Las Vegas Secrets No One Talks About

Leave the Locals Alone

If poker is your poison, then be wary of sitting down at a poker table where the dealer greets everyone by their name. This means that the players are all locals. They probably play at the same tables almost every day. It’s as if the casino is a silky web, and they are the spiders waiting for prey to come along. That juicy meal could easily be you and your bankroll. As a visitor, you don't want to be playing against a team of players who will stitch you up in the blink of an eye. We suggest that you ask your supervisor for a change of table. Alternatively, you simply scoop up your chips and move to a different poker room.

In truth, this does sound slightly hypocritical. Because the game of poker involves playing against other players, it makes sense that your competition is weaker. As a visitor, you're going to be looking for other tourists to play against. Even better if they happen to be drunk! However, in the dog-eat-dog world of poker, it's critical that you're the one doing the eating as opposed to being eaten.

Cheap-Out at the Wynn

As you're well aware, by sitting up for any length of time at any gaming table in Las Vegas, you will be gifted free booze. What's more surprising is that you don't need to be a casino whale or high roller to receive these comps. Even if you're playing at the penny slots, eventually a cocktail waitress will appear with a cocktail in hand. As a customer, you are probably thinking in terms of the retail costs of each drink and what a great bargain this must be. Yet the casino has a completely different point of view when it comes to its generosity in handing out freebies. If you had over to the Wynn Casino, they give out the best free mojitos and brand-name tequilas. Remember to comply with casino etiquette and tip the waitress at least $1 per drink. When you’ve had enough of the Wynn, we suggest that you move to the most relaxing room on the Strip, the Koi Pond, which is a hidden gem that few players seem to know about.

Lose Your Bankroll with Class

With all casino games featuring a house edge, it means that the casino will always win in the long run. Therefore, in spite of your ups and downs when it comes to casino winnings, you will eventually work your way through your whole bankroll. To that end, you might as well lose your money with style. The Cosmopolitan is the newest and by far the swankiest hotel on the whole Las Vegas Strip. Whether sitting at the blackjack table or standing at the roulette wheel, you might as well be rubbing shoulders with movie stars and celebrities. Maybe their good looks and wealth can somehow rub off on you.

Another good call for people-watching is to play at the Cosmo on a Friday or Saturday. You'll find there is a table directly beneath the elevator that leads up to the hippest club on the strip, the Marquee. More people-watching can be had at the coffee shop at the Wynn and also the Komodo Lounge at the Mirage.

Make Friends at the Circle Bar

If you look at the gaming floors in virtually all the casinos in Las Vegas, you'll see that right in the middle, there's a bar. This is a Circus bar. It's the place where you will make many new friends. As the turnover rate is high, there's no need to pay a cover charge. This way, even if you're being pestered by a sad gambler who's drinking to forget his losing streak, then there's no need to worry as he'll be on his way very soon. What's interesting is that you never find any locals at the Circus bars. They are at the casino solely for business and like typical casino sharks, will be circling around concentrating on the table games as they look for their next tasty main course. In our opinion, the best Circus bars are the Hard Rock's Centre Bar, the Venetian’s Oculus and the Mandalay's Eyecandy bar.

Play Craps Like a Pro

Even if you're totally ignorant about gambling, you can still look the part if you stick to playing craps. Furthermore, we suggest that you stick to the pass line bet. In its simplest form, you simply put your money on the table and someone rolls the dice. You’ll know you've won if everyone standing around the table starts to cheer. The pass line bet is one of the best bets in the whole casino, carrying odds of 50/50. Keep in mind, that we're talking about the pass line bet, and NOT the don't pass line bet. Nevertheless, if you do play the latter bet you’re going to make some of the other players pretty angry.

A good place to try your hand at craps is to go to O'Shea's, where they have multiple low-stakes crap tables. Once you've done with craps, and yet still want to spice up your night, then you should play beer-pong with all the 21-year-old frat boys who come to Vegas looking for their version of the American dream.

Fake it as a High Roller

Many brick-and-mortar casinos make the vast majority of their income thanks to casino whales. These high rollers regularly swagger into town and are not averse to dropping $10,000 per hand without so much as blinking an eye. This results in the casino doing everything in its power to ensure they return and keep spending. Here’s where all the freebies a high roller receives come into play. Now there's a little trick you can use to make the casino think you are a big spender, even when you only have a limited bankroll.

Just imagine for a moment that you plan to lose just $500. In order to fool the casino into thinking you'll be spending more, simply take out a marker of $5,000. The floor manager will notice this immediately and inform the casino hosts. These are the staff responsible for offering many of the comps including, free meals, free show tickets and even free luxury hotel rooms for the night. By thinking you're going to be a big spender, you may find the comps are given before you've actually used up pre-set limit on your funds.

A Heady Mixture of Shopping and Gambling

You probably have noticed that all the mega-casino resorts in Las Vegas feature their own shopping malls packed with luxury branded boutiques. You’ll also have noticed that the prices within the shops are sky-high. That's because these exist solely to relieve winning players of their newfound wealth. It’s both amazing and slightly disappointing just how quickly a winner at the roulette player will blast through his profits with luxury purchases. However, it is possible to find some great malls, with more regular pricing, attached to large casinos. A good example would be the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and the Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood. This last mall is incredibly cheesy with fake skies painting onto the ceilings, though you can find some decent bargains.

Be a Local Gambler Off the Strip

Even though it's the Las Vegas Strip that appears in the majority of tourist brochures for the city, virtually all the local players stay well away from there, as they prefer to gamble at local casinos or the ones on Fremont Street. Here you'll find the lesser known and certainly less luxurious casinos including the Four Queens, the El Cortez and Binions. Thanks to their lack of glitz and glamour, they offer probably the cheapest table games in the whole city. Also, you'll find that their gaming rules are much more in the player’s favour. Once you finished your gambling session, then why not check out the local hangouts on Freeman Street? These include the piano bar Don't Tell Mama, with the video arcade Insert Coins and the Beauty Bar, which is where all the local bands hope to start their rock and roll careers.