[vpFREE] Re: Poll suggestion

On 18 Feb 2008 at 22:53, xxxent wrote:

> I didn't find this in the polls and I'd be interested in seeing the
> results especially after the extreme feelings in the smoking debate.
> What is the average age of VPFree members?

2002 vpFREE Poll - Age Survey:

http://members.cox.net/vpfree/P_DOB.htm

<a href="http://members.cox.net/vpfree/P_DOB.htm">
http://members.cox.net/vpfree/P_DOB.htm</a>

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Y! Sports for TV

Access it for free

Get Fantasy Sports

stats on your TV.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Need traffic?

Drive customers

With search ads

on Yahoo!

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] xvp - Gourmet eating in Vegas

We've been fortunate to eat at many gourmet restaurants in Vegas. Here are
a few notes/tips:

Venetian -
B&B Ristorante (Italian) - fantastic "pasta" tasting menu. Delicious.
They have pasta appetizers too you can try. There is a non-pasta tasting
menu. About $100 per person for the tasting menu.
Morales - Excellent steakhouse. Tender steaks.
Tao - Good sushi. Some excellent appetizers - a bit different from the
usual.
Aquaknox

Venetian Shop Area - Zefferinis (I may be misspelling this) 2 story Italian
restaurant.
Just had the Sunday gourmet brunch $55 per person. Lobster chewy! You
must ask for lobster and oysters - they are not out for the brunch buffet but
included in the price. Mimosas, bilinis, bloody mary, champagne included in
price. I thought it was so-so for price. Much better is Ballys Sterling
Brunch for price.
Also had previous meal there - so-so.

Bally's Sterling Brunch (in Steakhouse)- Excellent caviar included in price
of about $60-65 plus tax. Try it on the lobster! Lobster is halved and
good. Includes champagne. Salads could be improved, but they have lots of good
main dishes. Service tip-top, and they will bring you caviar with the
fixings if you ask. Excellent sushi included, also saki!

Bally's Asia - Good Chinese but not super, but menu has changed recently.
Remember, prices are gourmet.

Bally's Steakhouse & Paris Steakhouse. Paris is a bit better. But watch
out for nuts in the muffins/rolls. My husband broke a tooth.

Paris Eiffel Tower Restaurant - nice view. Good gourmet fare.

Palms
N9ne Steakhouse - I found food so-so. Very noisy!
Alize - Excellent French. Fantastic view. Never had a bad meal there.
This is the one I'd go to over N9ne any day.
Little Buddah - a bit cheaper - almost non-gourmet. But they have GREAT
Sushi. I think it is the freshest and best in town. Everyone always loves
their food - it isn't really Chinese, not quite normal "asian" but good. Try
the Chinese Chicken Salad - almost a meal so 2 people may want to split is as
an appetizer. Good seafood dishes.

Bellagio
Excellent restaurants here. Try Picasso's Price Fixed Menu - about $100
per person without booze. One of the best meals we ever had. Beautiful view
of the lake.

Wynn
Great restaurants here too.
SW Steakhouse - We had a great meal there. Lovely view of lake.
Wing Lei - Chinese - really gourmet. We loved the price fixed "Peking
Duck" meal - about $125 per person if I remember right, maybe $99 without win,
$150 with? I can't remember because we got the wine with it and it was
delightful! Nice decor too.
Okada - We love this Japanese place. The decor is awesome with great
view of pond and waterfall. In summer they may open the doors to the outside.
My friends said it was the best restaurant they ever ate at. Good sushi.
They also have a Teppanyaki area (like Benihana) - good but we liked Benihana's
better.

Caesar's Palace
Nero's Steakhouse - I found it so-so.
Hyakumi - Japanese - I found sushi so-so. They also have Teppanyaki, it
was good but again I preferred Benihana's - you might not.
808 - Sometimes good, sometimes not, depending on what u choose.
Bradley Ogden - food always fresh; menu changes depending on availability
of food. Very good.
Rao's - you need a reservation - We found it overpriced and not very
good Italian.
Empress Court - Expensive but very good ordinary Chinese. We had the
Chef's special menu - about $80 per person and enjoyed it. It is up an
elevator, a bit hard to spot it, near Palace Tower.

-------------
Place I'd go back to blindfolded and let you lead me to any gourmet
restaurant in the casino: Wynn.
------------

Good luck and good eating!




**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Y! Sports for TV

Access it for free

Get Fantasy Sports

stats on your TV.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Best of Y! Groups

Check out the best

of what Yahoo!

Groups has to offer.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Re: Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas BLOG - 18 FEB 2008

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, krallison416@... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 2/18/2008 11:43:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> queenofcomps@... writes:
>
> It's my favorite veggie!
>
>
> I even love succotash :)
>
>
> Karen
> Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. -Eleanor
Roosevelt
>
>

Lima beans are a staple in the deep south. Everyone knows southerners
like black-eyed peas. But maybe everyone doesn't know that lima beans
are just as popular. But southerners call them butterbeans.

Everyone in rural Mississippi where I'm from has a garden where both
peas and butterbeans are grown every summer and canned for the winter
time. I like either with cornbread.

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

New business?

Get new customers.

List your web site

in Yahoo! Search.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Palazzo

I went to Palazzo and can confirm there are 2 different banks of $1 VP
outside the high roller area. One has about 6 machines and requires 10 coins for
the 8000$ royal. The second bank has about 10 machines, and they are 5 coin
$1 9/6. All machines have multiple types of games in them.

Also - went to see Wayne Brady - and show was excellent!! He sings, dances,
does impersonations, and does improv. Really good, high energy show. The
new little theater is nice too, with good seats for all. But if you want to
get in the show (audience members participate) or shout out suggestions, try
for front row or aisle seats.

Checked out the so-called "platinum" lounge in the High roller area.
Generally no problem to just walk in from the high roller casino. Don't walk in
through the check-in area without a "gold-key card." If you are a Gold member
and questioned, tell them you were just playing $5 machines outside and show
your card and hopefully that will work. They have sandwiches and more food
than the Venetian's "gold" lounge. Stewards can provide wine and soda. For
mixed drinks they have to order out - which can take awhile, but they will do
so if you insist (assuming they speak English - which was a problem with one
server I talked to). Newspapers and flat screen TVs inside.

**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

New web site?

Drive traffic now.

Get your business

on Yahoo! search.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] comparing cashback rates - Wynn/Palms/GC - for Vegas locals

It is getting harder and harder to figure out cashback/freeplay rates at
various Vegas casinos, what with multiple points, different mailers for
different amounts of play, etc. The following information is for people with Vegas
Local addresses. People with out-of-town addresses won't get the Gold Coast
mailers or Wynn extra cash. Instead at Wynn, they get offers for rooms,
shows, free play, and tournaments.

I just did some comparisons to try to come up with some more accurate
amounts. My math could be off here no doubt, but this is what I got based on
current rates. Note, these things change constantly, and I'm picking some amounts
of play at random, because depending on how much you play, things can also
be different. For example, with different amounts of play at the Wynn, you
get different cashback.

Here's what I come up with.

For Wynn (best VP is 9/6 JB) - VP play only - for 2000 points average over
3 months (that is $18000 coin in because it takes $9 per point at VP). [They
use a 3 month average play to determine extra locals free play.]
For the first month (you just played $18000 so it has to be divided by
3) - you get 2 $30 extra free play or .00333 free play credit, plus .001 extra
on the machine. (Free play also accumulates for everyone on each machine -
whether you are local or not).
2nd month (you've played $36,0000 coin in now - $18000 each month) - you
get $100 cashback int he month, for .005555 + .001 on the machine.
3rd month (you've now played $18000 each month) - you get $75 every
other week for a total of $150 extra. That gives you .0083333 + .001.
If you keep playing at the same level and they don't change the
promotion, you remain at that level for a total of about .00933 in free play.

That looks pretty good. The above is for VP only. I'll get to reels in a
little bit.

But look at Gold Coast. Best play is 9/6 JB or NSU. For quarter FP
machine, it takes $2 for each point instead of one.
You put through $27000 - trying to eventually have a 3 month $27,000
average so you get the "B" mailer.
First month if you play only on 3x point days. 2 months later you get a
D or E mailer - I'm not sure how much free play you get, and remember, I'm
assuming you bother to cash it each month. I'm guessing you get about $15 in
free play. Add that to the regular cashback of $27 x3 (3x point play only)
for a total of $96 in free play.
1st month - .003555
2nd month (assuming you continue to play $27000 in that month, and now
you get a C mailer - I'm not sure of C mailer, but probably you get about $40
in extra free play from the mailer).
.00448
3rd month - you now have $27000 coin in average, so you get the B
mailer, which definitely gives you $120 in extra free play plus the regular
cashback. You end up with .00744.

But let's say you only play on 7X point days at GC.
Now 1st month = .007555 by my figures
2nd month = .00848
3rd month = .01144

Now upcoming Feb. 20-24 Palms has a promotion where you can earn $6 in free
play for 1600 points at VP and 400 points at reel slots. I checked at the
booth, and maximum cashback is $500 per person. NOTE: No Machines are
Excluded! So you can play FP games on this one.
But if you play VP - your $1600 coin in only gets you .00375 in free play.

For reels at the Palms $400 coin in gets you $6 for .015 added free play.

You also have to try to compare comps, which is difficult. I'm not sure, but
I think the Palms promo lets you keep your accumulated comps. If that is
true, you'd also get $10 in comps for every $4000 put in.

At GC, that "B" mailer gets you $80 in free food plus 2 free buffets (at
least it did this month). Plus you can try asking a host for additional food
comps. I was told for every $20000 coin in, approximately, you can get a $50
food comp.

At Wynn - you get a buffet for about every 750-1000 points. But I've found
that the hosts can be very generous with comps for gourmet food and shows.
However, most of my play was reels. I do know people who played heavily in VP
only who got gourmet comps as well as buffets and shows.

The interesting thing at Wynn is that if you play reels, they are extremely
generous with extra free play. For 2500 points ($3 per point for reels) -
you put in $7500 coin in.
1st month (because they use a 3 month average) - .02666 free play + that
.001 on the machine.
(I didn't miss a zero there - that is over 2% extra!)
2nd month - .04
3rd month - .053333 (At this point you are getting $100 each week in
extra free play - for reels the extra free play is every week, not every other
week as it is for VP)

So if my analysis is correct, that Palms Feb. promotion doesn't look too
hot! Even for FP machines.
Of course Palms also sends mailers with some extra free play, based on your
play, so depending on how much you get in the mailers, my above figure is low
for them. Unfortunately Palms goes by a "daily average" so when you go back
to get your free play the next month, if you have to pick up your free play
10 times and only play once, your average is divided by 10. I've had the bad
experience of playing $30,000 through in one day on DDB, and then my average
gets wittled down to $3000, and my mailers end up $10 a week.

Some other factors may make you go crazy trying to determine where to play.
If you like to play both reels at VP, as I do, it seems that at the Wynn you
get only one extra "mailer" (via email) for the free play - whichever is
better. At GC you can play any type of machine and get the mailers and cashback,
regardless of whether you are playing reels or VP.

I'm assuming in all the above that you can and do go back and collect all
your free play. Sometimes this may be difficult, for example this month on
some mailers, the Palms had a 1 day only free play day, rather than 2 or 3 to
pick it up. If you are sick, you may miss picking up your free play. For
comps, if you get a mailer at GC or Palms, you are stuck eating when the mailer
says you have a comp.

Amounts needed to play can change at any time, so if you think you are
getting $100 in free play, it can be annoying if when you get it a month or two
later, you now get $50 because the rules changed (as happened recently with GC
mailers).

GC has the advantage of offering multiple point days, but if you find
yourself only able to play on a 1X point day, that isn't going to be too good. But
if you can hold back for a 7X or 8X day, that is great.

I've found the hosts at Palms are dismal at giving extra food comps. If you
have points in your account, they will make you use them.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge than myself can analyze the free play
for Venetian, Stations, and other places.

For Harrah's, it is impossible to figure out the benefits, for a number of
reasons. While they have definite cashback ($10 for every 4500 points I
believe which is an extremely bad .000222), you can get Visa cards, "travel
money", and other extras which can help a bit. Locals also may get extra mailers
such as play 100 points, get $100. But to get the good Visa/tournament/etc.
offers, you are much much better off with a non-local address.

Remember - above computations are for Vegas locals. That extra $ from Wynn
doesn't come to non-locals. Though they do get Free play offers of a
different sort (and I have no idea how much play triggers what sort of non-local
offer).

Also note in Wynn figures, I'm assuming 4 weeks in a month. Sometimes you
may get 5 weeks.

And if you are a higher or lower level player than the figures I've
mentioned above, your freeplay/cashback rates could be higher or lower.

**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Y! Sports for TV

Game Day Companion

Live fantasy league

& game stats on TV.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Yahoo! Groups

How-To Zone

Do-It-Yourselfers

Connect & share.

.

__,_._,___

Re: [vpFREE] Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas BLOG - 18 FEB 2008


In a message dated 2/18/2008 11:43:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
queenofcomps@cox.net writes:

It's my favorite veggie!

I even love succotash :)


Karen
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. -Eleanor Roosevelt

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

How-To Zone

on Yahoo! Groups

Find garden, home

& auto groups.

.

__,_._,___

Re: [vpFREE] Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas BLOG - 18 FEB 2008

<<Never before, in my 78+ plus years, have I heard of anyone eating lima
beans
voluntarily>>

It's my favorite veggie!

________________
Jean $¢ott
http://queenofcomps.com/

New blog taking the place of
Frugal Fridays. Go to
http://lasvegasadvisor.com/
and click on "Frugal Vegas."

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Need traffic?

Drive customers

With search ads

on Yahoo!

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Non-smoking Casino Poll

Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

John McEnroe

on Yahoo! Groups

Join him for the

10 Day Challenge.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Re: Alternative Minimum Tax

> > Do I need to keep independent records of my total coin-in, coin-out,
> and
> > jackpots, since "casino statements are not tax records"?
> You're supposed to keep a gambling diary.

As a side note, pretty much every machine has odometers, required by
Nevada law, one is coin-in, another is coin-out. When you hear a
machine ticking, it's usually the odometers that are ticking. The
odometers might be just under the top on a "flat top", where the
keylocks are, or just visible through small windows in the glass.

http://www.google.com/search?q=gambling+diary

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Y! Sports for TV

Game Day Companion

Live fantasy league

& game stats on TV.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

New web site?

Drive traffic now.

Get your business

on Yahoo! search.

.

__,_._,___

Re: [vpFREE] Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas BLOG - 18 FEB 2008



> Silverton Food

Never before, in my 78+ plus years, have I heard of anyone eating lima beans
voluntarily
>
>
>
>

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Y! Sports for TV

Game Day Companion

Live fantasy league

& game stats on TV.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

New business?

Get new customers.

List your web site

in Yahoo! Search.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas BLOG - 18 FEB 2008

Silverton Food Bargain

http://tinyurl.com/23y5hv

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/23y5hv">
http://tinyurl.com/23y5hv</a>

************************************************

This link is posted for informational purposes and doesn't
constitute an endorsement or approval of the linked article's
content by vpFREE. Any discussion of the article must be done
in accordance with vpFREE's rules and policies.

************************************************

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

New web site?

Drive traffic now.

Get your business

on Yahoo! search.

.

__,_._,___

[vpFREE] Re: gambling taxes

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Harry Porter" <harry.porter@...> wrote:
>
> > >Robert Pickett wrote:
> > >slot players are turned in for anything above $1199.99.
>
> nightoftheiguana2000 wrote:
> > Ummmm, below $1199.99 is "turned in" also. There's no W2G, but the
> > data is "turned in".
>
>
> You're not suggesting "turned in" in the sense of reported to the IRS,
> are you? (You want to explain what you mean specifically?)

Ummmm, yeah, I'm suggesting that, but I will decline to add details.
You're not suggesting that the IRS only knows about W2G and 1099 and
CTR's and other paper reportable wins?

Basically, the IRS has already done your taxes for you, whether or not
you get audited depends on the differences between their numbers and
the ones you submit ... and other factors.

__._,_.___
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Health Zone

Look your best!

Groups to help you

look & feel great.

Yahoo! Finance

It's Now Personal

Guides, news,

advice & more.

Need traffic?

Drive customers

With search ads

on Yahoo!

.

__,_._,___