Vegas Trip Information for anyone looking to go this year.

[smurf]

Views please

I am a 40ish year old recreational player and tend to play live 5-8 times a year, I enjoy playing live  for the majority of the time.

In recent years I've seen old friends/ work colleagues pass away through various illnesses who were the same age as me so decided I fancied doing the Vegas poker trip ...I would love to take the wife but the aim is to go for ten days and include a Omaha hi/lo and deep stack wsop event if they timed right and then a few daily toureys/side events and I know if I did take my wife I would play less and want to do stuff with her which would defeat the purpose of wanting to go.

So I've been a bit torn but would be happy to go it alone with her blessing.

View time
I played the Goliath twice this week and both times eavesdropped in on conversations from players who went this year, very negative views along the lines of shove fests due to starting stacks, far too busy, staff not interested unless you are a millionaire, being ripped off at every turn...it went on.

For those who go regular or have been this year for the first time...is it a great place and time to go, were these views the minority, is it worth me planning the trip or would it be better to stick to some UK tournaments and take a nice holiday somewhere else instead

Fire away

[Ransom]

Views please

I am a 40ish year old recreational player and tend to play live 5-8 times a year, I enjoy playing live  for the majority of the time.

In recent years I've seen old friends/ work colleagues pass away through various illnesses who were the same age as me so decided I fancied doing the Vegas poker trip ...I would love to take the wife but the aim is to go for ten days and include a Omaha hi/lo and deep stack wsop event if they timed right and then a few daily toureys/side events and I know if I did take my wife I would play less and want to do stuff with her which would defeat the purpose of wanting to go.

So I've been a bit torn but would be happy to go it alone with her blessing.

View time
I played the Goliath twice this week and both times eavesdropped in on conversations from players who went this year, very negative views along the lines of shove fests due to starting stacks, far too busy, staff not interested unless you are a millionaire, being ripped off at every turn...it went on.

For those who go regular or have been this year for the first time...is it a great place and time to go, were these views the minority, is it worth me planning the trip or would it be better to stick to some UK tournaments and take a nice holiday somewhere else instead

Fire away

I was there in the middle of June and there seemed to be an Omaha Hi/Lo event going on somewhere on any given day. Binions, Nugget, Wynn, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Venetian and Hard Rock all had summer festivals that last as long as the WSOP does. Overwhelmed by choice if you didn't want to be in for chunks at the WSOP or wanted smaller comps to complement a couple of $1500 bracelet events.

To be honest, I had the time of my life on my own and I'm already looking into renting an apartment for a couple of months for next year out there. The freedom to play poker/mess about in casinos at whatever hour suited me without having to explain where I'm slinking off to at 2am was fantastic.

I didn't feel I was being actively ripped off, though I did run into a few chancers who were willing to have a go. People buying cans of drinks from the CVS and trying to sell them to passers by for double the price etc. Silly little scams that anyone with half a brain could avoid. If you don't wander around with your head in the clouds and look like you've got somewhere to be, then people generally leave you alone. Probably goes for all tourist destinations.

Staff were nicer downtown I found, but I didn't get the cold shoulder from any staff in the fancier casinos because they're all grinding for tips. You'll probably find yourself a bit more annoyed at the sickly sweet patronizing enthusiasm and false smiles you get than being ignored because you're not sat down with a mountain of chips.

I highly recommend it, it's most entertaining place I've ever been.

[Tal]

View time
I played the Goliath twice this week and both times eavesdropped in on conversations from players who went this year, very negative views along the lines of shove fests due to starting stacks, far too busy, staff not interested unless you are a millionaire, being ripped off at every turn...it went on.

For those who go regular or have been this year for the first time...is it a great place and time to go, were these views the minority, is it worth me planning the trip or would it be better to stick to some UK tournaments and take a nice holiday somewhere else instead

Fire away

Vegas is an extraordinary place. I'm quite happy in my own company and enjoy doing what I want, when I want. I'm comfortable walking into a fancy restaurant in a jacket and shirt and saying "table for one, please". It doesn't bother me trotting off to a comp, donking off my chips, harrumphing for a bit in the sportsbook and then deciding what I do next, rather than having commitments with friends or travelling companions. On the nights I was happy to stay in and watch the night draw in, I had that option unreservedly.

I've also done trips there with others and enjoyed them, too. I'm easy either way. But that's really not for everyone.

My first trip was 2006, where there were far fewer options in terms of quality of poker. Now, the standard is much better but the structure of tourneys and cash games on offer is far more amenable. Competition has helped enormously there, or at least seems to have. The rake is and always will be a farce (not wishing to reopen the markup can o'worms) but there is always somewhere else to play whatever time you bust a comp.

There is certainly a friendlier atmosphere downtown, but it's a spit and sawdust place compared with the opulence of some of the Strip resorts.  Whatever you prefer, really. Be nice to people, speak as Britishly as possible at all times and tip early. You tend to find more positive stories than negative.

[smurf]

Thanks for the replies so far...happy to get lots of views 😀

[nirvana]

Pretty easy to do both I would think - head out there for 5-6 days of poker and have your wife fly out to join you for the last 4 days perhaps.

Since I'm purely a recreational player and having been a few times,  I'm pretty sure I would never go again on my own.  I am pretty self contained and happy in my own company in many ways but Vegas grates on me within 4-5 days and I'm always happy to leave.  I don't think that feeling is uncommon.

If I was going somewhere on my own I would choose just about any City break anywhere over a trip to Vegas - I think it's the complete lack of culture there and once you get past the slight awe at the buildings (size mainly) - it's all pretty vacuous. 

I've enjoyed poker trips there in the past (and if you really want to just gorge on poker then there is no better place) but the 3 best trips I've had to Vegas have been short, with Family or Friends (even with my wife) and have had some other primary purpose - Bro in laws 50th, a Wedding etc. The combination of 24 hour accessibility, shows, deece weather, pools, shops, good food, and, I think, a shared experience, is quite hard to beat.

Rather unsurprisingly that's just a load of mixed up feelings about the place which is exactly how I feel about it.

[Marky147]

Got a few mates that have done the split trip, with partners first, and then on their own for some poker etc. and that worked out great for them.

Would probably say do the bit with the other half first, before you have a chance to get Vegas'd

First 5 trips I stayed on the strip, mostly at the Palazzo & Wynn. Moved downtown in 2012, and haven't stayed on the strip again since. It's horses for courses though, and what suits one, won't do for another.

[nirvana]

Got a few mates that have done the split trip, with partners first, and then on their own for some poker etc. and that worked out great for them.

Would probably say do the bit with the other half first, before you have a chance to get Vegas'd

First 5 trips I stayed on the strip, mostly at the Palazzo & Wynn. Moved downtown in 2012, and haven't stayed on the strip again since. It's horses for courses though, and what suits one, won't do for another.

Good point, much better way round. Also, much prefer downtown now, though never stayed there, but probably would next time

[tikay]

I have always gone to Vegas solo, & I thoroughly enjoy the freedom it gives me.

It's a great place to be alone so you can do whatever. It's a terrible place to be skinto, though.

[tikay]

Downtown is a delight, in so many ways. Has real character in a tacky way.

Binions is a proper health hazard, parts of it are disgusting, a health hazard, & many of the Dealers have no idea. And that's part of the character & fascination. 

You just have to try & dodge Team Marky after they have been plotted up at a bar all night.

[sonour]

Vegas is a great place to go on your own.

If, however, you do take your wife I recommend you stay on the strip.

[MLHMLH]

I would like to broach the subject of the minefield that is the Virgin Flying Club in the hope that someone can decipher it.  It's so complicated that their staff struggle, as I seem to get a different answer every time I ring up!

Having spent a small fortune on their white credit card in the last 12 mths whilst building an extension, I have accrued 2 Reward Flight upgrade tickets and 1 companion ticket.  Myself and my husband want to go to Vegas in June 16 for 2 weeks.  I currently have 27,500 flying club miles.  When I rang last month I was told I could pay for 1 full price ticket in economy, then use the companion ticket to get another for just the cost of the tax.  Then they said I could use the 2 Reward Flight upgrades to upgrade both those to Premium Economy.  By doing it this way I wouldn't need to spend any miles.  I was waiting until my next credit card statement was produced in order to get the 2 Reward upgrades credited to my Flying Club account.  They went in yesterday, so I rang today to check the prices again and was told I couldn't use the tickets in this way at all.  I could either use the Companion ticket or the 2 Reward flight upgrade tickets, but not both on the same transaction!  So when he priced these 2 options up, the Reward flight upgrades worked out cheapest (£808 per person for a return Premium Economy ticket).  I think this is a good price, but I have to spend £885 buying 58,000 miles, if I want to book today.  That seems a lot.  

So I was wondering, is there a better way to get miles?  When do they have their reward flight sales and miles booster deals?  Does anyone know?

They recommended I apply for the black credit card, as I would get a bonus of 18,500 miles just from making my first purchase.  The £140 annual fee for this card would pay for itself, because it would cost me £285 to buy 18000 miles (of the 58,000 I need in total).

If anyone has any tips, they would be gratefully received!

[Simon Galloway]

I don't have any perfect answers unfortunately.  Would suggest:

- Get the black card, if you are spending enough on white to qualify for 2 upgrade vouchers each year, then yes the extra points from black will cover the annual fee.
- Depending on your miles earned each year, take the chances to top up to your anticipated requirement over the course of the year, then you don't need to hope that there is a sale on when you are booking.  Tesco Clubcard Auto-Conversion is a pretty good rate imo and Buy Miles +25% offer when they have it.
- There definitely can be some call centre variance.  The last few times I've called, they seem to have a call centre in Cardiff or similar now, which is much much better than when they had off-shored it in years gone by.  Maybe I've run good, but the last few calls to them have been excellent.  In the old days, if I wasn't getting the right answer, I'd just ring back and speak to someone else.  It is a lot easier if you know your dates, have your miles already and are ready to book.  Then when you get the answer you want, snap-book it.
- The best options I have found (in terms of cost per mile and in terms of ease of use) are either 100k for an Upper reward return flight or 31,500+upgrade voucher for a P.E. reward return flight during a reward sale.
- fwiw, I don't know this is 100% correct, but in my experience the companion ticket is usually worthless, because "full price" economy ticket is absurdly expensive, sometimes more than buying 2 sale fare tickets.  I'd also doubt very much if the companion could be used at the same time as the upgrade voucher, but if one of their staff says you can, great if you are in a position to tell them to book it.

As for pricing, this is what I would expect.

LV economy reward flight = 42.5K miles x2 = 85K miles
Tax = ~ £350 x 2 = ~£700
2 upgrade vouchers = £0

So by my maths, it should cost you £700 tax + £885 buy miles for a total of ~£1600  In other words, the £808p.p. he quoted you already includes the cost of buying the miles in? 

[Simon Galloway]

Virgin Sale now on too!!

LV = £599+

[MLHMLH]

I don't have any perfect answers unfortunately.  Would suggest:

- Get the black card, if you are spending enough on white to qualify for 2 upgrade vouchers each year, then yes the extra points from black will cover the annual fee.
- Depending on your miles earned each year, take the chances to top up to your anticipated requirement over the course of the year, then you don't need to hope that there is a sale on when you are booking.  Tesco Clubcard Auto-Conversion is a pretty good rate imo and Buy Miles +25% offer when they have it.
- There definitely can be some call centre variance.  The last few times I've called, they seem to have a call centre in Cardiff or similar now, which is much much better than when they had off-shored it in years gone by.  Maybe I've run good, but the last few calls to them have been excellent.  In the old days, if I wasn't getting the right answer, I'd just ring back and speak to someone else.  It is a lot easier if you know your dates, have your miles already and are ready to book.  Then when you get the answer you want, snap-book it.
- The best options I have found (in terms of cost per mile and in terms of ease of use) are either 100k for an Upper reward return flight or 31,500+upgrade voucher for a P.E. reward return flight during a reward sale.
- fwiw, I don't know this is 100% correct, but in my experience the companion ticket is usually worthless, because "full price" economy ticket is absurdly expensive, sometimes more than buying 2 sale fare tickets.  I'd also doubt very much if the companion could be used at the same time as the upgrade voucher, but if one of their staff says you can, great if you are in a position to tell them to book it.

As for pricing, this is what I would expect.

LV economy reward flight = 42.5K miles x2 = 85K miles
Tax = ~ £350 x 2 = ~£700
2 upgrade vouchers = £0

So by my maths, it should cost you £700 tax + £885 buy miles for a total of ~£1600  In other words, the £808p.p. he quoted you already includes the cost of buying the miles in? 

Thanks for this Simon.  Yes the quote included buying 58,000 miles (@ approx 1.52p per mile).  We were then told by someone that we could buy miles via Miles Booster because me and my husband flew to Vegas in the last 6 months.  We can buy double the miles travelled each (10k x 2 x 2 = 40k) for 1p per mile (£400), so this saves us £215.  We still need to top up the miles to 85k in total.

I already have a Tesco clubcard and have set up the automatic conversion to flying club miles, but I don't tend to shop in Tescos, so it's not worth much to me!

We're definitely going to get the black card I think.  It's a no-brainer for us, although we won't be spending £20k on a credit card every year.  We did it last year, but that was because we were building an extension and spent a lot!  We would normally put £10k per year on a credit card, so doing that on the black card would get us the same 2 reward upgrade tickets.

We've found what we think is an amazing deal for a hotel.  14 nights at Encore for £1485 inc tax (resort fee optional).  Do you think this is a good price?

[MLHMLH]

If anyone is willing to transfer any unwanted Virgin Atlantic flying club miles to me, I will pay the transfer fee plus a bit extra.  I'm looking for 17,000 miles.