Not too long ago, I was feted by a \u201cmid- to high roller\u201d who took me to dinner at Le Cirque at Bellagio. Though we weren\u2019t next to the window with a direct view of the Fountains, it was a very nice corner table. The waiters, sommeliers, and staff all fawned over us. We chose the basic four-course meal and each had one drink. My buddy told me the folks at the next able were drinking a Champagne that was $180 per glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meal was fine\u2014elegant and tasteful. I thought they were a bit stingy on the bread, which wasn\u2019t warm. My guy had a $500 comp and the bill came to more than $750.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was this better than a meal at Rainbow\u2019s Triple B Diner where just about everything is homemade, entrees are under $12, and I paid with points at half-price using an LVA MRB coupon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, not $740 better, not for me, no. And frankly, I\u2019m a bit uncomfortable with all the fawning and obsequiousness. I\u2019d rather \u201crock the block\u201d on Fremont, play FP VP and stop in for a slice at Pizza Rock. Or a great prime rib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look, it\u2019s Vegas. You can have any fantasy you want. ANY FANTASY \u2014 if you\u2019re willing to pay. My fantasy is the one where I pay as little as possible. As my Carolina friends would say, \u201cI got no truck with you doing what you do. It just ain\u2019t what I want to do.\u201d You want to live the high life? It\u2019s your money. For my money, I\u2019d rather stay at the Rio for four nights for $107 total. Walk right into the Pinky Ring. Get a smokin\u2019 bingo deal at the Plaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jack Black said in School of Rock: \u201c Stickin\u2019 it to the man.\u201d THAT\u2019S what I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing this blog today, I\u2019ve had an epiphany. More than an advantage player, I\u2019m a value player. While the casinos work to extract everything they can from us, I work to extract as much as I can from them. Smart. Legal. Well thought out. And then I get to share it with you, what Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point calls an \u201cinformation maven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe now, as the hold on the Strip continues to drop, they\u2019re starting to reconsider hosing everybody on resort fees, parking fees, etc. fees, etc. Okay, maybe not Caesars or MGM at least right away, but I believe we are starting to see cracks in their greed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of us will be coming back and most of us understand it ain\u2019t for free. Exactly like taxes, I\u2019m willing to pay, but I want to pay as little as is legally allowed. And if we give our hard earned shekels to the Plazas, Downtown Grands, Four Queens, and others giving us good gamble, then the give-good-gamble houses will prosper. We \u201cgive-us-good-gamble gamblers\u201d will keep coming back again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if dropping $750 on dinner rocks your world, go for it. As for us, we do our best to have a good time, get a good deal, and as Benny Binion would say, get a good gamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because we love Vegas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not too long ago, I was feted by a \u201cmid- to high roller\u201d who took me to dinner at Le Cirque at Bellagio. Though we weren\u2019t next to the window with a direct view of the Fountains, it was a very nice corner table. The waiters, sommeliers, and staff all fawned over us. We chose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86405,"featured_media":843497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[643],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bobby-vegas-friends-dont-let-friends-play-triple-zero-roulette.jpg?fit=980%2C588&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":884815,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884814\/revisions\/884815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}