Blim-Blam

A Vegas Recap

So, let me start this off by saying that I just went back and read the last Vegas posting I made, which I wrote at about midnite Vegas time after having just finished a yard (3 feet) of Pina Colada. That yard, which came in a bong-like tube with a neck strap, contained 15 shots of rum/coconut rum in it.

Despite that, I only misspelled one word - "completely".

Alright, so I am back from Las Vegas, narrowly missing the influx of NASCAR fans in town for that weekend's race. I came out up about $350 (might be more if my sports bets - Virginia to win the NCAA's and Georgetown to win the NCAA's - pan out), representing the first time in any of my visits to Vegas, Biloxi, or Atlantic City that I came out on top. The reason?

Craps.

But before I get into that, I want to first clarify a couple of details from that earlier post. As I said, that posting was made after downing a yard of pina colada, but it was the culmination of what might be the most fun night I've ever had. I, along with three other guys from my company, decided to make that night our "drinking night" (as opposed to our "gambling night"). After attending a number of FOIA-related seminars (and me getting railed by my former boss for being so naive as to think I wouldn't get unceremonially canned like he had been), we walked from our hotel/casino - Harrah's - to New York, New York for dinner. We wandered around the floor a bit (love it by the way) and stopped at Gallagher's Steakhouse after seeing meat curing in its windows (also their bartender looked like the hot lesbian who kissed Mischa Barton in that episode of the OC). Our company was giving us a prorated per diem of $35 a day (since breakfast and lunch were covered by the conference), and that ended up being the price of the steaks alone. But, oh boy, were they good steaks. We ended up getting "Cowboy Steaks", which were essentially T-Bone with more marbling, so more flavor from the fat. I chose the bearnaise sauce on the side as well. Awesome. The water waiter had the fakest Brooklyn accent I've ever heard, but our actual waiter seemed to be the real deal.

The steak was a good base for what came next. One of my coworkers, Chris, was bound and determined to find a yard of alcohol to drink. I suggested sticking with the half-yard, but, after he questioned my manhood I decided to go with the yard as well. We found our poison in a pavilion area near the M&M store. After the bartender handed me the yard of pina colada, I asked how much it was?

"$38," she replied.

But, to be fair, there were 15 shots of liquor in it, so I handed the lady my money, and, like Vikings, we set off to pillage and loot the town. Chris got a yard of strawberry daquiri (and he was questioning MY manhood), Jake got a half-yard of strawberry daquiri, and Doug countered with a half-yard of Long Island Iced Tea (which, frankly, is a lot of LIIT). We decided to head for the Luxor, which the other guys had never been to. I took several long pulls from the pina colada bong, and looked down to see that I had barely dented it. It was going to be a long night.

When we got to the Luxor, we were already starting to feel the effects of the drink bongs. Jake started randoming yipping and yelling out "BLIM-BLAM!!" Chris and I found ourselves in the difficult position of needing to pee, but having a yard-long drink bong hanging from our necks. And Doug had pretty much finished his LIIT, remarking that it was "mostly ice."

We walked through the gaming section of the Luxor, and wandered past the craps tables on our way towards finding a bathroom. I glanced back to the craps tables, thinking that:

a.) I really want to learn how to play craps, and
b.) That guy at that table looks REALLY familiar...

When I was in college, the frat class right under me ended up being surprisingly uptight and rebellious, so the next class (two years under me) was picked in response to that. Quite possibly the biggest bunch of lushes you will ever meet, and all very fun dudes. I ended up hanging out with those guys a lot, especially after they begged, nay, FORCED me to "haze" them (not that we ever do such things in frats). Actually, the only hazing going on was when I finally cut them off from the liquor, which they were consuming in disgusting portions. Then I sent them off to harass some of my pledge brothers. Ah, college.

Anyway, so that ENTIRE class was at this craps table at the Luxor. These guys were there for spring break (from grad school and from work apparently). They had brought along some of the subsequent pledges, who I hadn't met but who apparently had heard of me. One guy told me, "Boosh, I paid $1200 for you!" I have no idea what that means. So, I ended up learning, and playing, craps with these guys. Totally awesome. Most random, small-world moment of my life.

So, after playing craps with them for a while (and winning $12), we bong-drinkers left the Luxor to head back to Harrah's. At some point along the way, both Chris and I realized that we had finished all of the alcohol from our drinks, and were left with a couple of inches of pure syrupy, sugary drink mix. This might be hard to believe, but the 15 shots-full portion of the drink went down quite easily, while this portion was a nightmare. I felt like I was about to go into a diabetic shock every time I took a sip. After a couple of these sips, I decided I'd had enough, and gave my yard-drink-bong to some teenagers in back of me.

Surprisingly enough, this was the only law I broke in Las Vegas.

But back to craps. I usually stick to blackjack and poker when I go to casinos. And that was my plan for this trip - particularly the poker. But the experience at the Luxor got me, and my fellow yard-drink-bongers really siked on trying our hand at craps back at Harrah's. So we stuck with that game throughout the rest of the trip. Seemingly complicated, the game is actually quite simple. You place a bet on whether or not the person throwing the dice is going to hit a certain number. There are variations on this theme, but basically that's it. It's a very social game, and the potential to win big is huge. We had one guy throwing dice for a half-hour, because he hadn't crapped out on a 7 yet. That sequence alone netted me $100. Anyway, the one thing I took out of that was that playing craps during the day seemed to win us big, while playing at night (or at Paris, where the French continue to hate us) wiped us out. But, I'm a big craps fan now.

All in all, it was a great trip, and I ate some really incredible food (thank you per diem) - Gallagher's steak at New York/New York, Pork Tenderloin at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill at Caesar's, and an awesome cheeseburger at Fatburger. Good times.

Alright, well I'm off to Savannah with the Disgruntled Girlfriend and some of my Disgruntled Friends for the greatest bash of them all, St. Patrick's Day. If you've never been to Savannah for St. Pat's, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's Mardi Gras without the murders.

Oh, also free wireless internet in the rooms, and I will be taking my computer. The possibility of drunken posts abounds!

BLIM-BLAM!!

-Disgruntled