- How much did you win, which casinos were the best and did you claim any bonuses?
- What was the overall atmosphere in Vegas, have the prices increased since the pandemic and how much did you spend?
- Did you notice any AI technology or digitalization while in Vegas? How about cashless casinos?
- How was the overall trip?
Earlier this year, BonusFinder, America’s leading casino bonus and online casino review site, opened entries for a role that would allow one lucky card-sharp and their plus one to travel to Vegas with $1,000 of gambling money in their pocket.
After trying their luck in some of the most famous casinos in the world, we asked our Blackjack Tester, Jake Nelms, to share their experiences and insights on the state of gambling and tourism in Las Vegas in 2025.
Read on to find out what our Blackjack Tester had to say about the industry’s most trending issues, including the digitalization of casinos, Vegas’ increased prices and decreased footfall, and of course, which casinos were their favorites to play at.
The best Las Vegas casinos and their bonuses
What Las Vegas casino did you make the most money and which did you make the least? How much did you make/lose in total?
Yes, so we actually bet $100 at as many casinos as possible. So using that logic, the places we lost the most is where we lost $100. We lost $100 at Caesars Palace and the LINQ, and we won – using that system – $90 at Planet Hollywood, so that was our best casino in our standard system.
What variations of blackjack did you play?
So, we stuck to mostly regular blackjack. We tried to pick out as many tables as we could that had 3:2 odds but it was really hard to find them on the Strip and we had better luck downtown. Other than that, we played free bet blackjack which was a lot of fun. But, mostly (we played) regular blackjack.
As a blackjack tester, where was the best casino and why?
As far as pure blackjack goes, for us, I think we had the most fun at Treasure Island. It had really good odds and the limits were lower and there were a lot of blackjack tables that were a lot of fun to play at. Other than that, we had a lot of fun at Excalibur ’cause we got to play $5 blackjack, which on the Strip, I feel like, is dying. But we had a lot of fun there. And then other than that, we had a lot of fun at Paris. We really liked the casino. The limits were high, but it was a lot of fun to play at.
Which casino was the most fun to play blackjack at and why?
We had the most fun at the Cromwell. The dealers were our favorite by far. They made the game way more fun. It made the crowd that was playing way more happy and the general mood in the Cromwell was the most fun to play at.
Do you hit on 16? Do you hit on soft 18?
Yeah. For me, it depends on what I’m up against. I’m not going to hit a 16 against a four, or a five, or a six. Generally speaking, I will almost always hit a 16 versus a 10. A soft 18 versus a 10 is the same way for me. I’ll usually hit that just because it’s what the book says to do and I try my best to not stray away and lose as much money as possible. So, yeah, I tend to follow that pretty strictly.
Did you manage to claim any bonuses while out there? Casino Royale offers a bonus to lure you in. Did you take advantage of that or other bonuses?
We didn’t really come across any bonuses that I can remember. At least related to blackjack. There was a lot in other games, but as far as blackjack goes, we tended to stay away from them.
Downtown, there’s a lot of extra games where if you get a blackjack or something, you get to spin a wheel but it requires an extra bet – and it’s a mandatory bet. So typically I tried to stay away from those tables because I don’t think they would benefit me at all. But, I don’t think we really played through much of them at all.
How much money do you need for a weekend in Vegas
Which casino did you receive the best customer service?
The Cromwell was probably our favorite casino that we went to as far as customer service goes; the dealers were great and they kept things a lot of fun. The waitresses were always willing to come by and give drinks. We didn’t have any issues getting ID’d or any other supporting tasks. But I would say Cromwell did the best – just based on the dealers and how much fun they made it.
How was the overall feel of the Strip?
The Strip was good. It was a little lighter than I’ve seen it in previous visits. I think Vegas as a whole is kind of seeing a little bit of a dip in attendance and we kind of felt it. We went on a weekend in the middle of summer so I think it was still pretty busy and there were still a lot of people and a lot of energy around the Strip but overall, I’ve definitely seen it more crowded and that was something that was kind of missing.
Prices have increased post-COVID19 due to decreased footfall. Overall, how did you find the pricing in Vegas? Could you give us examples of the price of a cup of coffee or a sandwich?
Yeah, so the prices in Vegas… they’ve definitely increased in the amount of time that I’ve been. The first time I went to Vegas was about three years ago when I first turned 21 and I remembered it being expensive but it wasn’t crazy. This time we went, the prices had increased a lot. Just to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in the morning for me and my girlfriend, it probably cost us about $30-$40. And that was just a small representation of it. The prices were high for food pretty much everywhere and that was probably one of the biggest downsides of the trip.
How much did you spend daily in Vegas? What do you think is the best amount to bring with you to Vegas?
That’s kind of a tough question because it really depends on what you’re willing to lose. I think the amount of money that I had when I went to gamble was more than enough, and it was enough to have a lot of fun. But that’s just gambling.
I brought $1,000 to gamble, but you’re probably going to have to put aside an extra $200 a day for food, entertainment, things like that that you’re not really accounting for. Just a day in Vegas alone, I guess, I would bring about $1,200-$1,500 for a weekend. That would be my go-to.
What was the single most expensive part of your journey?
For us, I would say – just by itself – it was the flight. Everything in Vegas, it’s kind of, you know, a death by a thousand cuts – where there’s a lot of small to medium expenses. Even our hotel wasn’t all that expensive. And you know, you don’t have to gamble when you go to Vegas, which was our biggest expense. But the flight there was probably about $800, which – for us – was pretty expensive. So I would say that was definitely our biggest expense.
AI in Las Vegas
MGM Resorts has been working on becoming more digital. Did you notice this?
Yeah and I think it was becoming more apparent across the Strip, not just MGM. Caesars too had a lot more machines that were automated: less dealers, less in-person tables and games. I think that caters to a certain audience like myself with the lower limits, but I do have a lot of fun at the tables and so seeing some of the lower minimum tables go away in favor of these automated games is a little disappointing.
Did you spot any RNG blackjack machines in any of the casinos and what are your thoughts on land-based casinos going more digital?
Yeah, we saw a lot of computer-based blackjack. I personally didn’t play them, mostly because I’m a skeptic and I don’t always trust the computer as the deck. It didn’t make me win it or lose any more, I don’t think, but I definitely tried to stray away from them. Vegas, entirely, was kind of going more digital. We saw every single game, from blackjack, to craps, to roulette all had electronic betting machines but I tried to stick at the tables.
Which casinos were more advanced digitally? Did you find any casinos that were cashless and operated via digital payment systems?
I don’t know if we really came across anything like that. I guess I stick to how I’ve always done it and I’ve never really seen anything that was cashless. Everything I did was managed in cash and chips, other than games like slot machines, or maybe like a bubble craps kind of game. But everything that I did, I quickly swapped out for cash after.
Did you notice any AI technology in Vegas? Or did most casinos tend to be manned by dealers on all machines? Any games in particular that were more digital than manned, craps for example?
Yeah, so we mostly played blackjack with a dealer in-person, but I do think that it’s becoming more common to have a computer instead. Especially with craps. Craps is a fun game to play in-person and personally we didn’t get to play any of the other variations, but we definitely did see a lot more automated craps and automated roulette and a lot less tables.
One of the examples I’ll give is in the Downtown Grand. It used to have a lot more tables and it was one of my favorite casinos because of the limits and the odds that you got. But these days they’ve removed a lot of the table games in favor of some of those automated machines which, for me, was a little bit disappointing.
Overall experience
What was your favorite part of the trip? Would you like to tell us a funny story from your trip?
We had a lot of fun on our second night there. We went and saw Mystère and went to a nice dinner. But the next day was probably the most fun because we went downtown and downtown is the most fun, generally speaking, to gamble at, in my opinion. But we were sitting at a roulette table and we saw a bunch of bro-dude type of people and one of them looked at my girlfriend and asked her what her name is and what her favorite number is.
I’m not usually a big roulette player but one of my friends had me put some money down and so my girlfriend says “10, that’s my favorite”. And I’m putting my money down and my buddy said that I had to bet on black. So I bet it on black and looked at the 10 and the 10 was a black number. So I put, I don’t know, about $10 on and around 10 and so I’m putting money down and it hits and everyone at the table is going crazy and all of the sudden my girlfriend is the favorite person at the table and the guy looked at her and asked “Are you single?” and I thought that was pretty funny.
What was the best non-gambling part of the trip? Do you have any regrets?
We had a lot of fun going to dinner and the show. I don’t have any regrets because I think it’s really important – especially in Vegas – to get away from the games and the tables and the casinos and go enjoy some of the nightlife and the shows. The food is great. We had a blast watching the Mystère at Treasure Island and we had dinner at LAVO in the Palazzo. Both of those things were a lot of fun. It was really good to get away from the constant gambling and just enjoy a night out.
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