You know, most people look at going to a hotel as an exciting experience, mainly because they’re usually on vacation where they might expect a little pampering, or they’re on a business trip where they can try to live in luxury for a change while testing the system to see just how far they can push it. Either way, there’s always something positive happening, and the normal person has something to look forward to.

For the better part of 25 years I probably averaged about 200 nights a year in hotel rooms. Since the majority of these were for business and the rest were vacations in free rooms resulting from all the business nights away, I ALWAYS stayed in luxury and beyond. And these days are nothing different – only my stays are generally for a very different reason. The rooms throughout Nevada are never paid for because I’m a gambler, and since there is never an expense account to tally up afterwards, free-as-a-bird doesn’t even begin to address the level of comfort I now experience.

On almost every trip I take to Nevada, I can usually expect to check into at least four different hotels. Why? Because with all the offers I get I try to fit each and every one into my schedule. Certainly, because they all are constantly giving me cash or gift incentives of one kind or another just for checking in, there’s really no valid reason for dissing any of it.

My latest trip is a testament on how to grab the most value from desperate hotel/casinos in desperate times. It’s also a lesson for advantage players on how NOT to have the need to sit at machines at every offer’s beck and call, just because the casino manager is toying around with their compulsion to play. But of course, if every player did as I do, there no longer would be casinos to play the game in.

I began by stopping in Laughlin at the Edgewater to play $20 in free-play, which yielded $29 playing it once-thru only. I wouldn’t have made the stop, had it not been for the $62 in cash back I had coming from last year’s leftovers, so all-in-all it was a $91 pit stop on my way to Las Vegas. Once at my next stop – the Rio – I checked in, collected my $300 cash offer, and then left for the Palms just down the road.

Here I had $350 in free-play coming, so I sat at a 25c/50c/$1 bar machine to relax and play this once-thru also. My choice was to play only $1 BP, and I would play it between 1 and 5 credits at a time. On my 2nd hand with 2 credits bet, I got a royal flush for $500, and by the time I was done I had a cash-out ticket for $745. As nice as the rooms are at the Palms, I opted to stay at the ultra-luxurious room I had waiting for me at Palazzo.

This room came with a whole $25 in free-play (which I turned into $48 on a $1 BP machine) but as I just mentioned, that's not why I was there. Whenever I get an offer for one of the best hotels in the city – which also usually covers the entire world – it makes no sense not to jump on it if I’m going to be in town anyway.

The following morning I got up and left Palazzo for the Mirage, even though I would not be staying there by design. I was given $100 in free-play, and this time I had little luck as I cashed out only $10. Hardly worth the effort, you say? How many places hand out ten bucks for free? Afterwards, I went out to Sam’s Town for a free $80 in cash, a free dinner, and a training session with someone who lives in town. All worked out well, so I left for Wynn’s new Encore where I would spend my 2nd night.

My stay included $200 in free-play, and I turned that into $123 cash. But aside from that, because I’ve stayed at Wynn a number of times since it opened, I wanted to compare both the rooms and the casinos of Wynn and Encore. The standard rooms at Encore get the nod over the rooms at Wynn. They’re slightly more luxurious, of course “like new”, and it seemed every little thing has been “touched up” a bit. In other words, it was typical Steve Wynn.

The casino wasn’t nearly as well-rounded, at least for the video poker player. There were comparatively very few games on the floor, and while the bar tops were of the most up-to-date widescreen HD type (similar to ALL vp machines at Eastside Cannery & Aliante Station) one of the bars had some odd looking multi-gamers that I’ve never seen before. These must be by another manufacturer (other than IGT, that is) and from the video poker screen that I saw, I would not be playing them in the future. Also, I watched a player sit down and stuff $300 into one of them, play a few hands on $5 DDB, then he asked for a Miller Lite. The bartender brought it over and said “that’ll be $5.95”. I thought the guy was gonna choke. Seems Wynn has chosen to be just as cheap at Encore as he is over at Wynn, and if he’s losing money because of it then he deserves it. Video poker players get free drinks at bars in Nevada – that’s just the way it is. If you can sit at a 5c floor machine and order freebies from the cocktail waitresses all day long, then why can’t the player get a comp drink on the $5 machines at the bars? Very strange, indeed.

The next day before I left for home I checked into Planet Hollywood. Here they offered me $250 in free-play, but this time it came with a catch that was not printed on the offer - or else I’d have never booked it. They required at least four hours of rated play prior to getting the free-play. Ha! Sitting at some vp machine for four hours just isn’t my style, so I just turned around and left. There have been many offers from Planet Hollywood that required similar play before cashing in, but they have always identified the requirement up front. This time they didn’t. So do I get steaming mad? For what? To me it was just a little waste of time on a trip where I took home over a thousand dollars more than I came to town with, I lived the high life again for free for a few days, and I was on my way home. Tough to beat any of that.