talkfreedom

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject: It Ain't Pretty After the Show

Just crawled in late last night from a Vegas gettaway.

The town has been completely overrun by Cirque de Soleil shows and imitators. I had seen one several years ago and didn't want to see another one (I wanted to see Penn and Teller). But we were with a couple who had never seen one, so I got outvoted.

It was like something cooked up by a French film student on acid who was still working through his or her sexuality and had clown issues.

Blech

On the plus side, there are still $3 blackjack tables if you know where to look, and they'll still bring you free cocktails.

Whirlingal · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:38 pm Post subject:

Horton--I've been to Las Vegas a number of times--always relating to business.

And the whole atmosphere of pandering to the lowest common denominator turns my stomach--literally.

There are some great people who call Las Vegas home--including Law Enforcement personnel--but they're not found in the belly of that Beast--just struggling with the extrusions from its entrails.

WGal

Summer · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:50 pm Post subject:

I've never been to Lost Wages, and don't have any particular desire to go. Hoppy has been there once in the late 90's, for a Jaycees national convention. I would have gone myself (this was before we were a couple, but I was also in the Jaycees - that's how we met) but didn't really have the cash at the time. In any case, neither he nor I are really into gambling, though if we went now, we'd probably see a couple of shows. Penn and Teller, especially. I've seen Cirque du Soleil on TV... yawn. Too slow a pace for my liking, though the music is decent and I wish I were even half as limber as some of the performers.

The desert is essentially the antithesis of my preferred environment - I'm a water person - and there isn't much in Vegas that piques my interest, so I think I'll save my money for a trip to someplace more enjoyable.

We do, however, have a close friend (so close that I often refer to him as my "brother") who goes to Vegas roughly once a year.
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ChristianLib · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:54 pm Post subject:

I've been only a couple of times, basically business. I DO like to play the low dollar Blackjack tables. (Setting a strict limit on both time and loss allowed.) And have done, overall, pretty well, just playing what's called "basic blackjack strategy." I'm probably up about $100 for life. Which, considering how little I've been willing to risk, isn't bad. But it's for recreation, not money generation.
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Whirlingal · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject:

CL--well--at last I can "win" something related to gambling in Las Vegas--I have bet a total of $5.80 in all my visits there--and not won one cent back.

Too bad I can't win something for being the person who has probably bet the least amount of money in Las Vegas without actually betting no money at all.

WGal

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject:

CL,

Yep, when I go (and this was my first time back in almost 4 years), I take a certain amount of 'gambling' money that I am prepared to lose for the sake of entertainment. I don't play high stakes stuff -- I expect to lose it and I am uncannily accurate in my expectations. My goal is to make it last as long as possible and have fun doing it. The cheap blackjack tables are a blast. Nobody's endangering their mortgage payments making $3 bets. The house isn't making much money on them, so they let the dealers give you pointers. We cheer when someone else is dealt a blackjack and we boo and hiss the dealer when he or she draws a long 21.

Every time I go, I promise myself that the next time I'm going to learn how to play craps before I go back, but I never have. That game looks like a blast.

I love going to Vegas. I would go once a year if I could manage it. Besides playing cheap blackjack, I just love the utter over-the-top ridiculousness of it. And the FOOD. OMG! If you're a foodie, I don't think there is anything like the scale of the restaurants packed in together outside of Manhatten and L.A. or S.F. It seems like any chef that has any kind of national following has a restaurant there.

And did I mention the free cocktails?

Whirlingal · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:19 pm Post subject:

Hort--before you go the next time figure out the odds for each of the different kinds of games--and you'll see that the house ALWAYS wins.

If I remember my own calculations correctly the best odds for the player is roulette--and the house's advantage is something like 35 to 1.

Except of course for people who get a sexual thrill just before they lose money.

WGal

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:34 pm Post subject:

Oh I know about house odds. I think the best odds of winning is in games like blackjack, or roulette with a red/black bet -- which is why the payout is so low.

If one is serious about gambling and wants the best odds, I think the game to play is poker, where the house just provides a dealer and a place to play in exchange for a cut.

Whirlingal · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject:

Horton--nope on the poker.

It doesn't matter whether it's the house doing the winning or someone else--the odds of any given player winning at poker are worse than the odds for any given player winning at roulette.

Do you really care who wins if it's not you?

WGal

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:43 am Post subject:

Following is quoted from the Straight Dope website:

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:51 am Post subject:

And from wikipedia:

kannbrown · Deep Thinker Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 204

I don't gamble usually.

Though, once, while going through Vegas, broke on a Greyhound, I did indulge in the 'penny slots'. There was an ulterior motive, though. They gave you free 'shrimp cocktail' as long as you were playing. So, for about a buck of pennies, I got fed. *laugh*

And no, I didn't win, either.

Davelaw · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject:

i probably enjoy gambling more than i should- i like my casino in Lousiana and do Vegas every other year- i really like no limit hold 'em although i'm not very good at it and have only won one amateur tournament consisting of my bbq cook off team-im fine at the card games until i get bored-then i start to lose money

Whirlingal · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject:

KannB--for "free" shrimp I might consider gambling too. Cool

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject:

Our preferred downtown Vegas dive with the $3 blackjack offered a traditional $0.99 shrimp cocktail. My wife dared me to eat one, but I declined.

Our biggest problem was the smoking. I can tolerate a general smoke scent in the air, but if someone is sitting next to me with a smoking butt right under my nose, I want to slap them.

Davelaw · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:

i noticed the smoking more this last time than i ever have before- i think no smoking casinos may be on the horizon

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:08 pm Post subject:

I think non-smoking casinos is a long ways off, but in the large casinos they have more than one game pit. I can imagine them designating a particular pit to be non-smoking.

Davelaw · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:11 pm Post subject:

thats more like what i meant-or at least have one of those giant smoke sucking machines in the pit that some bars have

Summer · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject:

Yay, non-smoking casinos in New York and Ontario.... if I was into casino gambling, that's where I'd go.

I think I've probably done more horse track gambling in my life than casino gambling. Not much of either one, though.
_________________
"Always know where your towel is." - Ford Prefect
"Shared joy is increased, shared pain is lessened; thus do we refute entropy." - Mike Callahan

My Blog
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Find me at:
alt.callahans on Google Groups (or via Usenet with the newsreader of your choice)
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HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:45 pm Post subject:

Dave,

I got my first double blackjack this time out. A pair of aces, split, followed up with two drawn face cards.

Of course, it only earned me about 10 bucks, but still...