Vegaskev goes to Vegas

Final Day - Thursday

Moving day. We were going to be leaving the IP and change to the Luxor. I have never stayed at the Luxor so I was looking forward to trying a new hotel. We started the day by having breakfast at Denny's. Ah, the Lumberjack Slam. Good eats. I couldn't believe that there was a 15 minute wait to get in. Who waits 15 minutes to get into Denny's? Apparently I do, since IA wanted to eat there. I didn't mind though. I like Denny's as well.

We went back to the IP to check out and head to Luxor. We had a nice, older cabbie. He knew a bunch of Vegas trivia and was quite friendly. We got to the Luxor to a huge line-up for the registration counter. IA got into line and I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, we got a room and headed upstairs. We had a pyramid room which looked out onto The Strip. We could see the airport, the Trop and Hooters. Good view.

IA decided that he wanted to gamble so I suggested we head over to my favorite, Mandalay Bay. We walked through the Luxor and headed into the shops at Mandalay Place. IA got to see the Nike Golf Store and then some high-end pet store. Yikes, there were some extremely expensive things for dogs. Who is the target market for this stuff?

Any how, we walked around the tables at Mandalay trying to find a $5-10 table for IA but to no avail. There was only $15 and up. This used to be unusual for a Thursday afternoon. Vegas really is changing. So we headed back to the Luxor to find a table. Luckily for IA we found a $5 table and sat down. It was pretty good. The dealers were friendly and we had a great time. Eventually IA lost his C-Note and decided to walk away. I was down about $150 at that time. I decided to stay for a while. IA left to wander and kept playing. I was down $190 within moments of IA leaving and I was getting ready to walk away when I went on quite a rush. About 45 minutes to an hour later I was only down $30. I needed a break so I left. I felt pretty good about the comeback.

We then headed through the Excalibur to get to New York New York for dinner at ESPNZone Las Vegas. We watched the Lakers play Sacramento. Blow-out. Dinner was awesome. We had wings, cheese fries and burgers. IA was able to order a fantastic import (Molson Canadian) and got his collectors glass.

We headed back to the Luxor so IA could collect on his bet made at the sportsbook. I had to buy souvernirs so we parted ways. I bought the gifts and decided to head to bed. I had to be up at 5am to catch my flight.

Well, that was Vegas this year. It was very relaxing and did the touristy things that I never do. I had a great time and I think that IA did as well. I am already looking forward to my trip here next year with Bentley, Dirty Dan and IA. Who knows, maybe Piano Girl and B-Rad will come as well.

Day Four: Down $101.00 (including losses).

Vegaskev goes to Vegas

Day Three - Wednesday

Breakfast was at the Tropical Breeze Cafe located in the Flamingo. It was pretty good. There are only so many buffets that one can eat so only one breakfast buffet while in Vegas.

We decided to head south on the strip today since we went north yesterday. The first stop was the Bellagio.

I like the Bellagio. I has a classy feel to it without looking garish. I think the Wynn was a little to over-the-top. My main reason for going to the Bellagio was to go to the Gallery of Fine Art for the Impressionist Landscape: From Corot to Van Gogh show. It was fantastic and totally worth the $15.00 entry fee. For those of us without art history degrees, they had a hand-held device that told you the history of the painting and artist by punching in the corresponding number to the number beside the painting. Even IA enjoyed himself because of the hand-held tour guide. I went to the shop after the show and bought a couple of prints. One was a Gaudin and the other a Renoit.

After visiting the Bellagio we headed across the street to the Aladdin. The Aladdin is going to be rebranded this year as Planet Hollywood. I am not quite sure how the hotel will change so we will see. In the Aladdin we went to a sports bar named Blondie's. Here IA had a beer that he rated 5/5. I think the name of the beer was Newcastle. We watched the Canada/Russia hockey game and watched Canada fall out of the Olympics. Hopefully this will force Hockey Canada to stop sending pro's and get back to using amateur players.

When the game was over we went for lunch at Cheeseburger Las Vegas. Damn fine cheeseburgers. IA had a disappointing beer called Hefeweizin (2.5/5). The food was good though. A little pricey, but what in Vegas isn't.

After lunch, IA decided he wanted go back to the Wynn to pick up a shirt at the Ferrari store and pick up the shirt at Banana Republic. I decided to head back to the room to have a nap before we had to go to the basketball game.

The basketball game (UNLV v Utah) was great. US college sports is pretty high energy even when the teams are not very good. There were about 9500 people there to watch the game. The Thomas and Mack Arena is a good venue for sports and our seats had a good view of the action. Not a bad deal, $23.00US for tickets. I would certainly go again.

And did I mention college cheerleaders?...

After the game we grabbed a bite to eat and IA called it a night. I think all the walking around was getting to us as even IA admitted that he never realized how far apart each of the resort complexes are. Too funny. I decided to head down and play some blackjack. I played for about 2 hours (or so). Lost about $100.00. I played with two of the worst BJ players ever. In fact, one of them hit a 17 with the dealer showing 7. The clown hit and got a 3. The dealer flipped an 8 to get 11 and then a 10 to make 21. Because this guy took the three we all lost at the table. I think even the dealer was getting pissed at these idiots. Oh well. I headed up to the room around 1-130. Good times.

Thursday: Luxor action.

Day Three: Spent $176.00 (including losses).

Vegaskev goes to Vegas

Day Two - Tuesday

We woke up around 930 in the morning and decided it was buffet time. We headed over to Harrah’s for the big breakfast buffet. Wow, was that a lot of food. Lots of good stuff to eat and a dessert bar that was second to none. I rated it a 3 out of 4 as did IA. IA was extremely hungry. Kind of like the Indian’s in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Then it was time to head out to see the casino’s that were north of us. We walked by the Venetian. It is a nice looking place. However, we were looking to hit the Wynn so there was no time for the Venetian. As some of you may know, the Wynn is the newest resort in Vegas. It was extremely expensive to build and you can see where the money was spent. From the mountain out front to the excellent décor inside everything was built with class in mind. However, I was not really that impressed. Yes, it is a beautiful place but is it any better than the Bellagio? I somehow doubt it.

We walked through the casino and I decided I wanted to get a Wynn Player’s Card. A player’s card is what is used to rate players and help calculate comps. The comp levels are the highest I have ever heard of. They will are looking for $75.00 a hand play, for 4 hours a day on the table games, before they even start to offer comps. Wow. That is high. Just to give you an idea, the IP will start comping you with $10.00 a hand play. I am not so sure that the Wynn is 7.5 times better than the IP. It probably is but not to me.

We got the cards and headed towards the mall. I spotted the sportsbook and knew I needed to check it out. On the TV was a soccer game and IA went crazy. It was Arsenal versus Real Madrid. We had to stop so he could watch the game. According to IA, it was an excellent game. Arsenal won so I guess that makes him happy. During the game, IA got a little thirsty. I went up to the bar to get IA a CC and Coke. This single shot drink was an astonishing $9.00. Unbelievable! I hope it was good.

After the game we headed to the Wynn shops. High-end stuff and well laid out. We went to the Ferrari dealership. I would have liked to have looked at the cars but the charge was $10.00 to get in and they did not allow pictures. Screw that!

After that we headed over to the Fashion Mall. It is just like any other mall I have ever been in. However, we discovered that a shirt at Banana Republic was $30.00 cheaper than in the Forum Shops at Caesars.

Then it was off to Caesars. We went through Treasure Island and then off to the Mirage.

Caesars was awesome as always. We walked through the stores and came across the memorabilia store that sells movie stuff. I just mentioned that I would like to see if they had a Domino poster signed by Keira Knightley. Sure enough, IA just happened to be standing right next to it. $795.00 seemed a little excessive though.

Soon, it was dinner time and we went to Planet Hollywood. It was pretty good. Lots of little hotties. I rated it 3 out of 5 and IA rated it 3 out of 5. However, the beer was a 5/5 according to IA (Killian’s Red).

We were looking for something to do and decided to head over to the Improv at Harrah’s. The comedians were pretty good. The feature comic was Ralph Harris and he spent his time riffing on relationships. He was quite funny. IA actually had tears following. Good times, good people.

And that was our day. I did not even hit the tables. I hope to gamble some Wednesday.

More pictures later today.

Day two (spent $84.00)

Vegaskev goes to Vegas

Day One - Monday

First class is the only way to fly. I checked in fairly quickly at the airport and was on my way. I had 3 hours to kill in Vancouver, so I went to the Maple Leaf Lounge and enjoyed surfing the web and watching some TV shows that I had saved to my hard drive.

I was able to dine on some fantastic cookies and had a nice relaxing time. No crying kids or retards talking loudly on their cellphones.

Speaking of idiots and cellphones, I was sitting in my seat on the flight to LV when some clown sat down in the seat beside me. This guy had his phone ringer on high. It was the worst ring I have ever heard. Then this guy blabbed about crap that did not need to be shared with the rest of business class. Cellphones should be banned from planes. And to the think that the US government will soon pass a law allowing people to use their phones during flights.

Landed in Vegas and it was probably the coldest I have ever seen it here. It was only 10C. Yikes. On Sunday they actually had snow in some of the higher areas around the city. I come all this way for weather that is similar to home? Hell yeah, it’s Vegas!

One you first land here you get a sense of how much money is floating around this town. Everywhere you look is shiny and new, expensive cars. Then you see the adverts for the new condo and housing developments. I have been here quite a bit but I can see the change that has gone on here.

I get to the Imperial Palace (my hotel of choice) and get checked in right away. Usually it can take quite some time. I heard that the Magic Convention is in town this week. Good thing I did not tell Indian Assassin, he would have assumed I meant “Magic” Johnson. I like the Imperial. Sure it is run down and a little “low-rent” compared to the billion dollar behemoths that surround it, but I think it retains a little old Vegas charm. The Imperial only has about 18 months left and then will be blown up. It’s a shame but I guess that’s progress. The rooms aren’t anything to rave about but it doesn’t matter, as long as the sheets are clean.

I finished watching a movie I started on the plane “Waiting...” in my room. The movie is quite humorous and can make you wonder about what happens to your food before it gets served to you in a restaurant.

Then it was time to hit the tables. I played a little blackjack. The Imperial used to offer a nice selection of table games but has undergone some pretty hefty renovations. Blackjack seemed harder to find and a natural 21 is only paying 6-5 now while playing double deck. This is not so good. It increases the houses edge while playing. I am not happy about this change. The Imperial has been taken over by Harrah’s Entertainment and you can tell the IP has become much more corporate. Disappointing.
Then I figured I would try out the Imperial’s “new” poker room. They have moved it from a hallway upstairs to a prime location at the front of the casino. The dealers were friendly and I sat at a table with 4 other Canadians. I was playing $1-2 no-limit and did not have much luck. I played for about two hours without catching any decent cards and getting rolled over a couple of time. I decided it was time to pack it in since it had been a long day of travel.

IA got here around 2am.

Day one (down $116.00)