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Too Much of a Good Thing
December 23, 2009
Following the trend of properties such as the Excalibur and Luxor, both the MGM Grand and The Stratosphere have begun offering all day buffet passes. The gist of these particular gimmicks is that, not only will you be able to get unlimited food from the eatery, but you can come and go as many times as you wish. If you want to eat a piece of chicken, go play blackjack, come back and eat a piece of beef, go to a show, come back and eat a taco, etc, etc ... you are free to do so. You may visit the buffet a theoretically unlimited amount of times for one price. This includes various time-of-day offerings such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's a buffet of the buffet for lack of a better analogy. When I first heard of this concept, I was skeptical. To some degree, I still am. Even though the Vegas ... Read the full blog post...
Aria Room and Board
December 18, 2009
"Not another City Center article. It's too much. It's just too much. It's just a damn casino, not a cure for cancer. Dear God, make it stop!" I hear you, and I empathize. Please take the gun out of your mouth and relax, though. Remember Encore? This too shall pass. I've yet to mention guest rooms or mid-level dining -- which is more or less my sustenance, so indulge me. Early this morning I investigated a Deluxe (read: "standard") room at Aria. Before I go any further, I would like to point out that the procurement of this room was a complete clusterfornication for the room guest. The gentleman who procured the room, let's call him Sugardick Von Hugenpecker, was set to check in at the stroke of midnight this morning. He called, then called again to make sure that the room would be available at midnight. He was assured that it would be, yet when he arrived ... Read the full blog post...
Last Supper Denied
December 9, 2009
Sometimes, your end of Las Vegas Boulevard simply cannot catch a break. While the entirety of LVB from Mandalay Bay to Fremont Street is easily accessible to yours truly either with or without an automobile, some places are certainly more convenient than others. The Sahara is one of those places. As my primary monorail station and a sub-5 minute walk from my dwelling here in town, this property is practically an extension of my own home. 1am and can't sleep? Masturbate twice and try to drift off again. If that doesn't work ... throw on some shoes, grab a jacket, walk south, and sit at a semi-deserted Blackjack table. Maybe check out the poker room and see if there's anything going on. Chat with the dealers who would rather be anywhere else than the graveyard shift at an outdated casino on a part of The Strip that's slipping further into neglect. These are the people from ... Read the full blog post...
An Alarming Afternoon
October 23, 2009
Let it never be said that I don't complete a trifecta. Three days, three trips to Caesars. It's been a noticeable pattern for years, but perhaps it is just a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. As adrenaline-surging as it was, I did not return to the Monopoly Championships yesterday. Instead, I had a quick meetup at the pseudo-new Serendipity 3 cafe. Given that it was a nice day, we ordered from the “Fun on The Run” menu and ate on the Plaza instead of in the confines of the establishment itself. There are four weeks of perfect weather each year in Vegas, and we are presently in the brief Fall window before the omnipresent winds of Winter move in. On Wednesday, I passed through the same plaza location, and was somewhat disconcerted as a strange siren began blaring. About 2 minutes after the alarm started, a voice came over a loudspeaker and said something along ... Read the full blog post...
Meat You Can't Beat
October 18, 2009
There is probably no worse fate in Vegas than to get a visit from a relative who arrives on Friday afternoon and stays until Sunday evening. It's the sociologic equivalent of a prostate exam performed by the Tasmanian Devil on crack. Unfortunately, yours truly is currently suffering this fate. After spending Friday night doing the typical tourist thing, “there's the Bellagio Fountains”, “there's the Stratosphere”, “there's a bus that will take you to El Paso … go ahead, get on it, the ticket's on me” -- I crashed and slept late for the first time in five years. Once everyone had awakened on Saturday, we were presented with the usual visitor dilemma. “Where should we eat?” I suggested the Wynn Buffet. “Oh god, I ate there last time and it was awful!”, said our visitor. “Really?”, I said with some surprise. She went on to explain that something was too wet, too dry, too hot, or too cold, ... Read the full blog post...
Breakfast and Blackjack
September 30, 2009
There are a couple of folks from out of town (I include Henderson in that designation) visiting Las Vegas today and somewhere along the line it was decided that an informal breakfast was taking place this morning at the Peppermill. Given that each step I take feels as though someone is shooting me in the knee with an AK-47, it made perfect sense for me to walk to this small gathering. Face it, there's a little bit of masochism in all of us. The Peppermill is one of those places that looks horribly out of place on the Las Vegas Strip. It is a stand-alone structure in the middle of a parking lot in a configuration reminiscent of a suburban Denny's. In slightly better economic times the mill was the subject of frequent rumors that it was operating under the ever-present threat of the wrecking ball, but such concerns have been put to ... Read the full blog post...
Tie-Dye Overload
August 2, 2009
It's been somewhat of a difficult week, and to be honest, I haven't felt like doing a whole lot for the sake of recreation. The end of the month saw lots of airports, travel, and was just extremely unpleasant for a variety of different reasons. As months go, July of 2009 could not have come to an end soon enough. I'm going to rip this page out of the calendar and wipe my ass with it. Life goes on, though, and while I wasn't in the most friendly of moods, I was more or less coerced into heading out because there are only so many household items that will survive an impact with the living room wall without breaking. As a professional Keno player, I also had little option but to get out and about. It's an occupational requirement. After some careful consideration, the decision was made that once again, Downtown would be our ... Read the full blog post...
I'm Finally an Immigrant
May 30, 2009
While I have played in most Las Vegas casinos at least once, the fact remains that there are some scattered casinos in which I have never played. These are usually small properties without hotels. One of these places is a fairly well-known casino very close to the Strip … Ellis Island. Ellis Island is a polarizing place. People either love it or hate it. There is rarely an in-between. I have always withheld judgement on the place until I carved out enough time to truly take in the Ellis experience myself. The exterior of Ellis Island has always been an integral part of my daily routine. At one point, it was a stone's throw from a building in which I dwelled. I have walked and driven past it literally thousands of times, but I always allowed the interior to remain a relative mystery. I felt that this was a transgression that needed to ... Read the full blog post...
Summer at the Conservatory
May 17, 2009
The Bellagio Conservatory unveiled their “Summer” display today, and I must say, they have redeemed themselves. The last few creations have been a little underwhelming by historical standards, but they seemed to have allocated a few more resources this time around. The centerpiece of the display is a gigantic “B” ferris wheel, and they have also added a live bird display. They are still re-using some elements, such as the watering pots from the Spring layout, and there are no major animatronics or trains … but this still works. It is actually one of the better displays of the last 12 months. Props to the design team. This theme will also be around until Labor Day, so what you see here is what you are going to get for many months to come. Sometimes they add a few extra patriotic elements for Memorial Day, but this will be the core design. After hanging in the ... Read the full blog post...
Getting Beaten by a Girl
May 16, 2009
Today was race day yet again. It was the Preakness, and it was a historic race because a female horse won for the first time in 85 years. It was also another golden opportunity to put my “can't miss” parimutuel master plan into action. At about 1pm this afternoon, I headed Downtown to place my bets. Before I could make my fortune, however, I needed nourishment. I walked past Binion's, eyeballed the cowgirl dealers (yes again), snapped some photos (yes again), and considered where to get my grub on. Being hungry, and being on Fremont Street, I did what any red-blooded, cheap-ass Downtowner would do. I walked over to the Golden Gate, purchased two shrimp cocktails for 99 cents, and then proceeded to eat them both. Yes, I got looks as I huddled over my dual cocktails while shoveling them into my pie hole, but screw them all. It was my two bucks. I came ... Read the full blog post...
