1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

Why do you go to Vegas so often?

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by seviay, Jan 31, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. seviay

    seviay High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2011
    Messages:
    814
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    My wife and I always say "man, we really need to stop going to Vegas so much so we can go other places," and we inevitably end up booking another Vegas trip shortly thereafter. Here are the reasons that we keep going back.

    1. I'm a degenerate gambler. I love the action of gambling -- watching the unbelievable streaks of cards come out in BJ or the dice rolls in craps. Chasing those royal flushes on VP. Even playing some of those silly Konami slots with the wife. It all gets my dopamine going. Hell, the trip itself is a gamble. It could end up being "free" or we could even come out to the positive if we run well...or, you know, it could be way more expensive than a normal vacation if we run poorly or we (ahem, I) go on tilt.

    2. It's a short, direct flight for us. 3 hours from DFW, with no stops. Plus, it's usually $250-350 round trip. Nice!

    3. It's comfortable. There's comfort in simply knowing where things are and not having to deal with new public transportation or finding your way.

    4. Even if we stayed in the exact same hotel every time, no trip ever remotely resembles another.

    5. There's always something going on, so if we want to stay up til 6am to drink and gamble, we can. Or if we want to wake up at 6am to drink and gamble, we can do that, too.

    That pretty much sums it up. Obviously, a rotating list of new shows and restaurants doesn't hurt, either.

    So, why do you keep going back?
     
  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 1999
    Messages:
    44,195
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    My husband doesn't love Vegas (GASP!!!) so we do travel other places.

    I keep going back to Vegas for several of the reasons you listed. I love that I can make a trip to Vegas anything I want it to be. Fancy dining? Big name shows? Leisure and spas? Outdoor/Nature adventures? Degenerate gambling and drinking my weight in booze every day? Check. Check. Check.

    I keep saying I'm going to do a trip out to Vegas and not go to the Strip. So far, that hasn't happened. :) I still want to stay at one of the outlying resorts and just relax and hang out by myself for a few days. Maybe Red Rock or GVR. Hit the spa, read a book., play a little VP and eat some good food.
     
  3. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,525
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    A lot of reasons. But I would say generally that I keep going to vegas because I love gambling, warm climates, and a variety of entertainment. I can see shows, eat great food, venture to the outdoors, and watch a ton of sports. Add in the fact that the trip pays for itself when I win at the tables and that is a great formula for a vacation in my book
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
  4. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2010
    Messages:
    6,477
    Location:
    Chicago South Suburbs
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    1 - To gamble and casino hop. I can gamble here but can't casino hop as easily.

    2 - Familiarity. I know my way around so it's an easy trip that requires little planning and in a place where I feel safe.

    3 - 24/7. It's fun to be up all night with access to things to do or eat.

    In the past I would have also said the low cost factor but Vegas isn't as cheap and I don't care about bargain travel as much. It's part of the reason I don't make an effort to come to Vegas as frequently as I used to .
     
  5. Franken Dean

    Franken Dean Newbie

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Messages:
    318
    Location:
    Omaha, Ne area
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    chip stack.jpg

    This is the biggest reason for my quests.
     
  6. archie1959

    archie1959 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2007
    Messages:
    2,849
    Location:
    MA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    1) Sports betting is legal and you get your cash after event is final
    2) If you need a break from gambling there is enough to do to keep you occupied
    3) A city where you may go on solo trip and really do whatever you want to do
    4) Public drinking (strip only)
     
  7. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2009
    Messages:
    16,023
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    175
    Because we are comfortable there and know most everything there is to know about Vegas that is not Strip related. 2016 will mark my 43rd year of going there and 35 for my wife. We gave up on the Strip about 18 years ago.

    We do other places. San Diego, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa and even a trip to Portland, Maine in 2014. But, Vegas is our go to place. 7 times in 2015. "FREE" food, free rooms, limo and the places we hang around downtown, every body knows our name. There is a feeling of comfort and relaxation in that.

    3 non-stops a day from to and from Milwaukee on SWA, about 3.5 hours.

    Plus, we enjoy gambling and drinking. We did the shows decades ago, but no longer have any desire. The music is too loud. When we lived in Vegas, we saw a lot of shows, but in the end I needed earplugs because it was too loud. Damn, that sounds old, but it is the truth. We still occasionally will go see a good stand up comedian, but that's about it.

    I keep meticulous records and a 4 night trip to one of the other cities, where we have to pay for everything, costs about the same as a losing Vegas trip.

    If SWA ever stopped the non-stops, then maybe we wouldn't go at all.
     
  8. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2010
    Messages:
    4,212
    Location:
    Houston by way of Philadelphia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    A lot of the reasons listed here I share with all of you.

    When someone gasps "you're going to Vegas...AGAIN?!" I like to turn it back around on them. Some may like fishing expeditions, some may enjoy sightseeing and shopping. Every hobby costs money in some way and rather than dumping $xxxx on a fishing trip to Alaska or Costa Rica I enjoy going to Vegas. Gambling is budgeted for and if I lose then no skin off my nose. But the cool thing is my hobby allows me to win money.

    Craps rolls
    Hot tables
    Sports betting
    Great food
    Four/five star hotels reasonably priced
    Decently priced airfare and only a 3hr flight

    Even with the craziness of Vegas a scaled back relaxing time can be had there.

    So while I do enjoy seeing other places Vegas is my comfort zone.
     
  9. Firedew

    Firedew Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2014
    Messages:
    146
    Location:
    MN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    I just read the 1st post to wife and she nodded, agreed and asked if that was my post. Lol
    Obviously agree completely, 5 trips last year and just got back last weekend.
     
  10. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Messages:
    8,196
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    Almost everyone voiced comfort zone and doing what they love to do. Same here. I like to casino hop, something you can't do in most other destinations besides A.C.

    The draw of Vegas to me is still gambling. Vegas is evolving into night clubs, fancy restaurants, spas, shopping, and pool parties. Those things are nice and I do indulge in some of them but I go to gamble.
     
  11. Lovegas95

    Lovegas95 Too much work...need more play.

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2009
    Messages:
    805
    Location:
    East Side
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    31
    I'm Lovegas 95 and I'm a Vegasoholic (trademark pending) :). All of the above. I like these "Love Vegas" threads. We,VMBers, love this board and love Vegas. Upon discovery of this forum and the many like-minded souls who obsessively plan future trips before the one we're on finishes, we get it. We simply love this town and all it offers! So, win or lose, long-haul or limo, Cosmo or Circus Circus we understand and do Vegas for all the aforementioned reasons and then some. I identify.

    https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?126961-Some-People-Just-Don-t-Understand
     
  12. RealSolGlow

    RealSolGlow MIA

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2015
    Messages:
    437
    Location:
    The Motor City
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    8
    The escorts. Definitely the escorts.

    In all seriousness it's to get a break away from reality and Vegas is the city you can literally do every single thing you want to do in one trip that you could ever imagine doing.

    I went in January of last year for the first time and spent some time at Fatburger. When I went back in December the bartender remembered me and said "you were here in January" and proceeded to give me tall glasses of bud light for $7 instead of the price of $10.

    It's customer service like that you can't really find anywhere else.

    Oh, and the gambling doesn't hurt either.
     
  13. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2006
    Messages:
    2,442
    Location:
    Southern Ontario
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Because it is magic.
    I can gamble in a million other places but none of them hold a candle to Vegas.
    When the planes lands and I look out over the city...I literally feel like I am coming home.
     
  14. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2003
    Messages:
    29,787
    Location:
    A nice place
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    110
    Ours was more "did" than "do," with close to 100 trips from the mid-late '90s to about 2010. Proximity -- 3-plus hours driving -- the newness and then the comfortable sameness, gambling, friends, and I was doing a lot of work on town at that time. That August 2010 trip was kinda an end game, as it turns out, and I've only been back a handful of times -- 5, 7, not sure, really -- for trades show or driving through to somewhere else and putting in for a short spell, though since meeting VegasBJ and shifter -- both now gone from here, sadly -- I'm good again for a trip or two a year to hang with them.

    And you can kinda flop the whys for why nots -- It's a pain in the ass to drive or fly there, now, gambling isn't what it once was, our friends moved, my professional outlets have changed, our interests are different, and we've never really looked at travel as a zero-sum game, anyway.

    We still thoroughly enjoy Vegas, it's just different now.
     
  15. Geogran

    Geogran VIP Whale

    Joined:
    May 1, 2014
    Messages:
    6,271
    Location:
    TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    56
    Where else on earth can you go on vacation with any kind of chance (regardless of the odds) of returning home with some, all, or more money than you left with? Not that any of that matters much to us - we go cause we love Vegas.

    We have traveled, visited, and done almost every single thing we were even remotely interested in doing; with our kids, grandkids, friends and other family members - domestic and foreign, plane, train, ship, and automobile, camping, fishing, hiking, cultural and historic, Disney, Disney, and more Disney with the grandkids and everything in between. But nothing has the draw that Vegas has for us. Our grown kids are totally cool with our Vegas thing - happy to see us having such fun together - and teasing us cause at home we are the conservative, sensible, no nonsense, buttoned down and doting Grandma and Grandpa. Before the grandkids arrived, we had taken our two married daughters and their husbands to Vegas twice - they not only had a blast - they wanted to spend way much more time doing stuff with us than we wanted to spend with them, haha!!

    Viva!
     
  16. cjohnson202

    cjohnson202 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2013
    Messages:
    1,222
    Location:
    Toronto
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    22
    My reasons exactly. Also the comp'd hotel rooms and F&B doesn't hurt either. I feel better about losing my money when I know i'm in a way paying for my room and some food.
     
  17. WDMJB

    WDMJB Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2014
    Messages:
    375
    Location:
    Kaka’ako
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    45
    Yes to all 5! It's like coming home when we get off the plane.
     
  18. DRPinVA

    DRPinVA Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2008
    Messages:
    349
    Location:
    Small town Virginia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    27
    It's a question I've asked myself many times. Oddly enough, beginning with about my 12th trip, each trip as I leave, I look out the plane window and think to myself..."I think that's it, I've been here enough, I've had it with Vegas/gambling"... And then I get home and about 2 weeks later I start thinking, "I can't wait to get back to Vegas, boy do I miss it"... For me, it's definitely the comfort level. I'm pretty introverted and Vegas is one of the few places that I find I don't feel uncomfortable in most any situation there. There's also that allure of the "free" room...gettin' something for 'nothin'... but in the end, I guess it's the 24/7-ness of it, and the gambling.
     
  19. seviay

    seviay High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2011
    Messages:
    814
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Holy hell. Please tell me there's a trip report for this (too lazy to look right now)
     
  20. SDSteve

    SDSteve Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2013
    Messages:
    161
    Location:
    San Diego
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    Nice response! Cheers!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.