Hello. I am considering purchasing the Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide coupon books and have two questions. (1) How physically large are the books? From what I am reading, you have to have the coupon still attached to the book to use it (for LVA) so I am hoping it fits in a pocket. Not sure if that is also true for ACG. (2) ACG's site says some coupons can be used only once per year. For example: "$25 table game matchplay (one per calendar year) at The D Las Vegas" Since LVA has an identical coupon, does that mean I could only use the LVA matchplay OR the ACG coupon? Or am I still able to use both? Thanks.
Hello. I am considering purchasing the Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide coupon books and have two questions. (1) How physically large are the books? From what I am reading, you have to have the coupon still attached to the book to use it (for LVA) so I am hoping it fits in a pocket. Not sure if that is also true for ACG. (2) ACG's site says some coupons can be used only once per year. For example: "$25 table game matchplay (one per calendar year) at The D Las Vegas" Since LVA has an identical coupon, does that mean I could only use the LVA matchplay OR the ACG coupon? Or am I still able to use both? Thanks.
Trip Report - Not your usual Vegas trip, 5 Nights @ Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo
This is our second trip to Vegas this year. This was not a typical Vegas trip as we planned on staying in most of our vacation. The first trip, my wife and I dutifully spent 4 days visiting and sightseeing as much as possible. This time around we were looking for a staycation away from home, and Vegas at this time was the most affordable.
Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo I dont know how old this property is, but it seems newish. I booked it in a hurry because it came with a one bedroom suite and a full kitchen. We wanted to stay in and just unplug so this place seemed perfect. After booking we found out that the Flamingo Go Pool plays loud music everyday 9AM - 6PM during the warm seasons and that a lot of guests were super mad about being able to hear the non-stop music in their hotel room. This worried me a lot and I tried to do more research on the place, but there was no conclusive evidence that the music wouldnt be bothersome. Some guests reported that the music was no bother, and others were furious. Since I was staying 5 nights, I tried to tip the front desk $50 and asked for the quietest room they could get me because I heard about all the complaints. The receptionist refused the tip and said there wasnt much they could do but give me two options of rooms. One on a higher floor, overlooking the party pool, and the other on a very low floor in the corner. I guessed the lower floor would be quieter, because the higher room was directly in line of sight with the speakers. Good new was that were not at all bothered with the music. Most days we couldnt hear it without focusing on it.
Day One - The entrance to the Hilton is hidden off to the right on the way to the Flamingo valet area. After unpacking real quick we headed out to get food and supplies for the week. We planned on going to Costco, but it was closed. We ended up going to Sprouts (which is great, but the meat and seafood counter didnt seem as fresh as in SoCal), Albertsons/Vons. We got a case of water, beer, steaks, cheeses, breads, and some veggies. When we got back to the hotel, we had the bellman bring up our groceries and got started on some steaks. We watched Game of Thrones and went to bed. Day Two - We woke up, watched Game of Thrones, went to the Hilton pool (this is a separate pool from the Go Pool), drank some beers, made some lunch, and got dressed. Not necessarily in that order. In the evening we watched Beatles Love and it was awesome if you like the Beatles. We wanted to try Spagos, but they were closed so we walked across the street to White Castle. White Castle here is great, although I've never had it other than the frozen stuff. The frozen stuff actually tastes a like the fresh stuff, but I dont know if its a good or bad thing. We ate a bunch and were happy tho. Then we go some $1 beers at Casino Royale, lost $40 to slots and walked home. Day Three - Same morning routine. Wake up, eat, drink, Game of Thrones, Minecraft. We met a friend and checked out Downtown Las Vegas. The entire street is fun with street performers and lots of bars. We decided on pizza at Pizza Rock, and was not impressed. Their famous margarita pizza is burnt. I like burnt charred foods, but the pizza was a little too much char and a little underdone. We tried a regular pepperoni pizza, which was better but nothing special. Then we spent most of our time at Oddfellows drinking cheap beer and waiting for karaoke. Oddfellows was a cool bar and they were playing Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (my favorite). The place reminded me if a hip bar scene in Los Angeles. We never made it to karaoke and retired for the night. Day Four - Same morning routine. We went to lunch at Lotus of Siam. Great spot. We love Thai, and have our favorites here in LA. This place was as good as or better than some of our favorite spots. This video with Anthony Bourdain is a good guide for this place. We werent happy with our pizza the previous day, so we went out in search of Secret Pizza. Secret Pizza did not dissapoint. What I assume is the owner was working the pizza and he looked like he could have been related to the owner of one of my favorite NY pizza places. Last time we tried Pin-up Pizza, and its hard to say which one is better. They were both pretty close. Day Five - We tried out the Go Pool. As a guest of HGV at Flamingo, we had a line pass to get in. The pool isnt as big as I imagined and it was bustling. It was surprisingly fun, and the DJ played some good songs. We hung out and enjoyed the pool for an hour or so. Watch where you step here though, I thought there were stairs leading into the pool and mis-stepped landing on my butt. I bruised my tailbone and it still hurts. :( We then went thrift store shopping. There are some large Goodwills here and we went to Savers. After thrift store shopping, we went back to the strip to the Hermes store in Caesars. We bought a nice scarf and checked out Spago's. Spago's was delicious, but we found that it wasnt as experimental feeling as the one in Los Angeles. No complaints about the food. We then checked out the High Roller. There was a guy selling tickets at the street entrance and sold tickets for $5 off. The High Roller was pretty amazing even without booze. It goes around once during your 30 minute ride and it is massive. Because it looks like a ferris wheel, I dont think people can wrap around their heads how big and how high this thing goes. Day Six - We packed up and went to Wicked Spoon. First we went to the Las Vegas Advisor office to buy a coupon book for $37. It included a BOGO Wicked Spoon coupon, and we might use the other coupons later. Wicked Spoon is a nice buffet. The carving station meats were are very well done (the beef was served rare, but it was well done as in delicious). There were a lot of delicious things to try. In comparison with The Bachannal, we liked this place better. For the price, Bachannal wasnt worth it for us. The Wicked Spoon hit a good price to value ratio. On our way out, we played some roulette and won a little spending money. We hurried back to the Hermes store and picked up another scarf! On the way home to Los Angeles, we stopped by the oldest Del Taco. The food they had was of better quality than a regular Del Taco.
Anyway, I'd stay at the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo again. Its right by the strip near the center. Its a great value, and it comes with a bedroom and kitchen (they have a one room bedroom only rooms too) Thanks Vegas!
A system for slot machine play through the use of a barcoded paper ticket. The ticket may be purchased in advance of slot machine play, or issued from the slot machine if there are credits remaining at the conclusion of the patron’s gaming session. When the patron has completed his play, balances on the ticket can be redeemed for cash at a kiosk or the casino cage or used for further play at the casino that issued the ticket
Where did it come from?
In consideration of the potential use of blockchain to phase-out the TITO, we must understand the nuances around which TITO was adopted. This entails understanding how TITO helps to solve the problem of data collection in the casino industry. Ticket-in, ticket out (TITO) machines are used in casino slot machines to print out a slip of paper with a barcode indicating the amount of money represented. These can in turn be redeemed for cash at an automated kiosk, or be used for game play at other slot machines. The machines utilize a barcode scanner built into the bill acceptor, a thermal ticket printer in place of a coin hopper (some rare machines are set up to pay with coins if the payout is less than the payout limit, and to print a ticket in situations where a hand pay would normally be required) and a network interface to communicate with a central system that tracks tickets. MGM was in the middle of construction of its major hotel in Las Vegas and invited several gaming machine manufacturers to join a consortium for its Cashless Casino experiment. In the group were Bally Gaming, IGT, Sigma Games, Universal and several others. They were all presented with the MGM UIB Protocol documents and were aided in the realization of the protocol on their gaming platforms. The first trial of the system was actually at the Desert Inn property. MGM Had situated several trailers in the parking lot where the manufacturers could bring their gaming devices for test before being installed on the Field Trial at the Desert Inn. On or about March of 1992 Applied Computer Technology began evaluating software that was developed for Five Star Solutions and subsequently sold to MGM Grand Hotels, Inc. for a slot monitoring and accounting system. Applied Computer Technology began to modify software and specify a new hardware platform for MGM to use in order to implement its designed system and to allow expansion of its current capabilities at the time. On June 30, 1992, Applied Computer Technology, Inc. issued a quotation to MGM Grand, Inc. to engineer and design a Universal Interface Board or UIB for MGM Grand to be installed into slot machines for the purpose of monitoring critical machine status and components, displaying messages to the user of the slot machine, reading magnetic strip cards and communicating messages to and from a host mainframe computer. On or about July of 1992 the quotation was expanded to include the printing of Bar Codes on a receipt ticket printer manufactured by Star Micronics Inc, model #sp300. MGM Grand provided them with a model printing algorithm in BASIC source code as an example of how to print the ticket which they used to develop the algorithm. This saved a lot of development time since the code they provided already had been developed. They were also presented at that time with a sample ticket. On or about August of 1992, they received word from MGM that they had located a bill validator that was capable of reading the tickets that Applied Computer Technology was currently printing, and for ACT to start writing preliminary code for the validation of tickets to and from the mainframe computer so that when the unit did arrive ACT would be ready in a short time to test their protocols. On or about October 22 of 1992 ACT received a prototype Bill Validator from MGM Grand hotel who had received it from Pat Green of Triad Design. The Bill Validator was special in that it not only was able to validate currency but also to validate coupons with bar coded tickets on them. Mr. Green was using a second parties Bill Validator outfitted with his own special circuitry which incorporated a laser bar code reading system. The following in an excerpt of the very first functioning version of code https://preview.redd.it/u9i7rwt4zi121.png?width=580&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee6ec6151ce37fbe654eebad1af7b8de41473b4c As can be seen by the above section of program highlighted in blue and titled Revision History, an entry was made on June 5, 1992 repairing a section of the program with the function name do_sds_pend(). This section upon further examination shows that the program at that time was capable of handling pending transactions for cashouts, and jackpots whereas the program would receive a cashout signal from the gaming device, transmit the amount of cashout or handpay to the mainframe computer, and await a command from the mainframe to print a ticket worth a set amount of credits/coins and finally signal the gaming machine after the ticket was printed that the pending state was complete and to continue its operations as normal.
TITO USE
The concept of Ticket In / Ticket Out (TITO), as described above was a boon to the Casino Slots Departments and the estates they manage. TITO enabled the phase-out of mechanical machine hoppers, prone to jamming, and requiring constant replenishment which tied up considerable sums of cash which was open to theft as it crossed the casino floor instead of being secured in a vault. Today, the TITO voucher is ubiquitous and the ability to track them across the gaming floor is increasingly prized in its ability to address:
When there is theft, to rapidly determine who the perpetrator is for swift apprehension.
To issue alerts when more than a certain value, or vouchers in a certain combination, are cashed in.
To detect patterns of activity when vouchers close to expiry, or multiple small “remainder” values are cashed.
To track the preference of players who move from machine to machine and measure time of play.
However, for all the benefits TITO brought to the casino floor, it is not without it’s pitfalls and weaknesses which provide opportunities for improvements in the system or, potentially a phased replacement of the entire TITO system.
TITO VULNERABILITIES
Partial Payouts: A partial payout occurs when a ticket is inserted into a machine, with an amount that is not supported by the denomination. For example, a ticket valued at $148 is inserted into a $10 per spin slot. In this instance, the machine will print a ticket for the remaining $8.00. Quite often, patrons unfamiliar with the process, will assume the machine is out of order, taking the $8.00 and leaving.
Ticket Theft: At first, this may seem rare. However in the casino environment, designed to distract patrons and guide their eyes elsewhere and combined with comped alcohol, it happens more often than assumed. This is not just theft from the patron however. Ticket Theft uses casino resources as they are often asked to investigate lost or stolen tickets. A stolen ticket for $20 to a patron, may cost a casino $75 in labor to resolve.
Money Laundering: Casinos have always been an ideal location to change illegal money. With the advent of TITO, it’s never been easier. Though FinCEN has tasked gaming operators with the responsibility of reporting suspicious transactions, with so many events happening on the casino floor, this activity remains difficult to prevent. Suspicious activity involving TITO usage can be any, all, or hybrids of the following two examples:
a. Placing currency in a slot machine, then cashing out after minimal or no play and redeeming the TITO ticket at a kiosk on the gaming floor (“bill stuffing); b. Patrons pass a large quantity of chips, cash or TITO tickets between themselves in an apparent effort to conceal the ownership of the chips, cash or TITO tickets; if patrons are closely related, such activity may not be seen as suspicious.
Employee Collusion/Reprinting: Employee theft accounts for the majority of loss throughout all industries, and casino gaming is no exception. Most lost or stolen tickets are reported, but some remain unclaimed. Each TITO ticket is created with an expiration date. If they are not redeemed within 60 days of their creation, the funds are returned to the house. Employees with sufficient access are able to run reports of unclaimed tickets which are about to expire then reprint and pass them to a non-employee for redemption.
Theft of Time: TITO incidents are frequent. The investigation on them is time consuming. Each time a ticket is inserted into a machine, the system generates a new ticket number. A single TITO ticket may have a dozen or more events. Manually referring to slot location, time of ticket event, and pulling up the correlated video takes dozens of man-hours each week.
Exploiting reporting times in ticket creation with the mainframe disseminating the ticket information to the slot control system and kiosk systems allows a window for patrons to copy and cashout a ticket more than once.
Tickets are often counterfeited with advanced processes or fake tickets are created and sold at a discount to unknowing patrons. While this doesn’t seem to effect the casino, it does, as any money a player loses on the street, is money the casino loses an opportunity to win on house edge.
CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE PAST
Understanding the why, behind the advent of TITO requires a bit more knowledge of how operations in both cash handling as well as data was collected during the past. To start, as late as the 1980’s, the ubiquitous presence of computers and smart-phones with which we are all so familiar were unknown because, for the most part, they did not exist. This meant that most analytics were done manually, if at all. Typically, this meant that they were not really done, and people relied upon superstition verging upon Witchcraft and "gut feel" for the decisions that they made. There was no data available to help in this decision making and no simple way to analyze or to interpret it even if the data had been available. Back in the day, "the Count", where one emptied the Gaming Table drop boxes and counted out the money and checked out the Fill and Credit paperwork, was critical. Only at these times was the Operation really aware of what they were winning and losing and until the money was actually counted then everything else was little better than guesswork. By the time the 1990’s rolled around, we might term the epoch the near past. In the near past, computers existed and within a few years after mobile phones of the most basic sort were becoming common. By this time, Microsoft Office had revolutionized office productivity and Excel actually meant that a normal person could produce graphs that looked professional. Indeed, by this point, a huge share of the (still very small amount) data analysis conducted was processed in Excel while simple Access databases accounted for much of the rest. There were, of course, more complex analytic tools out there, but my they were not commonly employed and were all but invisible to the majority of employees. At least some of this was due to the staff still employed and rising to the top ranks of the industry. With some notable and far sighted exceptions, the majority had "grown up" in the Gaming Industry, especially the Table Games portion of it, without analytics and reliant upon the "gut feel" method of working out what was going on; many of them distrusted technology and of the work and training they would need to be able to get the most out of even the basic tools available to them at this time. Analysis was lacking in almost every aspect of the Table Games Operation. This could, of course, be contrasted with the Slots Departments who were beginning to reap the benefits of mechanization and the analysis that could be applied to the early electro-mechanical and increasingly purely electronic slots systems. So, in Slots, you could say there were the beginnings of the "Siloed systems", that is systems that gathered data and allowed analysis solely within their own bounded confines (or with Excel); while for Table games there was nothing...unless enterprising staff entered the data themselves.
CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE PRESENT
If we skip forward from the 1990’s, to around 2011 when Galaxy Macau opened, a cornerstone of the largest and most vital Table Gaming market the world had ever seen, much had changed. By this time, analytics systems, even for Table Games had become ubiquitous and pioneering companies were beginning to go further and to promise real, timely, actionable intelligence from the deluge of data that had flourished in the sixteen years between these dates. Indeed, it is easy to argue that the actual collection of data, the easy bit, had completely outstripped the ability to suitably organize, analyze and act on the data being recorded and stored: the hard bit. The growth of data and the formation of the silo systems themselves seemed almost designed to stymie efforts to draw anything meaningful from the awful weight of what was being collected. This is not to denigrate the Silo Systems in use at the time. Indeed, this whole era might be handily subtitled the Silo Systems Age even as the period before this could be considered the Data Dark Ages. The silo systems had been spectacularly productive in what they were designed to do and, in earlier periods of this age, had given unprecedented insight into operations, within the siloed data itself. While data flows were, relatively speaking, low and what needed to be known or understood strictly circumscribed they worked very well indeed. But the very strength of systems designed to store data within limited parameters and to analyze and interpret this data inevitably meant that these systems could not consider data from outside their silo. Nor, as it increasingly became apparent, were they entirely well suited to the increasing data flows coming from larger and more data intensive operations and from the increases in the areas from which data was being collected. The answer to this always seemed to be to add more independent siloes, but it seemed that as quickly as these were added, they were being filled up by what data was being collected and they were being superseded in what Operations Management wished was being collected. To even attempt to consider data across the growing numbers of siloes in use, it was back to Excel for the enterprising staff member brave, or fool-hardy, enough to try to sift the deluge of data for the nuggets of information buried within. It was a period that could, for our nascent data explorer, be characterized by the printout and the highlighter pen. Forests of print outs for the siloed data were produced; much of which could not be extracted in any other way as this feature had never been considered when the silo was constructed. Then the explorer sat down and tried to impose order upon the chaos of the data and to consider events on printout "A" that might illuminate detail on printout "B" before typing everything into Excel and trying to graph or pivot table it.
CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE FUTURE
The future will be a world without siloed systems. Or rather, since it will take a while for the current siloed systems to be replaced, it will become like that after having gone through a transitional period where there are overarching systems binding the siloes together and taking data from all of them. We have already reached a stage where cross-silo systems exist and are looking at data, and more importantly the connections between data in different siloes collected for different purposes, in new and illuminating ways. There are some very exciting technologies out there that are examining data in entirely new and unprecedented ways; giving insights into things people have long believed and confirming some ideas even while they debunk others. Now data can be examined from IoT style devices on the gaming floor and combined with data from Ratings and Food and Beverage systems to give a far more detailed and nuanced picture of a Patron and their interaction with the Operation. Similarly, data can be taken on dealer performance and ratings to determine how they interact with Patrons, how efficiently they perform their duties and even such things as how they impact upon Patron dwell tie at their tables. In a business such as Casino Table Games where rewarding Patrons through reinvestment has to be balanced against making sure that they actually add value to the Operation by their wager amounts and style of play and where customer service must be balanced against sufficient game-pace to make margin there are myriad areas where data analytics can be beneficial. Bringing this data together from the siloes within which it is stored and analyzing it in context can already provide incredible business insights. The idea that there has to be only one provider, that one company, supplier or organization can do everything end-to-end, is a holdover from the Silo Age. The Future of Gaming Analytics will be one of best-of-breed suppliers of the basic building blocks of data collecting feeding into similar providers of data analytics and the entirety of this analysis and output being available on whatever medium best suits the individual planning to consume it.
OK, BUT NONE OF THIS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH BLOCKCHAIN...
Well, it does now - and it's under the guise of how Casinos know their players - be patient... Without knowing your players, there is no real way a casino can best serve them. They can’t be sure what it is they like, or how they are expected to play. The concern being that if competition has a better grasp on player identity and behavior, there is every reason for a casino’s players to defect to another property. When this occurs, and it does, casinos begin to “buy their business” by offering higher promotional levels in an effort to entice the return of their once loyal players. So, how can technologies be deployed to aid a casino in their quest for information regarding their players and understanding what they like and what their actions are on the casino floor? There is, unsurprisingly, a considerable overlap with the data that is used to determine the best optimization of Table Games. Ratings data as it currently exists is the obvious starting point. This gives the casino a picture of what their staff and systems believe is happening, and while it may not (and almost certainly isn't) completely accurate it does do a very good job of determining Gaming Preference. What do patrons prefer to do? Data from smart IoT enabled devices, such as Smart Shoes are currently determining actual game pace, determining what is really going on at the Gaming Table level. Next Generation sensors, already in "real world" deployments, can determine both the location of any wagers made and with increasing accuracy the cash values of these wagers. Data from Venue, Hotel and POS systems can be linked to create a Patron profile of what they are doing when they are not wagering on the Gaming Tables. Where are they interacting with the broader Casino offering? How are they paying for this interaction? What are their non-gaming preferences? Geo-location sensors can be deployed, via opt-in applications, to track Patron movements about the property. Where are they going when they do not interact with the wider offering? From the sum of this data, again gathered from across the various siloes in which it currently resides, a more complete and more holistic picture of the Patron as an autonomous actor can be determined. A combination of bet recognition and game pace can determine their real, as opposed to assumed, value to the operation. What is meant by this is the real House Advantage maintained by the Casino against their play (for any Table Game type where this can be a variable). It can issue alerts when play exceeds certain thresholds, or changes in marked ways. For the first time an accurate appraisal of what they like to do in addition to their Gaming can be determined. This enables enhanced market segmentation and a fuller picture of the likes and dislikes of the patron in question. If he or she only goes to the seafood restaurant, why would a casino send them a voucher for a steak? If they like the Spa, why reward them with a buffet voucher? Offers can be made "on the fly" when the Patron is in proximity with something a casino now recognizes that they enjoy doing. Subtly rewarding them for brand loyalty to the casino and explicitly discouraging them from gaming somewhere that does not know them as well. An increasingly non-siloed, data rich and free data environment is a picture of the future when customers are more reliant on technology. So while no-one knows for sure in what precise direction technology will shape how the Casino Industry will face the future, the broad trends are sufficiently established to be knowable. What is required therefore is the ability to do this, before the competition does.
AGAIN, WHAT ABOUT BLOCKCHAIN?
Any Blockchain solution company, in evaluating the potential for casino penetration should take into heavy consideration the history of TITO, how and why it was developed, and the continued lean on knowing the players. Combining that with how a wallet/ledger solution would solve the 7 identified TITO vulnerabilities above will give you a solid approach in both development and marketing efforts. It should be obvious to those of us involved in Blockchain tech how, the implementation of an enterprise level, patron utilized wallet which communicates with not only slots, but casino credit mechanisms would be of tremendous asset in combating fraud while generating new player data casinos have never had access to. The value proposition lies within cost savings, player retention, player information and habit knowledge, and anti-theft.
The question is not will Blockchain replace TITO, but who is willing to step up and begin that process?
Blockchain Start-Up - how come you aren't taking it to the Casinos?
I've always wondered why companies aren't utilizing BOTH sides of blockchain (finance and data) in the world of casinos. I wrote this in the hopes that someone will step up and introduce blockchain as a way to replace the current TITO systems in place in casinos. First, what is TITO? A system for slot machine play through the use of a barcoded paper ticket. The ticket may be purchased in advance of slot machine play, or issued from the slot machine if there are credits remaining at the conclusion of the patron’s gaming session. When the patron has completed his play, balances on the ticket can be redeemed for cash at a kiosk or the casino cage or used for further play at the casino that issued the ticket Where did it come from? In consideration of the potential use of blockchain to phase-out the TITO, we must understand the nuances around which TITO was adopted. This entails understanding how TITO helps to solve the problem of data collection in the casino industry. Ticket-in, ticket out (TITO) machines are used in casino slot machines to print out a slip of paper with a barcode indicating the amount of money represented. These can in turn be redeemed for cash at an automated kiosk, or be used for game play at other slot machines. The machines utilize a barcode scanner built into the bill acceptor, a thermal ticket printer in place of a coin hopper (some rare machines are set up to pay with coins if the payout is less than the payout limit, and to print a ticket in situations where a hand pay would normally be required) and a network interface to communicate with a central system that tracks tickets. MGM was in the middle of construction of its major hotel in Las Vegas and invited several gaming machine manufacturers to join a consortium for its Cashless Casino experiment. In the group were Bally Gaming, IGT, Sigma Games, Universal and several others. They were all presented with the MGM UIB Protocol documents and were aided in the realization of the protocol on their gaming platforms. The first trial of the system was actually at the Desert Inn property. MGM Had situated several trailers in the parking lot where the manufacturers could bring their gaming devices for test before being installed on the Field Trial at the Desert Inn. On or about March of 1992 Applied Computer Technology began evaluating software that was developed for Five Star Solutions and subsequently sold to MGM Grand Hotels, Inc. for a slot monitoring and accounting system. Applied Computer Technology began to modify software and specify a new hardware platform for MGM to use in order to implement its designed system and to allow expansion of its current capabilities at the time. On June 30, 1992, Applied Computer Technology, Inc. issued a quotation to MGM Grand, Inc. to engineer and design a Universal Interface Board or UIB for MGM Grand to be installed into slot machines for the purpose of monitoring critical machine status and components, displaying messages to the user of the slot machine, reading magnetic strip cards and communicating messages to and from a host mainframe computer. On or about July of 1992 the quotation was expanded to include the printing of Bar Codes on a receipt ticket printer manufactured by Star Micronics Inc, model #sp300. MGM Grand provided them with a model printing algorithm in BASIC source code as an example of how to print the ticket which we used to develop the algorithm. This saved a lot of development time since the code they provided already had been developed. They were also presented at that time with a sample ticket. On or about August of 1992, they received word from MGM that they had located a bill validator that was capable of reading the tickets that Applied Computer Technology was currently printing, and for ACT to start writing preliminary code for the validation of tickets to and from the mainframe computer so that when the unit did arrive ACT would be ready in a short time to test their protocols. On or about October 22 of 1992 ACT received a prototype Bill Validator from MGM Grand hotel who had received it from Pat Green of Triad Design. The Bill Validator was special in that it not only was able to validate currency but also to validate coupons with bar coded tickets on them. Mr. Green was using a second parties Bill Validator outfitted with his own special circuitry which incorporated a laser bar code reading system. The following in an excerpt of the very first functioning version of code #nointerleave /* so compiler does not interleave */ //#nodebug /* disable debug mode */ /* debug tools */ #define dbugport 1 /* if def using debugger serial port */ //#define fakestrat 1 /* if faking stratus mainframe */ //#define romver 1 /* if compiling for rom */ #define disp 0xA0 #define ledon IRES(PIODA,1; /* macro to turn on led */) #define ledoff ISET(PIODA,1; /* macro to turn off led */) /* TUI.C -- Universal Interface Board program for Z-World Tiny Giant */ /* Copyright (C 1992, 1993, Applied Computer Technology */) /* Author: Peter Filiberti */ /* Revision History Rev 1.01 5/20/92 Fixed do_sds_pend( incorrect indexing bug.) Rev 1.02 6/04/93 Added check for end_TX in Do_Stratus_Xmt to make sure that previous xmit ended before new one begins. Also remmed out old drop ticket print string and added new one that doesn't display cash amounts. As can be seen by the above section of program highlighted in blue and titled Revision History, an entry was made on June 5, 1992 repairing a section of the program with the function name do_sds_pend(). This section upon further examination shows that the program at that time was capable of handling pending transactions for cashouts, and jackpots whereas the program would receive a cashout signal from the gaming device, transmit the amount of cashout or handpay to the mainframe computer, and await a command from the mainframe to print a ticket worth a set amount of credits/coins and finally signal the gaming machine after the ticket was printed that the pending state was complete and to continue its operations as normal. TITO USE The concept of Ticket In / Ticket Out (TITO), as described above was a boon to the Casino Slots Departments and the estates they manage. TITO enabled the phase-out of mechanical machine hoppers, prone to jamming, and requiring constant replenishment which tied up considerable sums of cash which was open to theft as it crossed the casino floor instead of being secured in a vault. Today, the TITO voucher is ubiquitous and the ability to track them across the gaming floor is increasingly prized in its ability to address: When there is theft, to rapidly determine who the perpetrator is for swift apprehension. To issue alerts when more than a certain value, or vouchers in a certain combination, are cashed in. To detect patterns of activity when vouchers close to expiry, or multiple small “remainder” values are cashed. To track the preference of players who move from machine to machine and measure time of play. However, for all the benefits TITO brought to the casino floor, it is not without it’s pitfalls and weaknesses which provide opportunities for improvements in the system or, potentially a phased replacement of the entire TITO system. TITO VULNERABILITIES Partial Payouts: A partial payout occurs when a ticket is inserted into a machine, with an amount that is not supported by the denomination. For example, a ticket valued at $148 is inserted into a $10 per spin slot. In this instance, the machine will print a ticket for the remaining $8.00. Quite often, patrons unfamiliar with the process, will assume the machine is out of order, taking the $8.00 and leaving. Ticket Theft: At first, this may seem rare. However in the casino environment, designed to distract patrons and guide their eyes elsewhere and combined with comped alcohol, it happens more often than assumed. This is not just theft from the patron however. Ticket Theft uses casino resources as they are often asked to investigate lost or stolen tickets. A stolen ticket for $20 to a patron, may cost a casino $75 in labor to resolve. Money Laundering: Casinos have always been an ideal location to change illegal money. With the advent of TITO, it’s never been easier. Though FinCEN has tasked gaming operators with the responsibility of reporting suspicious transactions, with so many events happening on the casino floor, this activity remains difficult to prevent. Suspicious activity involving TITO usage can be any, all, or hybrids of the following two examples: a. Placing currency in a slot machine, then cashing out after minimal or no play and redeeming the TITO ticket at a kiosk on the gaming floor (“bill stuffing); b. Patrons pass a large quantity of chips, cash or TITO tickets between themselves in an apparent effort to conceal the ownership of the chips, cash or TITO tickets; if patrons are closely related, such activity may not be seen as suspicious. Employee Collusion/Reprinting: Employee theft accounts for the majority of loss throughout all industries, and casino gaming is no exception. Most lost or stolen tickets are reported, but some remain unclaimed. Each TITO ticket is created with an expiration date. If they are not redeemed within 60 days of their creation, the funds are returned to the house. Employees with sufficient access are able to run reports of unclaimed tickets which are about to expire then reprint and pass them to a non-employee for redemption. Theft of Time: TITO incidents are frequent. The investigation on them is time consuming. Each time a ticket is inserted into a machine, the system generates a new ticket number. A single TITO ticket may have a dozen or more events. Manually referring to slot location, time of ticket event, and pulling up the correlated video takes dozens of man-hours each week. Exploiting reporting times in ticket creation with the mainframe disseminating the ticket information to the slot control system and kiosk systems allows a window for patrons to copy and cashout a ticket more than once. Tickets are often counterfeited with advanced processes or fake tickets are created and sold at a discount to unknowing patrons. While this doesn’t seem to effect the casino, it does, as any money a player loses on the street, is money the casino loses an opportunity to win on house edge. CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE PAST Understanding the why, behind the advent of TITO requires a bit more knowledge of how operations in both cash handling as well as data was collected during the past. To start, as late as the 1980’s, the ubiquitous presence of computers and smart-phones with which we are all so familiar were unknown because, for the most part, they did not exist. This meant that most analytics were done manually, if at all. Typically, this meant that they were not really done, and people relied upon superstition verging upon Witchcraft and "gut feel" for the decisions that they made. There was no data available to help in this decision making and no simple way to analyze or to interpret it even if the data had been available. Back in the day, "the Count", where one emptied the Gaming Table drop boxes and counted out the money and checked out the Fill and Credit paperwork, was critical. Only at these times was the Operation really aware of what they were winning and losing and until the money was actually counted then everything else was little better than guesswork. By the time the 1990’s rolled around, we might term the epoch the near past. In the near past, computers existed and within a few years after mobile phones of the most basic sort were becoming common. By this time, Microsoft Office had revolutionized office productivity and Excel actually meant that a normal person could produce graphs that looked professional. Indeed, by this point, a huge share of the (still very small amount) data analysis conducted was processed in Excel while simple Access databases accounted for much of the rest. There were, of course, more complex analytic tools out there, but my they were not commonly employed and were all but invisible to the majority of employees. At least some of this was due to the staff still employed and rising to the top ranks of the industry. With some notable and far sighted exceptions, the majority had "grown up" in the Gaming Industry, especially the Table Games portion of it, without analytics and reliant upon the "gut feel" method of working out what was going on; many of them distrusted technology and of the work and training they would need to be able to get the most out of even the basic tools available to them at this time. Analysis was lacking in almost every aspect of the Table Games Operation. This could, of course, be contrasted with the Slots Departments who were beginning to reap the benefits of mechanization and the analysis that could be applied to the early electro-mechanical and increasingly purely electronic slots systems. So, in Slots, you could say there were the beginnings of the "Siloed systems", that is systems that gathered data and allowed analysis solely within their own bounded confines (or with Excel); while for Table games there was nothing...unless enterprising staff entered the data themselves. CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE PRESENT If we skip forward from the 1990’s, to around 2011 when Galaxy Macau opened, a cornerstone of the largest and most vital Table Gaming market the world had ever seen, much had changed. By this time, analytics systems, even for Table Games had become ubiquitous and pioneering companies were beginning to go further and to promise real, timely, actionable intelligence from the deluge of data that had flourished in the sixteen years between these dates. Indeed, it is easy to argue that the actual collection of data, the easy bit, had completely outstripped the ability to suitably organize, analyze and act on the data being recorded and stored: the hard bit. The growth of data and the formation of the silo systems themselves seemed almost designed to stymie efforts to draw anything meaningful from the awful weight of what was being collected. This is not to denigrate the Silo Systems in use at the time. Indeed, this whole era might be handily subtitled the Silo Systems Age even as the period before this could be considered the Data Dark Ages. The silo systems had been spectacularly productive in what they were designed to do and, in earlier periods of this age, had given unprecedented insight into operations, within the siloed data itself. While data flows were, relatively speaking, low and what needed to be known or understood strictly circumscribed they worked very well indeed. But the very strength of systems designed to store data within limited parameters and to analyze and interpret this data inevitably meant that these systems could not consider data from outside their silo. Nor, as it increasingly became apparent, were they entirely well suited to the increasing data flows coming from larger and more data intensive operations and from the increases in the areas from which data was being collected. The answer to this always seemed to be to add more independent siloes, but it seemed that as quickly as these were added, they were being filled up by what data was being collected and they were being superseded in what Operations Management wished was being collected. To even attempt to consider data across the growing numbers of siloes in use, it was back to Excel for the enterprising staff member brave, or fool-hardy, enough to try to sift the deluge of data for the nuggets of information buried within. It was a period that could, for our nascent data explorer, be characterized by the printout and the highlighter pen. Forests of print outs for the siloed data were produced; much of which could not be extracted in any other way as this feature had never been considered when the silo was constructed. Then the explorer sat down and tried to impose order upon the chaos of the data and to consider events on printout "A" that might illuminate detail on printout "B" before typing everything into Excel and trying to graph or pivot table it. CASINO ANALYTICS IN THE FUTURE The future will be a world without siloed systems. Or rather, since it will take a while for the current siloed systems to be replaced, it will become like that after having gone through a transitional period where there are overarching systems binding the siloes together and taking data from all of them. We have already reached a stage where cross-silo systems exist and are looking at data, and more importantly the connections between data in different siloes collected for different purposes, in new and illuminating ways. There are some very exciting technologies out there that are examining data in entirely new and unprecedented ways; giving insights into things people have long believed and confirming some ideas even while they debunk others. Now data can be examined from IoT style devices on the gaming floor and combined with data from Ratings and Food and Beverage systems to give a far more detailed and nuanced picture of a Patron and their interaction with the Operation. Similarly, data can be taken on dealer performance and ratings to determine how they interact with Patrons, how efficiently they perform their duties and even such things as how they impact upon Patron dwell tie at their tables. In a business such as Casino Table Games where rewarding Patrons through reinvestment has to be balanced against making sure that they actually add value to the Operation by their wager amounts and style of play and where customer service must be balanced against sufficient game-pace to make margin there are myriad areas where data analytics can be beneficial. Bringing this data together from the siloes within which it is stored and analyzing it in context can already provide incredible business insights. The idea that there has to be only one provider, that one company, supplier or organization can do everything end-to-end, is a holdover from the Silo Age. The Future of Gaming Analytics will be one of best-of-breed suppliers of the basic building blocks of data collecting feeding into similar providers of data analytics and the entirety of this analysis and output being available on whatever medium best suits the individual planning to consume it. OK, BUT NONE OF THIS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH BLOCKCHAIN... Well, it does now - and it's under the guise of how Casinos know their players - be patient... Without knowing your players, there is no real way a casino can best serve them. They can’t be sure what it is they like, or how they are expected to play. The concern being that if competition has a better grasp on player identity and behavior, there is every reason for a casino’s players to defect to another property. When this occurs, and it does, casinos begin to “buy their business” by offering higher promotional levels in an effort to entice the return of their once loyal players. So, how can technologies be deployed to aid a casino in their quest for information regarding their players and understanding what they like and what their actions are on the casino floor? There is, unsurprisingly, a considerable overlap with the data that is used to determine the best optimization of Table Games. Rating data as it currently exists is the obvious starting point. This gives the casino a picture of what their staff and systems believe is happening, and while it may not (and almost certainly isn't) completely accurate it does do a very good job of determining Gaming Preference. Data from smart IoT enabled devices, such as Smart Shoes are currently determining actual game pace, determining what is really going on at the Gaming Table level. Next Generation sensors, already in "real world" deployments, can determine both the location of any wagers made and with increasing accuracy the cash values of these wagers. Data from Venue, Hotel and POS systems can be linked to create a Patron profile of what they are doing when they are not wagering on the Gaming Tables. Where are they interacting with the broader Casino offering? How are they paying for this interaction? What are their non-gaming preferences? Geo-location sensors can be deployed, via opt-in applications, to track Patron movements about the property. Where are they going when they do not interact with the wider offering? From the sum of this data, again gathered from across the various siloes in which it currently resides, a more complete and more holistic picture of the Patron as an autonomous actor can be determined. A combination of bet recognition and game pace can determine their real, as opposed to assumed, value to the operation. What is meant by this is the real House Advantage maintained by the Casino against their play (for any Table Game type where this can be a variable). It can issue alerts when play exceeds certain thresholds, or changes in marked ways. For the first time an accurate appraisal of what they like to do in addition to their Gaming can be determined. This enables enhanced market segmentation and a fuller picture of the likes and dislikes of the patron in question. If he or she only goes to the seafood restaurant, why would a casino send them a voucher for a steak? If they like the Spa, why reward them with a buffet voucher? Offers can be made "on the fly" when the Patron is in proximity with something a casino now recognizes that they enjoy doing. Subtly rewarding them for brand loyalty to the casino and explicitly discouraging them from gaming somewhere that does not know them as well. An increasingly non-siloed, data-rich and free data environment is a picture of the future when customers are more reliant on technology. So while no-one knows for sure in what precise direction technology will shape how the Casino Industry will face the future, the broad trends are sufficiently established to be knowable. What is required therefore is the ability to do this, before the competition does? AGAIN, WHAT ABOUT BLOCKCHAIN? Any Blockchain solution company, in evaluating the potential for casino penetration should take into heavy consideration the history of TITO, how and why it was developed, and the continued lean on knowing the players. Combining that with how a wallet/ledger solution would solve the 7 identified TITO vulnerabilities above will give you a solid approach in both development and marketing efforts. It should be obvious to those of us involved in Blockchain tech how, the implementation of an enterprise level, patron utilized wallet which communicates with not only slots, but casino credit mechanisms would be of tremendous asset in combating fraud while generating new player data casinos have never had access to. The value proposition lies within cost savings, player retention, player information and habit knowledge, and anti-theft. The question is not will Blockchain replace TITO, but who is willing to step up and begin that process?
Okay, so here it goes. There may be some typos and I apologize for that, since I hate that as well, but I mainly wanted to get out my insane week in Vegas, going for the first time. (Fortunately, I did not goto the Route 91 concert, so this story does not include any first-hand experiences from that event. If you are mainly looking for that, then this is not the post for you. Sorry :/ ) TL;DR Went to Vegas for the first time and had a wild time. I was going to Las Vegas for a singing competition being held at Vince Neils Tatuado in Circus Circus. I had gone through reviews of hotels, airlines, places to get good deals, etc and ended up just trying to go with the lowest cost trip I could find. In terms of strictly Airfare/Room, it cost me $330 for 2 Round trip tickets from DFW/LAS and $226 for 1 week in a 1-bedroom apartment. (More on the apartment) This is not counting the amount of money I ended up spending all week on Lyft/Food/Gambling/Lyft/Souvenirs/Gambling and Lyft plus those unexpected expenses that come up, which they did. I haven't even counted it up yet, just not ready for that yet. Spirit Airlines AirBnB I honestly should have: -- Gone with the package we were offered for our team in the competition, which would have been about $350/week for Circus Circus in the Main Tower facing the strip. -- Played the MyVegas app prior to going to Vegas (had I known about it) and racked up some points to get discounts at hotels -- Picked a different AirBnB further from the strip initially Every little thing that could happen to hinder your trip/experience, or try to sway you from having a good time happened. Thankfully, there were dispensaries in Vegas which saved the day, literally at one point. I tried getting an AirBnB for 3 people since one of the other singers wanted to tag along, to make sure he had a place to sleep and stay. I could have got an AirBnb at a house,apartment,hotel, etc somewhere closer to Circus Circus and with more amenities that this one, but I settled for what I thought was a one bedroom apartment all to ourselves, 5 minutes from the Strip. Now, I have never been to Vegas and even thought there are numerous resources you can goto for information and guides on where to stay, it was pretty overwhelming and I ended up only doing about 20% of my research. The AirBnB was around Tropicana and Maryland Pkwy. I soon found out that area was interesting. The host showed up half naked, in a see-through shirt an hour late, kept the talks strictly "business". We were dropped off and I found out we had one bedroom in a 3/bdr apt, with other occupants. The couch which I thought my other friend could crash on since I paid for 3 ppl was not for sleeping, just for staring at the wall or fireplace. Maybe reading/talking if you are into that sort of thing while in Vegas. The room ended up being exactly what I paid for, and the other occupants were 2 attractive women, and we are 2 attractive men, so we decided we can make this work and to go with it. Went walking to the first dispensary, and took the Lyft back since yeah. This so far was the only highlight besides just taking in the sights. I think we were still checking out if the area was secure enough to leave our stuff in the room, so we didn't really go too far. We mainly smoked, talked to the "Tatiana's" (They were both named Tatiana <-- not sure if spelled right though) and plotted what we wanted to do the next day. We wake up to no power in the apartment. We thought it was our room only, but nope. We check the breakers, outside and confirm she didn't pay her bill. We text her and she states it is paid and they are turning it back on. I wait about 30 minutes before I tweet AirBnB and give them a call because hell no. They mentioned they needed to at least try and contact the host and get a response, which I understood, but they were understanding of my situation. They had first asked if it came back on in the next 30-45 minutes, if that would be acceptable, and even though it would solve the situation, I had explained that this was my first time with AirBnB and Las Vegas, and this will be the experience I am left with. The rep had already given me $100 coupon for my next time, but this would not helping the current situation. After about a couple of hours of waiting, I just got a room at Circus Circus. It was Tuesday already, and I got the room for that night until Friday for $200 online. Not bad, since it was last minute. The power was still not on when we left the apartment and I felt this was more of the host defaulting on their contract as a host, rather than just a bad experience. They offered a full refund in cash, or refund plus 10% for another AirBnB. I didn't have room for Friday-Monday and accepted a workaround for accommodations for that date in a different area. The "Booking Queen" took care of everything and I ended up only paying $20 for a Condo right off Fremont street next to The Cortez. Top floor, rooftop heated pool/jacuzzi, the works. I just had to wait until Friday. Circus Circus was not bad, compared to the reviews I read. I am father or two wonderful children, so I thought this place would be great for them. The kids around me did were not bothersome, and the activities around the place was honestly great. Being a kid inside probably helps. My brother ended up spending almost all his cash on slots, even though we both knew that they had the least payout or return of all the games. He wanted to play roulette and I wanted to play blackjack, but Vegas gets you since the first slot he played was in the airport. Straight off the plane, recently turned 21, turns $5 into $35 and he was hooked. Pretty lights, colors, sounds, cartoons, etc. all around you just waiting for you to play them. We know we will lose, but we both agree to play about $20 to kill time and just have some fun. I think I ended up being up about $70 before I cashed out and he went up about $150 before he did. We did day two of our Dispensary tour and stocked back up. All our gambling throughout the entire week ended up netting us just enough money to pay for our flowefood and a little extra to gamble with for the whole week. We partook everyday and gambled everyday. Me with an initial $60 start and him with about $100. We took in the sights, avoided the street "dealers", gambled on the slots too much at Circus Circus and eagerly waited until Friday. The competition happened and ended a little differently than I expected, but it didn't prevent any good times or fun we had. Friday comes and we are checking out of Circus Circus at 11am. We cannot check-in until 4pm to the Condo, so the host mentioned we could leave our bags with the front desk while the place was cleaned, and we could take in the sights of Fremont street. We get back to the room and our flower was stolen from our bags, by the security guard, in the security office of these condos. Million dollar condos with you would think, good security and yeah, stolen. Diamond, Platinum and Gold from the Reef Dispensary. The priciest one of them all that we went to, and he just goes through our things randomly since the jars are sealed glass, and just takes them. The building cannot do anything since we are staying with AirBnB and not a resident, and even though we had a receipt, we ended up dropping it since the security guard got fired anyway. Turned those 3 grams into some pretty expensive flower. They were all honestly great, minus one bad attitude from the last one we went to, but the Reef was awesome. Khalifa Kush, Sunset Sherbert, Platinum Girl Scout Cookies, mmmm. Pricey, but honesty the same you would pay in the street, from what I have read online. That whole 4 days we were waiting was made worse, since I had enough money to cover myself in food/lyft and to get by until Friday when I got paid. I knew I was good then, but I had to spend the rest of my money on the room for that week, just to make sure we had a place to sleep. My brother had his cash and since it was only for him, we had to pretty much make it work throughout the week for both of us, which we did. Everything was expensive too, Starbucks, McDonalds, Lyft lol, we always ended up having just enough to have a good time, have something to eat and drink and get around to where we needed to. Fremont was the best though. We wished we had ended up there in the beginning. Music, better casinos, food, culture, art on the sides of walls, talent all throughout the street, just one big party. We watched AlterEgo live which was pretty awesome. They put on a great show and the vibe around you was just great. You are laughing your ass off at some of the comedy acts on the street, wowed at others and then you also pass by performers who are wearing next to nothing. Almost naked and you want to stare, because hey, you are in Vegas, they are attractive and naked and well they are naked. It is weird, but you end up not staring and just kind of laughing at the situation. I took one last look though, just to make sure nothing changed. The zipline looks fun and next time, I would not mind taking that for a ride. The Cortez was our favorite place. I now like blackjack. I did not learn to count cards, just the basic strategy and ended up coming out on top always. I would lose some nights, but I could go back and always double or triple my money. Dealers would stare at me at times, the men in suits would come by the tables and sometimes talk with me for a bit to feel me out, but I just have that kind of luck. Either I am not winning the hands, but others around me are getting blackjack multiple times or winning, or the dealer would bust when I needed it. I should have played the Royal Match more too. I would have made so much more on that. Ended up hanging out with a blackjack dealer the next night and just chilled/smoked/laughed and then used Lyft. Really cool chick. We had plans to rent a car on Sunday, goto the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Red Rock, Gold/Silver Pawn Shop, Ricks Restorations, Kounts Kustoms, but no place takes debit cards for car rentals. We ended up gambling again, having some fun on Fremont street for a little more and then had plans to go check out a show or possibly Route 91 since I was dressed like a cowboy for the competition and that was working out reaaaallllyyyy well. Props from everyone in the hat and the whole look. Fun times. The Chevelle concert the night before didn't go as planned either since a fight broke out right before it started and it was so packed, we just took off. We weren't getting good vibes and being so packed, we did not want to take any chances, which led to another Dispensary time. Before we even heard anything about the shooter, we saw about 12 cops past Fremont by the freeway with some vans. We thought it was a drug bust, but soon found out it was SWAT or some team. The concert had already started and we wanted to goto the Dispensary again before we went, just for good measure. As soon as we got in, thats when it happened. We were not really looking at the time, but you could see the flashing lights on the corners of the street which the driver mentioned were cameras and alert signals. We get to the dispensary and the guard is armed with an assault rifle. Street corners have police posted, blocking some routes and full armed as well. You don't really understand the full gravity of the situation, or what is happening. You think it is something out of the movies, a man trying to rob the casino or threatening to shoot, but you just assume Vegas has handled these types of situations all the time, and it was nothing new. We stayed the entire night at the Condo, listening the police scanners, just waiting. I couldn't sleep. The streets were quiet, maybe 10-20 people walking that you could see. We had a pretty good view from where we were and there was nothing. Fremont was empty. All of the buildings in Vegas had their rooftop red lights turn on at the same time, which was weird, but just figured it was for the situation going on. I am not going to get into the details of what I heard on the scanner or the stories from the people I met afterwards. There is plenty of conspiracy posts online regarding that, I will just say after that you just shutdown. Nowhere near what the people there went through, but just being 10 miles away from there and knowing there are people hurt, dead or just going through one of the worst experiences of their lives gets to you. You want to help, but you are torn between the police telling you to stay inside, not having your own transportation and the area being blocked off by police already. I feel like crap that I didn't try. I wasn't sure if I could, but I was more focused on just being safe. You assume everything. I thought a bomb was going to go off, that our flights were going to be cancelled, that someone was going to drive into a crowd on the sidewalk at every intersection I crossed. Just constantly on alert and knowing you are going to have to answer a lot of texts. The next day I was in a daze the whole time. Our flight ended up getting delayed about an hour and we left around 7pm. There were people crying in the airport, but mostly people trying to cheer you up. TSA was the nicest I have seen, people willing to talk to you, just the need for comfort. I know there are probably a lot more little stories I am leaving out, but being in Vegas a week becomes a blur. You never really pay attention to time except when you are checking out/in, you are immersed in a huge online video game with micro-transactions everywhere and you spend way more money than you anticipate. I want to go back again sometime, and I highly recommend looking for an AirBnB around Freemont street. Perfect location. My little notes: Spirit Airlines were better than I thought, compared to the reviews. Print out your ticket, buy your baggage online when you check-in prior to your flight and pick your seat. The flight was the best I had been on, really smooth and the view was amazing. AirBnB was great. Customer Service was awesome, they really were empathetic to my situation and made a bad experience turn into an unforgettable one. Circus Circus is honestly a really good deal and has almost everything you need. If you are a family person, or bringing your family, stay there. Vegas is not a family-friendly town I don't think. Fremont street was too much for kids and everything is sexualized, so just keep your kids at home and enjoy it by yourselves. Play MyVegas facebook app if you have FB. You can rack up lots of points and have enough to cover a good amount of expenses for you. Rent a car lol. I think Fox Rental was one of the lowest rates, but even some of the Lyft drivers offer rentals. As low as $25/day, you don't need a sportscar unless you just want to spend the money on it. You can get those 3 wheel motorcycle things with two seats. I saw them for around $350/day or $75/hr. Expensive, but damn it looks fun. There are also these electric scooter thingies at the Container Park off Fremont. As low as $6.50/hr, you can schedule a slot and use those to get around. I didn't know you had to schedule ahead of time, so I did not use them, but really looked fun and worth the price. The Cortez had the best blackjack that we played at. Single deck, pays 3 to 2 and $5 minimum bet. We went to about 4 other casinos and won at 2 of them, but the Cortez had the best payout. I had no sex in Las Vegas. Sorry if you were looking for juicy details, but I'm not going to pay for it and it's not in me to go to a bar and try to pickup a woman just to have sex. My game is not that good and it's just not me, so no crazy "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" stories, but at least I did not come back with something that stays with you after you leave Vegas. Long ass post, but I wanted to get it out and write it down. Thanks for reading if you got through it all. **I have pics on Instagram of the trip if you want to check them out "thethomasbeck" - iPhone 7+ and it does a pretty good job too with no other editing software except the built-on Photos app and Instagram filters/editing.
Visiting 28th-1st... Are we doing it right? Can you help us do it better!?
My lovely girlfriend and I will be visiting May 28th through the 1st. Below are some ideas we got from this subreddit (THANK YOU!!) I think we got a lot covered but I'm sure there's even more. Any suggestions would be totally appreciated! But first.. a bit of info about us. Its going to be random.. Sorry.. But thanks all at the same time: We are in our early 20s (old enough to drink). We like to drink. We are Ent friendly. We like to eat (DUH). Not really interested in going to 'clubs'. Free is always good. Cheap is nice too but that doesn't mean we wont indulge in some fine dining or a nice show (We already have tickets to BMG and Vegas The Show). Walking isn't a problem (We will get a bus/Monorailpass). The lady will probably wanna 'shop'. Not really my thing. That is all I can think of right now. Ok so here's our list: Free:
Show @ Treasure Island (Sirens of TI) 8-12 every hour on the hour
Bellagio Fountains. Every 30 min up till 8pm then every 15 after 8pm up till midnight
Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (Find this amazing treat beyond the Bellagio lobby. A 13,573 sq. ft. indoor garden extravaganza. It's ever-changing natural display has five themes per year: Christmas, Chinese New Year, Spring, Summer and Fall. Open 24hrs. daily (702) - 693-7111)
Fall of Atlantis @ Caesars Palace (The gods unleash their wrath in this animatronic extravaganza of epic proportions. Fire, water,smoke and special effects tell the tale of Atlas, Gadrius and Alia, who struggle to rule the legendary undersea city. Surrounded by a 50,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, the mythical sunken continent rises and falls before your eyes. Shows are daily on the hour beginning at 10am till 11pm)
Festival Fountain @ Caesars Palace (Experience the morning sun and evening stars in a sky that changes from day to night and back again. Then see Bacchus, Venus, Apollo, and Plutus regale visitors with a magnificent sound, light, and laser show daily. Shows are daily on the hour beginning at 10am till 11pm)
The Aquarium @ Caesars Palace (The Atlantis Aquarium is a 50,000-gallon, saltwater tank shaped like a horseshoe located at the north end of Caesars Palace's Forum Shops. This thank houses more than 500 colorful tropical fish, including zebra sharks and cow nose rays. Visit at 1:15pm or 5:15pm to watch the aquarists feed the fish during dive. You may even want to take a below-the-scenes guided tour of the support facilities (Monday - Friday at 3:15pm))
$1,000,000 pyramid @ Binions (If you ever wonder what One Million dollars looks like? Head over to Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel and find out!. Binion's has $1 million on display. Structured in a pyramid design of acrylic glass boxes filled with cash. The $1 million is displayed in the Binion's casino near the Club Binion's Booth)
Free Hoover Dam tour and Buffet (Free sightseeing Day tour. You will experience/see Hoover Dam (includes a 20 min photo stop), a view of Lake Mead, Historic Boulder City, Ethel M Chocolate factory tour, Wayne Newton's Ranch and stop at Primm Valley Resort (for your free buffet and access to a large discount outlet shopping mall). The tour lasts 9-10 hours and operates Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays and Friday. Hotel pick up times start at 7AM. Call 702-384-7725 (24 hours daily) for reservations and pick up locations and times. Make your tour reservations at least 1 day in advance. This tour uses a fully air-conditioned 57 passenger bus with restrooms included.)
Not Free:
Lee's Discount Liquor (I will be bringing two bottles on the plane as legally allowed but I figured it would be a good idea to locate a liquor store to save money if we run out. The hotels prices are toodamnhigh.jpg)
Pai-Gow (Play it for a while and get as many free drinks as possible.. any other suggestions like this would be great!)
Food:
The "Buffet of Buffets" from Harrah's casinos. All you can eat at as many buffets as you want within a 24 hour period (Rio, Planet Hollywood, Paris and more).
LVA and ACG voupons for 2017 - map and spreadsheet
For all you coupon hunters, I've compiled all of the American Casino Guide and Las Vegas Advisor coupons into a handy spreadsheet as well as a map of all Vegas casinos, their respective club and coupons that matter. Enjoy.
Going to Vegas? Low roller? Bring a coupon book! (Also WIN Cards)
I just wanted to share the joys of matchplays and free slot play. Matchplay: You wager $5, the coupon matches $5. If you lose, the casino takes your $5 chip and the coupon. If you win, the casino gives you $10 (and your original $5 chip back, but they still take the coupon). So it's basically a free chip. Free-Play: You are just given free money to use on slot machines (or video poker). You have to play through it once though. If you are given $10 free-play, you will see $10 in the machine (even though you put no money in!) but you cannot withdrawal that $10. You can only play with it. You could make a $10 slot bet with it. You could make two $5 bets. You could make 1,000 1 cent bets. Whatever you have at the end of that you can now withdrawal. The two coupon books for Vegas I know of are Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide. Las Vegas Advisor (LVA) is around $34 while American Casino Guide (ACG) is around $13. These prices fluctuate depending on time of year. Just use the matchplays on baccarat if you're allowed and craps otherwise. Free play I would highly recommend learning high odds video poker. www.vpfree2.com is your friend. You could still make it work with slot machines if you just want to have fun. If you like hopping around every casino (especially downtown) I would highly recommend getting one of these books. As a side note I've heard of win cards but never used them myself. It seems a lot like a matchplay, where they just give you a free chip essentially
Free Printable Las Vegas coupons . These free printable Las Vegas discount coupons are distributed everywhere around the city, well, for free! There is also an online version of these coupons - simply find coupons that you like and print them, or print the entire thing to take with you on your trip to Las Vegas. American Casino Guide The American Casino Guide is an annual book/magazine with info on every casino in the U.S., and with a dizzying array of coupons for those casinos, too. The book costs $13, and the coupons alone are worth way more than that. Here's a list of the 2017 coupons. You can order the book for $16 on Amazon. Las Vegas Advisor When you subscribe to the Las Vegas Advisor, they send ... Each Las Vegas hotel prints its own funbook and the discount coupons are specific to the shows, casinos, shops, restaurants and any other establishments within them. Sadly, the majority of Las Vegas hotels no longer offer FunBooks and the few that do, go out of their to keep it secret until after you check in. Coupons With Expiration Dates Extended Until 2021 More Than 95 Coupon Offers Have Been Extended! After 28 years of continuously publishing the American Casino Guide, we are sad to say that, due to disruptions in the casino industry caused by the COVID-19 crisis, there will not be a 2021 edition of the book. 2019 American Casino Guide Coupon List Below is a list of all casino coupons from the 2019 American Casino Guide. All coupons expire in late December, 2019. Bold Italicized offers are new, or changed, from the 2018 guide To See a List of altered or canceled coupons CLICK HERE. Colorado - Cripple Creek Hey Newlywed, Coupons are very worth it! Here's a hot tip! The Las Vegas Advisor prints a coupon book with many great coupons in it. They also have a website (lasvegasadvisor.com) and a forum where you can find many more coupons, including some you can print yourself.Normally, the online subscription and coupon book is $37 or $50, but now for $10 or $12, you can subscribe for the last three ... Guide to Las Vegas Casino Coupons . Las Vegas is the acknowledged king to the extent that Casinos are related. It has got the most up-to-date, most astonishing and most in style casinos in the world. Every foremost Casino in Las Vegas is to be found down the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard, recognized as "The Strip". They are all in one or two miles from McCarran International Airport ... They are different coupons,we use both coupon books,great 2 for 1 coupons and free gambling coupons,we even buy extra LVA books on e bay for our many vegas trips,but the casinos keep track of the gambling coupons,only one a year allowed,thats the free LVA gambling coupons,the rest in LVA u can use as many as u have,like the 2 for 1 buffett coupons,also the Casino guide,u can use as many as u ... List of Las Vegas casino coupons; Our Apps. iOS App; Android app; Find Casinos. Casinos by State; Casino Maps by State; U.S. Casinos by City; Casino Profiles; Map of all U.S. Casinos; How To Play. How to gamble videos; How to gamble podcasts; How to play slot machines; How to play video poker; Buy video poker software; How to play blackjack ; How to play craps; How to play roulette; How to ...
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