Las Vegas – A gambler’s city in the middle of nowhere, located somewhere in a large desert and frequently used as a background in movies. Of course, you find all kinds of gambling here but Las Vegas has a lot more to offer. The hotels are and attraction themselves: they offer shows, rides and many more things to see.
Gambling – At Las Vegas Strip or Las Vegas Downtown?
Gambling at the tables or machines is the main thing to do in Las Vegas. Some gambling machines are small, others are huge; some have a 25 cents or even 5 cents minimum other are more expensive and have a minimum amount of 1 or 5 dollars. All machines have one thing in common: they are colorful and designed quite nicely. Some of them show pics of movies and tv shows (Hangover, Sex and the City) other use regular card symbols or pics of fruits. Anything is possible and can be found in the casinos. These machines are designed to be fun and entertaining. For beginners, all these machines with little amounts of money are the starting point. Anyways, don’t expect to win a lot. To win, high amounts of money need to be bet, a certain risk is necessary. All the small bets are cheap but you will most likely not win a lot (only at very rare occasions, this is different). One example: I did win at one of this one-armed bandits, I used 1 dollar and got 5 out. That’s really good, five times the amount I used. Anyways, that only pays off when I would have bet more (for 50 Dollar I would have gotten 250 already, 100 would have been 500). The gambling tables offer all kinds of games. Most common is Black Jack, Roulette and this Dice game that American love so much. I know that dice game only from movies; the dice tables are always super busy. I have never really understood the rules.
I tried to watch several times but was always pushed so far to the back that I could see anything. What usually happens is: “Are you playing?” – “no” – “Please go to the back.”. Poker tables can be found a bit away from the main routes, you cannot just go there, ways and views are blocked. Makes sense, indeed.
All Casinos at the Strip have a minimum amount for the bets. If you are lucky, it’s only 5 dollars but sometimes it’s much more (15 dollars plus). If you feel like playing high, there is usually a maximum amount as well. On the strip, you will always find tables with lower bets and higher bets. Anyways, lower bets can also mean at least a two numbered amount.
In the older casinos in downtown, bets are usually lower and the minimum amount is lower than on the strip. If you like gambling at the tables, consider going downtown to do that. The casinos are exactly the same but you might lose less money in one evening.
All casinos are located very prominently at the entrance of each hotel. No matter where you want to go, you need to cross the casino (only exception is the lobby of the hotel). Everything else, restaurants, buffets, shows and attractions can only be reached through the casino. Sometimes that can be quite a walk. All casinos have very colorful carpets with many patterns on it. I always tend to walk the wrong direction in casinos. I think that is partly because of the carpet and because all the slot machines and tables look the same. That doesn’t mean that I get lost eintirely of that I’m unable to find the exit, it just means that I sometimes walk in circles and do not use the direct way out. Anyways, signs are everywhere and lead the way. But I really need these signs.
All casinos are rather dark, little light and no daylight at all. Smoking is permitted (nowhere in the US but in the casinos). Drinks are served, also at the cheap slot machines. These drinks are for free. I had a Rumcoke with very little rum. Anyways, I didn’t care. It was basically for free (only cost the amount of the 2 dollars a played at the slot machine).
Downtown Las Vegas
Downtown is the old city center of Las Vegas. This is where the first hotels and casinos were, even before the Strip. Fremont Street, a shopping street, is the center of it. All 10 downtown hotels are located at this street. Fremont Street has a lightshow experience as soon as it is dark. A curved roof over the street with thousand of lights has a light show. Several different shows rotate. Every hour on the hour, all hotels and casinos switch off their lights and the show starts (including lights and music). The show is quite nice, it’s free and quite entertaining. If you are in downtown anyways, you can do it. But it’s not a big must-see.
Where you are in the street to see the show is not important. You only need to look up/front up. Looking a bit back, you will see that the same images are shown. I read in a travel book that pickpocketers are very active as soon as the lights go out because everyone just looks up. Anyways, be sure to watch your bags and keep your valuables closely during the lightshow.
Fremont Street also has a ZIP Line and three stages with free live music. Also the mall neonopolis is there.
To me, a reason to go to Fremont Street is to see the old casinos and hotels. They have a very different atmosphere than everything on the Strip. It’s less fancy and less rich, old Las Vegas still seems to exist a bit. Very remarkable are the cheap buffets in all the hotels. We went to Main Street Station. They had a huge buffet with anything you want for 10 dollars. My favorite hotels in Downtown are Main Street Station and Golden Nugget.
All hotels in Downtown have their own shows. If you are interested in something in particular, you have a reason to come here. Also gambling is way cheaper than on the Strip (minimum amount!).
I did some reading and somewhere it said that 80 % of all Las Vegas visitors don’t even leave the Strip. I would recommend a trip to Downtown to everyone. It’s not far from the Strip, you can take the bus (same bus as the Outlet Premium Shopping Bus), a cab or drive there yourself.
Shows in Las Vegas
Las Vegas is very well-known for its shows. All shows are on a very high level, singers are dancers are the best. I have seen many shows over the years. Many years back even Siegfried and Roy, the Cirque du Soleil a couple of times and musicals and shows with famous singer impersonations. Not a single one of the shows was bad. I usually buy cheap seats, somewhere in the back and at the side. In Germany, these cheap seats usually offer a bad view, in Las Vegas they never did. I could always see very well. I visited some of the shows only because they were cheap or because tickets were available. I was never disappointed, all the shows were great.
I need to mention the Cirque du Soleil shows in particular. The biggest one is the O show in Bellagio. But there are many more shows in different hotels. At the strip, there are several small booths called “Tix4less”. You can buy tickets here for all shows that are not sold out. Tickets for the same evening are discounted. We all liked this option. The ticket booths open in the morning (I think at around 10). They have screens with lists of their offers. We could see a musical for only 40 dollars. Even David Copperfield tickets were discounted. If you are not focused on one exact show, you will most likely be able to find something here.
Discounts are also available for many other things. We found a coupon for the big breakfast buffet in the Flamingo Hotel (see Flamingo Hotel). The regular rate was 20 dollars, we paid 16. Just go to the ticket booth and see what’s on their list.
You can buy tickets for all the shows in advance online or in the hotels. In the Flamingo Hotel, they sold tickets for all the shows, not only the Flamingo’s show. You can also ask for advice here. I wanted to see the O show in Bellagio but it was too expensive for me. The lady recommended a different Cirque du Soleil show, also with water tanks but much cheaper.
Some shows are a huge hit and always sell out. To see one of these shows, you need to buy tickets in advance. Again, Bellagio’s O is an example. This show never has discounts or special offers. Some shows don’t run every day, for example Britney Spears and Céline Dion. For these, try to get information and bookings in advance. For everything else, that’s not necessary. In Las Vegas you usually get tickets and even discounts.
Discounts and Coupons
As described above, Las Vegas always offers discounts. We went toe the fake Eiffel Tower in Paris hotel. You can take the elevator up and enjoy the view of the Strip. I found a free magazine somewhere in the hotel with a coupon in it. This coupon offered an elevator ride for two for the price of one. It worked; we were four and saved half the price.
In fact, the need the paper voucher, that means they physically need the voucher. We did the same thing at the Stratosphere Tower and only had to pay half the price. Just keep your eyes open, whenever you see a magazine and coupon take it with you. You can save quite some money like this.
This article continues in part 2: Hotels in Las Vegas