How early do you need to get to the book?

Hey all,

Vegas weekend coming up, centered around college football as usual.  In the past, we have done the Mirage but the general experience there has gotten crappier over the years so we are moving this year.  The consensus seems to be the Bellagio and the Hilton for best places (thanks in particular to Walter_Sobchak for his detailed post).  A couple of questions about these two books:

- What time should one get to either on a Saturday morning to guarantee good seats?
- In terms of bets available, what is available at each?  I guess I am thinking things like first half spread/total, halftime spread/total, maybe even team totals and uncommon stuff like that for some variation.  I am assuming the Hilton puts up first half and halftimes for every game.  Does it?  What about the Bellagio?  The Mirage in general only offered these bets on a few games over the course of a day.

thanks in advance

8 AM Beez, remember the games start on the west coast at 9 AM.  The Hilton is as good as it gets for books in LV.  The Mirage has faded as a sportsbook, I have been going there for 20 years.

I am a big fan of the Bellagio. I was there last year for Ohio State/Michigan game. 9 am Vegas start. Got there at 8 am and found a good seat. But shortly after started filling up. And it will remain full throughout the day. As far as lines it's not as good as the Hilton. You will get the basics as far as what is offered. Most halftime lines on the bigger games.

thx for the response.  Yeah, the Mirage was disappointing last year.  Drink tickets were the last straw, but it has been slowly going downhill for awhile.

Am I correct in guessing the Hilton puts up 1st half/halftime lines/totals for every game?

Beez - Yes (halftimes / totals) and the drink tickets are becomming commonplace, ay almost all casinos.  I bet a dime ($1000) at the MIrage and got six drink tickets, unreal.  Vegas Veteran and I are corrcet, 8 AM should be right for a good seat.  It does stay full most of the day and evening, so go with a group, that way you can hold seats if you use the head or go to eat...

Beez, glad my review helped!!...

 

For comfort, Id choose the Bellagio...for betting options, Id choose the hilton.....YOu could probably bet on which one of you will have to take the first shit after the Buffet at the hilton if you wanted to

 

Enjoy your time in Vegas, and good luck!

lolz - that would be a dangerous bet, seems likely everyone would bet on themselves and then do everything to make it happen...

Are there other books in the general strip area (relative term, I know) that have more expansive betting option that one could steal off to, were one so inclined?

We'll have 3 or 4 people.  8AM?  That is no problem, we usually make it in WELL before then.  Getting a good seat is way important than that extra 20 minutes of alcohol fueled sleep...

Thanks for the reply..  Oh yeah, one other thing - not everybody in the group is at the same level of degenerate-ness, so some will not bet that much.  How frowned upon would that be at the Bellagio?

Not frowned upon at all. I have gone in there to watch the game after betting it at another casino. They don't care at all. You have to be in a seat though to get the free drinks. Standers don't get service. Also I usually find a seat on the horse side. Usually where the waitresses go through to the sportsbook seats. Faster and more regular service at least in my experiences. Can't go wrong anywhere in that book though.

nice - excellent strategy tip, thanks!

Bottom line - get there at 8, and grab a waitress that knows what the score is!  Tell her you plan on being there for a while and give her $20 up front.  If you take care of her, she will be on top of you, and the drink tickets if needed will become irrelevant ,,,,,  AsI stated above I bet a dime, got six drink tickets and then collared the right chick and the tickets never ever mattered again.

Excellent advice, thanks.

Not that it much matters, but I thought you said your dime bet for six drink tickets was at the Mirage, did I misunderstand? 

Does the Bellagio have tickets as well?

Beez - The dime I played was at the Mirage.  The chairs are great at the Bellagio, and to be honest, I am not sure if drink tickets are in play at the Bellagio.  I can say that both of those hotels are owned by the same company, so your guess is as good as mine?  Check it out the night before, and you can make up your mind to either go the Bellagio, or the Hilton.

Good luck and make some $$$$$$$

 

Definitely no tickets at the Bellagio.

Heading to the airport in a couple of hours - thanks for all of the info peeps!

Brief trip report for those who stumble across this thread in the future;

1)  We did not go to the Hilton as it was not going to work in the group dynamic, but the Bellagio is the place to be.  The seats are pretty comfortable, and the drink service is excellent - Friday night we stopped by to check it out and were just standing there (didn't sit down), and had a cocktail in hand inside of 7 minutes, no joke.  No drink tickets.

2)  The time to get there must be quite variable, cuz we got there at about 7:20 AM and there was not a free seat in the entire book.  Probably didn't help it was Breeders Cup weekend, which I did not even know until we got there.  We ended up at Caesars, left after the main event horse race, and lucked into a nice couple leaving the Bellagio book right when we got there, so we had seats for the evening games.  We will get there earlier next time

Sounds like a good time! Wow. Kinda surprised it was crowded that early. Not completely shocked though.

I remember living in California throughout the 90s, and having to set my alarm for the games after partying till 3:00am.

Pretty challenging most of those Saturdays......Had to decide to just not go out on Fridays or start at happy hour on Friday with the office crowd and go home by 9:00pm.....

It was fun having night games start at around 4:00 though

Hey Beez - good to read about your trip, and I am sure the Breeders did you in on getting a seat. Always 8:00 is good enough.  Well there you have it for next time, Bellagio at 8:00, no drink tickets and make some $$$$$$$$$.