Anthony Curtis is the main man behind The Las Vegas Advisor, your best guide to how to spend your bucks in that city. (It's also one of the few that isn't subsidized by hotel advertising, so they actually review things.) Most of the LVA site requires a subscription but if you go to Vegas, it's probably worth it. In the meantime, you can read this article on another site. In it, Mr. Curtis describes how a couple can have a terrific three-day vacation in Vegas, complete with an awful lot of cheap alcohol, for a little under $500.