Expensive Las Vegas Purchases Go Viral, Stories Are Mind-Boggling

Fresh off Las Vegas food prices going viral, we’re going back to the well for more money stories in Sin City.

As OutKick readers know, I’m a big fan of Vegas. It’s a city full of fun, cold drinks, blackjack, sports gambling and absolutely fascinating people. I seem to find new kinds of chaos every single time I go.

You can read all about my latest trip here.

Expensive Las Vegas purchases go viral.

We recently had a story go viral blow up of insane mini fridge prices in Vegas, and people are now pouring out stories of expensive purchases in the city.

Check out some stories from the fascinating viral Reddit thread, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com:

• I hit pretty big on slots and spent it all on an extremely overpriced designer hoodie that I wanted for a while.
• I was in town for a conference last year, and the day before my flight out there, I decided to drop $800 on a ticket to see U2 at Sphere for the midweek show. When U2 was the biggest band in the world, I was always a much bigger R.E.M. fan, and I never had the resources to see U2 during their massive tours. I figured I’d try to catch some of what I missed back then and found one of the better seats available on StubHub (section 104 on in the seat at the edge closest to the middle section 105 and about 8-10 rows up, IIRC…I wasn’t stuck under the overhang at all). The show as a whole blew me away, and I have no regrets with having spent that amount on the ticket…I’d gladly pay more if I could guarantee having such a great experience again. If Tool, NIN, or Muse ends up playing there, I’m ready to pay through the nose for those. Tame Impala would be another great one.
• Cosmo wrap around suite with a fountain view for my Mom’s 70th bday.
• I have a lot more trips to take but currently it’s paying 1k for the dinner é dinner by Jose Andres. Absolutely worth it. One of the best dining experiences to date as it felt like a personal 3 star Michelin experience.
• $1,000 for dinner seems totally insane to me
• Gordon Ramsay’s Steakhouse at the Paris. Went with my Mom for dinner and had the pleasure of not only meeting Gordon, he was also kind enough to bring me in to the back of the kitchen and take a photo with me. The dinner was already worth every penny let alone that.
• I took a stripper back to the hotel and then passed out and she grabbed about $1300 in cash and left. She did tuck me in though and take my shoes off.
• $200 at Hell’s Kitchen back when it first opened. My brother and I each got a 3 course meal. It was fantastic. The next morning I won $260 at Caesars on a $20 bet so really it was like I spent nothing at all.
• I rented a nice convertible BMW and drove out to Red Rock Canyon for the day with a couple friends
• I spent $180 on dinner for myself. While I under that’s low by a lot of options, $180 on a meal is one of the stupidest things I’ve overpaid for. 2 hours later I was hungry.
• Shadow Creek. Worth every penny.
• Tickets to Adele. It was awesome and worth every penny.
• My sister came to town and we saw Elton John at the Thomas and Mack. It was her idea. This was during the mid ’80s. I forget how much I paid. But I’m very glad I went along with it. That was the only time she visited me in Las Vegas and the only time I ever went to a concert with her.
• My spouse went to the bar at Wet Republic for another round. He wasn’t listening to the bartender who was likely intentionally trying to upsell. He forgot what I had asked him for. And then, he didn’t want a confrontation so just nodded along. $150cad later we had two margaritas. I was CHOKED, but tried to make the best of it – at least they were in cool containers we could reuse and take home. A souvenir! Then while I was carrying our clothes and bags, he left them on the moving sidewalk on our way back to the hotel.
• Kylie Minogue at Voltaire. I think it was $800 for a table and then you had a similar minimum spend but just such an experience. Felt like a private party.
• Tomahawk Steak
• I think just my total restaurant outings on one trip….Joel Robuchon, L’Atelier by Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, é by Jose Andres, Michael Mina, Prime Steakhouse, Le Cirque, Nomad Library, with a little sprinkling in between of Hell’s Kitchen, Bardot Brasserie, Bouchon, Tableau, Primrose, Jardin, and Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Thank goodness for all that walking in Vegas…..we didn’t ride share anywhere! Stayed at Vdara and walked to every location….even Wynn for breakfast twice!
• I hit my collections goal a few years back so a colleague of mine and I spent $1200 on dinner at SW. Worth it. Was sitting next to a guy who is in for $250k on a basketball game.
• $200 on a pair of PJS from the gift shop at the Bellagio but they are GORGEOUS!

I honestly can say that even as a Vegas guy, I don’t think I’ve ever really blown money on any specific thing. I’ve done one super nice steak dinner that was a few hundred dollars a person, and I’ve played high limit blackjack a couple times

The steak dinner was worth it for just the experience, and I won at blackjack both times. I have nothing to complain about.

As I talked about in the piece about food prices in Las Vegas, you also just kind of have to expect the nature of the beast.

Make smart decisions and your money will go a lot farther.

Do you have a fun Las Vegas story? Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. I love hearing them.