will also list cash games and sometimes live cash games are updated on the site. FYI the smaller $50-60 tournament buy ins can be pretty nitty. Your 3x pre flop bet will be called by K8 off suit and position. The variance can be pretty annoying. Not that it doesn't happen in the $100-200 buy ins but it happens much less in my experience. My favorite $100-200 buy ins are at the Orleans and Resorts World so I recommend those if you like tourneys. I like the structure and it plays well with my play. You can see those structures and schedule on pokeratlas.

If you're a poker player then coming to Vegas during the WSOP should be your destination even if it is in the middle of summer. The heat is not as bad as you think. (Remember it's a dry heat.) You can run into your favorite poker players like I have or even play along with them. I doubled up through The Grinder once with a royal flush in an older tournament at PH once. That was fun. I was also shoulder to shoulder with Nadia from Apple Pie during a celebrity event. Jezus she's gorgeous. I haven't ran into a pro that didn't mind taking a photo with me. I couldn't bring myself to take a photo with Shannon Elizabeth though.

Good luck and have fun at the tables!

 

[BEANO52]

Personally, I like 5-6 night trips. $2000 for 14 days = $140 a day. That's a single (short) buy in for 1-2 /1-3 or maybe 2 of the cheapest tourney buy ins. Let alone $15 minimum craps (yes, I am quite aware there are a very few 5 & 10 tables). Your budget is pretty low, not that it can't be done. I have some trip reports posted HERE (which I need to update as I leave for Vegas in 3 days.

 

[inapinch]

Very exciting!! keep us informed as you get closer to the trip!

I have a few suggestions:

• If this is your first trip to Vegas, try starting at cheaper casinos to gain some familiarity. There’s a few places with $5-$10 tables, and this will offer insight into pace of play, norms, common do’s/donts, etc. If you need casino recommendations for this, let us know
• Sushi Hiroyoshi has some decent sushi if you enjoy that
• try reading through other threads here about Vegas. you can search “Vegas trip” or something similar
• as your trip gets closer, feel free to ask more questions here! Lots of folks willing to help

 

[greenchip]

@BEANO52 have you done 5-6 nights with $1,000 budget? Poker right?

I’ve heard even NON-GAMBLER beginner spends about $200-300 a day in Vegas. Putting 10 $20 bills into penny slots, how long they will last? Less than an hour.

I usually stay 1-2 nights comped with promo chips. Go around 4-5 casinos a day to gamble and harvest, I bring $3,000 and always bring home least $2,000 in chips.

I don’t play raked poker so there’s nothing really I can talk about for poker room.

 

[BEANO52]

@BEANO52 have you done 5-6 nights with $1,000 budget? Poker right?

I’ve heard even NON-GAMBLER beginner spends about $200-300 a day in Vegas. Putting 10 $20 bills into penny slots, how long they will last? Less than an hour.

I usually stay 1-2 nights comped with promo chips. Go around 4-5 casinos a day to gamble and harvest, I bring $3,000 and always bring home least $2,000 in chips.

I don’t play raked poker so there’s nothing really I can talk about for poker room.

OP said $2000 for 14 days (140 a day).

20 years ago I could go a week on $1000, but back then NL wasn't even a thing. I normally bring 3-5k for 5-6 nights and I am a low roller.

Also, $100 in "penny" slots (50 cent spins) might last 15 minutes if you are lucky. Last year I found a top dollar in GN that you could do 18 cents and that lasted awhile.

I have no idea what you mean "nights comped with promo chips"

I'm just saying 2 grand for 14 days is not a reasonable budget to play poker and try to harvest @ the craps tables.

Best wishes!

 

[Wifey]

The Horseshoe LV has some great $100 tournaments.
The 2pm and 5pm are run pretty tight and the 11pm is a bit more fly by the seat of their pants.

One vegas block behind the Horseshoe is my favourite off strip casino Ellis Island.

• $5 craps and blackjack.
• $9.99 steak dinner
• $22.99 Full Rack of BBQ Ribs dinner - can get it for $17.99 if you get a card and play some slots.
• $4 pints of their own craft beer.
• Only downer? No Poker...boo

Hoover Dam is worth it if you get there early enough to get a guided tour slot.

 

[dmoney]

My trip objective:

• Poker
• Craps
• Sightseeing (Hoover dam, desert, and more.)

My thoughts, based on a poker trip with @SJFCPK18 earlier this year, and a wedding last week:

Craps - Ellis island is just off strip and has $5 Craps, good food, and is a great value hotel option.

Poker - Wynn is the nicest quality room imo, Bellagio and Aria are the best run and have more skilled player pools at the stakes I played (1/2 and 2/5). MGMs games have been very good to me but they only spread 1/2 uncapped.

Sightseeing - “Postcard from Planet Earth” at the sphere is very cool, and for ~$100 in the 3 or 400 level i would absolutely recommend it. Grand Canyon South Rim bus tour or West Rim (which is a shorter trip (5hrRT vs 9 or 10) and a little more expensive, but AWESOME). Valley of Fire state park is about an hour from the strip and is also worth the trip.

 

[dmoney]

Also I looked at a bunch of Daily Poker tournaments and found Aria’s $160 Daily to be a well-structured for the price. Several casinos have daily’s with poor structures that turn into a lower-skill shove-fest quickly.

 

[greenchip]

OP said $2000 for 14 days (140 a day).

20 years ago I could go a week on $1000, but back then NL wasn't even a thing. I normally bring 3-5k for 5-6 nights and I am a low roller.

Also, $100 in "penny" slots (50 cent spins) might last 15 minutes if you are lucky. Last year I found a top dollar in GN that you could do 18 cents and that lasted awhile.

I have no idea what you mean "nights comped with promo chips"

I'm just saying 2 grand for 14 days is not a reasonable budget to play poker and try to harvest @ the craps tables.

Best wishes!

I understand and was just curious how much money you usually spend per day. Yeah $3-5k for 5-6 nights would make sense as I budget $1,000-1,200 per day in Vegas and some become chips. I never stay longer than 2 nights since the longer I stay, the more I lose.

Just saying $2,000 only lasts 2 days for me if I harvest.

GN got rid of the 9-line $0.01 Top Dollar machine with minimum bet of $0.09 Most new penny machines are like $0.88 or worse $1.50 minimum. I’ve seen penny slots with $99 max bet like what in the world….?!?!

Yeah GN gives me free rooms and free play promo chips. Promo chips look like dog crap.

 

[mns99]

Thanks for many advice.

Hi there. Sound like a great trip. I live in California but work in Vegas. If you'd like I can extend to you my MGM employee discounts. I can pass along employee room rates and show tickets. It's as easy as sending you an email. Your trip is far enough in the future so you can really plan where you want to stay although most MGM properties are not downtown. I thought I'd just give you some ideas with a discount.

Thanks for offer.
The hotels I would like to stay at are Park MGM, NYNY and Excalibur in the MGM group.
However, there is no post office in the Strip. So I have to go downtown or airport by bus.
(Inconvenient when sending home souvenirs. I would use Priority Mail Flat Rate Box.)

I think you’ll need more than $2,000 if you are harvesting. Money goes very very fast in Vegas.

I'm just saying 2 grand for 14 days is not a reasonable budget to play poker and try to harvest @ the craps tables.

Thanks.
The bigger the budget, the better.
Reading discussions, it seems like the budget is insufficient. I'm micro-roller.
Fortunately, I have one year to save money. I work hard and restructure trip plan.
I also read trip report by members.

 

[BEANO52]

I understand and was just curious how much money you usually spend per day. Yeah $3-5k for 5-6 nights would make sense as I budget $1,000-1,200 per day in Vegas and some become chips. I never stay longer than 2 nights since the longer I stay, the more I lose.

Just saying $2,000 only lasts 2 days for me if I harvest.

GN got rid of the 9-line $0.01 Top Dollar machine with minimum bet of $0.09 . . .

Uh, I beg to differ. Sitting at it right now exactly where it's always been.

 

[greenchip]

Uh, I beg to differ. Sitting at it right now exactly where it's always been.
View attachment 1232373

That's 4 Queens and yes I know which machines you are talking about. 5 reels are so hard to get bonus because you have to get 3 in payline like you showed here.

I like the single liners. I don't play video reels, only 3 reels like one below.

 

[chipchipchip]

I'm a little late to this, but for this budget and the stated objectives I agree with the above on some points:

- $2k for two weeks is not enough if you don't have a backup plan to spend your time on something free/very cheap if you run bad. Especially if you're trying to harvest a significant amount. If you just want a few souvenir chips $2k might be doable, but have a backup plan. (Man I miss the $1 Sahara blackjack... That got me through an entire day on $50 one year when I went broke.)

- Ellis Island $5 craps and blackjack is going to be your best bet for that budget playing table games. Also the food, as mentioned above, is cheap and pretty good. (I also like the Italian place near there behind Flamingo, good experience for a smaller budget)

- Downtown is your best bet, imo, to stretch your dollar. You can pretty easily spend several hours on Fremont Street with a couple beers and free concerts (maybe weekends only during the offseason?) and people watching. This is also your only real shot at seeing "old Vegas" anymore, and even that's a stretch these days.

- Not sure how much you like walking, but spending several hours just walking the strip at night to see all the lights, Bellagio fountain, etc. is a great way to kill some time for free.

Good luck!

 

[MrRossKeys]

Please advise on the following:

1. Is the time right to travel? (I would like to avoid it during the summer.)
2. I planning to stay Downtown Vegas. Separate hotel to stay and to play (and to harvest), foolish choice?
   Can travel by bus from Downtown to Strip.
3. Can chip harvesting in Cali?
4. (Off-topic) Recommended sightseeing spots? I planning to trip around San Francisco outside of Nevada.

Thanks!

1. Yes. My favorite times to come to Vegas is October and February because it isn't as busy as other times of the year. January is nice

2. I stayed in Downtown Vegas on my last trip in August (been to Vegas at least 30 times and had never stayed downtown). It was my favorite by far, and I totally recommend it.

3. No comment

4. In Vegas, downtown is pretty cool at night. The observation tower at Paris is also really cool. In California, there's a lot to see depending if you want city or nature. I'd suggest spending a day in SF visiting Golden Gate Bridge Park etc, but I'd spend the rest of my time further south in San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc and check out the parks, trails, or cities.

 

[moose]

Jan is cold. It could even snow. Not saying don't go then, but don't expect the swimming pools to be open.

Downtown sucks. The casinos are old run down and crappy. Great if you want to meet Joe Redneck american, drunk on tall cans of Ultra and Bud Light and have your picture taken with a guy holding a sign that says "kick me in the nuts for $5" while dodging panhandlers on a day pass from Hobo Alley. If that is your idea of entertainment, have at it I guess.

https://deserthopetreatment.com/add...ated-crimes/homeless-las-vegas-drugs-despair/

There is nothing glamorous about downtown.

Stay on the strip where you can tour the mega resorts, Venetian, Bellagio, Aria etc. Visit downtown for one day if you must, not the other way round. Ellis Island for cheap food and gambling, but again the casino is small, run down and crappy, hence the low limits.

FYI the smaller $50-60 tournament buy ins can be pretty nitty. Your 3x pre flop bet will be called by K8 off suit and position. The variance can be pretty annoying.

Exact opposite of the definition of nitty.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Downtown sucks. The casinos are old run down and crappy.

There is nothing glamorous about downtown.

Wow. I'm gonna go ahead and say that your experience must have sucked pretty bad for this to be your take.

The Grand Hotel is downtown, as is Circa. Both are completely new and nicer/cleaner than most of the strip hotels. They are both smaller, but for a first-timer in Vegas they are great choices, and probably cheaper.

Also, OP communicated a limited budget which definitely elevates downtown as the better choice (money will go further). I had a blast in August playing Blackjack at The Grand with my brother and random strangers. Minimum bet was much lower than all of the strip hotels.

Finally, if panhandlers and rednecks are to be avoided, I'd tell OP to skip a Vegas trip altogether, because you'll find that sort of crowd in the airports, shuttles, on the strip, off the strip, in the restaurants, ... for me it's the homeless/grimy people on the strip that make me want to stay on Fremont Street. They are everywhere, typically following you, begging for money, or performing "drum solos" on spoons and old Home Depot buckets.

Sightsee on the strip. Stay downtown. That's what I would recommend to anyone staying in Vegas, unless I'm recommending a stay to someone who has a boatload of money.... then I'd recommend staying at the Delano, Aria, or Cosmo... coolest hotels and rooms on the planet!

 

[BukNaked36]

I'm not a fan of downtown either. I'd suggest you stay on the strip or split your Vegas days between strip and downtown.

The strip has a lot of Casinos with reasonable rates and rooms -
Linq, Horseshoe, Flamingo - right in the middle of the strip
Luxor, New York New York - south end
Also properties right off the strip that are cheap - Tuscany casino, and hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, etc

The strip has poker rooms at Resorts World, Sahara, Wynn, Venetian, Caesars, Bellagio, Aria, Horseshoe, MGM, Mandalay Bay. Downtown has the Nugget.

Best weather for Vegas is March, April, May and late September, October

Good way to check Vegas room rates is to go to Caesars.com, hit book a room, and flexible dates - you can see the whole month and see which weeks are cheapest.

 

[dmoney]

Good way to check Vegas room rates is to go to Caesars.com, hit book a room, and flexible dates - you can see the whole month and see which weeks are cheapest.

View attachment 1239344

I’m taking notes on this @SJFCPK18

 

[mns99]

Good way to check Vegas room rates is to go to Caesars.com, hit book a room, and flexible dates - you can see the whole month and see which weeks are cheapest.

Thanks for your advice.
MGM Resorts also display the price per night, but it doesn't seem to be able to be displayed in a table format.

I can change the dates of my stay and compare prices, so I'll try searching that way.

 

[chipchipchip]

I'm not a fan of downtown either. I'd suggest you stay on the strip or split your Vegas days between strip and downtown.

The strip has a lot of Casinos with reasonable rates and rooms -
Linq, Horseshoe, Flamingo - right in the middle of the strip
Luxor, New York New York - south end
Also properties right off the strip that are cheap - Tuscany casino, and hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, etc

The strip has poker rooms at Resorts World, Sahara, Wynn, Venetian, Caesars, Bellagio, Aria, Horseshoe, MGM, Mandalay Bay. Downtown has the Nugget.

Best weather for Vegas is March, April, May and late September, October

Good way to check Vegas room rates is to go to Caesars.com, hit book a room, and flexible dates - you can see the whole month and see which weeks are cheapest.

View attachment 1239344

I love using the Caesar's page to see what days/weeks are cheaper. I haven't vetted this yet with other properties, but my guess is a quick look here to see which weeks are cheap will correlate to other properties as well. I do the same with flights, and open two tabs - one Caesar's and one for Delta - and pick my days to correspond to the best combined prices for the trip.

 

[BukNaked36]

Thanks for your advice.
MGM Resorts also display the price per night, but it doesn't seem to be able to be displayed in a table format.

I can change the dates of my stay and compare prices, so I'll try searching that way.

The Caesars view is nice to see which weeks are cheaper. For example, you can see from the screenshot that the first week of April prices are lower. So you'll generally see cheaper rooms around Vegas that week. Then you can see if that week works for your schedule and save a little money.

To see which place you may like, there are plenty of Youtube videos. Search Travel Ruby, Pompsie, or Jaycation. They have good reviews of a lot of places.

 

[mns99]

I have revised my casino budget based on suggestion.

Poker: $2600
About minimum buy-in of 1/3 (or 1/2) NL x30. (Maximum buy-in x10. Although it's a small amount...)
So, Sacramento (There are Capitol Casino in this city.) is close to Las Vegas. I might take a detour. The PokerAtlas was very helpful.

Craps: $600
(Minimum bet + Maximum odds bet) x20. (Referring to other forum and Reddit post.)

Harvest: $800
If I had a good chips, I would spend a lot of money. Approximate amount.
I'll harvest get 200–300 at most. I think this budget is more than enough.
(If it were all $1 chips, it would be 8kg (18lbs)! I can't bring home that much.)

Total: $4000 (Of course, air ticket and hotel fee are not included.)

What I can say from this is that I have to earn a lot and save a lot for one year.

 

[links_slayer]

Thanks for your advice.
MGM Resorts also display the price per night, but it doesn't seem to be able to be displayed in a table format.
View attachment 1240076
I can change the dates of my stay and compare prices, so I'll try searching that way.

If you select a resort, the calendar on the left should show you the $$/night- prices aren't shown until you do this (in my experience)

 

[chipchipchip]

Poker: $2600
About minimum buy-in of 1/3 (or 1/2) NL x30. (Maximum buy-in x10. Although it's a small amount...)

Craps: $600
(Minimum bet + Maximum odds bet) x20. (Referring to other forum and Reddit post.)

Harvest: $800
If I had a good chips, I would spend a lot of money. Approximate amount.
I'll harvest get 200–300 at most. I think this budget is more than enough.
(If it were all $1 chips, it would be 8kg (18lbs)! I can't bring home that much.)

Poker: this feels a lot better to ensure you don’t stop having a good time over the two weeks. I’d probably buy in for $200 and top off to that I’d you dip to $150 or so. No idea how good you are at poker but if you’re not a maniac you should be able to play a lot on this roll.

Craps: I still recommend Ellis Island. $5 minimums is pretty huge to stretch this $600. I was about to harvest 120 clean $1’s over a few sessions and it cost me a lot less than $600.

Harvest: Is your goal to get a playable set? 300 chips will be a little light for a playable set. When I harvested a set I got 120 white $1’s from Ellis Island that serve as my $.25, 200 blue hotstamped $1’s from Caesars and 200 Caesar’s $5’s. So that’s $1300 and we play $.25/$.25 very comfortably with that. Not sure what stakes you’d be after but you could get 500-600 in $1’s of different colors and just call them different denoms. No one has ever been confused by the Ellis $1’s being $.25 in the game.
There are lots of great white and blue $1’s out there but if you need a third color maybe South Point would be best?
As for traveling with that many chips I had over 600 chips in my backpack and while it was searched at the airport there were no issues.

Good luck! Sounds like an epic trip!

 

[AlbinoDragon]

So, Sacramento (There are Capitol Casino in this city.) is close to Las Vegas. I might take a detour. The PokerAtlas was very helpful.

Sacramento isn't exactly "close" to Las Vegas. Google Maps says it's nearly a 9 hour drive (1.5 hour flight time, not counting time "lost" at the airports on either end).

 

[CacheCreekCollector]

I have revised my casino budget based on suggestion.

Poker: $2600
About minimum buy-in of 1/3 (or 1/2) NL x30. (Maximum buy-in x10. Although it's a small amount...)
So, Sacramento (There are Capitol Casino in this city.) is close to Las Vegas. I might take a detour. The PokerAtlas was very helpful.

Craps: $600
(Minimum bet + Maximum odds bet) x20. (Referring to other forum and Reddit post.)

Harvest: $800
If I had a good chips, I would spend a lot of money. Approximate amount.
I'll harvest get 200–300 at most. I think this budget is more than enough.
(If it were all $1 chips, it would be 8kg (18lbs)! I can't bring home that much.)

Total: $4000 (Of course, air ticket and hotel fee are not included.)

What I can say from this is that I have to earn a lot and save a lot for one year.

Like @AlbinoDragon said, Las Vegas to Sacramento is a very long drive by car. I would even say it's more like 10 hours if you account for fuel/food stops and drive at or below the speed limit.

Also if you were hoping to harvest these chips: http://chipguide.themogh.org/cg_chip2.php?id=CASACI&v=1888434916 then you will be disappointed. This casino currently uses some type of plastic or ceramic cheques.
Doug McCusker is a content creator who plays there often and you can see the current chips in his vlog.

 

[Anthony Martino]

I haven't read through all the posts but assuming this wasn't mentioned. See if the "MyVegas" app is available on your phone. It allows you to play slots on your phone for free and earn some coins that can be spent on freebies at many locations in Vegas. I managed to get a couple nights free stay at the MGM Grand in Vegas this past summer through the app. There are also discounts on food, the monorail, etc. available.

If it's available in your country then you could start using it now to accumulate rewards in advance of your trip, saving you some dough.

 

[mns99]

Sacramento isn't exactly "close" to Las Vegas. Google Maps says it's nearly a 9 hour drive (1.5 hour flight time, not counting time "lost" at the airports on either end).

That's right, using a car takes a lot of time. (It's right away if I'm on flight.)
I can take the Amtrak from Sacramento Valley Station to Reno. From Reno, I will take the last flight to Las Vegas. Now I can go to Reno and Sparks.

Also if you were hoping to harvest these chips: http://chipguide.themogh.org/cg_chip2.php?id=CASACI&v=1888434916 then you will be disappointed. This casino currently uses some type of plastic or ceramic cheques.

Yes, the page below is that casino's page:
http://chipguide.themogh.org/cg_chip2.php?id=CASACC
It seems that they have now switched to the made by Icon. But, this does not seem to be the case with high denom:

25's and hundos. Source: Official Website.

500's? Not listed in The Chipguide. Source: Official Website.

I don't plan on getting these, but I can still enjoy the poker.