Vegas baby
I've been to Las Vegas twice now and had very different experiences each time. Both visits were fantastic and I loved every minute I was there.
The first time I visited the town was to meet up with friends and check the place out. We did the major casinos, visited the Grand Canyon and basically checked the place out. Well, to be honest we spent most of the time checking out the different casinos. Most time was spent on The Strip - staying at a cheap dive that was well located worked out well - although we did venture downtown one time. The guide books we had referred to the downtown casino area as Glitter Gulch but whenever we asked anyone how to get there, they assumed we were talking about the strip club of that name and proceeded to point us in the direction of better places. "Somewhere the dancers have their own teeth" was how one cabbie put it. Turns out that everyone in Vegas calls that area Fremont Street even though the area is more than just the one street.
Anyway, the strip bar is on Fremont Street so we ended up where we wanted to go anyway. Downtown at dusk was a real bummer anyway. We didn't go into any of the casinos and we didn't check out the inside of Glitter Gulch either. Walking the length of Fremont Street was enough for us to realize that we belonged back on The Strip. At the end of the street we were approached by a "homeless" person and asked if we'd give him money for a bed for the night since it was very cold, or something like that, I wasn't really listening. I think we said we were broke, I can't recall - give me a break, it was years ago alright. I do remember that we were soon after approached by a cop on a mountain bike who wanted to know if we knew the "homeless" man and if he'd asked us for money. Panhandlers are frowned upon everywhere in Vegas, perhaps more so Downtown where they've been trying for a number of years to get more of the "strip traffic" to the area. Beggars aren't exactly an attraction that'll pull in the crowds.
My second trip was just to get as far away from work as I could. I was just by myself and although I'd originally planned to take in a bunch of shows, the only one I ended up going to was The Blue Man Group. The show was great and especially memorable for me but I ended up wishing I'd booked into the late show where apparently lots more paint and stuff gets thrown about. The plastic poncho I was wearing didn't get much of a workout at all.
I was staying at Luxor on my second trip so started off playing there and at Mandalay Bay but had absolutely no luck at all - Loosing 11 out of 12 hands at blackjack can really turn you off a place.
From my 2nd to the 5th (and last) day of the trip, I parked my butt at Bellagio. The word "day" isn't really relevant here. I'd get up at about 2pm, stuff round for a while and by the time I was walking to Bellagio, it'd be getting dark. As much as I'd have loved to be a guest there, I had to be content to squat at their tables. And squat I did. When I got my comp card, the assistant said that a minimum of 5 hours play was required to be comped anything and that only the $25 and up tables counted towards your comp. It sounded a lot at the time but I probably did 10 hours the day I got my card. I was up and down the whole time I was betting there; backjack was, on average, up; everything else was down.
I learnt how to play craps, badly. It's more or less a straightforward game once you get used to it. Roulette wasn't my game either. Once day I might learn how to play baccarat but blackjack will most likely always by my main gamble.
The ladies-for-hire were of a higher standard than the other casinos I'd played in. Another difference was that they didn't "work" the tables at all - well, not that I noticed. At Imperial Palace for example, a hooker came and played the table I was on. Tried to chat up a guy and left when it was clear he wasn't interested. At Bellagio, they just walked on through. A fun game to play when things get slow is spot-the-whore. The dealers will always be better at this than you.
Bellagio ended up sucking about $2,500 out of me, including tips, and I got comped a couple of free meals worth round $75 each. Score one for Vegas, minus one for my bank account and plus lots to me for enjoyment.
I can't wait to go back.
The first time I visited the town was to meet up with friends and check the place out. We did the major casinos, visited the Grand Canyon and basically checked the place out. Well, to be honest we spent most of the time checking out the different casinos. Most time was spent on The Strip - staying at a cheap dive that was well located worked out well - although we did venture downtown one time. The guide books we had referred to the downtown casino area as Glitter Gulch but whenever we asked anyone how to get there, they assumed we were talking about the strip club of that name and proceeded to point us in the direction of better places. "Somewhere the dancers have their own teeth" was how one cabbie put it. Turns out that everyone in Vegas calls that area Fremont Street even though the area is more than just the one street.
Anyway, the strip bar is on Fremont Street so we ended up where we wanted to go anyway. Downtown at dusk was a real bummer anyway. We didn't go into any of the casinos and we didn't check out the inside of Glitter Gulch either. Walking the length of Fremont Street was enough for us to realize that we belonged back on The Strip. At the end of the street we were approached by a "homeless" person and asked if we'd give him money for a bed for the night since it was very cold, or something like that, I wasn't really listening. I think we said we were broke, I can't recall - give me a break, it was years ago alright. I do remember that we were soon after approached by a cop on a mountain bike who wanted to know if we knew the "homeless" man and if he'd asked us for money. Panhandlers are frowned upon everywhere in Vegas, perhaps more so Downtown where they've been trying for a number of years to get more of the "strip traffic" to the area. Beggars aren't exactly an attraction that'll pull in the crowds.
My second trip was just to get as far away from work as I could. I was just by myself and although I'd originally planned to take in a bunch of shows, the only one I ended up going to was The Blue Man Group. The show was great and especially memorable for me but I ended up wishing I'd booked into the late show where apparently lots more paint and stuff gets thrown about. The plastic poncho I was wearing didn't get much of a workout at all.
I was staying at Luxor on my second trip so started off playing there and at Mandalay Bay but had absolutely no luck at all - Loosing 11 out of 12 hands at blackjack can really turn you off a place.
From my 2nd to the 5th (and last) day of the trip, I parked my butt at Bellagio. The word "day" isn't really relevant here. I'd get up at about 2pm, stuff round for a while and by the time I was walking to Bellagio, it'd be getting dark. As much as I'd have loved to be a guest there, I had to be content to squat at their tables. And squat I did. When I got my comp card, the assistant said that a minimum of 5 hours play was required to be comped anything and that only the $25 and up tables counted towards your comp. It sounded a lot at the time but I probably did 10 hours the day I got my card. I was up and down the whole time I was betting there; backjack was, on average, up; everything else was down.
I learnt how to play craps, badly. It's more or less a straightforward game once you get used to it. Roulette wasn't my game either. Once day I might learn how to play baccarat but blackjack will most likely always by my main gamble.
The ladies-for-hire were of a higher standard than the other casinos I'd played in. Another difference was that they didn't "work" the tables at all - well, not that I noticed. At Imperial Palace for example, a hooker came and played the table I was on. Tried to chat up a guy and left when it was clear he wasn't interested. At Bellagio, they just walked on through. A fun game to play when things get slow is spot-the-whore. The dealers will always be better at this than you.
Bellagio ended up sucking about $2,500 out of me, including tips, and I got comped a couple of free meals worth round $75 each. Score one for Vegas, minus one for my bank account and plus lots to me for enjoyment.
I can't wait to go back.
posted by Nick at 7:13 PM
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