Yea, I've had a few great meals and many many cocktails as a result of Keith's action at the Crap tables. A couple of times those "free" meals were pretty expensive, but if you are a high or mid stakes gambler, you should expect a comped meal at least.
And ..... Yea! It looks like DOC knows how to live the life while in LV. He went the expensive route and enjoyed the best that Vegas offers, but let me hit him back a bit in what he passed to each of us.
Bellagio Buffet at $40! I've eaten here for a bit less so Doc must have fine dined here on a busy weekend. I'm one of those old Las Vegas farts who firmly believes that buffets are supposed to be cheap places to have lots of food and that the casino feeds you well and cheap in order to get you inside to do some gambling. Bugsy offered a great buffet for $1.29 and filled the place every meal. So to me, it's kind of like an old tradition; and once a casino charges anything over what I call "cheap", that old time tradition goes out the casino window. (Never seen one of those I bet!) Those old traditional cheap buffets are slowing disappearing from the Las Vegas life-style.
There used to be an old saying in LV, "It was the buffets, that built this town!". But now I sort of think that the current buffets may be in the process of tearing it down!
S0 I most often pass on the Bellagio Buffet and other less traditional and look for someplace a lot less expensive and a hell of a lot better.
And for the best and cheapest sushi and fish you gotta drive out to one of the shopping centers in Henderson and plunk down your $12 for the best damn sushi buffet I've even eaten no matter what the price. If you want to know the name of this place, you have to ask ONLY ME. I forget the name, but it's a steal of a great meal. (One catch - The $12 deal is only offered during certain hours like 3 to 5 PM, but even at $20, it's one hell of a bargain.)
Mandalay Bay buffets at $20+ are a bit on the high side also but worth the price if you are staying in that hotel and don't want to leave it for a better meal with one exception .... Charlie Palmer's is right downstairs in the Four Season's section and one fine hell of a fine dining spot. Not cheap at all but excellent.
And Doc chose two of the better night spots with Blush and Tryst. I've been in Tryst but never as a paying customer so I have no idea what it costs to spend an evening in either one of those night-spots, but I would guess that a bottled beer would set you back $10 and a shot of Tequila about $12. I have a good friend who hangs at those high end night clubs and he says that a $1,000+ tab in not uncommon when he has a couple of guests and meets some attractive ladies while his wife is on the other side of the dance floor.
Someone mention "Rhino"?! That's a "gentlemen's club" and although I can't refer to Rhino as a "rip-off", I can attest to a number of other so called LV clubs that had their hands in numerous wallets. I asked a friend of mine who is a doorman at a "gentleman's club" if someone could enjoy the club with about $100 in his pocket. "That's the minimun for a short say!", was his reply.
REMEMBER THIS - Las Vegas was built on comps! Never fail to ask anyone who works in Sin City or anyone who knows Sin City if any sort of comp is available. Comps for meals! Comps for night spots! Comps for sex! Comps for rooms! Comps for free gambling money! Free otel room upgrades! Free drinks!! ..... But you gotta remember to TIP those who give you comps. A fiver here and a fiver there does wonders! Oners are good too!
If anyone gives you a strange look for your comp inquiry, they are definitely new in town.