Going to Vegas for the first time, any suggestions

[71buickfreak]

Rent a car. period.
Go to the California Hotel downtown. Eat at the Redwood grill for fancy food or The Marketplace Café for a casual meal. Excellent food either way.
Go to Circus Circus. Check out an act in the circus area. Eat at The Steakhouse. It is the best steak in Vegas, for real.
Eat a late night dinner at Peppermill. You can often find celebs in there. A ratpack classic hangout.
Grab some tacos at the taquiera down the in the shopping center off of Paradise and Convention Center Dr. It is Spanish-speaking only, but friggin' amazing.
Enjoy a buffet at the Rio Carnival. Go hungry, pace yourself.
In N Out burger. One of the best.
Enjoy the shops and cool animatronics at Caesar's mall. great way to spend a couple of hours.
If you are a car guy, you can tour Count's Kustoms
If you like Pawn Stars, it is right off the strip.

 

[NightShade]

Been out there a couple times. Liked staying down on Fremont street since there are a lot less peddlers.

For at least one day get a pass for the Deuce, it's a great way to get around and not worry about driving if you plan to toss back a couple while you are there. Basically it's a hop on hop off double decker bus. You can hop on and head down to where ever and just hop off and catch another one in a few minutes.

If you want to watch the pirate show at Treasure Island I would suggest going up to the restaurant to eat a little before the show starts. The restaurant may have changed but it was a nice chinese one while I was there. It's a little pricey but you get to watch the battle from a much better vantage point than standing in the crowds getting pushed and shoved. It was three of us and we split some Sweet and Sour chicken and fried rice three ways with some egg rolls if I remember right.

Fremont street is much livelier in the evenings starting at 8PM and they then have shows every hour until 1AM Along with some live concerts every night as well.

The strip is interesting to walk along but you will see a bunch of hispanic guys wearing bright pink and bright orange shirts with numbers for escort services. They will flick a card and hand it to you, this includes if you are walking with your wife and kids. Their job is to hand out stuff and they do just that. There are also some places with animals where they will say "hey come over here let me put this bird on your shoulder." Pretty soon a picture is snapped and they want ten bucks, Just say "NO."

Didn't ride the monorail but it's there as well, there are a TON of different things going on so don't get overwhelmed. Also don't get taken in by the scams where they give you some money to watch a schmeil on vacations, or investing or whatever. Score some cash or free tickets and when the demonstration is over LEAVE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!

If you are going to buy tickets to a show shop around, sometimes hotels will have deals at their counters when you sign up for their rewards cards. Most of the times it's cheaper to find them online but even then there are multiple places that will sell them so shop around. If I was to go out there I would try and catch Terry Fator, Penn and Teller or Anthony Cools. Buy the tickets a couple days ahead for the show you want to see or if there is one that you HAVE to go to buy it as soon as it comes available online for a day you will be there.

I gambled very little while I was there and still had a good time walking around, we caught Vegas around the end of the final four and there were a bunch of concerts going on for free on Fremont Street. Grabbed one of the big Margarita's in a football from the Golden Gate Casino outdoor bar on fremont street and just enjoyed.

If you plan to drink the best thing I ever learned was this. Go into a casino and sit at a slot machine and stick in a couple bucks, if you're going to stay for a while and have a couple tip the waitress a dollar. When your drink is around half she will be back to ask if you want another one, soon she will be back with your beer or whatever you wanted. If you go to the bar the same beer you paid a dollar for will be a whole lot more. But if you just want to drink hop, stick in a dollar right as a waitress is coming by if she asks if you need a drink order it, play slow, when the drink comes cash out and head on to the next place tip what you want. But if you want good service that dollar a drink goes a LONG way. Can do the same thing at a table as well but it's a lot easier to get caught up into one.

For slots the penny machines are the biggest crooks in the place. Go find a three line quarter or half dollar machine, then odds are a lot better. I hit for about 450 in an hour playing on a quarter and half dollar machine in Laughlin. When you run a penny machine with 27 lines and 9 coins per line every pull is nearly 2.50, a three line quarter machine will run you .75 per pull. And the payouts are much better for a hit on the quarter machine, hit on a penny machine and you will be lucky to break even cause it's only hitting on one line with 9 penny's bet.

Oh and if you go play craps, bet on the 7's LOL. It's a bet that the guy rolling is going to loose just like the house is betting.

The guy I first went with loved the roulette machines, he would stick a hundo or two in and pick a number and start dotting it up, just tap madly and then let it spin, if it lost he would add some more. Eventually it would hit and he would roll out with more than he started with. Just kept adding more each time and would play it till it hit.

Oh and on fremont I can't remember which one but one of the casino's has a pretty good buffet, I think it's binions and it's pretty cheap too.

 

[SoonerStatePawn]

I'm in Vegas twice a year for different conferences. It's always a blast, one trip with the wife and one without. I never rent a car. Most places are going to be walking distance, or just grab a taxi. On the strip check out The Linq, it's a fun area. They have a bowling alley with live bands playing nightly. Depending on your budget there are a lot of great places to eat. At the Paris there is Gordon Ramsey Steakhouse, and they have excellent service and steak. If you're looking for something more laid back I'd suggest Dicks Last Resort at Excalibur. That place is a blast if you're willing to play along with their antics. Freemont is more relaxed and fun. They have a zip line that goes the distance of Freemont Street, and the Casino's seem to pay a little better. If you go downtown try the Chart House at the Nugget. That's one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas. So much to do in just a few days. Hell, I could people watch downtown for an entire week.

 

[Okey-Dokey]

Tagged for later.

 

[Cohiba]

Tagged for tips tonight

 

[OKSpeedDemon]

If they still offer it take the hard hat tour at the Dam.

 

[CHenry]

Bunny Ranch...

 

[71buickfreak]

I have been going to vegas every year once or twice since 1999. You will easily spend a small fortune in cabs. What looks close enough to walk is really 10 miles. Unless you are a drinker, then don't get drunk and drive. I don't drink, so I don't have that problem.

 

[Free Trapper]

Going to Vegas for the first time, any suggestions or tips?

Don't go...Camp out in the Rockies for a week instead !

 

[promiseofwar]

Rent limos. ~30.00 an hour will take you wherever you want to go and they will wait on you (unlike a cab).
Get a players card to get comped. Ask for a casino host when you check into your hotel. They will hook you up for freebies. Don't be a cheapskate and you will have a blast.