I’ve never been to a big tournament before. This summer, I hope to make it to a couple small ones, but my biggest goal is a major tourney. Likely, that would be UFGT7 in Chicago. I did the math, and it would be relatively cheap for a friend and myself to take a train there from Minnesota (both of us are car-less college students), hotel rooms aren’t too pricey, and whatnot. But now that the Evo games list just got revealed, it got me thinking, going to Evo on a budget–how does one make that work? Just wondering if people had any tips and tricks for someone without a ton of money to spend going to the grandest stage of them all.
Well if you want to go to Vegas but don’t have that much money, all you have to do is avoid gambling and only spend money on necessities. that’s it. Pay for:
-Transportation to and from Evo (i’m flying so it’s like 300 bux round trip :/)
-Registration (50 + 10*[numberofgamesyouenter])
-Food and drank (it’s expensive in Vegas, I’m bringing a fuckton of canned food, but plan on spending at least 10 bucks a meal)
-Lodging (for 4 people living in a 2 bed hotel room it comes out to $25/night/person)
and spend your money on ONLY that
People have gone to EVO on much less than that, too. it really depends on how comfortable you want your experience to be :3
Food is what most of my friends are saying would get me. They know I can’t resist the temptation of a buffet…which is the exact reason why i wouldn’t want to go alone, someone needs to keep me in check. I probably would stock up on canned food or something of the sort, not too luxurious, but whatever. Lodging I think would potentially be my caution spot. Two people is–what–$50 a night? That’s actually not too bad, but of course I’d take any opportunity to lower the price. I need to see if any of my friends are willing to make the trip. That seems to be the tricky part, one guy is going to Germany to visit his girlfriend, and the other few guys wouldn’t surprise me if they ducked out at the last moment…blah.
Evo is being held at the rio, so just check prices. The hotel like right across the street (The Golden Something) is cheaper as well.
Holy hell, the Gold Cost is MUCH cheaper! O_o It’d be cheaper for me to stay there by myself than at the Rio with a friend. Crazy.
It’s not advocated by the Evo staff but the Gold Coast is much cheaper and that’s where they will be getting their backup rooms if the Rio get’s filled to capacity. It’s literally right across the street and I’m pretty sure there won’t be any events such as the President staying in the hotel to stop people from coming in.
Depends on how much you’re looking to spend in the long run.
$300 for round trip is good. But if I’m budgeting money, I don’t worry about the plane because that’s not money I would spend while I were actually in Vegas(before I moved here).
Stuff I did:
Go to a CVS/Walgreens, and buy the stuff you need. There’s a bunch of them on the strip, unfortunately the Rio is off strip but if you’re out with friends of whatever,make a trip there. IIRC you can get a 12 or 24 pack of bottled water for around 4 - 5 dollars. Then just get a bucket of ice and keep some bottles in it for a hour or so and you’re good to go. If you leave your room, write a note for the room service to “PLEASE DO NOT EMPTY THE ICE BUCKET” they’ll leave it alone.
Pizza places can and will deliver to your hotel room, and most rooms have a fridge so if you can order a pizza and you room with 2 - 3 people, that’s lunch for like 2 days roughly.
Know how much you wanna spend on food and stick to it.
Know what you plan to do for the weekend as far as entertainment and try to budget that.
Everything else you kinda have to play by ear.
Me and 2 other guys drove from Michigan last year and it ended up about $375 a person, including registration, gas, hotel, and food. You just have to be cheap as hell. We drove straight there, with only stops for food and gas, sleeping in shifts. I made sandwiches prior to going so I could save money and ate the cheapest food available (McDonald’s mostly). We stayed at the Imperial Palace for 4 nights, at ~$60 a night.
Getting there will be the most expensive part by far. Splitting gas was cheaper than flying, but you said you don’t have a car. I know you can get student discounts on airfare, so look into that. Also look at trains and buses.
The expensive stuff in Vegas is obvious and should be easy to avoid. In 2009 I had about $150 for the whole weekend since I was going overseas a few days after Evo and I made it work. Just don’t eat at expensive places, don’t go gambling, don’t play a bunch of money matches, and if applicable, buy booze at liquor stores, and buy cigarettes outside of Vegas.
You guys are a life saver, thanks a lot for mentioning “The Gold Cost”. I’ve spent a few weeks now looking for a cheaper alternate to the Rio. I thought I found something I could live with, but this is much better. Problem is Evo is a long ways from now, I definitely want to go but don’t want to make any decisions too early just in case something happens like me losing my job. Do you think these rooms will still be available in the Spring(April-June) or should I just book now(or soon)? If I do book soon, can it be canceled just in my case my situation changes. Seriously I’ve never booked a room before so I’d appreciate a answer.
I know that at the RIO…any deposit is refundable up to 3 days before the day you book for.
Why not just call the hotel you plan to stay at and ask them?
Also don’t eat the snacks that are in the room.
I have learned my lesson…and it’s the RIO again.
I too have a question ok I live in michigan an not sure what the plane cost is there an back I dont really know what the total would be I was thinking 700 not sure though
Also, here’s a tip from a Vegas local: the Rio offers 50% off at the Carnival World Buffet to NV residents on Monday - Friday any meal and Sunday dinner. That cuts the price of lunch to just $8.50, and dinner to $12.50, for a great meal. How does that help non-NV residents, you ask? Well, there are a lot of LV locals that do go to Evo, so make a friend. NV residents can get up to two non-NV residents in for the discounted price. Hell, I know I’ll be eating at the buffet on Friday and probably Sunday, so if you can’t find anyone else and you are desperate, just PM me, I’ll be glad to help.
Another way to save is to use public transportation once you get here. From the Airport to the Rio, it is fairly simple -just catch RTC Routes 108 or 109 northbound from the Airport, deboard at Flamingo Road (very major street), and catch the Route 202 bus on westbound Flamingo (you can’t miss it, it’s a double-decker). All of these routes run fairly frequently and should get you to the Rio in 30 minutes to one hour, max. Purchase a two-hour pass from the first bus for $3. Do this both ways, and it’s just $6 for your total transportation while you are here. Check rtcsnv.com for more information.
Damn I didn’t know this. But I’ve only been out here a year and a half but ehh good to know. haha
Heh, no problem. I actually just went this past Wednesday. Do note though that you have to sign up for the player’s club card to get the discount, but the process is easy.
Seems expensive, I got 450s round trip tickets from LA to Florida. Just a quick search for Detroit to Las Vegas, it looks like around 350 round trip. Just use Orbitz and see what you get.
Don’t go to Palms casino a few blocks down : )
Theres gotta be cheaper food in vegas, there are some of those places that are on like travel channel and food network n stuff that got cheap stuff. Just gotta look for em. Google something like “Cheap places to eat in vegas”