Question of the Day — 23 Jul 2010

Here's the promised follow-up to yesterday's QoD. Read it and learn from other people's mistakes! If you missed the original poll results, here's a link to the Poll Archives.

• "Not getting enough sleep, so I was not alert while playing the tables."

• "Not sleeping with the girl I met at the Stratosphere and then spent the night doing crazy things with like running through the fountains at Caesars. But then again, maybe that was a good thing?"

• "Biggest mistake? Waiting so long to visit Las Vegas for the first time. I was 26 before visiting (in 1999), and now I kick myself over the 5 years that I missed! I'm happy that I got to see and stay in some of the great casinos before they were demolished (e.g., Stardust), but I wish that I had seen the Landmark before it was demolished. Oh, that and only bringing $50 to gamble with on my first trip to Las Vegas! :)"

• "As a big Saints fan, I usually bet early each year if I’m in Vegas that the Saints will go to the Super Bowl, both  out of fun and loyalty. Last year, didn't. I just forgot. WHO KNEW?Still glad they won. WHO DAT!  

• "Coming to Vegas for a friend's birthday with what proved to be a group of incompatible women. We all knew the 'birthday girl,' but not each other. We had many meee-owww moments."

• "My first visit was twenty years ago. I had won a sales contest and my company sent me and my wife out to Vegas, with a very nice room at Bally's. I loved it out there and had a great time. My wife (now my ex) played slots only, lost, and said she never wanted to go back. I did, and looked for an inexpensive package. A Chicago travel agent advertised an air and two night package for $179 and I booked it. My plane left O'Hare at 11:30 pm and got to Vegas at 2:30 am. I got off the shuttle across from the Greyhound terminal and walked in to the Nevada Hotel & Casino. I checked in with a clerk who was behind bullet-proof glass and took a smelly elevator up to a dingy room. Quite a shock having been at Bally's! This was pre-renovation downtown, so the panhandlers and hookers were all over the place. It was six years before I stayed downtown again and now I love it!"

• "My biggest regrets are:

  "(Once) Not buying tickets to the Rolling Stones at the MGM Grand when I had the chance. "(Every trip) Not cashing out when I'm ahead in video poker and instead playing it back down to zero – I know I shouldn't but this happens to me at least once every trip, and I'm always mad about it afterward."

• "Not researching and planning activities."

• "My biggest mistake (and there must be many folk in my age bracket who will agree) was not buying up property on the Strip when it was available for virtually nothing during my first trip to Las Vegas in the spring of 1957. I doubt that any other error could match that degree of ultimate financial loss." [Ed: Well, that's not technically a loss; but a big missed opportunity? Oh, yeah!]

• "We kept putting off seeing Elvis until the next trip because the line was too long – and then it was too late."

• "My biggest mistake when in LV is worrying about the money I'm spending and not enjoying the whole vacation experience. I must not be a gambler at heart, because although I can afford to lose the money I bring, I get tight-fisted and upset when that happens. Losing is more irritating that winning is fun. I hate this attitude, because I still love Las Vegas and go when I can. Thank you so much for letting me glimpse on a daily basis into the city." [Ed: You're welcome. Thanks for joining us!]

• "My only Las Vegas regret is in the early days the two of us had $2,000 each for a 4-day stay ... and we never asked for any comps. He played blackjack all day long and I alternated between blackjack, dice, and slots. We had no idea that we could have asked for comps – we thought that was only for "high rollers." Thanks to Las Vegas Advisor, I now know to ask for and get comps ... even though I'm now a widow on a limited budget. What we could have had earlier in comps is a real regret." [Ed: Oh well, better late than never.]"

• "Trying to walk the Strip from MGM Grand to the Stratosphere in August. [Ed: Oh no!] And not playing max quarters in a machine and then hitting the jackpot!" [Ed: You are far from alone with that one.]

• "Chasing losses in an attempt to win my money back, and winding up losing even MORE!!(Still not more than I could afford, but more than I should have!)"

• "We didn't stop gambling long enough to see a few shows."

• "Trading a lot in Pahrump for a timeshare in Vegas."

• "Paying too much for show tickets in advance, when you can buy them much cheaper after you arrive, e.g. at Tix 4 Tonight."

• "Flying out there from Minnesota without a hotel reservation."

• "I regret sitting by the pool drinking (alcohol) all day and forgoing any water, stupidly thinking that the ice in my slushy drink would count. I then spent a miserable evening in the room due to dehyrdration feeling like I had the worst stomach flu ever.  You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but the next year I went back and did the same thing. Fortunately, after two strikes, I hit a home run and have drunk a ton of water (and yes, cut back on alcohol consumption under the sweltering sun) from that visit forward and haven't faced a problem since. So, to all those who ask if it is really that bad to drink and skip water...YES, YES IT IS!"

• "It was my first trip to Vegas 46 years ago and I was playing at low-limit crap table in a little casino downtown. I had the dice for about a 20-minute roll and only won about $200 or $300, while all the other players knew what the were doing and won many thousands of dollars. To add insult to injury, not one of them even offered to by me a good dinner. I still don't really know how to play and don't have the guts to have that much money lying on the table at one time."

• "I don't know how long it's been, probably 12-15 years, when we had our first LVA coupon book and wanted to try the BOGO buffet at Texas Station. We took a taxi out (from Imperial Palace) and got the buffet (it was great). We gambled at Texas Station and then went across the street to the Fiesta and gambled. Anyways, when we were ready to leave, it took TWO HOURS to get a cab. When one came, we shared it with this little old lady and when we got to her neighborhood, she couldn’t remember where she lived! That was the LAST trip where we did not have a car!"

• "Missing my flight home!" [Ed: Ah, an Anthony Curtis specialty lol.]

• "Driving to Las Vegas in a car without air conditioning in mid-summer." [Ed: Ditto! Mr Ethier, were you traveling together, perchance?!]

• "Caving into one of the timeshare sales scams. Any idea how I can dump this thing?" [Ed: Um, no, good luck with that!]

• "You had a choice on your list of 'staying too long'; well, mine is the opposite. My only regret is never getting to stay long enough to see and do everything one would like."

• "Worst??? No doubt getting to town and discovering we left the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book at home!!!" [Ed: What?! That's actually a felony offense around here. Actually, should you or anyone else ever do that again, know that you can come to our office during regular hours and pick up a replacement; you need to mail back the original to use once you get home.]

• "Not taking golf clubs to bed with me. I and another friend left our golf clubs in the trunk of a rental car in the Golden Nugget parking lot and next morning the trunk had been entered and golf clubs were stolen and not recovered. (Our first night of a 5-night trip; had to rent clubs the next 5 days.)"

• "I've done lots of dumb stuff there in the name of fun but have never had a regret. Love reading the LVA and LasVegasAdvisor.com." [Ed: Thanks. And that's the spirit!]