Interesting username /post combo, OP. I’m a big fan of your book. Did you break the bank at the BJ tables?
For me, what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas precisely because it didn’t involve anything I wouldn’t mention in a church. I have a reputation to maintain. (Said reputation is wholly unearned and based largely on my being 20-something and single, but I maintain it nonetheless.)
For me, whatever happened in Vegas wasn’t worth repeating. I think the most interesting thing that happened the last time I was there was I bonked my head on the sloping window of our room at the Luxor. Just a <thunk> owww… with no loss of consciousness and subsequent hijinks.
Huh. I never heard of that book or its author until just now. Quite the (lucky?) coincidence.
I was just talking about this. For years the trade group in which I participate held its conferences in Orlando, FL. A few years ago the powers that be announced the conference would begin alternating between Las Vegas and Orlando.
Woo Hoo. Vegas Baby!, I thought. I was completely wrong. I wasn’t expecting to snort coke off of Chippendale dancers or anything but I thought I’d get in some serious video poker time. Naw. Conference events, including the social ones, kept us occupied from about 8:00am to 11:00pm. I was too beat after a full day for gambling. If I’d been 20 maybe I could’ve gotten in a few hours of Multi-Strike and been able to participate fully in the next day’s activities.
I asked someone higher up in the organization why LV and Orlando if no one gets to play. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to go to Cleveland or Newark? The answer was that those cities don’t have venues large enough to accommodate the trade show portion of our conference.
I think your Las Vegas would be more fun :o
It’s like this. If you weren’t the sort of guy who does coke of a stripper’s ass, orders bottle service in the clubs until 6am, gambles thousands of dollars a hand, gets wasted, bangs hookers and steals Mike Tyson’s pet tiger before you went to Vegas, you aren’t going to turn into that guy in Vegas.
Here is my impression of Vegas. Thousand of interchangeable carbon blobs fly in from all over the country. They think they are going to roll Hangover style, get really wasted on free drinks at the casinos (where they will lose their money), stand in line for megaclubs they will never get into and then wander around drunk and obnoxious until they are ready to pass out.
To really have a ‘Vegas’ time costs a fair amount of money for the average suburban schoolteacher or office park worker. If you want to party at any of the clubs, you should arrange for a VIP room ahead of time (bottle service is like $500 or so IIRC). Probably want to hit the strip clubs too (Spearmint Rhino or Crazy Horse II are always popular). Again, expect to spend a lot. And that doesn’t include the costs of bring all that coke and hookers back to your $5000 a night suite at The Palms.
Yeah, been to Las Vegas (once) with my brother and sister-in-law. We spent some time playing slots in several places. None of us knew enough about gambling to try any of the tables, so we ended up playing “kiddie” games at “Circus Circus”. I still have the stuffed toy (a Toucan bird) my brother won and gave to me. Nothing to report here.
I used to live there. I would prefer the “stays there” option.
I got married (last Saturday) but I can’t convince her that it stays here.
Last time I went to Vegas, I took in the Atomic Testing Museum and the Pinball Hall of Fame.
Isn’t that pretty much what everybody does?
Just as a footnote, Las Vegas has tried to distance itself from this wildly popular ad campaign.
The reason is that too many people started to think that was the purpose of coming to Vegas - to do something that should stay here. On weekends, jail cells are chock full of idiots who thought “anything goes” in Vegas, and you can get away with anything. That would be wrong.
Yes, you can walk down The Strip legally drinking alcohol - no need for that silly brown paper bag to hide that beer or whatever. And yes, prostitution is legal in Nevada - but NOT in Clark County (greater metropolitan Las Vegas). Pot and coke and the other party drugs are as illegal here as they are in most places. Casino security makes guards at Guantanamo seem like nice guys and they don’t put up with nonsense - so trashing your room or peeing in the fountain might be fun for a second, but hopefully one of your friends has bail money.
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” seemed like a fun ad campaign at the time. Nobody knew it would become a mantra for idiots with a tad too much money to spend, and the new right-of-passage for every 21st birthday party - male or female.
Luckily, as mentioned above, most people come here and see a show, eat too much at the buffets, plop an extra few bucks in the machines they might not have planned on, and see the sights.
But some people come ready to party-hearty and drink that 25th shot, snort that line, put on their slutwear or call the phone number from that porno flyer they got on the street to get Bunny to come to their room later and and let’s just say it usually doesn’t end well. Should any of you be near the somewhat dismal Downtown area by day, take a walk about three blocks in any direction - you will see one bail bondsman’s office after the next after the next. They do a nice business and my guess is they are the biggest fans of “…stays in Vegas”.
I got knocked up in Vegas after years of infertility. So, whether it should have or not, what happened in Vegas most certainly did not stay there.
And except for Mike’s pet tiger I could do all that in my hometown, probably cheaper.
It looks like they’ve moved up to Crazy Horse III by now. Between the clubs (both “Strip” and “strip-”) and the casinos, the only reason you don’t just as well build a bonfire of all your money or throw it into Lake Meade and be done with it is because there’s an ordinance against that.
And if you take the pedestrian bridges late you are as likely as not to have to step over someone who let too much happen in Vegas.
Your Bailmen sector is almost as large as Baltimore’s, man, for a lower population. (From the online Yellow Pages: Las Vegas listings for Bail/Bail Bondsmen:** 215**, Baltimore listings 250 ) People are getting BUSY at being idiots…
Last time in Vegas I was hanging with some whales. Your cost estimate is a little off. A table at XS in the Encore was $2000. A magnum of grey goose was $1000. I had to pay the $100 cover charge and drank all night on their dime. These are guys I watched playing blackjack with $2000 a hand.
I marked stays there. To protect the innocent. I have fond no vow breaking since I was single but we’ll just leave it at that.
I just estimated the suite.
The $500 estimate was for the club at Planet Hollywood (The Gallery I think). And that isn’t even really high end at all.
I just know me and like 20 of my mostly management consulting buddies spent a lot of money over several days. And there are clearly options to spend a heck of a lot more than we can afford.
Although one of my Wall Street trader buddies was telling me about his trips to Macau. Sort of makes LV look like AC. (Macau does about 3x the revenue of Vegas).
This. I did do a 7 hour pub crawl on the Strip and ended up with more money than I started with(even with all the slots and drinking).
If I went to Vegas (or anywhere else) for a conference, I would behave with decorum.
As it happens, I have been to Vegas several times on holiday.