Beau Rivage Christmas VP Vacation

[Waiting4RF]

" $279 is the everyday Monday thru Thursday price for a basic room at the Beau Rivage. "

Looking at their web page, the price is $79 per night for 5 nights starting Jan 6. The price probably was $279 during the holiday. Weekends and holidays are always expensive at casinos. Your room was comped so it didn't cost anything during the holiday. That was a smart play.

[FloridaPhil]

Your room was comped so it didn't cost anything during the holiday. That was a smart play.

To get the best dates, we book our trips months in advance. If you want to get the best value from your VP play, you must become familiar with the offers your casinos make available and how best to take advantage of them. Free play is a good example. Our casinos have random bonus free play offers through out each month. By playing on those days, you can easily double your free play. We have stacks of Players cards. The room offers we get from MGM can normally be used all across the country. It never hurts to ask and they do all they can to keep us as customers.

Casinos that offer profitable quarter VP games are not going to shower us with comps or fly us around the country for free. We are aware casinos make money on our play. We enjoy playing their games and their hospitality, so it works for both of us. So far, the offers have continued and we have continued to use them. There is nothing a casino could offer us to entice us to play VP any bigger.

We enjoy playing VP for the experience. My wife likes to sleep in. I like walking into the casino alone at 5 AM with no one around. I listen to the music, drink coffee, breath clean air and enjoy playing the game without worrying about how much money I may lose. During the day, we like playing side by side. As much as I like hitting a jackpot, I enjoy watching my wife hit one more. We both worked hard all our lives and VP is one thing we can both enjoy together in retirement. When it's all over, the money we have in the bank is worthless. The only thing that matters is how we feel about our lives and the people we have around us.

[FAA]

No wonder I haven't been showered by AC casinos! Great odds, low coin in.

[FloridaPhil]

No wonder I haven't been showered by AC casinos! Great odds, low coin in.

Great odds. Great comps. Low coin in? You can have two out of three. Take your pick.

[FAA]

Yes, just kidding. I long ago reconciled myself to poor comps. I'm basically a weekend warrior.

[onemoretry]

All in all, considering the value of what you received, I would say your trip turned out acceptably well for the $600 casino loss plus gas costs you incurred. Naturally, we always want to come out ahead any time we visit a casino, but we all know that just does not happen.

How long of a drive was that for you, and did you do it in one day?

[FloridaPhil]

How long of a drive was that for you, and did you do it in one day?

We live about 30 miles northeast of Orlando. Normally it takes us about 9 hours to drive to Biloxi one way. We leave about 7 AM and arrive at the Beau Rivage about 3 PM their time. No traffic on the way there on Christmas Eve. Lots of traffic on the way back last Thursday. Years ago we would make this trip 4-6 times each year. Now, we try to do it at least once. Since Florida put in casino gambling, there is no need to drive to Mississippi unless it's a vacation. The Florida odds are better and there are no State taxes.

The Beau Rivage is a wonderful hotel. It's like a mini Billagio on the water. They will offer you all kinds of deals to get you to stay there. Like most casinos these days, the quarter odds are in the 96-97% range. If all they had to offer was gambling, we wouldn't play there. The quality of the hotel and the experience itself make it worth a trip as long as you control your losses. I have never won anything in one of their slot machines. They are a bottomless pit of misery.

[FAA]

Experience is the best teacher. You two must avoid their slots like they're radioactive.