Over at the tech blog Technology Report we’ll have a lot of coverage leading up to and through the CES 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
A big thanks to the Aria Resort and Casino and Vdara Hotel. These amazing new properties in the Las Vegas CITYCENTER Project are sponsoring our CES 2010 coverage this year and into the show in January.
Aria will open in December and along with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the Aria will feature the world’s most advanced guestroom technology along with CityCenter’s incredible WiFi footprint that covers the entire campus with broadband thanks to thousands of antennas and WiFi access points.
Over at Technology Report I’m going to feature a “First Timers Guide to CES” focused on people who have never been there and also some tips on how to find out the party and event schedules. CES is one of the world’s largest conferences and even in these troubled economic times I’m sure that Las Vegas will be rockin’ with some amazing technology and events at the January 2010 CES.
For more about this please head over to Technology Report‘s CES 2010 coverage, starting …. now!
Joe Duck 
It is generally thought that a conventioneer is more expensive to a casino than a tourist since the conventioneer gambles less money and spends less time in the casino. Its also thought more likely that the conventioneer will make demands on ancilliary services such as the business center, the bellman, etc. For this reason, the ahem, “conventional” thinking is that those attending trade shows should be charged higher room rates, particularly since the conventioneers are likely to want rooms in the same hotel as their convention anyway.
I’m not too sure if this hotel room pricing makes much difference but convention room rates are locked in so far in advance that recent market pressure will not result in lowered rates.
Interesting FoolsGold – I had not heard that distinction before. In the past CES tended to double to quadruple many room prices on the strip, though interestingly off strip hotels and downtown tend to remain very reasonable through the conference. A great budget travel tip for people going to Las Vegas is simply to avoid weekends and conference times. Sun-Thursday brings simply spectacular pricing on the “nice” rooms you find at most venues as well as the *amazing* rooms you find at the high end properties like Aria, Vdara, Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian. e.g. Here’s the off peak $109 room we enjoyed at the Venetian: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeduck/3676178208/
Wynn
That be Wynn-town: wynn, lose, or draw.
I prefer the off-strip with 2.99 buffets, slots, and uh the lizardy gals you try to avoid in the parking lot.
That said some upgraded wi-fi, beyond that of the 50 yards or so offered by Linksys, sounds good.
I always have had a preference for hiking in the Valley of Fire and Mount Charleston, etc…amazing experiences.
Of course I can’t forget the time I stopped at the gas station that was featured in Robert Plant’s Big Log video. It is in the middle of nowhere and I asked the owner about Robert Plant and his response was…yeah Bob Plant, yeah I know Bob Plant. LOL
Sam’s Town is always a friendly place to stop.
I prefer the off-strip with 2.99 buffets, slots, and uh the lizardy gals you try to avoid in the parking lot …
… and to think some people say Vegas doesn’t have it all!
Hotel rooms are fairly easy to get comped at checkout if you’ve stayed Sunday through Thursday. Right now room rates are so low in many hotels that paying a convention rate is unnecessary.
Many tourists only gamble at locals casinos because of more favorable odds and less glitzy but more substantial offerings by the casino.
Places such as Sams Town which has a reputation as a Blue Hair Special type joint, are actually quite popular bargains and Sams Town, as with many casinos, enjoys a distinct difference in its clientele depending on time of day and day of the week.
Sams Town which has a reputation as a Blue Hair Special type joint
Yass. Take the bus in from Berdoo, or Palmdale, with their SSI checks, or welfare– buffet/hotel/slots deals for like under 50 shekels–and most of ’em make it back alive by Monday. Hell is cheap-Vegass (lo siento)
FoolsGold I think you’ve had better luck with comps than most? I’m not much of a gambler but I thought most of the free stuff has moved to the players clubs with the cards on which you build points?
Joe you need to get to know the Player Development Manager within a casino. Once you have his card and are on his radar you wouldn’t believe what you will have access to. Not only different comps but you can basically walk up to any resturant and mention the PDM and you won’t have to wait for a table, etc…
Another great method is for businesses, they plan their meetings in Vegas for Wed,Thu,Fri and then have the employees fly their spouses in for the weekend typically you can get entire blocks of rooms comped for your employees.
>most of the free stuff … build points on club cards.
Oh sure the points accumulated on your card can be redeemed in a variety of ways and the rules differ at various casinos, but often a player will find that he can get RFB status even if his points are rather modest. I would never play slots particularly at Tuscany but coupled with their points it becomes more attractive particularly when their points needed for room comp is a very low amount. Even if a player’s points total is unimpressive, a floor person may often have flagged your card favorably if you’ve been noticed for “doing the Lord’s work” or for any of a variety of things the casinos like. Some gamblers tend to make betting mistakes that impair their ratings with the casino. For instance, many gamblers like to make a few small bets to “test the waters”. This is a mistake since often a floorman will rate a player on his first two or three bets and then go on to attend to other duties. So the trick is to make your first three bets impressive ones. If you start off with 50 on the line for yourself and 25 on the line for the dealers, the dealers will perk up, the box will notice you and so will the foorman who is soon to be entering a comment about you in the computer. It may not help you much but it will never hurt you to start off with a favorable flag in that computer! If your points total is modest, but you have a favorable flag next to your name, that can easily tip the scales in your favor when you check out. Sometimes a casino won’t comp you for your room but the floorman may atleast see that you get the “casino rate” for your room. Its best to never try to play just for comps, but it never hurts to know what the comp policies are.
I look forward to the total wifi coverage at CityCenter and think the Aria’s room keys will be great since instead of inserting the card into the door one need only hold it within one inch of the lock. Don’t know if I really want the room curtains to open as I enter the room for the first time or not, but atleast the wifi capability seems impressive. Hotel check in delays in Vegas are often annoying and it seems Aria will be maximizing their use of technology to avoid any checking-in or checking-out difficulties.
Don’t know if I really want the room curtains to open as I enter the room for the first time or not, but atleast the wifi capability seems impressive
Yes, as is the virtual Jenna Jameson who appears when you open the door. Don’t try counting any cards though at the vegass blackjack tables, or you could be used as part of the foundation in the newest Wynn building. Fuggetaboutit!
Counting cards in a casino while playing blackjack is a perfectly LEGAL activity as long as you make use of no artificial device for doing so. If you are a “toe tapper” with a solenoid in your shoe, that is a felony. If you are simply a person with a good memory and the skill to perform well at blackjack when being plied with booze, that is absolutely LEGAL.
The only real problem with counting cards at BJ is that in order to reliably make twenty-five dollars an hour counting cards you would have to be bankrolled with a minimum of twenty-five thousand dollars and most people who have the twenty-five thousand dollars already make more than twenty-five dollars an hour.
Some retirees at the full pay Video Poker machines get drinks, meals and also average eleven dollars an hour in profit. Beats WalMart and probably beats golf too, but there are some lean weeks wherein that famed “law of averages” (actually law of large numbers) reigns supreme.
Counting cards in a casino while playing blackjack is a perfectly LEGAL activity as long as you make use of no artificial device for doing so.
Well, assuming you don’t make any marks on cards, or notes that might hold–but a pro card-counter usually will be shown the door when he starts to win regularly. Anyway, mostly a moot point with 6 decks (or more), auto-shufflers, and random cuts of decks every few hands, PLUS newbies who don’t realize the importance of a full “shoe” (unless you have, as you say, massive bankroll, and days to play odds, assuming uniform cuts–which they aren’t).
So in practical terms, card counting’s nearly impossible, unless you find old-fashioned place (Carson, or Reno) with one or two deck game (and then you might get rolled as well).
Its getting hard to even find blackjack games now. Too many are blackjack variants or games that offer 6:5 payout or sometimes only pay even money on blackjacks. If you want decent rules and only a one or two deck game, you have to go to the high roller rooms. Even there, its often a six deck shoe with a shuffle after four decks.
Yo, FG– do you know of some good poker games in Vegassland? Not the Jerry Buss room, but one where lower-middle class people could buy in, and not the glitzy MGM-Sands BS. Years ago it was Golden Nugget (Carson as well)–maybe Sams Town.
The chumash casino north of St. Babs is ok, cheap–not too many takers. All slots, touristas, skanky dealers, and that 6+deck pseudo-blackjack. There were a few hot online casinos–I came up a few 20s with 7-card. , I think Brit-owned–BushCo shut ’em down (tho’now I hear a few are back).
Some retirees at the full pay Video Poker machines get drinks, meals and also average eleven dollars an hour in profit
Do you mean some as in 10%? The Casinos would not last long if they averaged a net positive payout!
Oh nowhere near ten percent!
The M casino withdrew their 100.77 percent payout machine and also their 100.65 percent machine and now have their highest payout at Video Poker of 100.17 percent. At that “edge” it sure takes ramming alot of money through the machine. And some players never do hit a Royal Flush.
A few years ago one of the first dozen microsoft employees was playing video poker at one of the Harrah’s casinos and hit a Royal Flush twice in one weekend. No cheating involved at all, but Harrahs got so teed off about it they formally banned him but had to revoke the ban a week later.
Did you see who’s giving away a million bucks for killer apps and cool devices? theresaprizeforthat.com
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