Free concerts

August 14, 2008 | 10:26 am

I don't often write about casino promotions. This is especially true for casinos that are not in Vegas. But this is a really good promotion. Terrible's Primm Valley Casino Resort is offering 500 free tickets to all their upcoming concerts, and not just one ticket per customer so that you have to go alone unless you buy another ticket. And not a free ticket if you buy a room at the resort. There truly does not seem to be any catch with this promotion. I went through here and was able to quickly line up two free seats to Liza Minnelli this Saturday with no hassle, though I did not complete the transaction. The show I am interested in actually driving out there to see, Brian Wilson, does not yet have the 500 allotment of free tickets available on line, though a notes says those tickets are coming soon.

Terrible's Primm Valley is on Interstate 15 on the Nevada side of the state line with California.

Here are the upcoming concerts:

8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 Liza Minnelli

8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 Hootie & the Blowfish

8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30 Bill Cosby

8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 Brian Wilson

8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 Al Green

8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 Foreigner

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 Beach Boys

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 Wynonna

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton

8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 Patti LaBelle

8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 Lee Ann Womak

8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 Dwight Yoakum

8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 Three Dog Night and Herman’s Hermits

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Don't eat poker chips!

November 14, 2007 | 9:46 am

Do you need more evidence that Vegas is a town for adults?

Actually, who would think poker chips could be as dangerous as some children's toy from China? But apparently there may be lead in the chips made by one of the major manufactures of poker chips in the world.

This manufacturer, Gaming Partners International, is based in Vegas. The Southern Nevada Health District is looking into the exact risk, but according to this story already warns that children should not put poker chips in their mouths and eat them.

The same story reveals that MGM-Mirage uses chips by this manufacturer and other resorts in Vegas surely do as well. There is no risk at all reported from regular handling, close and prolonged contact or playing with these poker chips; but if you ever thought of eating your chips or feeding them to your pets, think again.

Also, and seriously, until this is sorted out, if you returned from a Vegas vacation with some poker chips as souvenirs, you might want to be prudent and make sure that they are kept where kids can't get at them.

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Airport to Strip: avoid tunnel

April 16, 2007 | 10:30 am

On Saturday night I rode along with a taxi driver to report a column that I am writing for the Sunday Calendar print version of Movable Buffet. Driving a taxi in Las Vegas is different than any other city, because of the monotony of the trips. Almost everything involves driving around the Strip. And, on Saturday night, the Strip is a perpetual bumper-to-bumper rush hour, added to an obstacle course's worth of accidents, construction and closures to drive around.

Anyway, the most useful tip I picked up for you in California who fly into Vegas involves getting from the airport to the Strip via taxi. Do NOT let the taxi driver take the tunnel: insist on the surface streets. This is actually advice given to me by Ernest Ganem who has 17 years experience driving a cab in Vegas. We made three trips to the airport and as we left each time we were the only taxi who took the surface street with our passengers. On the way, Ganem pointed out to me the stream of taxis entering the tunnel. Most probably with passengers (like all of our passengers) who wanted to go to the Strip. "No matter what," Ganem says, "going to the Strip through the tunnel adds about $6 to your fare. It costs at least $20 through the tunnel. From the airport to the center of the Strip like Mirage and Caesars should be about $14-15, south end of the Strip like Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and Luxor about $12, and north Strip like Riviera and Circus Circus can run you $15-16. Traffic in rush hour, especially on Friday, can put it up a $1-2. But if they (taxis) go through the tunnel no matter what they (the customers) are ripped off."
(photo by Sarah Gerke)

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Careful What You Carry

August 11, 2006 | 2:07 pm

It occurs to me that the long list of items you are banned from bringing on a plane now are all things that casinos sell at massively inflated rates in their gift shops. So keep that in mind. You sure don't want to have to buy any suntan lotion or replacement makeup at the markup used by resorts on the Strip.

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The Naked and the Gypped

October 30, 2005 | 7:11 am

If you are a tourist taking a taxi to a topless bar don’t look to your cab driver for recommendations or as an ally. Your taxi driver is looking out for number one and as Frank Zappa knew: “Number one ain’t you; you ain’t even number two.”

Almost every major club pays taxi drivers a bounty per customer they drop off, usually around $20. $20---not coincidently---also, tends be the cover that many clubs charge per customer. See how it works. No one bothers to keep this a secret. In fact, there was a revolution in June when some hapless state lawmaker slipped language banning the practice into an unrelated law. Cabbies staged a protest that tied up traffic on the Strip and when the cabbies threatened to strike the governor quickly vowed to veto the bill. Still, victory wasn’t enough, 300 cabbies signed a petition demanding an investigation as to how the provision made it into the bill in the first place.

Success seems to have made the taxi drivers even more brazen; now it is being reported that drivers are demanding that topless bars pay bounties as high $90 a customer. This, of course, means more expensive drinks and eventually higher cover charges for you. But I tell tourists that you can fight back! Zoning is your friend. The tourist corridor of topless bars is set around Industrial Avenue adjacent to the Strip. It is an area with lots of auto repair shops, strip malls, empty lots and plenty of deserted looking buildings. In short, it is the middle of nowhere. But remember you are the boss and you have every right to demand, for example, that your taxi cab driver take you to the closed strip mall across the street from Cheetahs. My bet is the driver forgives the meter if you agree to go to Cheetahs.