Tag: Vegas

Vegas, 2025, Part III

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My first post talked about my comps and the hotel, and my second post talked about the gambling. This post is about my bottom line, which involves some whining. You can find my review on Tripadvisor here, but this is the text:

I’m a blackjack player, and my trips are almost always just about that. That makes this a difficult review to write. In most ways, Park MGM is a phenomenal resort. The staff went out of their way to be helpful and make me feel wanted. It’s the only smoke-free casino on the strip. The spa was incredible. Just awesome. There were two issues. The first is minor: I had a Nighthawk suite. It’s bathroom wasn’t as nice as the bathroom in a regular room at Mandalay Bay. It’s floor plan is meh. Instead of walling off the bedroom, giving you the added privacy you’d expect from a suite, the foyer is instead what’s walled off. The foyer has no tables, chairs, etc. That results in wasted space. Not the end of the world. The second problem will keep me from going back. In my first four hours of blackjack, I won $1,150 on a $2,500 bankroll. Even by my standards, that’s remarkable. However, I was constantly taking with other players, so there’s no way I could have been counting cards, and how else could I be cheating? (Note: Card counting should NOT be considered cheating.) Nevertheless, one of the pit bosses made inappropriate comments towards me, constantly delivered dirty looks, and even made another player uncomfortable by suggesting I was cheating. This is unacceptable to me, but if it isn’t the sort of thing that affects you, then by all means, stay at the Park MGM. You’ll love it. I, however, will be highly unlikely to return. A single, unprofessional pit boss can overshadow the positive experiences I had with literally every other member of the staff.

This is an honest review. If you don’t gamble, or if you always lose, then you should seriously consider the Park MGM. My room is always comp’d at any MGM resort because of my M-Life Mastercard, so I don’t know how expensive it is relative to others. I’m sure you’ll spend less at Excalibur and Luxor, but among MGM properties, Excalibur is bottom of the barrel. You’ll survive there, but paying a small amount more for Luxor goes a long way.

Gambling

I skipped Vegas last year, and I’d never been to Park MGM, so prior to the trip, I went to that cesspool known as Reddit, found the Vegas subreddit, and asked what the betting limits on the tables were. I guess I bring out the trolls because all but a couple people that responded were arrogant and insulting. They all acted as if they were high rollers, ridiculing me for even inquiring about low-limit tables, which they defined as $50 per hand. (I seriously doubt these trolls play $100 tables, but if so, they’re completely tone deaf to the experiences of most gamblers.) They also accused me of thoughts I never expressed, and put words into my mouth (easily refuted by what I actually wrote) to justify their insults. I don’t know if they were ignorant or trolling, but either way, they flat out lied. Unfortunately, that subreddit gets far more foot traffic than my blog, so I’m posting this to both my blog and that easily-googled subreddit. You’re more likely to find the subreddit. This is the actual truth.

I visited (didn’t necessarily play) Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, NY, NY, Park MGM, and Aria, and I played from Monday evening to Friday morning. My comments are limited to these casinos on those days, which are the days I told the trolls I’d be gambling. I took notes so that I could verify whether the trolls were full of shit. Wanna guess whether or not they were?

Vegas still has many $5 tables on the strip at Excalibur, which goes out of their way to advertise them on a billboard of lights, and there are a plethora of $10 and $15 tables at Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, and NY, NY. Because of inflation, those tables aren’t the money-makers they once were, so it’s understandable that those tables pay only 6-5 on blackjack to make up the difference, but contrary to what the trolls claimed, $25 tables still pay 3-2 at Mandalay Bay, NY, NY, and Aria (at least). The trolls were claiming that you have to go to a $100 table for 3-2, but the $100 tables at Park MGM pay 2-1. I played at one for my “last hurrah” before flying out Friday afternoon. Moreover, at NY, NY, the $25 tables allow multiple splits on double aces, which is great for players. That is, I drew four aces in a row and played four hands. (On a table beneath $25, if you draw two aces, you get one card added to each ace, and that’s it. You can’t take a second hit, and if your second card on one of those hands is an ace, you can’t split again.) The point is that the rules on $25 tables are still reasonably fair to the players, and those are the tables I prefer for that reason.

The problem with Park MGM is that all the tables are either $15 tables or $100 tables. There were literally no other tables available. Of course, I can (and did) play $25 hands on the $15 tables, but then I was limited to 6-5 payouts on blackjack. My money was tied up in an account with Park MGM, so all I could gamble (practically speaking) elsewhere is what I had won. Fortunately, I won enough ($1,150) to move over to NY, NY, where things went particularly well because of the better ruleset on the $25 table. Next year, I’ll probably send my funds to NY, NY for that very reason. I could also send them to Mandalay or Aria, but Mandalay uses “continuous shuffle” machines, which I like to avoid. I didn’t notice if their $25 tables used those machines.

My strongest advice is to ignore the comments that follow on the subreddit because the trolls will just be trolls. I’ll immediately unfollow my own post because I’m not interested in what they have to say. They’re all full of shit or simply have no idea what they’re talking about. What I wrote above is what I saw with my own eyes. and it wasn’t much different than what I experienced two years ago. Ignore the trolls. You won’t get good blackjack payouts on low-limit tables, but they absolutely exist if that’s where your budget takes you. There’s no shame in that. If, like me, you play on $25 tables, then absolutely nothing has changed since 2023.

I’m no more a whiny little bitch than the casinos are.

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Vegas, 2025, Part II

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My earlier post talked about my comps and the hotel. Now, onto the good stuff.

I finally got to a blackjack table. I withdrew $2,000 from my accout and the spent four hours at the table. I won $1,150. This is very unusual. It’s tough to earn 50% of your bankroll, but to do it in fewer than 10 hours is nearly impossible. The only reason I stopped is because I was very hungry.

Then I went to dinner at Strip Steak in Mandalay Bay. It wasn’t open when I arrived, so I spent 45 minutes losing $300 or so. After dinner, I returned to Park MGM and spent 3 hours turning my remaining $850 into $1,400. So, as of Tuesday night, those are my earnings.

Two side notes. 1) For some reason, everyone wanted me to cut the deck, and before the night was over, they were calling me the Lumberjack. 2) Until tonight, I’d never had a pit boss watching me as if he thought I was cheating. Not only did a Park MGM pit boss do that, but he actually told another player he was watching me. He made sure I heard it, and he wasn’t kidding.

This means that all my expenses that comps don’t cover are paid for. came back and won another $250 in about 3 hours, which is more in line with what i should expect. Now I’ve made enough money to pay for my airfare (< $550), tips on meals not covered by comps (maybe $300 if I tip ridiculously), and a lower bowl seat to the Vegas Golden Knights game on Thursday ($350). That gives me $150 in wiggle room to assure that, in all ways, this trip will be absolutely free despite having so much fun and eating so well.

But it’s still Tuesday, so we’ll see how much damage I can still do.

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Vegas, 2025, Part I

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Well, I took a year off from Vegas and didn’t miss it, but this year, I came back because of all the ideas I had for a stateside vacation, it was hard to ignore the fact that my Vegas comps made the trip here so damn inexpensive. I arrived yesterday (Monday), and I’m fimishing this post up at about 10:30 am Tuesday. There’s some good and some bad, and as always some lessons to be learned. Let’s home the rest of the trip is more of the good and less of the bad.

The Good, or Should I Say the Really Good

First off, I have an M-Life Mastercard, which means that every time I pay for groceries, utilities, internet, dinner at a restaurant, etc., I earn comps as if I’m gambling. Over the course of a year, these add up, such that I walked into my trip this year with $465 to pay for meals — including alcohol but not including tips — and entertainment. I don’t drink very often, most of the entertainment options don’t appeal to me, and those that do aren’t available during the says I’m there. So, that meant steak dinner every night.

But wait! There’s more! My suite (yeah, suite) at the Park MGM was free for four nights without me having to spend any of my reward points. It just comes with the card. Nevertheless, my smoke-free room at the only smoke-free casino on the strip comes with a $400 resort credit, so in fact, I have $865 to spend. Maybe I *will* drink after all.

Oh, do you think I’m finished? Nope. It just gets better. I don’t play slots, so all these years I’ve built up a balance of “Slot Dollars” I never used. The current balance was $1,181, so I was expecting to have to burn through those dollars playing slots. If I made $10, it’d be a free $10, so why not. Well, I went to the cage to set up my account (I had wired my gambling funds ahead of time) and asked what I thought was a stupid question: “Can I covert my Slot Dollars to regular rewards?” They said yes, so now I have over $2,000 to spend on dining.

Pretty sweet.

There’s no way I’m spending that much, but the points don’t expire, and I’ll be heading down to the MGM National Harbor in Maryland in January for our office holiday party, so I plan to get there early and have a free, overpriced dinner before our event. Also, there’s always next year.

BTW, despite having recently reserved this room at Park MGM for this trip, I can still get a free room at any other MGM property. There’s got to be an upper limit to the number of nights I can get per year, but I’ve spent four nights here, and spent four nights earlier in the year (will explain in a second), and yet I havent reached that limit yet. Unbelievable.

One last thing before we get to the bad news. MGM’s program merged with Marriott Bonvoy, so those four nights spent earlier in the year? They were at a Courtyard Marriott in Ft. Wayne, IN.

I can’t imagine a better rewards program as long as you like Las Vegas.

The Bad: The Hotel Itself

The staff is great, and the fact that the entire building is smoke-free is awesome, but for me, Vegas is a blackjack trip. After eating breakfast at my favorite breakfast joint in Vegas (Ri Ra between Mandalay Bay and Luxor), I came back to Park MGM to play. There were only two blackjack tables open at 9:30 am, and both were full. I asked the pit boss if he was opening new tables, and he said, “Not until shift change at noon.” As you might expect, he unhelpfully told me that I could always play in the high limit room (minimum bet $100 per hand).

Gee. Thanks, buddy.

Moreover, those tables, and all the tables I saw last night, were $15 tables that paid only 6:5 on a blackjack.

For those not understanding, this is something of a scam. If I bet $10 on a hand and win, I get $20, which is my $10 bet plus the $10 I get for winning. Simple enough. If I get a blackjack on that same bet, I win a bonus amount instead. Traditionally, that bonus amount was another $10 (2:1), but over the past couple decades, that’s dropped to $5 (3:2). Now these low bet tables pay only $2 (6:5). There’s a logic to this — inflation makes the low bet tables worth less to the casinos — but it really cuts into any chance you have of winning without counting cards, which most people can’t do, and even fewer people can do without getting caught.

Fortunately for me, this year I planned to play only one day, which was Tuesday. I play $25 base hands, and I don’t count cards, so it seems like this isn’t much of a burden. However, if there are no 3:2 tables available, I’m stuck as if I’m playing only $10 or $15 hands. Considering that my money was tied up in an account with Park MGM, that’s where I had to gamble. If this were nothing but a blackjack trip, wiring funds to Park MGM would have been a disaster for me. In order not to have to carry $5,000 with me on my way home — I almost never carry more than $20 cash and have only $8 in my wallet for this trip — I can’t move my money over to another casino.

Side note: Because I was staying at Park MGM for the first time, I went to that cesspool known as Reddit to ask the Vegas subreddit what the tables were like there. In addition to these guys trying to swing their dicks and pretend they’re high rollers (or if they are, completely ignore the fact that most people aren’t), they all flat out lied about the nature of the tables while needlessly insulting me. (Seriously, there was no reason for the insults. They came out of left field.) On my walk to breakfast, I verified that Excalibur, Luxor, and New York New York still offer plenty of $10 and $15 tables, and $25 tables still pay 3:2. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, I was stuck at Park MGM for gambling.

Now, the suite itself is large but not terribly impressive. Mandalay Bay’s bathrooms in ordinary rooms are far superior. It has a foyer separated from the bedroom and living room, which makes no sense. The bedroom should be separated from all the other rooms (but connected to the bathrooms). As it is, the foyer is simply wasted space. That still makes the room bigger than an ordinary room, but meh. It’s hard to ignore how great a slight redesign could be.

All of this is to say that despite coming here virtually every year for decades, you always learn something new.

More to come.

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Vegas, 2023 #Vegas #travel

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For this year’s annual Vegas trip, I stayed at Mandalay Bay for the first time. I’ve been doing all (or almost all) of my gambling there for a few years now, but this year I decided to stay there becomes my comps got me the room for $5 a night with no resort fee. I usually go on Columbus Day weekend, or maybe in September, but this year I spent the week before Christmas there (Monday, 12/19 through Saturday, 12/24). I went so late in the year because I had a couple of friends that were going to be there during that week, which is also why I spent six days there.

Mandalay Bay

My room was perfectly situated such that I had a view down the Strip . . .

. . . but also could watch the planes arrive and depart the airport.

The close up.
The broader view.

And now for some live action!

https://youtube.com/shorts/Go4mB_reaKg

Okay, not that kind of action. I love watching the planes arrive and depart, but even I find watching videos of it pretty boring. Sorry (not sorry) about that. Here’s a different video that’s probably just as boring, but it’s only 9 seconds long.

https://youtube.com/shorts/6VkOrGBihTg?feature=share

The Body Exhibit

The first touristy thing I did (besides looking out my window in awe) was the Body Exhibit at Luxor. I did that Wednesday. These are preserved corpses displayed to teach visitors about the mechanics of the human body. Some of it was bizarre. Don’t believe me? Take a look (or don’t if you’re squeamish).

Seriously, these are real bodies. They all come from China. We were told by staff that they privacy laws prevents them from knowing how these people died, but rumor has it that they came to this and other exhibits across the country through less than ethical means.

What follows are a series of circulatory system fragments injected with a colored polymer that hardens in place to help you see the detail and distinguish between different parts. Don’t believe me? Read the sign.

Other than the fetuses — which I didn’t photograph — this is the creepiest display. It’s a series of slivers of a human body.

Here’s a closer view.

This next one bothered me more than it should. I’m overly sensitive to knee pain. Drives me nuts too.

I have many more pictures, but I think you get the point.

Friday

Friday night brought me to the Penn & Teller theater at the Rio. Here’s Penn Jillette warming up the crowd playing jazz on his stand up bass.

https://youtube.com/shorts/f2iVt58ggIg

Every year, I say I’m going to go, but because I had friends there, this time I actually did. It was worth it. Not only is it a good show, but it may have been the best Penn & Teller show ever. Teller recently had quadruple bypass surgery, so he wasn’t able to do the show. Penn told us that we shouldn’t worry because he’s due to make a complete recovery and come back sometime around March 2023. A little later, they showed a video of Teller from home participating in the current bit, but his part was so generic, it’s clear this could have been a prerecorded video reused at every show.

All of this was a set up. Towards the end of the show, Penn excitedly introduced Teller! I started a standing ovation for him, and he had to wave to the crowd to get them to sit down. Once he did, he did one of his famous bits. Then he joined Penn and Carbanaro for their last bit, giving them a helping hand. It was stupendous.

Saturday

Saturday was my last day in Vegas, but my flight didn’t leave until 11:45 pm, so I had a full day to do as I pleased. My friends and I started with an incredible meal at Din Tai Fung, a restaurant at Aria famous for its dumplings. It absolutely lived up to the hype. Next, I demanded that we go to a sports bar and watch my Commanders lose to the 49ers. We went to Tailgate Social Sports Bar & Grill, and after going through two pitchers, we ordered this:

The beer is Modelo, and at Tabitha’s urging, I got a pint glass with the rim coated with salt, then squeezed some fresh limes into it. It was like a beer margarita. I had never considered doing that before, but as I’m not a beer drinker, I may never do so again. You might like it though.

After the pub, I did my first escape room. Remember all that beer from the previous two paragraphs? It didn’t go well. We took an extra 30 minutes to get out of the room, and only because we requested several hints along the way. On the bright side, I met a new friend.

Yeah. I know. The sweater. My friends made we wear it. I was raised Catholic, so my perpetual guilt makes me incapable of saying no to a gift no matter how foolish I look. After that, we took an Uber back to the Luxor (where Jim and Tabitha were staying) to wait out my departure. I took a nice shot of the skyline from the road.

Sadly, I never took the time to ride that damn coaster because my friends weren’t into it. I should have. It’s a fun ride.

Going Home

I have just two more videos to show you: my take off from Harry Reid International Airport, showing off one of my favorite skylines . . .

. . . and my landing at Dulles International Airport.

We didn’t crash, so watching video of the arrival is just as boring as watching videos of planes taking off in Las Vegas. Not much to see here.

Oh, and I won $1,200 playing blackjack. Meh.

I love Vegas.

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Upgrade! #Vacation #Vegas #gambling #gamble #Caturday

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I’m headed to Vegas on Monday. This will be my first time staying at Mandalay Bay. It’s my preferred gambling spot, but for the past decade or so, I’ve stayed at either the Luxor or the Excalibur. I’ve always enjoyed a ton of success at the Excalibur tables, so I’ll probably make a stop there as well.

mandalaybay.gif

Since Columbus Day weekend of this year, I’ve visited a local casino four times to practice my blackjack and have won (after tips, gas, etc.) $3,375. This means that my entire trip has already been financed by gambling winnings even if I lose $2,000 or so (which I won’t; I expect more of the same success). So, for only the second time in my life, I decided to upgrade to first class (for my return trip).

Livin’ in style.

Why? First, it cost only $399 to upgrade, keeping me well within “the trip is already paid for” budget. (I probably paid too much for my coach ticket, so most of the additional expense has already been paid.) Second, the plane is a #Boeing 777-200. This means that first class has “lie flat” seating. This is important b/c my plane leaves at 11:45 pm PT and lands at 7 am ET. Sleeping on a plane will never have been so easy for me. Perfection will be if there’s a socket to plug in my C-PAP. If not, that’s as much the other passengers’ problem as it is my own. 🙂

Oh, and I almost forgot.

Caturday shall not be denied!!!

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My Crazy Sports Betting Success Last Week #Vacation #Vegas #gambling #MGMBet

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mandalaybay.gif
I wanted to stay at ParkGM because it’s 100% smoke free, but I’m staying here instead for $25/night.

I go to Vegas in September or October each year on what’s essentially a blackjack trip. I also make my annual sports bets. Most of them are silly “homer” bets (e.g., the Capitals to win the Stanley Cup, Maryland Terps to win the basketball and football championships) regardless of the odds. A few are legitimate bets based on who I think will actually win (e.g., Buffalo winning the Super Bowl). Last Thursday was the start of the NFL season, and because my Vegas trip is delayed until December, I decided to do all my sports betting via MGM’s online betting portal. I never do this sort of thing because it risks gambling addiction, betting your mortgage money, etc. In fact, I don’t even visit the MGM casino in nearby Maryland for the same reason. If I’m going to bet, I do so only if I take a week off from work, invest money in a plane ticket, and invest time on a 5-day trip. It’s a good way to control the process. This is the only reason I didn’t place money on Usman to lose his UFC title a couple weeks ago. I was tempted to place the bet but didn’t, and it cost me some money. In the big picture, that’s smart.

When I entered the portal, I saw that I had a free $5 credit to bet. MGM does that for people to encourage them to bet. On a whim, I decided to bet that $5 on a crazy parlay on the game that night (Bills at Rams). If I lost, I’d make a deposit and place all my bets for the year. If I won, however, I’d be able to make all my bets with the winnings, still banking about $300.

First, I selected the Bills to win by 2.5 points or more. That’s reasonable. After all, they’re my pick to win the Super Bowl. Next, I picked the total points scored to be less than 47.5. That was a bit risky. It relied on one of the two teams to get manhandled. No one expected that, but I went for it. Third, I picked Cooper Kupp to score a touchdown. That was my safety valve. After that, I picked Stefan Diggs to get a touchdown. Again, I think that’s risky based on my fantasy football experience with the guy. Teams always focus on shutting him down, so he’s hot and cold. However, he’s also a fellow Good Counsel High School Falcon and a fellow University of Maryland Terrapin, so I trust him.

This brought me to odds of +2000. If I won, my $10 would turn into $200. That seems good, but on a hunch, I thought Bills quarterback Josh Allen was going to run in a touchdown. Is that a smart pick? Nope, but I’m betting with house money. The potential reward of a larger payout justified the risk of losing someone else’s money, so I added it, doubling the odds to +4000. The bet was now set: A $10 bet pays $400.

I could describe in great detail the drama of the game with respect to this crazy parlay, but I’ll save you that and just say I was on the edge of my seat until the last 30 seconds or so of the game. Even after Allen somehow got a touchdown run, I was two minutes and 15 yards away from a Rams touchdown and extra point that would have lost it for me. Von Miller came through, and I made $390.

The Smart Play

The smartest gambler makes sure he sets a floor to his losses, and a winning gambler makes sure that floor is a positive number. I immediately transferred $300 to my bank account leaving $96 in my account after a processing fee. That was plenty of money to make my annual picks, so I expected to make my picks and then make another small transfer to my account. However, after I had made all my bets (e.g., $5 on the Washington Wizards to win the NBA championship pays $1,255), I had $35 left. I noticed another promotion for a UFC bet — adds a bit to your payoff if you win — so I made a crazy parlay on three underdogs to win their fights Saturday night. A $10 bet would pay $296.10 if all three fighters won. I then looked at some other bets. I picked Maryland to cover the 27.5 point spread against Charlotte. Maryland won 56-21. Winner! I took that $5 win and picked Hawaii to beat #4 Michigan at Michigan. Sure, there’s no chance that will happen, but a $5 bet it pays $225.50. I was on the fence between that pick and instead picking Georgia Southern to beat Nebraska, but Hawaii being the crazier bet had a bigger payout.

Hindsight is 20/20.

They weren’t all stupid bets. I bet $5 on the Washington Commanders to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by 3 points because Washington is my home team, and bet $5 on a parlay that pays $21 if the Ravens, Dolphins, Bengals, and Eagles all win in week 1.

In any other context, this looks like addiction and/or desperation, but remember, I’m playing with house money. I have nothing to lose, and in fact have already banked $301 and used some of the house money to place bets I would be paying out of pocket if I hadn’t won Thursday night. No matter how stupid these bets are, I’ve already won, and that won’t change because I won’t deposit any more money into the account.

The Weekend’s Results

As I said, Maryland beat their spread, which just led to an insane bet for Hawaii to beat a top 5 team on their that team’s home field. It was 21-0 Michigan at the end of the 1st quarter.

We’ll call that a wash.

A questionable decision on the first of my 3 UFC fights killed my parlay as quickly as it began, so I did what an addict would do and placed a new bet. I wanted to bet on Kevin Holland, but as soon as Li lost, the betting for Holland’s fight closed (even though the fight hadn’t started), so I was forced to be on Nate Diaz. The payout would be less, but based on a $9.55 bet on Diaz, I’d get back that $10 I lost on the parlay plus another $1.49. (This definitely looks like addictive behavior, but remember: house money!) Diaz won, so I did indeed get my money back, and Holland lost badly so that bet would have screwed me. Hooray for technicalities! I end Saturday night with $41.49 of house money in my account.

On Sunday, due to Cincinnati’s best efforts to lose their game to Pittsburgh, I lost my 1 pm parlay when Miami, Philadelphia, and Baltimore came away with wins, but Cincy lost in overtime. That $5 bet would have paid only $21, so I’m over it. The real question of the day was my homemade parlay. I bet $15 to win $203.77, which required Tennessee (-5.5), Minnesota (-1), Las Vegas (+3.5), and Denver (-6.5) to cover their spreads. As of the end of Sunday games, I had already lost 2 games, leaving last night’s Denver/Seattle game. Because I had already lost that parlay, I spent $10 on a new one. It was complex, having five requirements. I came close, but Denver failing to win by 7 killed it. I now have $15.00 left for next weekend, but because I’ll do stupid things bound to fail, that will probably evaporate, and my sports betting will be done for the year.

Merry Christmas

I eagerly await the blackjack.

Well, not really. My Vegas trip will be the week before Christmas. I fly home on Christmas Eve. I’ll have only one full day before my friends arrive, so I’ll have only about 15 hours to gamble before they pull me away towards fattening foods and goofy shows. Honestly, it’s about time I do that sort of thing again. Maybe I can convince them to zipline or ride the Stratosphere rides. Every year I plan to see Penn & Teller but never do. Perhaps I’ll finally see them.

Vegas, baby!!!

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Vegas, 2021, Part 3 of 3: The Millennium Fandom @mortaine @Erik_Nowak @kesseljunkie #Vegas #travel

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Introduction

Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.

I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

In all my years of going to Vegas, I’ve been off-strip only twice before this trip. Once was to visit my cousin’s aunt, and the other was to play D&D. For the latter, I connected with my now-friend Stephanie via Facebook. She picked me up at the hotel, drove me to a gaming store, ran one of the early DDAL adventures, then took me to In-N-Out so I could see what the fuss was about (meh), and then took me to In-N-Out headquarters so that I could say I had been there and Erik never had.

The Millennium Fandom

This year, Stephanie had a free day Wednesday, so she took me on my third trip off-strip. This was the first thing I saw when I entered the bar:

The Nationals World Series championship cap makes me feel like an outsider at this bar.

After this, the owner (Alex) took us into a section of the bar that was closed that night.

Suck it, Kessel Junkie!

Alex took another picture, but it was a bit poorly timed. However, Alex pointed out that it probably caught me at a moment I was using the Force. I think he’s right.

Star Trek >> Forgotten Realms >> Star Wars

Next, I had to pick up a passenger. She’s why I crashed the Tie Fighter into a bunch of chairs.

This post is becoming a slam against all my friends.

After this, I toured the rest of the bar. I didn’t get some of the references, so please fill in the blanks if you can.

The Fifth Element‘s Water Stone.

Lightsabers, a helmet from The Mandalorian, a helmet from 300, the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones (top left surrounded by red light) and some big-ass sword I didn’t recognize. The bottom left look like bullets, and above that is a shield.

Well, sure, you can just look at these things, but ….

Pretty sure this is a vorpal lightsaber.

What’s that above me?

I know you knew.

Beneath the Aluminum Falcon was this guy.

What’s that hanging above R2’s “head”?

Some Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff and stuff from video games I didn’t recognize.

The Air Stone, Pac-Man, and a mashup. I didn’t get the reference on the license plate.

Lots of masks, the Earth Stone, and a katana I don’t recognize. Is it from Highlander? Suicide Squad? Maybe it’s simply a katana.

He told you he’d be back.

Wall-E thinking the band would let him play that night.

Wall-E was wrong.

I almost went back here thinking it was where the men’s room was. No reason.

Enough of this. Let’s have some more Star Trek. And what the hell? Some Hellraiser too.

The TV is blanked out for copyright reasons, which seems silly considering what I’m posting.

Now we have the proton pack from Ghostbusters and some Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, as well as some other things I don’t recognize. It’s hard to see from this image, but in the top right corner is an archer with an eagle on its shoulder. I didn’t get the reference, but I’d love to have that in my home. It was pretty cool-looking. The reason it’s blurry is because the lighting in the room forced me to use a “night” setting on my camera phone requiring more than an instant of exposure, and the slightest movement blurred the picture.

Unless you had forgotten, you must have known that the Fire Stone had to show up. Also, we have references to Predator, Alien, Wonder Woman, and Nightmare Before Christmas (a movie, by the way, that I didn’t see until last year).

After the tour, I noticed a couple of other things around the bar itself. First, a Batman vs. Superman sign that was behind me as I entered the bar.

Remember what I said about the camera setting? In this case, the blur created a neat effect. This is a real image. These are real people, not a drawing or touched-up photo.

Okay, but what’s the crowd like? Well, the QAnon Shaman showed up!

Not really.

Finally, as I was leaving for the night, I went to the men’s room and saw this hanging on the door to the bathroom stall. Brilliant. I love this movie.

As you can see, this is my kind of bar. If you’re reading this post, I’m guessing it’s your kind of bar as well. It’s worth the Lyft/Uber trip. Oh, and a self-delivered pat on my back.

If you think about it, between the mask and the shirt, I personally added to the nerd motif. Alex should put that picture of me on their website.

If you’re ever in Vegas, look them up. Their online store is here, though most of what I was looking for is sold out.

I bought a hat.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc
Follow Stephanie @mortaine
Follow Erik Nowak @Erik_Nowak
Follow Kessel Junkie @kesseljunkie


Vegas, 2021, Part 2 of 3: The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay #Vegas #travel

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Introduction

Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.

I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Shark Reef

Normally, I don’t do much more than eat, sleep, and gamble, but I added this stop to my itinerary on Wednesday. Here are a bunch of pictures and videos presented in the order I took them (to the best of my recollection). There’s a small bit of commentary, but these are mostly just for your viewing pleasure.

Gator? Caiman? I didn’t read the placard.

This next one freaked me out. Mostly, he kept his eyes closed but occasionally opened them. I caught him with eyes opened. Seemed annoyed.

Komodo Dragon

This one was just weird looking. I thought it looked prehistoric, so it was worth a photo.

Next up is the touch pool. You’re permitted to reach into the water (maybe 1-1/2 feet deep) and, using only your index finger, lightly stroke the rays or horseshoe crabs. These were clearly juveniles based on size.

This guy was gooey.

At this point, I realized I should be taking videos rather than taking pictures.

Why haven’t these turtles been eaten?

What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a saw-like appendage?

What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a hammer-like snout?

Tomorrow, the entire post will be dedicated to a single locale: The Millennium Fandom.

I love Vegas.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc


Vegas, 2021, Part 1 of 3: The Luxor and the Strip #Vegas #travel

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Introduction

Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.

I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Luxor

I stayed at the Luxor, which has a pretty cool design. Here are a few views from the elevator lobby.

The view from my room wasn’t so great, but very few rooms get an unobstructed view of the strip. In all of my trips to Vegas, I’ve gotten that kind of a view only once. This time, however, I got a partially view of the T-Mobile Arena (I almost bought a ticket to the Monday night game between the Ravens and Raiders), as well as my former preferred spot, the Excalibur.

Don’t knock the Excalibur. I always get what I want there. Whenever I’m down, I walk away from the table, head over to Excalibur, and win it all back. I was up $1,000 this year but headed there anyway because I know I could do better. I started with $900 and played for 4-1/2 hours, bouncing between $650 and $910, never gaining ground. Then I went on a run of about 15 straight winning hands, jumping from ~$700 to $1,900 (as explained, I gradually increase my bet as I win, and with ~15 straight wins, my chips explode). Once I finally lost a hand, I walked away. The Excalibur is always awesome to me.

Back to Luxor, one thing bothered me. I stayed at the Luxor once before, but my room was on the first floor. This year, I was on 17, and, well, I’m not sure why more people haven’t fell to their deaths at the Luxor.

If you click through to You Tube, I cite a story about strange deaths at Luxor, but that includes things like a UNLV player dying after a fist fight. Few of the deaths that occur are from falling over these ledges. Considering how short they are, and how drunk may guests are, that’s surprising to me.

Bellagio

Tuesday night, I took a walk down the Strip, stopping at Bellagio for the fountain show. I’ve done that four times before, so it wasn’t a new experience, but it wasn’t as good this time.

I had to wait another 15 minutes for the next song. All Night Long by Lionel Richie was next up. I thought the choreography was a bit weak, but I’m a child of the late 70s and 80s, so I can live with that. The copyright holder is allowing the video to stay up, but there will be ads.

Why What Happens in Vegas Need Not Stay in Vegas

On the walk back to Luxor, I passed a few shops and knew I had to tweet about them.

Even the ATM is green.

Sorry, hippies, but this just ain’t my sort of thing.

On Wednesday, I visited Mandalay Bay‘s Shark Reef aquarium and virtual reality show. To keep these posts short, I’ll post those photos and videos in a separate post tomorrow.

I love Vegas.

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc


Gods of Luck @drgnfly06 #MythologyMonday #MythologyMonandæg #Vegas

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This week, I’m taking my annual trip to Vegas. With the pandemic, I didn’t go last year, so both my comps and my anticipation are at an all-time high. Accordingly, I’m linking to a listing of several gods and goddesses of luck from ancient religions across the globe. Maybe one of them is really out there and will appreciate the shout out.

The Best and worst blackjack hands and how to play them | The TwinSpires Edge

The link comes from Carla Huffman, whose Twitter handle often posts mythology-related matters. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, which makes a lot of sense. Mythology is clearly a window into how the people in a given culture thinks. Maybe she’ll have something to say about my request to the gods, and maybe she has more credibility with them.

Probably, “This is superstitious nonsense, dipshit.”

Follow me on Twitter @gsllc
Follow Carla Huffman @drgnfly06