# Anyone else surprised (dismayed?) by Las Vegas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948 "2023-03-09T21:07:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/121 "2023-03-11T21:59:24Z")
I went to Las Vegas once, and in all likelihood never will again. For my 50th birthday I wanted something really different. And L.V. seemed as different as I could get. My brother flew there to meet me, and he’s a born tour guide, so I had an advantage. We took the tour at the Hoover Dam and drove to Death Valley. (Driest place in the country, and we got rained on. Still, I got a great photo: a rainbow over Death Valley.) A great couple of days. Still, the most entertainment we got was wandering the Strip like a couple teenage boys, our mouths agape, saying, “ohmigosh! Can you believe someone _built_ this? Holy cow, look at _that!_” (and occasionally whispering Hunter S. Thompson references to one another). One feature of the Strip at that time: at almost every street corner there were small groups of men handing out cards with contact information for “escorts” and “models.” Business cards for hookers, I assume. My brother refused them but, to his puzzlement, I collected as many as I could. That evening in our hotel room I sorted all the cards by first name, and we played. “Give me all your Tiffanys!” “Go fish !” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/122 "2023-03-11T23:26:45Z")
> [@Nyvaak](#): > > One feature of the Strip at that time: at almost every street corner there were small groups of men handing out cards with contact information for “escorts” and “models.” Business cards for hookers, I assume. As my wife and I dubbed them, when we visited Vegas, “Hooker trading cards.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/123 "2023-03-12T06:04:46Z")
The internet has mostly killed the porn slapper card business. They are few and far between from their heyday. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/124 "2023-03-12T15:12:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Dinsdale](#): > > > > that bar is the only place I can recall where the urinal was a full-sized bathtub. Hard to miss THAT! > > A drive-in around Indiana, PA had a bathtub in the men’s. During intermission it was crowded. Urinal troughs used to be a staple in baseball park men’s rooms. They still exist in some places, like [Wrigley Field](https://wgnradio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/06/wrigleyfieldtroughurinal-31929289.jpg?resize=300). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/125 "2023-03-12T15:14:43Z")
> [@El\_Famous\_Burrito](#): > > The **Las Vegas Aces** came to town in 2018, won the WBNA championship Well if Oakland’s baseball team moves to Las Vegas, which is certainly possible though there is presently a distinct lack of a suitable baseball stadium to move into, that will give them the Las Vegas Aces and the Las Vegas A’s. That’ll be fun for sports people on TV to get confused over. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/126 "2023-03-12T15:57:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Urinal troughs used to be a staple in baseball park men’s rooms. They still exist in some places, like [Wrigley Field](https://wgnradio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/06/wrigleyfieldtroughurinal-31929289.jpg?resize=300). Our local baseball stadium, Whataburger Field, has them as well. I wasn’t aware that they had been removed at most ballparks 😅. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/127 "2023-03-12T17:08:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > there is presently a distinct lack of a suitable baseball stadium to move into Easily solved. There are a couple of locations right off the Strip that would be perfect. Tropicana and Koval, for example. Or Tropicana and Paradise. Or go south a bit and build the stadium across the street from Bootlegger’s. Plenty of spots that are easy to get to and have adequate parking, and the Trop addresses are accessible by monorail. What I’m waiting for is a WNBA arena to be built just south of the Sahara. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/128 "2023-03-12T18:04:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Easily solved. There are a couple of locations right off the Strip that would be perfect. Tropicana and Koval, for example. Or Tropicana and Paradise. Yeah, but you still need a rich person or corporation to actually do it, and it takes a few years. It’d have to have a roof, too. The A’s have not-very-secretly looked at those sites on Tropicana, which are pretty much the best locations available unless something actually on the Strip gets torn down. The other would be the space across from the Encore/Wynn. Proximity to the Strip is a huge deal, as evidence by the success of the Golden Knights, whose arena is right behind New York New York. A baseball team is 81 more events every year that people can fit into their Vegas vacation; I would one hundred percent try to work a game in if I was there during baseball season, it makes a trip even more appealing. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/129 "2023-03-12T18:21:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I would one hundred percent try to work a game in if I was there during baseball season, it makes a trip even more appealing. Hell, if the Dodgers, Padres or Mariners were in town for a stand I’d drive to Vegas rather than LA or SD. Make a couple of days of it. It took them 2 years or so to build Allegiant Field for the Raiders. Gotta figure a baseball stadium could be done in less time than that. Could you just imagine what conventions would be like if they built out on the Wynn lot? They’d sell out every game by far. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/130 "2023-03-12T18:25:06Z")
Two years is fairly standard to construct an MLB stadium. This is what makes Vegas appealing to me, even though my primary attraction is playing poker; there are so many things to do in walking distance. There is basically no one I can’t spend time there with; whatever entertains them, Vegas has. If something begins to become boring, you can do something else. My eventual plan is to spent a month or two there every winter, though, of course, that would require staying in a rental off strip to keep costs down and be able to cook. I’d drive there so I could get out of the city. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/131 "2023-03-12T22:04:43Z")
I’ve heard perverts used to lie down in the troughs and get drenched with urine from dozens of men. A bit awkward when taking your 10 year old in to pee… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/132 "2023-03-12T22:50:02Z")
Sounds like an urban legend to me. Any actual verified reports out there of such goings on in the public venues? While urophilia/“water sports” is a real thing, that community usually keeps to itself. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/133 "2023-03-13T01:16:22Z")
maybe not in Las Vegas, though. I deeply apologize, I mis-spoke. I remembered reading about such things elsewhere, (after reading about the urinal-trough) - and I am sure such things wouldn’t be allowed. There. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/134 "2023-03-13T11:21:45Z")
Sorry for starting this hijack. I’m well aware of troughs from Wrigley and the Red Lion bar at college. A trough ain’t no full-sized bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/135 "2023-03-14T03:39:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > …the gaudy bits were more kitschy than anything else. > > … the casinos seemed to try and outdo each other at being gaudy and flashy, etc… > > All in all, just a trashy display I felt. I haven’t been for a couple of decades but the two times I went I enjoyed myself precisely because the place is _so_ ridiculously gaudy, kitsch, flashy and trashy that it was amusing. Figuratively - and at times literally - I was definitely laughing _at_ it, not _with_ it, but I was nonetheless laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/136 "2023-03-14T03:46:10Z")
I know a few people who claim Vegas is unrivalled “for people watching”. Perhaps. But I already know enough characters, who ironically often lack character. I’ve nothing against Vegas. It is good for short breaks and probably for big groups. But missing its surroundings means missing quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/137 "2023-03-14T03:52:36Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I haven’t been for a couple of decades but the two times I went I enjoyed myself precisely because the place is _so_ ridiculously gaudy, kitsch, flashy and trashy that it was amusing. That about sums up the charm of the place for me. To paraphrase a different Hunter S. Thompson work, Las Vegas is decadent and depraved. It’s a place where you can wallow in excess, free from judgment because everyone else around you is doing the same thing, and the only limit to what you can do is how much money you’re willing to spend to make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/138 "2023-03-14T03:52:51Z")
I’ve been to Vegas three times – two of those were for work conferences, and once was as part of a multi-stop vacation with my wife. I’ll just say that it’s not for me. Gambling has never held any appeal to me, and I guess I have a problem with a place which is so blatantly built around (and funded by) parting people from their money, by encouraging them to indulge in a pastime which is, for many of them, addictive. The gaudiness, and the veneer of “class” that’s applied to much of it, don’t appeal to me, either. I respect that there are great restaurants and great shows there, too, and that many people can and do have an awesome time in Vegas without ever gambling a cent, but none of the rest of it would be there without the engine that is gambling. When I was there with my wife, we were riding the elevator up to our hotel room (in the Mirage) one evening. Riding on the elevator with us was a guy who was clearly inebriated, and on the verge of tears. In the 30 seconds or so we were with him on the elevator, he told us that he’d just lost $5000, which he couldn’t afford to lose. And that’s Vegas, to me. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/139 "2023-03-14T08:08:08Z")
if you talk to any vegas resident that lived there before the mid 80s they always swear it was better when the (mostly Chicago) mob ran the town/strip > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > When I was there with my wife, we were riding the elevator up to our hotel room (in the Mirage) one evening. Riding on the elevator with us was a guy who was clearly inebriated, and on the verge of tears. In the 30 seconds or so we were with him on the elevator, he told us that he’d just lost $5000, which he couldn’t afford to lose. And that’s Vegas, to me. I was in vegas as a teen in the mid-90s and was in the MGM grand watching the blackjack table and some people were playing a few hands and the dealer was telling a story that he was dealing at the low stakes table and this guy was getting sloshed and being obnoxious so he ) told him he was done … well he decided to have one last hand that was double or nothing and was a really huge bet dealer says ok and deals the cards and he busts with 22 dealer goes to clean the table well on the table there’s a spot that says the table limit is 50 dollars which the loser is pointing out and arguing about So dealer rings the pit boss and explains the situation and the pit boss says " Nevada law says once the cards are dealt its a legal bet since the limit is a house rule and I guess he lost a medium fortune because he was beyond upset/pissed and had to be pretty much carried out of the casino ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948/140 "2023-03-14T12:31:51Z")
Moderating > [@salinqmind1](#): > > I’ve heard perverts used to lie down in the troughs and get drenched with urine from dozens of men. A bit awkward when taking your 10 year old in to pee… This isn’t the penthouse forum, and that post really came from out of left field. After discussion with the other mods, and in part because we want to start keeping track of these sorts of posts, which you seen to have a propensity towards, this will be a formal warning. Please DON’T pop into threads to post “penthouse forum” posts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-surprised-dismayed-by-las-vegas/980948.md?page=8)