Foster Reed: First trip to Vegas

[Foster Reed]

I'm making my first ever trip to Vegas this weekend and was hoping some of the regulars on this board could give me some advice. I haven't been active on AP.com for a few years now (or other AP sites for that matter) and when I was I was mostly interested in conditions at Midwest riverboats and Indian casinos. For various reasons I wasn't able to travel much outside of this area, but now I have more time again and travel will be possible. I'm starting to get a little more into advantage play again and even got a friend of mine into it. So it's off to Vegas this Saturday.

First, my friend reserved rooms at the Tr0p!cana. Is a taxi the best way to get from the airport to the hotel? It will just be me and I will have just one suitcase. Or should I look for a bus, shuttle, etc?

I won't be playing any BJ at the hotel I'm staying at, but are there any low-limit poker rooms in the area for a beginning poker player to try out? Also, any recommendations on a decent sportsbook near here?

My return flight home leaves McCaran at 6 in the morning. What time should I plan to be at the airport in order to check in and go through security at this hour? Will the lines be any shorter?

Thanks for reading all my questions.

[BlackjackGod]

You will have poker rooms withing walking distance at the MGM, Excalibur, and the Luxor that should satisfy you. The MGM has a nice sportsbook.

Sorry I can't answer your other questions. I always rent a car when I am there. Flying out of town is always a crapshoot.

[Hard 8 :: ::]

> First, my friend reserved rooms at the Tr0p!cana. Is a
> taxi the best way to get from the airport to the
> hotel? It will just be me and I will have just one
> suitcase. Or should I look for a bus, shuttle, etc?

The only advice I can offer is to not take the bus for this particular connection. You'd take either the 108 or 109 (from Ground Level Zero at the airport)to Tropicana Ave, and then have to transfer to the 201, then get off at LV Blvd and schlep across the intersection to the Trop. If the escalators on the walkways are down (not uncommon), then it's even more of a drag. The timing of the bus connections on this route are usually poor. Unless your "one suitcase" is like mine (either a small briefcase or a matching set of Louis Vouitton-style plastic grocery bags (not very ecological, I know), then wrestling it onto and off of the bus can be a hassle.

It is my impression that the Trop, the Em-Gee-Em, the Excal, and NYNY have all deliberately conspired to make life a hassle for the bus rider, who is not their preferred clientelle. This is true for most of the south end Strip, especially the Luzor. They are not encouraging the typical unwashed, screw-driver wielding, low class bus-riding types to come into their palaces and ruin their Swanky, plastic image. Such as it is.

If you want to try the bus because you are cheap and stubborn, check out the bus connection at www.rtcsouthernnevada.com
Hit the gold"Transit" button, then click on "Routes and Schedules", then the tiny blue clicky for "system map". This ought to get you started.

I have no advice on cab vs. shuttle to this location. I have heard many a cab-rider kvetch about drivers who "Take the Tunnel", whatever that means, and they don't tip if they do.

Good luck,

:: ::

[Bettie]

> I'm making my first ever trip to Vegas this weekend
> and was hoping some of the regulars on this board
> could give me some advice. I haven't been active on
> AP.com for a few years now (or other AP sites for that
> matter) and when I was I was mostly interested in
> conditions at Midwest riverboats and Indian casinos.
> For various reasons I wasn't able to travel much
> outside of this area, but now I have more time again
> and travel will be possible. I'm starting to get a
> little more into advantage play again and even got a
> friend of mine into it. So it's off to Vegas this
> Saturday.

> First, my friend reserved rooms at the Tr0p!cana. Is a
> taxi the best way to get from the airport to the
> hotel? It will just be me and I will have just one
> suitcase. Or should I look for a bus, shuttle, etc?

Call the Trop and ask if they have shuttles to/from the airport. It may be theirs specifically or it may be a group shuttle. On my first visit many years ago, I found a shuttle that loaded people up, asked where they were staying, and then did the rounds. It was long, but only $4, plus a small tip. As the local taxis here have just increased their fare by 45 cents/mile, that is no longer a deal any way you slice it - tunnel/no tunnel, what-have-you. The big issue is getting a shuttle back to the airport. Not usually so easy to come by or count on unless Trop has their own that runs on a schedule.

> I won't be playing any BJ at the hotel I'm staying at,
> but are there any low-limit poker rooms in the area
> for a beginning poker player to try out? Also, any
> recommendations on a decent sportsbook near here?

I don't know much about the gaming areas available in this area, though I used to work at (not for) MGM and they had a nice sportsbook area. That was many years ago, though, and they may have renovated since then.

> My return flight home leaves McCaran at 6 in the
> morning. What time should I plan to be at the airport
> in order to check in and go through security at this
> hour? Will the lines be any shorter?

In general, 6am flights leaving town shouldn't be too busy, but I have myself once done the old "stay up all night and party then hit the airport to go home," so you might end up with a bunch of sleep-deprived partiers who will annoy you.

> Thanks for reading all my questions.

Have fun, and most importantly, stay hydrated. It'll be 108 to 110 this weekend, and you should always have a water bottle in your hands, even if you are indoors. Drinking 4 beers with lunch and then grabbing a single water bottle just as you hit the heat is a BAD idea! And don't count on finding water fountains in the casinos. Some do, but those are few and far between.

Bettie

[Greasy John]

> I'm making my first ever trip to Vegas this weekend
> and was hoping some of the regulars on this board
> could give me some advice. I haven't been active on
> AP.com for a few years now (or other AP sites for that
> matter) and when I was I was mostly interested in
> conditions at Midwest riverboats and Indian casinos.
> For various reasons I wasn't able to travel much
> outside of this area, but now I have more time again
> and travel will be possible. I'm starting to get a
> little more into advantage play again and even got a
> friend of mine into it. So it's off to Vegas this
> Saturday.

> First, my friend reserved rooms at the Tr0p!cana. Is a
> taxi the best way to get from the airport to the
> hotel? It will just be me and I will have just one
> suitcase. Or should I look for a bus, shuttle, etc?

> I won't be playing any BJ at the hotel I'm staying at,
> but are there any low-limit poker rooms in the area
> for a beginning poker player to try out? Also, any
> recommendations on a decent sportsbook near here?

> My return flight home leaves McCaran at 6 in the
> morning. What time should I plan to be at the airport
> in order to check in and go through security at this
> hour? Will the lines be any shorter?

> Thanks for reading all my questions.

Try the poker room at Hooters, right next door. As per Chepovegas.com hooters has a low rake and a fairly low caliber of players. They used to give you a $25 match play for joining the player's club too. Trop had, as of six months ago, 6D (no DD except for $100 min.) 2 decks cut off, NDAS. Yikes!

GJ

[Greasy John]

any trip reports from you lately. They were always entertaining.

GJ

[SOTSOG]

Upon arrival, after you pick up your bags, go out Gate 11 in the baggage claim area. Look for a booth right out the door called Las Vegas Limo. $7 gets you to your hotel. They load up people into limos or shuttle busses and take you where you want to go. You might have to wait while they drop off a few passengers first, but you get a tour of the strip until it is your turn.

MGM is probably the best poker room in your area that meets your needs.

Leaving at that time in the morning, anything more than 45 minutes is overkill. You will breeze thru security.

[Hard 8 :: ::]

...out there for a while. Kind of you to mention, but I also had the feeling the reports were starting to sound a little formulaic, but that's really how life is sometimes. Vegas especially, even in all of its varied sociology can be like Groundhog Day in a can.

Heading there in early August, so hopefully I can get my a** in gear to get a report together then.

Back when trip reports were common, they actually seemed to be a medium for trading data on good games & bad, different conditions on different shifts, and conditions to watch out for. Trackjack and CBJN seem much more accurate nowadays, so hunting down games isn't the wildcard it used to be. Now when I find a good target that isn't accurately reflected in those vehicles, I confess that I secretly keep the news to myself, and hammer those games. Or get hammered by them , but at least I'm all alone doing it.

I don't know how others feel about this, but some of the feeling of Vegas changes when you use a car to get to your various targets. It occurs to me now that you mention it that I tend to not produce reports where a car is involved - just seems like a job, almost, and all recent trips had heavy involvement with a car and freeways and traffic and billboards and 7-11's and desert.

Even with a car, though there's still that great feeling of walking into a joint in the cool morning air of the pre-dawn, quiet all around so that you can hear your own footsteps and the tick-tick-tick-ticking of the marquee lightbulbs, and hear the far off whisper of the air conditioning units up on the roof, and smell the desert dust replaced by the air-conditioned air as you walk into the quiet, nearly abandoned pit that holds a few leftover nightowls, a sleepy dealer and a bored-but still hawkish pit critter, and then you drop a bunch of wrinkled centuries on the felt, playing the part of the degenrate all-night gambler...