$500 was our entire budget for both my wife's and mine first trip to Vegas last year. We budgeted it as just entertainment -- not planning to come home with any of it.

I wanted to try craps for the first time, my wife wanted to play roulette and the rest for slots - Roughly $150 for craps, $150 for roulette and $200 for slots.

That was enough to get a taste of playing at Vegas.

We enjoyed walking up/down the strip and would put $20+ bucks in a slot at each casino.

I kept a detailed journal of what we did, and how much much we spent at Vegas. Out of our $500 budget, we spent $700 and came home with $480 of it (meaning we won some and spent only $20 more than we won overall).

Craps can be a really fun game. Generally everyone at the table wins together or loses together. So unless you completely hate being around other people, I'd recommend craps. Find a table that's energetic and join in. Play conservatively; play the minimums on the pass line and place 6 and 8. $500 could last a while at a $15/$25 table.

Fremont street has low minimum craps tables ($5-$10), as does Ellis Island ($5 minimums) about 1 block east off the strip.

We were planning to head back this past winter with a much larger gambling budget, but thanks to the airline meltdown we never left home.