Students
escape to Vegas
By Cassady Jeremias
On-line Forty-Niner
Being
landlocked and broke may not be as bad as
it sounds for Spring Break, especially if
you do it in Las Vegas.
“The Meadows,” as it translates from Spanish,
is known for glitz, glamour and a million
ways to part people with their money. The
city has been attracting gamblers since
1931 when Clark County, Nevada legalized
gambling as a way to make money off the
tax revenue. If you are willing to look,
Sin City can be affordable even for the
debt-ridden college student.
One way to save in this city that drains
money like a mid-year tuition increase is
on lodging. The Gold Spike, a hotel and
casino on Las Vegas Boulevard and Ogden,
offers rooms for $25 weekdays and $33 on
weekends. The Western has rooms starting
at just $19.62. From there, it is about
a $10 cab ride to the Strip from Downtown,
or for the super budget student, a $2 bus
ride.
The tiny run down hotels near the Strip
that look cheap, may not actually be a bargain.
Because of their location, close to the
action, they can charge more for a hard
bed in a run down place than a bigger casino
does for a fancier room.
Ninety percent of the people who come to
Las Vegas gamble, and if you look, there
are even ways to lose money cheaply, or
at least lessen your losses.
According to Wells Gaming Research out of
Reno, Nevada, the average tourist spent
four days in Las Vegas last year, with a
gambling budget of about $500. The college
student is probably on the bottom end of
that average.
Budgets of $20 can actually last hours even
playing table games, provided you have great
luck, or a low minimum. El Cortez
Casino just around the corner on Fremont
Street from the Gold Spike offers $1 craps.
Here, dealers even warn customers about
the perils of the surrounding neighborhood,
and stale cigarette smoke is still lingering
in the air from the 1940’s.
The Sahara Casino and Hotel is a bit closer
to the strip, and always has $1 blackjack
tables and craps table minimums between
$1 and $3. If all you have is pocket change
and slots are not producing, Casino Royal
has a 25-cent minimum for roulette, as does
El Cortez.
Southwest Airlines has a few tickets left
in their promotional offer for $19 each
way, a good option as a 275-mile car ride
lately could cost about $60 round trip.
For spring breakers who have really had
it with school, the owner at National Academy
for Casino Dealers in Las Vegas, Joel Aronstein
will make you a professional dealer in two
weekends. Most dealer schools graduate students
in about four weeks, but in his crash course
for $349, he will teach a private blackjack
class on two consecutive Friday, Saturdays
and Sundays.
When you graduate, he said you could easily
find a job in Las Vegas dealing cards, and
make Vegas on a budget a permanent experiment.
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