Spending the summer working for far less than minimum wage meant enjoying Sin City on the cheap.

I’d been in America for six weeks, travelling around the Pacific Northwest coaching disinterested and untalented children ‘soccer’. Three nights in Las Vegas were a way of celebrating the end of my degree.

Unfortunately I hadn’t ceased to be tied to the student lifestyle so my friends and I were forced to focus our trip on frugality.

The first day and a half of this economical plan had gone off without a hitch. I’d won $50 playing poker at the Luxor and this had afforded me my subsequent losses at New York New York and the Sahara. Our second night however brought the prospect of the inevitable ‘big one’.

The plan for the cheap night relied on one thing, our British charm. Our opening gambit all summer had been “We’re English… let us in.” In Vegas, however, they couldn’t care less, five guys and no women meant a definite no-go.

 Student resourcefulness led us to Coyote Ugly, which is exactly what it sounds like, a complete replica of the New York bar in the New York New York casino.

 It is here that my memory took a brief sojourn but before it did it mustered an ill advised sentence: “Here is $20 put as much alcohol in that glass as possible… did I mention I'm from England?”

 If my night had ended with the misguided request I’d have been able to keep it cheap...

However, I began to sober up at about 6am at the poker table in the Flamingo casino. More money had definitely been spent and my luck wasn’t as good as my brother’s who won $150 before we left.

I awoke the next afternoon with remorse on my mind and three dollars in my wallet. These dollars were subsequently spent on two McChicken sandwiches and a Sprite from the 99c menu.

 This culinary choice was to become a recurring theme. My time in Vegas so far had taught me some invaluable lessons; don’t gamble drunk and be willing to eat crap food.

 The rest of the trip would rely on a habitually flawed plan, speculate to accumulate.

 I’d decided to go out in style; it was Las Vegas after all. So my last stand in face of imminent poverty would be to play poker at Vegas’ most illustrious casino, The Bellagio.

The walk up to the Bellagio is incredible, we stopped and watched the perfectly choreographed fountains dance to classical music and blue-blooded American rock and briefly I began to love the city. We were however on a mission, poker.

 The plan went well but only because of some incredibly lucky hands and the fact that my brother had implored me to quit while I was ahead.

 This undeniable luck allowed me to enjoy Vegas the following day and also to broaden my horizons a little further than the McDonald’s dollar menu.

 It was though undeniable luck that salvaged this trip.

 Therefore if you’re looking to do Vegas on the cheap here is my advice:

1. Get good at poker. (By good I mean lucky)
2. Quit whilst you’re ahead.
3. Go with a brother who wins at Roulette and doesn’t like to see his family starve.
4. Be prepared to eat McDonald’s morning, noon and night.
5. Don’t drink, then gamble.
6. Do it in style!!!