I somehow won this [empirepoker.com] poker
tournament, so i'm flying out to Vegas in a little less than a month to
claim my seat at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. It helps that
people are stupid.

Do you people have any advice on Las Vegas?

I was there when i was 9, so this is a bit different. I'm a bit of a
cheap bastard, so cheap eats would be desirable. Also, i'd be amenable to
finding ways to entertain myself that don't involve hookers.

I think that, as a geek, you are compelled to go to the Star Trek exhibit thingy at the Hilton. Jon may also recommend the "Warp Core Breaches" at the themed bar "Quarks".

For cheap eats, it doesn't get any better than the buffet. Almost any of them... Although you *might* want to stay away from the under $5.00 set.

The best entertainment in Vegas is free - and it's people watching. Get yourself a nice big crappy margharita, pull up a spot on a curb somewhere, and enjoy.

Sigfried and Roy are not playing, but I bet the big brass bust of them is still around. That's a hoot, and is free.

...finding ways to entertain myself that don't involve hookers.

First: You don't entertain yourself with hookers, they entertain you.

Second: NO HOOKERS??!!

In Response to zamphir (#22765):

Despite being a geek, i don't like Star Trek. At all.

As for cheap eats, i definitely want buffet suggestions. I'm staying at The Bellagio [bellagio.com], which is the antithesis of cheap. However, i figure that the trip is mostly going to be for the experience of it and that there's some advantage to staying at the hotel that the tournament is being held. Anyway, they're supposed to have a kickass buffet, but it's rather expensive so i'll probably only do it once.

As for people watching, i'll be doing some of that. I'm at an ideal hotel for it...assuming i want to gawk at the absurdly rich.

In Response to luvrhino (#22774):

There's a nice restaurant at the Bellagio, in the basement overlooking their pond. It's got some painter's stuff on the walls... I forget who...

I ate there the last time I was in Vegas. It was pretty good. Maybe not quite as nice as this Japanese place (I think it was actually run by a Jew, it was Maury something) I ate at in Philadelphia, but pretty close.

The restaurant at the Bellagio wasn't... inexpensive... though. So you'll probably want to skip it.

For buffets, you should probably grade them by price point, pick a price point you're happy with, and try a few.

Also, watch out for pickpockets and petty thieves.

I skipped the Star Trek ride myself, even though I was staying at the Hilton.

You might even be able to find some gambling, too, if you look around.

In Response to zamphir (#22776):

Trust me, i'll be gambling. I'll probably do most of it in the form of poker at The Imperial Palace [imperialpalace.com]. I don't imagine i'll last in the tourney more than a day or two, so i'll have lots of time left to my own devices. It's near to the Bellagio (i won't have a car), it has lower limits than some of the other places, and it won't be infested with Poker Pro types like i imagine the Bellagio will be.

I'm not especially concerned about pickpockets, though i'll keep my wallet in my front pocket. There are better targets than me for their evildoings.

Cats">Art Vargas.

There's nothing on his schedule, but I saw him in the lounge in the Bellagio. The most entertainment I have ever seen.

In Response to deerboy (#22788):

Shit, I GCrashed. [avargas.com]. I really wanted another preview.

In Response to luvrhino (#22785):

The Travel Channel, eh? Good luck in the tourney.

Which dealie did you win? Just a seat, or a free ride down there?

In Response to mcgrue (#22795):

Yeah, if i'm Final 6 i'll be on the Travel Channel. That probably won't happen. For 6 bucks, i won entry into this thing [empirepoker.com]. There were 248 entrants, which meant that there was only one seat and 2nd-4th got a fair amount of money (splitting $7800 between them). Anyway, i ended up winning. So, EmpirePoker is paying $15.3K for a seat at the FDWPC and $1.7K for expenses. I didn't have to stay at the Bellagio, but i figure it's worth it, especially since they're giving me a poker player's discount. If i get last place cash (Top 10% or so), i'll probably get the entry fee in winnings...$15.3K is a lot of money to me.

In Response to luvrhino (#22803):

If you do make it into the TV round, give us fair warning so we can pop popcorn and cheer you on and say "Yeah, I knew him before he was famous...back then, he was just mildly infamous."

In Response to Robonun (#22806):

I'm pretty damn infamous. In fact, the most publicity i've received is probably this comic [goats.com]. Even if i end up on the Travel Channel, i'll still be pretty fucking infamous and will be able to escort at Planned Parenthood without a problem.

We just got back from Las Vegas. We stayed at the Mirage. It's less than Bellagio but has every thing you need. You are not going to have a lot of time to look around if you're winning so hope you don't get to see much! We saw the show skin tight for around $100.00 each and it was well worth it. But for free you can see the pirate show in front of Treasure Island. Or the fountains in front of Bellagio (Go at night). Also a cab ride away is the Freemont street experience. Good luck and what name should we be looking for?

In Response to luvrhino (#22774):

We ate at the buffet at the Aladdin when we were last there. It was quite nice, and reasonably priced to boot.

There's a pretty decent pub-style restaurant in the Palace Station Hotel, just a block or so west of the north end of the Strip (other side of I-15). Reasonably priced as well.

In Response to luvrhino (#22803):

Do you play online for cash much?

In Response to mcgrue (#22834):

Yes, i'm somewhat addicted since it's highly profitable. I've even seriously considered quitting my dayjob to do the online poker full time, but i decided against it cuz i don't know what the poker environment will be like a year from now when the fad has ended. If you or anyone else wants to do it, click on this link [empirepoker.com] and i get 20-25% of the casino's "rake" (i.e. commission). I'll then refund half of that back to you. They also have a 20% bonus offer (up to $100), which i think is a fine idea.

Anyone who's interested should e-mail me [mailto].

In Response to luvrhino (#22879):

Do you think the fad'll be dying anytime soon?

In Response to mcgrue (#22931):

I really have no idea. In the meantime, i'll just continue to earn more money from poker than i do my dayjob. Once the fad is over, i can assess whether or not to do this fulltime. Doing poker fulltime has the benefit of allowing me to do other things during the day.

Of course, if i just win the Five Diamond thingy, then i can just quit and not worry about it...

In Response to luvrhino (#22803):

$15.3K is a lot of money to me.

The only people for whom $15,300 is not a lot of money generally are jerks.

Case in point: this rich jerk in college once turned to me and said, "You know, rich people know that a million dollars is not a lot of money."

Not being rich, I just had to assume what he was saying was true.

But then I thought about it, and realized that I could live off the *interest* from $1,000,000 and have about twice as much free cash as I do now (well, not really due to taxes and all, but still...).

I mean, there are, I suppose, nice people who have a whole ton of money, so much so that $15.3K is chump change. I've heard that P. Diddy routinely holds $2 million parties, and maybe he's a nice guy, even if he did threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of enfranchised voters.

In Response to Deathalicious (#23023):

Funny thing. Two people can live comfortably in my area (central-ish PA) off the 5% interest from $20 million and never have to do any work. Treble that sum can support a large family here, a couple nearly anywhere else, or one person in a tiny apartment in NYC. (I jest, I jest - you could probably have a two-bedroom for that sum.)

Unfortunately, I don't have several dozen million dollars, so $15K+ represents the majority portion of my living expenses for a given year.

In Response to sakuruth (#23026):

Two people can live comfortably in my area (central-ish PA) off the 5% interest from $20 million and never have to do any work.

5% of $20 million is $1 million. I'd say anybody this side of a Hilton sister could live pretty comfortably on $1 million/year just about anywhere, but I guess I have simple tastes.
 

In Response to gtyrrell (#23027):

Math is hard.

In Response to gtyrrell (#23027):

I have simple tastes

Go back to $1 mil. 5% sucks, but you want an even wage. 50K/year. That's great for about 10 - 20 years, then 'fancy tastes' equates to Country Buffet on Thursdays. Yeah, great, you could live like a semi rich-college student (alone) for a few decades and not have to work. Then you are a desperate social security case. We're not talking about buying a house on an exotic island, now, are we? That is what most people call being 'rich'. Not having to work, that's just 'nice'. Still, you're hitting the job market in 20 years no matter what, unless you have been 'working' by investing smartly.

Point is, you don't have to be rich to realize that 1 million is not that much money. And thinking that it is will only keep you being poor. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but know what you are getting into)

In Response to deerboy (#23032):

Even worse, all this will only work until inflation starts pushing $50K/yr down under the poverty line.

In Response to unFalln (#23033):

This is where the magic of "complicated interest" (TM) comes in. With your million, a return of 10% is well within reach. But you don't take all the interest, instead settle for half, so that's 50k and the other half goes to the capital so that the next year you'll increase the return by 5%. So the capital and income are both growing by 5% a year. Who gets year after year 5% pay rises and when has inflation been sustained above 5%?

In ten years, your income is $75k+ and the capital $1.5m+. The thing is to keep the capital growing to increase the income. Works forever and you are forever happy. This is the joy of maths!

Alternatively, go out for a drink with tor. Bye-bye million!

In Response to Nagy_Vilmos (#23034):

Okay, so now all I need is a million bucks, and someone who can guarantee me at least 10%pa.

And I thought It'd be hard.