ONLINE GAMBLING AND CASINO GUIDE

Earlier tonight, I engaged in a bit of ghetto gambling. This was not the "play at the Western" version of ghetto gambling, instead, it was the cheap person version.  Ghetto gambling is gaming that has all the fun of gambling, without any of the risk or reward.  My own personal rendition of ghetto gambling involves taking only $20 to a local casino (usually the Sahara or Stratosphere) without an ATM card or even a wallet. Then, I play along these lines: I start out with $20, and I begin playing at a $3 or $5 table.  I play a few hands until I double up or lose 50%.  Unfortunately, I do not tip during these minor sessions unless I go on a big streak, and even then it's no more than a couple of bucks. If I double up, I pocket $20, and then proceed to play with "free" money at whatever low-limit game ... Read the full blog post...

"NASCAR Weekend" just wrapped up in Las Vegas, and following a new personal tradition, I spent a good part of the weekend at the Sahara. Frankly, I've always found the Sahara's NASCAR theme to be somewhat unusual.  It just doesn't seem to "fit" for some reason. The Sahara is a desert-themed hotel with a rich and storied history (the Beatles stayed here during their first visit to Vegas), and I never really figured out how stock cars found their way into this paradigm.  On any given day, you can stand outside and watch a race car roller coaster loop past the iconic neon camels.  It's a very odd paring.  Kind of like putting a gigantic poster of two Mormons facing the sinful Vegas Strip.  As if that could happen. Anyway, since the Sahara is ground zero for racing fans in Vegas, this is obviously one of the best places in town to spend ... Read the full blog post...

There's no better way out of a depressive funk than winning money. The perfect surge of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins that accompany a huge win creates a euphoric rush that validates all of the time and losses one has endured gambling.  A jackpot is the climax, the pinnacle, the elusive orgasm that happens when one wins the largest prize possible. At least that's how I imagine it. One of these days, I'm going to experience it first hand. Last night, after playing about an hour of Hold'em and getting extremely lucky (I finally rivered some poor bastard in a hand that I had no business being in), I decided to test my good fortune by plugging a few bucks into a Video Poker machine.  When it comes to the sodomy that is getting rivered, I am almost always the catcher in this scenario.  The fact that I was actually the pitcher for once seemed ... Read the full blog post...

Just when you think you've seen every gambling scenario imaginable ... This morning, I had to drag myself out of the house and back to the grocery store because I had forgotten to pick up a few items yesterday.  I jumped in my Porsche with a double-barreled carb and a 357 Hemi (ask me about it!), and headed west to the area near Commercial Center. Almost immediately after walking through the front doors of the grocery store, the overhead lights went out.  I was momentarily confused and disoriented.  I've been alive for a long time, but I can't remember ever being in a large supermarket when the power failed.  This was a first for me. A few seconds later, emergency lights kicked in, and the whir of cash registers and other machines broke the silence.  I was still standing near the entrance, just observing this scene, when directly to my right I heard ... Read the full blog post...

As holidays go, Valentine's Day is pretty much as silly as they come. With one exception. President's Day. I've been alive for 41 years and I've never formally observed either of these "holidays".  The Valentine's thing is yet another greeting card holiday, and President's Day is simply a reason to give  government employees yet another day off.  I'm not sure that either one is cause for celebration.  This being the case, I marked both holidays in my own special way. On Sunday, I celebrated my love of gambling and pizza with ... well, gambling and pizza. Metro Pizza at Ellis Island has a "2-for-1" Sunday special, and I consider two large pizzas for under $20 to be a downright bargain.  While enduring the one hour wait for the pies, I plugged dollar after dollar into a Double Bonus machine next to the pick-up counter and proceeded to lose my ass.  Suffice to say, the pizza ... Read the full blog post...

Well, the Super Bowl is in the books and I can honestly say that from a wagering perspective, this was one of the worst games ever for me. I violated one of my own gambling rules, and this makes the loss that much more difficult to swallow. I have a hard and fast rule with professional sports betting, and that rule is ... never, ever, ever give away points to a professional sports team.  Spotting points to professional players is logically ludicrous.  If they are good enough to play in the NFL, they are good enough to win the game.  This is especially true if they are good enough to make it to the Super Bowl. So why did I violate this rule? I did so because of my own hatred of what the world is becoming. On Saturday, I was already convinced to take the Saints.  The number two team in the league with ... Read the full blog post...

It's been an intolerable poker week for yours truly. For some inexplicable reason, the ladies of the city have been making my life miserable. A couple of days ago, the bane of my existence was "boob girl", and today it was "spectator girl". Those of you who play poker in Vegas on a semi-regular basis have almost certainly encountered this creature.  This is the woman who  stands behind her boyfriend or husband, or pulls up a chair to sit and watch from behind. The spectating girlfriend takes on many forms.  Sometimes she stands quietly behind her meal ticket and doesn't say a word.  Sometimes she nags him that she's hungry.  Sometimes she is friendly with the other players.  Sometimes she's loud and obnoxious. When a guy's female companion walks up behind him and begins to camp out, you just never know what you are going to get. Frankly, I'm not always a huge fan of spectator ... Read the full blog post...