Just got back from 5 days, 4 nights at EVO in Las Vegas and wanted to look back on what the trip actually cost—and what I’ll be bringing next time.
🕹️ EVO Weekend
- Thursday: Arrive, pick up badge, check out the venue, and settle in.
- Friday: Initial tournament pools.
- Saturday: More pools and side games/events.
- Sunday: Top 8 championships, wrapping up with the Finals from 6:30–9:30 PM.
💸 Trip Breakdown
✈️ Flight (RT SFO-Las Vegas): $300.27
🎮 EVO Registration (2 games): $214.99
🎟️ Sunday Finals Ticket: $30.00
🍜 Food & drinks: $396.74
🎨 Art: $211.94
🛍️ Merch (including EVO hat): $53.65
🚇 Transportation (Lyft, Monorail, BART): $92.20
🎮 EVO Registration (2 games): $214.99
🎟️ Sunday Finals Ticket: $30.00
🍜 Food & drinks: $396.74
🎨 Art: $211.94
🛍️ Merch (including EVO hat): $53.65
🚇 Transportation (Lyft, Monorail, BART): $92.20
Total trip spending: $1,299.79
The hotel was covered entirely with hotel points, and my friends paid their share of the room at a great discount thanks to those points.
Actual out-of-pocket cost: $799.79
Not bad at all for five days in Vegas—competing in two games at EVO, watching the Top 8 Finals live, eating well, getting around the city, coming home with a new art piece, and picking up an EVO hat to remember the trip.
🎒 Packing List for Next Time
👕 Clothing
- T-shirts (one per night)
- Socks & boxers (one pair per night)
- Shorts
- Swim trunks
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Waterproof sandals
- EVO hat
- Sunglasses
🪥 Toiletries
- Toiletry bag
- Electric shaver
- Toothbrush & toothpaste
- Sunscreen
- Vaseline
💊 Health
- Prescription meds
- Alka-Seltzer
- Water mister
- Crystal Light packets
- Matcha packets
🍎 Food
- Morning snacks (enough for the first day/night)
🎮 Gaming Gear
- Controllers
- Controller cables
- Gaming laptop
- HDMI cable
🎒 Bags & Travel
- Big backpack
- Daypack
- Shoulder bag
- Poster tube
- Cash (tips and places that don’t take cards)
☀️ Convention Comfort
- Collapsible seat
Tracking everything afterward has been really useful. Now I have a realistic budget and a solid packing checklist that I can reuse for future EVOs and other conventions. Next year, I already know what to expect—both financially and logistically.