Back from Vegas...

Hi Vegas fans,

Well, the four-day stint in Vegas is now a memory. I had a great time, even though the hungry blackjack and craps tables put me a few dollars down. It was well worth it. My friends also had fun, and as usual fared better than I did! I am like a cash register for them when it comes to gambling.

A few notes and observations:

- Harrah's properties are making life difficult for low-limit blackjack players. You can't find a $5 table with good rules (i.e. 3:2 blackjack). Keep raising those prices and paying out 6:5 on blackjack, Harrah's, and see where your customers go...

- There are still a few places on the Strip and beyond where you play low-limit blackjack with good rules. We played at Excalibur and the Stratosphere. The Strat is my favorite place to play these days. It's a little far North (and it you don't want to say it's on "The Strip" that's true, technically, but hey it's close enough). But, consider this: the atmosphere is fine (albeit a little smokey), the table games have low limits, the dealers are good (most of em), and the cocktail waitresses are very nice and bring me my rum & cokes at a reasonable rate (yes, I do tip them). I really like this place and highly recommend playing there!

- I was surprised to see a very crowded Golden Nugget downtown on Sunday night. They also only had $10 blackjack, but they typically do have $5 tables. This was also a fun place to play, but the spacing is not great (hard to get in and out of pits), and some dealers leave a little to be desired. Recommendation: smile. I know your job is not fun and standing on your feet all day is a pain, but you'll find that a lot of guests will be happy to chat with you and not be annoying if you have some fun with it.

- We stayed at the Flamingo. On the plus side, the lobby, shops, and casino were all very nice, clean and accessible. At first it felt a little like a labyrinth, but after a short time we got very used to the layout and had an easy time getting from place to place. My favorite part of the Flamingo was the Wildlife Habitat. Saturday morning, I strolled out to see the beautiful pink Flamingos, pheasants, ducks, swans, and more. And the koi were huge! The setting is quite relaxing, especially if you've been in a noisy casino for a while. There's a good deal of shade, and there are a few nice waterfalls in the area. This is a really great spot and I highly recommend it.

Ok - now for a few complaints. The hotel room was nice enough, but nothing special. I don't expect a lot when staying in a room in Vegas. As most people will note, how much time do you actually spend in the room? Very little. But there are a few things you have to do, assuming you will be around other people. That's right - shower. Ours was sub-par; the water pressure was low, probably because the water shot out of the spout and the shower head at the same time. Even with a great deal of pulling on the diverter knob thingie, I couldn't get it to work right.

And, Monday morning, I noticed we had no shampoo. I guess the maids confiscated what was left in our bottle and forgot to give us a new bottle. At least I hope they forgot and were not trying to use it as currency. Sheesh. As it was close to checkout time, I just didn't want to deal with it, so I didn't call down to the front desk or complain. But these are the basic things you expect a hotel to get right.

- As usual, I reserved an economy car but they were all out. So, I got a minivan. That's right. We cruised down the Strip with the hottest car a soccer mom could ever want. Trouble is, none of us are soccer moms. The last I checked, anyway. Usually I don't mind a bigger car in Vegas, but this was a Town & Country the size of a large town... or small country. And yes, I'm used to driving a smaller car and can't park a large one worth a damn. But this thing was really a beast. At least it had an iPod jack and we were able to listen to tunes the whole time.

- The most fun/nerve-racking part of the trip was betting on and watching our beloved Va Tech Hokies vs. the Miami Hurricanes in men's basketball. We had just come off a huge win vs. then #1 Wake Forest, and we were 6.5 underdogs at Miami. The game was back-and-forth and went into overtime, which just about killed us. Fortunately, the Hokies pulled it out in OT by 4 points. We all breathed a sigh of relief and high-fived to victory!

- We saw Ka at MGM Grand. It was elaborate. The acrobatics were very good. The story was confusing. I like my shows a little less cerebral, but that may just be me...

Well... I guess I'm sad now that the trip has come and gone. Back to my real job and real life, which is much less exciting than doubling-down on 11 with a dealer 10 showing, only to get an ace, but then watching the dealer bust to win $10. Yep, that happened... maybe once, and maybe I lost most of my double-downs, but ya can't win if you don't gamble. So, go to Vegas. That's what I do...

Pictures to follow soon on my Flickr group. Oh, also don't forget your chance to win a free bag tag. Saturday is the January deadline.

Until next time.
Viva,
Mike