Lucky Vegas

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

Anyone ever see somebody hit it big in vegas? If so how much and what were they playing? The most I saw somebody win was 12,000 with 1 pull of a slot machine. Ive never seen somebody dance so crazy in my life :lol: . I would be very happy to though! Who wouldnt be with $12,000 in vegas!

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

PharCyDe wrote: Anyone ever see somebody hit it big in vegas? If so how much and what were they playing? The most I saw somebody win was 12,000 with 1 pull of a slot machine. Ive never seen somebody dance so crazy in my life :lol: . I would be very happy to though! Who wouldnt be with $12,000 in vegas!

No, but I saw some sucker lose it bigtime at a casino in Austria! The young man was tossing around daddy's chips like it was the latest thing to do, and losing in the process!

For me being lucky at Vegas was getting the chance to dine at Le Cirque, at the Bellagio Hotel. Also at Wolfgang Puck's place. Vegas is indeed a GOURMET'S(AND gourmand's) paradise. Check out the April issue of "Wine Spectator" for good article on restaurants/hotels in Vegas!!! :D

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Yeah, but "real" Las Vegans don't eat at places like that. They go to diners.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Laura wrote: Yeah, but "real" Las Vegans don't eat at places like that. They go to diners.

Right-o!
Those are the places on the road behind the strip! You can also get married at the chapel next door(make sure you wipe the ketchup off your T-shirt, first!)!!!

tj · Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Parsippany, NJ

One of my friends won $2k on a blackjack table.

And another one of my friends has won between $800-2k on the craps tables about 4x.

I knew someone's mom who hit all but one of the numbers on the lottery. She won like $10k or something.

(Vegas in about 36 hours, woo hoo!)

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Good luck and have a great time, tj! Let us know how it went when you get back!

tj · Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Parsippany, NJ

Well, I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas.

I was the first to arrive in Las Vegas, and arrived at the hotel (Harrahs) in the late morning Saturday. I decided to go get lunch, but besides the buffets, everything else was closed. So I went next door to the Imperial Palace instead. Most of the restaurants there were closed, too, so I played a little blackjack to kill some time while I waited.

After lunch, I decided to play a little craps, and got pretty lucky. I rolled for about 45 minutes – certainly the longest that I’ve ever held the dice. Pretty much paid for my trip, and it was only the 2nd table I had gambled at!

Met up with my friends later in the day, played a little more blackjack, and then we hit a snag with our last member of the entourage. Seems the 10 minute shower was causing major havoc at the airport, so his plane had to turn around! Yikes! Plus the hotel room was in his name, and his only.

So he called up Expedia (or was it Travelocity?) and got the name changed to another member of our party (props to the travel agent who got this done!). And after much waiting, we were able to get into our room. They even upgraded us to a suite. Nice!

I’ve stayed at suites in hotels before, and I gotta say that the Harrah’s suite is one of the nicer ones. Better than the suites at the Rio, for comparison.

We went to dinner at Gallaghers (sp?) in New York, NY. It’s a bit on the pricey side, and I couldn’t finish my steak, but it was a nice meal. Well worth it, considering it’s a special occasion.

After dinner we went to Zumanity by Cirque du Soleil. It’s similar to most of their other shows, but this one was more risqué (nakedness and sexual themes). Well worth it, IMHO.

Next was the typical bachelor party stuff, and then crashed back at the room.

The next day, we had lunch at Spago. It was good, but I didn’t notice anything particularly great about it, considering the reputation.

Finally, we went and saw the Star Trek:Borg 4D show, and while I highly recommend it to Trekkies, non-Trekkies should probably skip it.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Yes, there's lots to do in Vegas, indeed! Be sure to check out the Guggenheim/Hermitage permanent exhibit at the Venetian(always changing!). At the Monte Carlo is a cool brew pub that has live music for dancing most weeknights. I hear the Cirque de Soleil shows are worth seeing, as TJ said(although I've never seen one, they do get rave reviews!) and Celine Dion should still be in Vegas about now! I, like TJ, was not impressed with Spago but dinner at Circo was incredible!(reservations way in advance) Wolfgang Puck's place was pretty good, too. Lots of funky places for after hours, too!

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Eating at Lutece at the Venetian is quite nice, too.

Jonathan · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 185

...and don't forget salsa over at the Gold Coast showroom on Friday and Saturday nights! Great house band... especially what they play on Fridays! :D

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Jonathan wrote: ...and don't forget salsa over at the Gold Coast showroom on Friday and Saturday nights! Great house band... especially what they play on Fridays! :D
Thanks for that tip! Will be sure to check it out!

For shoppers in Las Vegas, head to the outlet mall just outside the city.(10 min. by car) Sorry I can't remember the name of the place, but it was huge and I picked up several pairs of dance pants(dancewear outlet!), some Italian shoes and a set of Waterford crystal, all at great savings!

tj · Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Parsippany, NJ

cocodrilo wrote:
For shoppers in Las Vegas, head to the outlet mall just outside the city.(10 min. by car) Sorry I can't remember the name of the place, but it was huge and I picked up several pairs of dance pants(dancewear outlet!), some Italian shoes and a set of Waterford crystal, all at great savings!

Be aware that sales tax in Vegas is pretty steep, so that sticker price needs to be marked up to adjust for it.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Sales tax in Las Vegas is 7 1/8%. Not bad if you're from California where it's 8 1/4% or even 8 1/2%! Or England where they call it the VAT and it's around 17%, or New Zealand where it's called something else and is 15%. Does New Jersey still have no sales tax on clothes?

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Nothing is steep when you live in Japan, where things are normally TWICE what you'd pay in the states(including tax) and in addition, they charge you 5% sales tax(which is going up to something near 10% in the very near future).

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

I just unearthed the flyer from that outlet mall I was referring to earlier. It's called "Belz Factory Outlet World" and their address is 7400 Las Vegas Blvd. South. They have a great selection of brand-name items at discount prices! Both my brother & I left Vegas with stuffed suitcases(and hand-baggage filled with crystal!)...