Las Vegas on the Cheap: Tips on Gambling and Great Deals on Hotels
Let’s start with preparing for your trip and saving as much as you can before even getting to Vegas. While many people still prefer to use a travel agent you can find great deals on the computer by searching out travel sites and seeing what packages are on sale. In fact, if you find a cheap flight you can even call the airline direct and book without having to use the website in most cases! Great deals can be found usually in off-peak periods for tourism in Las Vegas, most often during the summer months when Sin City is less appealing to the average tourist due to the high daily temperature. You can find great deals that will combine your flight, hotel and possibly a rental car as well if you wish to venture outside of the Strip for your entertainment. Again, it’s best to plot out your vacation well ahead of time to take advantage of good holiday deals that will be promoted by the many hotels and airlines eager to get you and your money into the gambling venues. Often you can get a great deal by staying away from the main flashy theme hotels on the Strip and going to smaller, reputable hotel chains. They may not have a wild animal exhibit or be right on the famous Las Vegas Strip but they may make a less dent in your budget and give you more spending cash.
So now you’re safe in your hotel room after flying into McCarron airport and catching the shuttle to your hotel room and are ready to experience the wild and frantic life that is Las Vegas! But your pocketbook isn’t bottomless and your creditcards have limits, so how can you have a good time without blowing your remaining cash?
There are a plethora of free events that anyone can visit in Las Vegas without spending a dime – most of them situated inside major hotels and casinos that will give you not only a break from gambling but also free entertainment! Let’s take a walk along the Strip and see what you can get without spending a dime.
Many theme hotels feature free entertainment inside their casinos to keep their visitors happy between gambling trips. For example, the Excalibur has a variety of medieval-themed entertainers wandering their floors – jugglers, storytellers and magicians. The MGM Grand has a live animal exhibit featuring lions in a public display where only a thin plate of glass separates you from these majestic beasts. But that’s just inside these gambling venues!
Treasure Island lives up to its name with a huge display featuring two life-size ships afloat in their own private lagoon ready to battle for your entertainment! The Mirage Hotel, home of the famous White Tigers of Sigfried and Roy, allows visitors to take a free look inside the Secret Garden where these rare and beautiful animals rest. And of course the Mirage is known for the thrilling volcano outside their doors that erupts nightly for the gambling and non-gambling visitors. The Bellagio takes water entertainment to a whole new level with a breath-taking display of fountains that dance and spray to different tunes nightly. All of these are free to you and a wonderful way to spend time walking between your favorite gambling games.
But you can get ahead of the game before even leaving the hotel! Many major hotels have discount booklets available at the front desk that will provide coupons for restaurants, gaming such as roulette and blackjack and even souvenirs.
Buffets are one major way for you to save big bucks when looking for a place to eat. Using a hotel coupon will lower your cost even more, but buffets allow the entire family to eat for a single price and provides a wide range of choices from pizza to roast beef; vegetarian lasagna to chocolate cr�¨me pie. And of course Las Vegas has a variety of buffets for the gambling enthusiast to visit with each offering their own variation on the idea of what a buffet should offer.
For the new gambler these coupons can be a great way to learn new games or refresh your memory on old ones. Usually these deals consist of offering free seminars as well as a deal on purchasing your first casino chips, such as giving you five dollars free for attending a short seminar on how to play blackjack. Talk about getting something for nothing! If you’ve ever wanted to try gambling or were just curious as to how these games work, this is a great way to dip your toe into the water. You don’t need to invest money in books, tapes or risk walking up to a table and be embarassed by making a simple mistake. Instead you can participate in a teaching session and walk over to that roulette table or blackjack game and place your bet with a smile and confidence.
And, of course, there’s the betting. One major mistake many new gambling fans make is to come to Las Vegas with no budget in mind, leading to problems when they get caught up in the magic and mystique that is Las Vegas. Before you leave your house or apartment you should set up a budget and allocate how much money you wish to spend on gambling and stick to it by simply placing yourself in a situation where you can’t access extra cash. Leave your credit cards with a friend or trusted family member. Only carry what you can afford to lose and remember that half the fun of gambling is the playing, not only the winning. Consider all of your money to be already lost when you arrive on the Strip and any money that you walk away with to be a bonus after having a fun time learning and experiencing the new and vibrant games in the casinos. You don’t have to spend a lot of money at the gambling tables to have a good time!
Travelling to Las Vegas doesn’t have to break your budget and deprive you of a good time. You can have a grand old time in Sin City by doing a bit of planning beforehand and setting up a budget as well as taking advantage of coupons and sales. Why not considering adding a bit of gambling to your next holiday plans?
