I'm going to Vegas, babeeee

[eileen from OH]

I know most of the "must see" spots. Anyone have some little-known-do-not-miss things?

Such as. . .

Great places for cheap bj (that's blackjack, folks, don't EVEN go there.)

Great places with mini-brewries for hubby-who-likes-that-kind-of-stuff.

Great Chinese food

Great entertainment that does not include tigers, Elvis impersonators or Celine Dion.

eileen from OH

[MercutioATC]

1. I know you asked about BJ, but craps at Casino Royale is a must....

10X or 100X odds at $1 tables...young, fun crowd...damn good drink service.

Sure, it's a far cry from Bellagio, but if you'd rather gamble with a group of people who get excited when they win $10 (or when YOU win $10) Casino Royale is the spot.

Oh, don't stay there, though. I hear the rooms are nasty. We got a suite at Treasure Island and walked over....

[Nevernose]

3. I took a shit off of their roof one night!

What night was that? Oh yeah, New Year's. The same place we got caught smoking a joint on the hood of a squad car...the cop looked at me, looked at the joint, and said "Get off my car, asshole" before driving off (this was pre-public defecation).

[MercutioATC]

4. See? Fun crowd!

...not exactly what I had in mind, but it does capture the general spirit of things...

[Nevernose]

2. I'm already in Vegas -- can I go home with you?

Great places for cheap bj (that's blackjack, folks, don't EVEN go there.)
You want the REAL truth or the TOURIST truth? 'Cuz the REAL truth is that gambling is for suckers; they don't build billion-dollar palaces off of winners. The Nevada Palace, a shithole on the Boulder Strip, has single-deck blackjack with a $5 buy-in, though, and I suspect that it's not even rigged.

All the strip casinos are the same, as far as gambling is concerned: bad. ATMOSPHERE, however, is another story. Mandalay Bay, Paris, the Aladdin, the New York/New York are all nice, fun places.

Great places with mini-brewries for hubby-who-likes-that-kind-of-stuff.
Many of them have mini-breweries. The Monte Carlo, next to the NYNY has tours -- though I've never found their casino to be impressive (I did win $180 there one night, my all-time record). All the others are owned by the same family (owners of the Station Casinos and Barley's Brew-pub casino). For tourists, I recommend the Gordon Biersch Brewery, as it has a nice atmosphere, a good selection, caters to tourists (places for locals don't usually have the same high degree of service) and is near the strip.

Great Chinese food
In order to attract whales, the life-blood of the casinos, ALL casinos have some kind of Chinese place. My advice? Look for one that actually has a Chinese person inside it.

Great entertainment that does not include tigers, Elvis impersonators or Celine Dion.
Check the shows at the Hard Rock and the House of Blues; Las Vegas is finally getting some good, steady acts, and both are good venues (though Hard Rock has a more "intimate" feeling showroom).

However, you cannot begin to fathom the amount of stuff there is to do here. What are y'all into, so I can make a more specific recommendation?

[MercutioATC]

6. Great entertainment? Mystere at Treasure Island.

No tigers, no Elvis, no Celine...I haven't been to see O or Zumanity yet, but I've seen Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam and Dralion traveling shows and Mystere measures up very well.

[Don_G]

5. Pay $20 For A Micro$haft Game Before You Go

It'll instruct you on how to play their games and the rules offered in the different casinos before you arrive.

You can't even begin to win if you don't understand what the rules are.

[scucci]

7. Why?

[Don_G]

9. To Let Freepers Earn Their Money

Out of X amount of people that show up at Vegas for Y amount of days, how many Z individuals will it take make Vegas lose "their" money if an individual walks away with money?

Remember, the "House" stacks everytiing in their favor before you walk up and especially if you don't know better.

[shimmergal]

8. Jokers Wild on the Boulder Highway

advertises 10-cent blackjack games.

Don't try to get there without a car though, unless you have big bucks to throw away on taxi fare.

Blue Man Group at the Luxor is supposed to be great, though I haven't seen it.

If you're a Trek fan, don't miss Star Trek: the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton (just off the Strip.)

A meal at the revolving restaurant atop the Stratosphere is a fun experience with gourmet food and a spacious view of the whole city, but it's not_ cheap.

Sorry I can't recommend a Chinese restaurant. The only one I usually frequent is the Panda Express chain. I'm supposed to eat low-sodium and they're the only Chinese place that I know doesn't add msg to their food.

Have a wonderful time here!