Heading out 19-23 of March.. Great offer 4 nights comped 200fp and 200 resort credit ( any mgm prop) we picked Mirage because we like TI and it has some slot my wife wants to try.. Is it going to be super busy? How will the table minimums be? Thanks for any info
Don't worry. Table minimums will be like they usually are, lower in morning and afternoons, being raised in the evenings as tables fill up. Fri. and Sat. they (the bosses) are more quick on the draw to raise the minimums. Especially at full tables. Scope out the tables, sit down at one you can afford and hope it stays good as long as you want to play. You'll be grandfathered in at that price which I'm sure you know. That makes it hard to move, being in at the lower price, so look around for other tables that might be OK if you have to move. Later in the evenings on Friday and Saturday they will get high and stay high. But that is everywhere, all the time, maybe a bit worse at holiday or special event times but I never saw much difference.
I've been many times, many casinos (but not Mirage, truth to tell) at March Madness time and didn't notice terrible crowds, but then I wasn't hanging out in the sports books. That may be the busier. Since you already got your comped room nights no sweat. Eateries may be more crowded at the usual eating times. Plus when the shows (LOVE) let out it can be a zoo with people rushing to eat someplace. Just plan for that as far as being hungry. Don't forget about room service, which can be a good bet. Charge it to your room so you can use your food credits. Good Luck.
Yes, folks talk about terrible room rates at these times, but you've already got that covered.
My question, then, would be why play there at all? It's a ripoff; limits are high and the game rules are terrible.
I suggest giving your action to the Gold Coast and/or the Palms. Relatively easy walking distance (20 min or so), Coast shuttle available, also frequent city bus up and down Flamingo.
If you play blackjack, the house edge on the Strip is roughly four times what it is off the Strip. So even if you played a modest $10 per hand, and played good Basic Strategy, you'd lose a little over $3 an hour at the Gold Coast but you would lose $12 an hour on the Strip (assuming you could even find a $10 table). That $9 difference would pay for a cab ride. You have similar differences if you play slots. Craps game are the same more or less, but once again, higher limits on the Strip.
The food is better at the Gold Coast or the Palms than on the Strip, and it's half the price. Cornerstone steak house at the Gold Coast will make you never want to pay Strip prices again.
I've never been given a room comp, so I'm pretty ignorant about this, but I don't quite understand the advice that the fully MGM-comped O.P. should go to The Palms (Stations) or Gold Coast (Boyd) and avoid MGM's Strip casinos.
If one receives a package of four free nights plus $400 in other benefits, doesn't he have some sort of binding obligation to dance with the guy who brung him? Can the freebies be rescinded if one doesn't play at the benefactor's property? Wouldn't not giving any action to MGM guarantee that there would be no further offers from MGM? What would be the consequences of accepting this MGM room plus cash offer and then not playing at MGM's casinos?
I always thought that the purpose of these offers was to get you to make a trip you might not otherwise make and once there tether you to the casino which made the offer.
There is absolutely no "binding obligation" to accept any offer of comped anything. Those are designed to bring a player in (or back in) to spend more money. There is not even any obligation to gamble in the joint even if the comps are used. The joints have sophistocated computer systems to measure how much the recipient gambled while using the comps. **Free Play from an offer is good for the period of the offer/use of the Free Room. In other words use it before you check out or the day ends, whatever the place requires. Yes, using comps without returning the favor (gambling) will eventually (if not very soon) result in lower offers. Depends on the place. You are correct that the offers do serve the purpose of 'helping' us plan our Vegas trips, as BashinBray is doing.
There were some earlier reports of a player being contacted by Host and asked why they aren't playing when they have been given comps. Maybe of higher rollers given actual up front cash (like 25K). And anyway, they can't put you in jail or make you hand over cash to make up for the difference. You just might not hear back from them again. In Vegas, anyway. I don't know about Atlantic City.
I try not to bash someone's trip plans, such as "Why the heck would you take that Strip casino offer...you can get better gambling and food Downtown." BashinBray explained the rational, that he got a great comp room offer with some Free Play and some food credits. His wife likes to play a machine at the casino next door. He wonders if it will be unpleasantly busy because it is March Madness time. He asked about the table minimums, presumably referring to the Mirage. I gave my 2 cents on those questions without going into my personal preferances.
I like the Mirage. They have a cool outdoor lounge by the main entrance. Nice firepits and the bartenders make a mean old fashioned.
I think that first week of March Madness is a blast. Oddsmakers dont have a clue what to do with those first round games. You can do some funky 3-way parlays in the sportsbooks. Your guess is as good as theirs.
This year marks my 16th straight March Madness trip to Vegas. A couple of observations:
* I am a low roller, and rarely play any tables above $5. You can almost always find $5 tables at the south end of the strip (Excal, Oyo) and very rarely center strip. (They do usually have $5 3-card-poker at the Linq, and maybe $10 craps, pai gow or UTH at Harrah's).
* A very valuable resource is the March Madness in Vegas Facebook page. They post reviews of all sportsbook watch parties and special deals available only to FB page members (like $25 match plays at the D and Golden Gate). But if you want an all-inclusive watch party, prepare to pay through the nose and act quickly. My crew has never found it hard to find a place to sit at free parties off-strip and downtown, or just sit at the bar playing video poker and watching on the bar TV.
* Everything is more crowded Thursday and Friday, but things actually start to calm down a bit on Saturday. (I assume people run out of money or are so hungover after the first round is over they don't make it out of their rooms.)
* If you're betting the games, the best option is probably to get the app. The lines at the sportsbook will be VERY long until after the last games start on each day. The problem with using the app is no free drink tickets; but those are hard to get during MM anyway, unless you're also making horse race bets.
Have fun! MM is a blast, and I can't imagine not going.
I picked Mirage because of TI. Best double deck in town.. Like the location. I'm sure we will play enough at Mirage to enable future offers. Saying that majority of play will be at TI and Nugget.. Can't forget sigma at D either.. Thanks for the replies..
Candy,
Thanks for the full explanation about offers of free rooms, free play etc.
I think I was conflating what I'd read about offers from hosts and offers generated by computer. I definitely remember trip reports where hosts tell guests that they aren't gambling enough to justify the freebies they were receiving and to kindly step-up their action, and I also remember reading TRs where the guest of a "generous" host receives a nasty shock at check-out where the free room was converted to a paid room due to inadequate gambling. These TRs weren't written by whales who were flown in on a private jet from Asia or anything close to that, however they were offers extended by hosts, not a computer program.
Thank you, Jeff. I'm certainly not the last word on anything. After your reply I cleaned out my folder of old mailers and scrutinzed the fine print to see if any obligation was mentioned. Didn't find any. Like you I vaguely remember someone posting about this happening a long time ago, but not many reports of it.
I heard through the grapevine about this happening to someone who took the Harrah's Laughlin charter (flight, four nights) but motored over to Vegas to gamble the whole time. They got 'advised' that their offers were in jeopardy. Or so it was said.
I think most of us gamble way more than the 'pity comps' we get from most casinos! LOL.
