Although I agree, views of gambling differ greatly from country to country, and people in any given stereotype vary a lot. Some Asians and Australians, for example, are said to be keen gamblers, but I’m sure this is often inaccurate and often very much so.
@procrustus 2 above …
You sound like an informed connoisseur. Where on Earth do you recommend going for the best of gambling and sex? Not disputing your contention, I just need to plan a vacation … 
I bring my sexual partner with me (my wife). So, anywhere works for us. For gambling, my favorite was in Hungary just after the Soviets left. A real classy place with a view of the river, and dealers would could converse with players from all over in their native languages.
A little casino in Baden Baden was also very upscale and free of loud machines and bad music. (the website says they have slot machines, but they must be in a separate room, I don’t recall any)
Which is the Number One reason I go to Vegas: food & drink. Not the gambling; I have four huge Indian casinos/resorts within 30 minutes of home. Not the scenery; I’ve lived desert adjacent most of my life. But in Vegas I can eat at some of the finest restaurants in the country at prices well below what the same dinner would cost in L.A./Chicago. Not to mention very skilled bartenders, comely waitresses, etc. This trip coming up we are doing an “old school” theme and hitting Golden Steer, Peppermill and Bootlegger. Oh, the caloric humanity!
Peppermill! I spent many happy late nights there in the 1980s around the flaming water firepit with my then-young first wife while the very hot then-even-younger things brought excellent drinks for very nearly free. It was raffish, but it was fun.
Last time I went back ~1 year ago was after my wife had died. I told the cute server-babe that I had been a regular here about 5 years before she was born. She said she heard that a lot. But it was still special.
Immediately post-communist eastern Europe sounds like it was incredible. I missed it completely since at the the time I was still part of the military sworn to destroy all that. Once I had the freedom to participate it had become … ordinary-ish.
That is quite possibly the case, but I’m reasonably certain that I observed people drinking beer from the bottle or can.
But I cannot swear to it.
Between Phoenix and Tulsa covers quite a bit of ground. Where was this ranch? Perhaps you meant Tucson?
I’m sure it happens, but every time I’ve seen cops on the Strip or Fremont they were occupied with bigger concerns than container violations.
To be fair, there were a fair number of cops on Fremont on Friday night. They were traveling in packs of four or five, generally meandering through the crowd. I don’t recall seeing anybody getting hassled by the cops, but I was only out there until about 10:30 or so.
When my daughter was living in Vegas, she took us to a great BBQ place in a hole in the wall in a shopping center. Nowhere near the strip. Good and inexpensive.
I’d been to Vegas a bunch of times in my 20s and 30s. Mostly for bachelor parties. My experience was that if you wanted to do anything besides wait in line for hours with the peasant-folk, you needed money. Presumably the more money you have the more exclusive your accommodations.
Sounds like my sort of place, I’d appreciate if you could tell me the name of it, or the mall. I’ll travel out of my way. We did a chain BBQ next to the Linq which was uninspiring and I did think "well, brits will not become fans of BBQ with these overpriced small portions. Just checking and it’s Virgil’s Real BBQ. I will not be bothering going to there again.
If anything, we’re low-rollers. Give us a locals spot and we’ll seek it out. They eat and drink cheaply there, and the type of food is often excellent. Ellis Island, though more expensive, was the one few places I’d have to visit if there for a day on a hop to somewhere else. Though even now it seems on the expensive side at 24.99, it used to be about 11.99 with a beer. The beer seems to be $3 last time I was in there. Maybe the BBQ in there would be an answer, but it never seemed to be opened, and the pull of what was cheap prime rib drew us in. From what I recall it’s Fremont street for prime rib deals now.
I haven’t visited for decades but there are few settings where I’m more comfortable around crowds and noise than a sports book. Fortunately those are much closer to home now.
Vegas actually has acceptable BBQ these days, but you have to get away from the Strip to find it. Closest to the Strip is Rollin’ Smoke on Highland behind Planet 13. Then there is Mabel’s inside The Palms. But for the really good stuff, you have to travel to the hinterlands of Henderson and such. It’s there, but you have to look for it. Maybe even head out to Fox Smokehouse in Boulder City.
She’s coming to visit tomorrow so I’ll ask. If the mall had a name, it was generic - it was not a destination type mall, just a bunch of stores.
Well, the thread title is more likely to invite the city’s detractors than its advocates.
Ooops yes Tucson
You know… I was just thinking that while I really didn’t like Las Vegas and that’s why I started the thread, I adore New Orleans. Maybe I should start a thread about New Orleans?
laissez le bon temps rouler!
Born and raised in Boulder City- highly recommend the smoked wings at Fox’s (the rest of the BBQ is decent but the wings are amazing).
Having lived her the better part of 50 years and possibly moving out of state soon, I have to say , it’s really comfortable and fun place to live , especially Boulder City and Henderson but in Vegas there are some old cool neighborhoods as well. We have our favorite local casinos and rarely venture to the Strip or Downtown (when company is in town) . Like many have mentioned, it is endless choices for food. Also , no state sales tax, traffic isn’t the worst when compared to LA , and though I still hate July-September, October- Early June is unbeatable weather. I drive out to feed my horse early in the morning and with the big open sky and mountains, every day is a new view. I’ll miss it if I go.