Yo im going to vegas to play the colossus/millionaire maker and maybe some others. This is my first time and i would appreciate some help with the following Q's
FYI im cumming from CANADA


1. Where should I stay? I know absolutely nobody and im not ballin enough to eat out every night so I am going to be getting room service a lot. I read that since alot of poker players stay at the Rio the room service takes ****ing forever b/c everyone is ordering at the same time. Because of this and the higher priced rooms would ppl recommend other hotels? or is the Rio the best? (I DO NOT mind walking <30 mins in the sun to get to the Rio)
Also any discount codes? good sites to find hotel rooms etc.

2. I am planning on arriving a day early so i can kinda settle in and register for my tournies without having to stand in line for 4 hours. I was wondering about how I should pay for the tournament fees. I read some **** about wiring money to the Rio, should I just do that to register? If I have a canadian visa will i be able to use that to pay? (Sorry if some of these questions are stupid as **** but this is my first time doing anything internationally)
Or should I just bring Cash?

3. Anything else i need to know? Tips for a vegas noob? (WSOP/Poker related, not like strategy but like getting around and ****)


THANKS a bunch to who ever answers if I think of more stuff ill ask on here thanks again yo

if you want the full wsop experience stay at the rio or the gold coast across the street. the gold coast is cheaper overall including food. you aren't going to save money with room service anywhere. there are cheap places to eat inside rio and GC.

you cannot buy-in with a credit card. just take cash but make sure you declare it at the border if its over 10k. you are allowed to carry over 10k as long as you declare it.

everywhere is busy during the wsop. for a first ever trip i would be tempted to stay on the strip for a few days as well, just to be able to see it. Best strip places to play are Aria, Venetian, Bellagio and Wynn.

have fun.

room service is crazy expensive are you kidding?

if your playing tourneys definitely stay and rio or gold coast.

if your playing cash consider the strip or splitting it

for cash I'd suggest bringing some and bringing an atm card and another backup source of funds kinda sucks to get to vegas and have something happen where your money is gone

The Gold Coast is right across from the Rio and seems to be popular with a lot of visiting players due its close proximity to the Rio and relatively reasonable nightly rates

Food wise I wouldn't recommend ordering food from room service..the prices would be crazy.There are a few different options available for you to eat within the Rio.They are generally quite reasonable priced,there is one place near the sportsbook in the Rio that has agreat selection of food.There is also a Vietnamese place right next to it.You can pick up a nice meal for about $12

Just down the road from the Gold Coast there is a food court offering a host of different fast food options/sandwich bars

Staying elsewhere during the series and then walking to the Rio will require some effort.Even walking from the Bellagio on the strip which appears quite near to the Rio can take up to about 30 minutes.The heat will be quite intense during the series as well so by the time you arrive to the Rio theres a good chance will requiring a clothes change

A lot of hotels do offer a free shuttle service to the Rio during the series so staying on the strip a bit away from the Rio is still an option.I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of food..its the same as anywhere else..if you want to spend big then there are plenty of options but as well as that there are no shortage of reasonably priced options available to you

Some hotels offer weekly buffet deals where you pay a set fee and can visit their all you can buffet for the entire week for breakfast,lunch and dinner.Thats just another option available to you

With regards to buying into WSOP tourneys I would just bring cash,if you were playing a 10k and 25k id say maybe wire it but for the tournaments you are playing I think bringing cash will be fine.The WSOP tournament buy in desk is open 24hrs at the Rio so I usually go in there the night before a tournament and register then.There are generally no big que's then.With the tournaments you've mentioned I would definetly advise registering the night before.I remember last year for the Monster Stack at the WSOP hundreds of people were in line to register on the day,almost all of them were giving a later start time which meant instead of sitting down at 12 some of them didn't get to sit down until 8pm.So they started their tournament when the blinds were at level 8

OP, The Palms is also an option to stay at - it's a short walk to the Rio. but I have no idea on the prices of their rooms and if they're competitive w/Gold Coast or Rio. also if you are wanting cheap quick eats, The Palms has a food court with stuff like McDonalds and Earl of Sandwich. there is also a 24/7 cafe at The Palms which is pretty good but never really that crowded from what I've experienced.

Every time I have ever checked the palms was the most expensive of the three (rio/gc/palms).

I agree that it would suck to have to walk or travel to the rio every day. just stay there and soak it all in. i sure as hell wouldn't want to walk fro the rio to the strip late at night with a big bankroll in my pocket. I generally feel safe in vegas but there is a bit of no man's land between rio and bellag that feels a bit dicey.

and for sure reg a day or two before those big field events. it took me 5 mins to reg for the milly maker last year a couple of days before, whereas the day of the tourney they were lined up almost out the door to the parking lot (had to have been a 2 hour wait).

Room service is very expensive. There is a Burger King in the Rio, and also a small food court where you can eat for less than $10 US.

You're from LOLCanada - have you walked 30 minutes in 110F degree desert heat? If not, don't be too sure you won't mind it.

You can pre-register with bank wire. You can use a Visa but it will be charged like a cash advance and you have to pay whatever fees your bank charges for that. You might have to use a specific cage if you want to use a credit card.

Read the other hundred "I'm a newbie" threads in this forum.

Rio is cheap just stay there I guess you could stay at days inn wild wild west and walk 20 minutes also

they always set up a food court area at the rio for the WSOP. pretty dece selection there last year at like $10/meal.

I reckon the first question you could ask yourself is what sort of experience you want from your first trip to Vegas.

If you're dedicated to the grind, want to immerse yourself totally in a poker experience, and intend to play your tournaments then jump right on in to cash games - staying at the Rio or Gold Coast is totally fine. You can always spend a night or two wandering the strip. But IMO the Rio is a pretty underwhelming casino when you aren't there playing poker. It sounds great in theory being close to the wsop action, but without a cab ride and in July you're a long way from anything else.

The other option is staying on the strip. There are places to stay which are comparative in price to the Rio. You'll be able to see more of the strip and do so at your leisure. Your options for food and poker increase dramatically, and if you go middle strip its not expensive to cab (or shuttle) to the Rio.

Neither option is necessarily better, but one will probably be better suited to your trip goals.

If you're looking to stay within a budget, you won't want to be ordering too much room service. As another poster said, there is very reasonably priced food during the day in the area where the wsop is played, and inexpensive options in the food Court or eatery near the sports book. You're also within walking distance of a few good Asian and Greek options (check out the casual dining thread).

Have fun, run good!

I don't know why more people don't stay at the Gold Coast during the WSOP. Whereas the Rio often sells out for those dates months in advance, you can usually get a decent, inexpensive room at the Gold Coast just about any day during the WSOP. Super easy walk across the parking lot, too.

They have a very good Chinese restaurant there called Ping Pang Pong. Very reasonable and very authentic..the best Chinese place in a major hotel I have found in Vegas..

I love Ping Pang Pong! They have dim sum there and it's pretty yummy and fast.

I also suggest staying at Gold Coast. It's cheap(er) and very close to the Rio (in Vegas terms).

Don't order room service on a regular basis - there are many inexpensive food options in the casinos.

Best of luck!

Maybe a few years ago. It's now the poker world's worst kept secret.

Let me know if you are interested in sharing a room/accomodation during the wsop. First time as well for me. I'm from Denmark/France.

Where you should stay depends on your goal: it sounds like your focus will be at the WSOP so I'd look toward the next-door Gold Coast.

But you should also take some time to see the sights on the Strip. You also have the option of staying somewhere reasonably priced mid-Strip, say a Flamingo or a Bally's, and cab it over (about $10 one way) or taking free shuttle buses that run from Harrah's and, I believe, Bally's to the Rio. Those aren't 24 hours though, stopping around 1 or 2 a.m. I think.

Good point. Last time I stayed there during the WSOP was about 3-4 years ago..right before Gold Coast closed their own little poker room..in fact I won the last, or next to last, morning donkament they had there, before they closed the poker room..

you and op should pm when you have the capabilities i usually have a suite and then have all my friends bail on making the trip so my last 3 trips have been in these big suites alone so i would be more than willing to help out some first timers and in your case a fellow dane

Don't underestimate the heat in Vegas in June. A 30min walk in that heat without shade can be nasty. As others have said, there are free shuttle options from both Harrahs and Paris on the strip to get to/from the Rio during day and the evening.

No need to be baller to eat out alone in Vegas. Just ask to be seated at the counter or bar rather than at a table. You'll likely to sit next to another loan diner and there is also the bar tender to talk with. There is also a myriad of food courts and fast food takeaways, so don't waste money and time sitting in your room to eat.

If your Vegas experience includes watching a pimp beats his Ho's or possibly getting murdered in your sleep then Wild Wild West is your best option.

The heat is insane.
The Gold Coast also has a cheap breakfast buffet.
Sister of Gold Coast the Orlean's might be an option and has shuttle to GC.
Having a rental car will be less than cabbing (don't drink and drive). Taking a drive out to Hoover Dam or Downtown is worth the time.
Good Luck!

I would pre register for the tournaments you want to play will have 8k entries. Standing in line for the one cashier to register sucks and can take over an hour. It all depends on how many windows and how stupid the people that are trying to Register are.

As for food - Chinatown is not that far from the Rio.

I just re read the OP and he spelled coming, cumming. Hahahaha

I stopped reading when OP said he was gonna order room service to save money.