dhuey

It's odd that the crew or the casino would discourage betting on both the pass and don't pass line. Such a player is actually slightly more profitable than one who bets the same total solely on the don't pass line (reason: leaving aside odds bets, house edge on pass line is 1.41%; don't pass is 1.364%).

Likewise, two collaborating players making opposing bets are more profitable to the house than if they both played the don't pass line.

mauld

Hubby & I are just back from a 3 day stay at Wynn. We are not 'high rollers or whales', but generaly take about $3,000- 5,000 which we fully expect not to come home with. (This time we retuned with about $700 cash + some advanced bets on next weeks games & future games). We've never been comped anything, nor recieved any kind of offers from LV casinos even though we do sign up for & use the 'players cards'. I guess the problem is hubby plays the 'Race & Sports Books' and roulette-- where he does show his players card. And we'll both play $1 & $5 poker & slot machines (generally putting in our card each time). This time we stayed at a Parlor Suite at the Towers at Wynn for which we paid a corparate rate of $650 a night (Fri-Mon). We ate at a number of their restuarants & ordered room service etc. All of which was duly noted. We have reservations at the 4Seasons over Thanksgiving weekend for a suite that includes a promotion for $135 a night dinner at their Verandah restaurant each night of our stay (found on the 4Seasons web site) for a rate of $580 a night. When I spoke to the people at Wynn about changing our stay to Wynn for that time period, I was told 'yes' we do have availability-- but it will be $850 a night. I asked about any special deals or comps and mentioned the 4S, she called her supervisor and and came back with "yes we do have lots of availability, but still the best we can do is room rate of $850... can I make the reservation for you" ??-- Sorry, no, we'll stick with the 4S. Now, hubby does get comps from Ceasars here in NJ where we're given meal/room/purchases comps with a value of a couple thousand dollars each time... but unfortunately he doesn't like Ceasars LV(and we've never been send any offers from them). He doesn't play craps or 21 and really only likes the race & sports book. Does this mean we'll never see comps from 'desired' hotels in LV (i.e. Mandelay Bay, Wynn etc) ??
PS- we usually go to LV 3 or 4 times a year, in the past we've stayed at the JW Marriott in Summerlin, they Hyatt in Lake LV, the Venetian or most recently the 4 Seasons (hubby has 'high end tastes )

kingalien

Yep, nothing to write home about the Venetian lounge. I check it out in the mornings and they just have drinks, donuts, pastries and bagels, similar to stuff you'd get at Costco.

BTW, the most points for this year on their players card is over 400K...that's some serious slot/VP play (IMHO).

QuietLion

There's not much in the way of comps from sports betting.

QL

hedoman

Unless you want the all you can drink buffet.

coplatsat

I gave them my card at the Sports Book at the Venetian and the manager came over and said that I should not show it to them. It will hurt my rating.

As to the VIP lounge at the Venetian, you can also get free drinks.

MIKESILV

While that may be true for betting on Football etc it will make a difference if you are betting the horses.

mike

coplatsat

I was betting football. Horses are too hard (too much research). Best strategy it seems would be to bet on the favored horse to show and bet a lot.

goalie

i'm a diamond total rewards card holder at harrah's and fwiw, it wasn't that hard to make it to that level.

i'm not a high roller by any means and all i want is a free room at harrah's lv/rno, or the rio (comped up front and not out of my points as i use those for meals and other goodies) for any weekend 'cept nye-hey, i may be crazy but i'm not THAT crazy . i only go on long w/e's to take advantage of the extra day off and the flights are short from sfo so i can maximize my time. i will bring anywhere bewteen $1,500 and 2k per weekend and i play only one game (3 card poker with an average bet of $25/hand-or so the pit bosses have told me).

what "worked me up the ladder from gold ->plat->diamond was length of play as i'll usually sit for anywhere from 4-6 hours before taking a break (tho i did have one 18 hr stint a few years back-just one of those runs where the entire table couldn't lose) so for harrah's, as others have posted, for table games, it's average bet, length of play.

i don't know if this helps but you don't have to be a whale to get freebies comped up front but rather i think it has to do with loyalty-w/me it's ua and harrah's (and all the other related properties) and by showing your loyalty, it shows the casino just that and they will accomodate you as loyalty does have its rewards

lastly, i will add that harrah's philosophy is "service driven" to separate them from the others. casinos all offer the same thing but imho, what separates harrah's from the others is that they will bend over backwards to accomodate you and make sure things are right or if not, they will fix it. it's kinda like banking (my profession) where all banks offer the same things but what makes you got to one (and stay there) as opposed to another is the quality of service offered.

MIKESILV

Better stick to football

Sure horse racing is complicated, but when you play them over a period a lot of "the research" is stored in your brain.
Nothing in life comes easy, but the risk/reward can be tremendous.
Look at the superfecta results at most tracks and you will see they pay-off is usually an average low of $1000 up to $30K for $2 bet and many tracks now carrying 10 cent bets.
The Kentucky Derby super paid over $400k (for $1, I believe) spend $168 and box 8 horses in that race and you would have collectecd $40k.
BUT those big payoff rarely come with the favorite in the frame.

mike

coplatsat

First introduced to racing when I was about 12. I would go with a friend to Ruidoso. His grand father owned some horses, and we would hang out with the jockeys and even eat with them. I would follow their advice.

I then use to bet them when I was a teenager and early twenties. I lived near the track in Nuevo Laredo and knew some of the jockeys/owners, and would just follow their advice. I did well. Good way to spend a saturday.

I would also go to Bandera Downs in college. I got to know the owners and jockeys and followed their advice and bascially had a free day. I remeber one jockey, Bill Johnson. He would at least always show. I made enough money to bet, win, drink and eat for free. I would usually leave with what I came with or a little more. I once hit the superfecta, but it did not pay much because 3 horses scratched (out of 8) on the last race. I won about $800 on the minimum bet. I thought I was going to win over $10k.

Now I follow football, and I agree that my research is in my head.

I moved to SA TX a few years ago, and I want to go to Retama. It is difficult to convince my wife that it is a wholesome family activity. But I am close.

I love the movie with Richard Dryfus at the track. That is a classic and I finally just saw the whol thing, start to finish, ironically while I was in Mexico. It was in spanish, but I had never seen the first scene where he over hears the info on the horse.

But in Vegas, following that many tracks and that many races, seems too hard and a little intimidating. If I was live, I would put some effort into it. Read the paper in the morning, study the program. I use to have a formula I made up that would take in the jokey, the horse, the weight of the jockey, etc... It is cool to hit a trifecta.

Do you think if you just bet the favorite to show over the day (12 races), you would win over all?

As to college football, you can do well betting the teams which are not very well known. The odds makers do not put a lot of time into it. Also, rivaleries mess with the odds makers. I know some riveralies where no matter the rank of the team or their past performance, it will be a close game. That is when the 90% mental rule comes into play.

bltserv

I too have always been told NOT to use your players card
while making wagers in a sports book.

Anybody out there have real "casino policy" on this ?

Not sure where I was told not to do this or when but
I never see anyone use a "card" while making a bet in any
sports book in Vegas.

As far as Betting favorites to show at the horses and do it big $$$.
You will lose your a?? real quick that way.
Favorites only win about 33% at any meet.
In the money percent highest is about 55%.
Those are real bad odds. Stick to Football.

Take your time and learn to read the racing form.
Play only one track at a time. Dont bet just favorites.
Play the exacta and trifecta a little bit. Learn and have fun.
Winning at the track is one of the best "gambling rush"
sports out there. You too can have a "very good day".

FYI. The name of the Richard Dryfus movie is.
"Let it Ride"

mbstone

Probably in downtown LV or at a downmarket property you can find $5 BJ or even $1 BJ. Try bj21.com for info. Whether you can have the strategy card or not is POM dependent. You can always ask the dealer or your fellow players, "What does the book say?" and usually you will get the right answer.

travelnutz

There's no need to go downtown for low min BJ. Sahara has those tables and I would venture to guess Riviera does too. OTOH, Golden Nugget has some pretty good ODDs for craps.

JerryGuitar

are any casinos in LV giving comps based on poker play? Last time I was there (february) I don't think they were. I was just up at Foxwoods this summer, and they do rate your poker play - I had a nice discount on my room when I checked out.