I just got back from Evo. AMA!!!

It will vary depending on where you're coming from but my budget, for the entire experience, was about 2k and that was almost right on the money. I went a little wild in the dealers room and that put me over budget. Here's a small breakdown. I might write up a longer guide if there is interest.

-Event pass for the early bird pricing was about 90 dollars for Saturday and Sunday between ticket and processing fees. Each game you want to enter as a competitor is about 10 dollars. Personally even if you're mainly just a spectator I'd recommend entering the games you're interested in anyway. Nothing wrong with being a pot monster. -There are some additional add-ons you can buy with the ticket such as getting your gamer tag on your badge ($10), and a tshirt ($30). Up to you but personally I went all out.

-IMPORTANT: finals day is a seperate ticket purchase. Its held in the michelob ultra arena and it will fill up fast. This ticket on its own is about 106 dollars total. Finals day is worth it. Don't miss out and order early!

-Plane tickets and/or gas to drive are going to vary entirely based on where you're coming from. I live in Texas and it was just over 500 dollars to get round trip tickets with the flight cancellation plan added on in case covid hit me. I recommend getting there Thursday afternoonish and picking up your badge as early as possible. You can fly out monday whenever. Whatever you do don't get in super late thursday or early friday morning, it'll ruin the whole experience.

-I recommend doing carry on and avoiding baggage check fees, but be aware you're likely to get a full packed flight to vegas and they WILL be sticklers about the carry on policy due to lack of room. If you want to bring souvenirs back make sure you have the space available.

-No shuttle from the airport to hotel. You'll need an uber/taxi so factor that cost in. The trip from the airport is about 20ish with a tip. I recommend reserving a pickup from the hotel 2 hours before your flight on monday, which costs closer to 30.

-There are two exclusive offers they'll have for hotel rooms for Evo. One is at the Luxor and one is at Mandalay bay hotels. The Luxor is by far the cheaper option at 150ish a night versus like 350ish at Mandalay bay. I'm sure the Mandalay bay hotel rooms are super nice but IMO it is a needless expense. You have everything you need at luxor and there isn't much reason to be in your room unless you're sleeping. The only exception to this is if you want to run some kind of salty suite...but that's up to you and your crew to figure out. Final bill for me was about $650.

-Food and drink wise, let me not beat around the bush: EVERYTHING IN VEGAS IS OVERPRICED. Its stupid expensive. 6 dollars for a bottle of water. Plan extra for your food budget and maybe make a quick stop at a grocery/convenience store along the way! Also: there are some really great restaurants in Vegas....so I hear. The reality is that around 9:00 you're going to be faced with the decision to either get food or stay at the tournament. The tournament concludes at 9:00 fri/sat but the venue will remain open for 2 more hours to go snag art stuff as well as casual stations. By the time 11 hits your food options are extremely limited. You can get okish food at some of the bars but other than that you're pretty much limited to mall food at the food court. Next year I'm planning on finding a grocery store and just getting stocked up for the next couple nights.

-After that your remaining costs are what you want to spend in the dealers/art alley spots. They have some excellent stuff. BRING CASH AS THEY WON'T CHARGE YOU TAX! I spent about 200 dollars here and could have easily spent another 100 if i'd wanted to!

-Gamble at your own risk and budget whatever you want for this appropriately. I abstained completely and advise everyone to do the same....but you do you.

So again, all together about $2,000 is the final bill. Hope that helps!