November Vegas Trip
December 30th, 2013 at 12:02:34 AM
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This'll be my first post, so hopefully it will make sense and be a good read.
I got the go ahead to go out to Vegas from my wife to celebrate my 30th birthday in November, so I booked my trip in September, and convinced my cousin to meet me out there too. Got a 3 night stay at the Strat and plane tickets for $230, so not bad in my opinion. I don't drink, so I remember a good deal about the trip, but not the whole thing, as it was about a month and a half ago. I had just started gambling for real in September, reading books and following The Wizard, so this was my first real foray into extending gambling sessions. (My Bachelor party for my wedding was at Foxwoods in CT where I bet 10 bucks on 14 (my wedding day) and hit it so that was sweet). I'm still a novice, but I try to stick with the good casino games, BJ, Baccarat, and Craps (my guilty pleasure) Although I threw some money down the toilet playing roulette too. Anywho, here's how my trip went:
Flew spirit into the airport and got there at about 1:30. Flight sucked, as Spirit is the worst airline of all time, but my God they're cheap. Met up with my cousin who got there about an hour before me, and he was already down about 80 bucks. He mostly plays the slots, so this'll be a recurring theme throughout this report. We were both starving, so we went over to the Rio to have their buffet, as I heard it was fantastic. It was. I huge spread of pretty much all the food you can think of. One of the best buffets I've ever had.
After the Rio, we had to head over to the Las Vegas Advisor book store place to pick up my coupon book i'd be using throughout the trip. We headed over there, and picked up the book. For some reason, we thought it'd be a great idea to walk from there to the Strat. It was not.
After a while, we were pretty close to the hotel, my cousin picked up some SoCo from the liquor store and got our room. I tried the $20 trick, but it didn't work. I've heard that it doesn't work too well here, but I had to try it. I started the trip on a Tuesday, so the place wasn't too crowded, and some drunk Redneck started yelling at his wife in line for the hotel, and security had to come over and tell them both to shut up, so that was pretty funny. We headed up to the room to relax for a bit, as we walked way too much so far that day. We took showers, and decided to just stick around the Stratosphere for the night.
I went and played Craps for a while, sticking with Pass Line and odds, and maybe betting on the hardways as a tip for the dealer, but nothing crazy. I had been reading about dice control for a while, and attempted some with pretty successful results on this first day, and between a couple good rolls from myself and another guy at the other end of the table, I left the table up around $75 I would guess. After this, I met up with my cousin at the bar where he got the $20 bucks for all you can drink for 4 hours.
As he was getting wasted (I don't drink) I played blackjack on the table top game for a buck a hand. It had weird rules, but I ended up winning about 10 bucks, so it wasn't a total loss. We hovered around the casino for a bit, and then headed over to Roxy's diner to have a quick dinner before bed, and our Waiter was an Elvis Impersonator so he sang and that was cool. After that, we headed upstairs and passed the F out.
I woke up pretty early and headed down to the casino for some early gambling before my Cuz woke up, and played some craps. I was doing my dice control crap (I looked terrible I'm sure) and the stickman was being a douche and slamming his stick in the middle of the table while I was rolling, so after I sevened out when he was doing this, I colored up and left. I probably broke even or won a little bit at this session. After that, I woke my cousin up and we had the breakfast buffet at the hotel, which actually was way better than I thought it was going to be, so that helped put me in a better mood about the craps fiasco earlier.
After the buffet, we headed out of the casino and bought some Deuce Passes for the day and headed down to the Mandalay bay where we went and did the Shark Reef thing. It was pretty cool, bigger than I thought, and a pretty cool experience overall. Along with this, we got free tickets to do the SCORE exhibit over at Luxor, so we did that too, and that was pretty cool also. After the SCORE exhibit we headed down to the Luxor poker "room" and signed up for their afternoon poker tournament. My cousin got eliminated 1st out of everyone, so he left to wander around the casino, and he made some sports bets at the sports book (he lost them all) I ended up coming in 8th, so I was out of the money, but I had a good time and I think I did fairly well for not having played poker in probably a year or 2. I lost by going all in on pocket 9's when I was short stacked at the final table, so not the worst play in my book.
After this it was getting close to dinner time, so we headed up to the Excalibur where I ate at the steakhouse while my cousin had some pizza at pizza hut (he's a vegetarian) After this I went to the craps table while my cousin went drinking, and I piggy-backed on a guy's monster roll where he hit every single number (some guy hit the all or nothing) and I ended up leaving the table up $200 after about 30 minutes. After this we walked around for a bit until we headed over to NYNY to ride the roller coaster. It was dead there, so that was good, the roller coaster was cool, and then I headed down to the casino to play some mini-baccarat where I won another $150 or so. I bet on banker everytime, and hit a run of 8-10 bankers in a row. That was sweet.
After this we wandered around a bit, checked out the Riviera for a few, but the place was so hot it was crazy, and headed back to the stratosphere to get some shut eye.
We had planned on making sure that we would spend most of the day downtown on this Thursday (especially to take advantage of Binion's deal where they would match your bar tab in free slot play during NFL games) Before that though, I woke up early, proceeded to lose $200 bucks in about an hour playing roulette, and got pissed off. Then I decided to go down to the Riviera and get some blackjack in, and have some breakfast/lunch. I went down and played some 6 deck blackjack, 3:2 payoff, same rules as most decent games on the strip and ended up winning about $250 bucks in 30 minutes. So that was good. Headed over to Quizno's for lunch, then met my cousin back at the hotel and we headed down to the strip.
I won't bore everyone with ALL the details, as we hit up a ton of places on the strip using match play and slot play coupons from the LVA book. I lost my ass at the Las Vegas Club which is a giant dump if I ever saw one. I also lost a bunch at blackjack over at the four queens. I did pretty good at the El Cortez at Blackjack, played the single deck 3:2 and went up about $50 bucks, and won another $30 playing Deuces Wild Video Poker. After this we headed over the Binions to watch the Thursday Night NFL game. My Cousin and I made a variety of sports bets on this day, and I won all but one, and the NFL game, the spread was -3 and the Colts won by 3 so it was a wash. We used the free slot play on a machine I picked out that ended up being broken so it took forever to cash that out. I played some blackjack for maybe an hour and won like $40 or so. After this we headed over to the Fremont for the buffet, and then headed back to the hotel.
The night we were to leave, I went down to the casino in the morning and lost probably $100 playing craps, and then headed downtown for about an hour where i won maybe $30 bucks playing Video poker before meeting my cousin at Caesars. He had left the hotel early (I Had checked out when I left too) and met me at the forum shops where we ate at some italian restaurant that wasn't very good to be honest. We proceeded to walk around Caesars and then headed to the Flamingo where I got dominated at Baccarat and lost another $150 or so. Not a good day gambling for me, not at all. After this, we headed to the airport and flew home!
All in all it was a very good trip. For me it was mostly gambling and in the end, I ended up being ahead $200-300 so that was a huge plus, as my wife would have been pissed if I lost any money. Like I said, I'm not a huge gambler, pretty low limit, but for the year, I'm up over $1000 so I can't complain. My cousin was not so lucky. The only time I saw him win some money was when he hit $50 bucks on the big wheel once, and won a little with some sports bets. Right before he left he bet his last $200 on some sports bets hoping to recoup his money he lost. $100 for the Chiefs to cover the spread against the Broncos, and $100 for St. Pierre to lose in the UFC fight. He lost both bets.
Hopefully this was entertaining for some of you, this is my first post here. I'm going back to Vegas in a few weeks where I got 2 free nights at the Cosmopolitan and 3 Free nights at the stratosphere, so I'll post a trip report for that too, especially if you guys found this to be worth it. I'll be seeing more shows and stuff when I'm out there again, and hopefully get out to the Grand Canyon, as I've never been, but have always wanted to!
I got the go ahead to go out to Vegas from my wife to celebrate my 30th birthday in November, so I booked my trip in September, and convinced my cousin to meet me out there too. Got a 3 night stay at the Strat and plane tickets for $230, so not bad in my opinion. I don't drink, so I remember a good deal about the trip, but not the whole thing, as it was about a month and a half ago. I had just started gambling for real in September, reading books and following The Wizard, so this was my first real foray into extending gambling sessions. (My Bachelor party for my wedding was at Foxwoods in CT where I bet 10 bucks on 14 (my wedding day) and hit it so that was sweet). I'm still a novice, but I try to stick with the good casino games, BJ, Baccarat, and Craps (my guilty pleasure) Although I threw some money down the toilet playing roulette too. Anywho, here's how my trip went:
Flew spirit into the airport and got there at about 1:30. Flight sucked, as Spirit is the worst airline of all time, but my God they're cheap. Met up with my cousin who got there about an hour before me, and he was already down about 80 bucks. He mostly plays the slots, so this'll be a recurring theme throughout this report. We were both starving, so we went over to the Rio to have their buffet, as I heard it was fantastic. It was. I huge spread of pretty much all the food you can think of. One of the best buffets I've ever had.
After the Rio, we had to head over to the Las Vegas Advisor book store place to pick up my coupon book i'd be using throughout the trip. We headed over there, and picked up the book. For some reason, we thought it'd be a great idea to walk from there to the Strat. It was not.
After a while, we were pretty close to the hotel, my cousin picked up some SoCo from the liquor store and got our room. I tried the $20 trick, but it didn't work. I've heard that it doesn't work too well here, but I had to try it. I started the trip on a Tuesday, so the place wasn't too crowded, and some drunk Redneck started yelling at his wife in line for the hotel, and security had to come over and tell them both to shut up, so that was pretty funny. We headed up to the room to relax for a bit, as we walked way too much so far that day. We took showers, and decided to just stick around the Stratosphere for the night.
I went and played Craps for a while, sticking with Pass Line and odds, and maybe betting on the hardways as a tip for the dealer, but nothing crazy. I had been reading about dice control for a while, and attempted some with pretty successful results on this first day, and between a couple good rolls from myself and another guy at the other end of the table, I left the table up around $75 I would guess. After this, I met up with my cousin at the bar where he got the $20 bucks for all you can drink for 4 hours.
As he was getting wasted (I don't drink) I played blackjack on the table top game for a buck a hand. It had weird rules, but I ended up winning about 10 bucks, so it wasn't a total loss. We hovered around the casino for a bit, and then headed over to Roxy's diner to have a quick dinner before bed, and our Waiter was an Elvis Impersonator so he sang and that was cool. After that, we headed upstairs and passed the F out.
I woke up pretty early and headed down to the casino for some early gambling before my Cuz woke up, and played some craps. I was doing my dice control crap (I looked terrible I'm sure) and the stickman was being a douche and slamming his stick in the middle of the table while I was rolling, so after I sevened out when he was doing this, I colored up and left. I probably broke even or won a little bit at this session. After that, I woke my cousin up and we had the breakfast buffet at the hotel, which actually was way better than I thought it was going to be, so that helped put me in a better mood about the craps fiasco earlier.
After the buffet, we headed out of the casino and bought some Deuce Passes for the day and headed down to the Mandalay bay where we went and did the Shark Reef thing. It was pretty cool, bigger than I thought, and a pretty cool experience overall. Along with this, we got free tickets to do the SCORE exhibit over at Luxor, so we did that too, and that was pretty cool also. After the SCORE exhibit we headed down to the Luxor poker "room" and signed up for their afternoon poker tournament. My cousin got eliminated 1st out of everyone, so he left to wander around the casino, and he made some sports bets at the sports book (he lost them all) I ended up coming in 8th, so I was out of the money, but I had a good time and I think I did fairly well for not having played poker in probably a year or 2. I lost by going all in on pocket 9's when I was short stacked at the final table, so not the worst play in my book.
After this it was getting close to dinner time, so we headed up to the Excalibur where I ate at the steakhouse while my cousin had some pizza at pizza hut (he's a vegetarian) After this I went to the craps table while my cousin went drinking, and I piggy-backed on a guy's monster roll where he hit every single number (some guy hit the all or nothing) and I ended up leaving the table up $200 after about 30 minutes. After this we walked around for a bit until we headed over to NYNY to ride the roller coaster. It was dead there, so that was good, the roller coaster was cool, and then I headed down to the casino to play some mini-baccarat where I won another $150 or so. I bet on banker everytime, and hit a run of 8-10 bankers in a row. That was sweet.
After this we wandered around a bit, checked out the Riviera for a few, but the place was so hot it was crazy, and headed back to the stratosphere to get some shut eye.
We had planned on making sure that we would spend most of the day downtown on this Thursday (especially to take advantage of Binion's deal where they would match your bar tab in free slot play during NFL games) Before that though, I woke up early, proceeded to lose $200 bucks in about an hour playing roulette, and got pissed off. Then I decided to go down to the Riviera and get some blackjack in, and have some breakfast/lunch. I went down and played some 6 deck blackjack, 3:2 payoff, same rules as most decent games on the strip and ended up winning about $250 bucks in 30 minutes. So that was good. Headed over to Quizno's for lunch, then met my cousin back at the hotel and we headed down to the strip.
I won't bore everyone with ALL the details, as we hit up a ton of places on the strip using match play and slot play coupons from the LVA book. I lost my ass at the Las Vegas Club which is a giant dump if I ever saw one. I also lost a bunch at blackjack over at the four queens. I did pretty good at the El Cortez at Blackjack, played the single deck 3:2 and went up about $50 bucks, and won another $30 playing Deuces Wild Video Poker. After this we headed over the Binions to watch the Thursday Night NFL game. My Cousin and I made a variety of sports bets on this day, and I won all but one, and the NFL game, the spread was -3 and the Colts won by 3 so it was a wash. We used the free slot play on a machine I picked out that ended up being broken so it took forever to cash that out. I played some blackjack for maybe an hour and won like $40 or so. After this we headed over to the Fremont for the buffet, and then headed back to the hotel.
The night we were to leave, I went down to the casino in the morning and lost probably $100 playing craps, and then headed downtown for about an hour where i won maybe $30 bucks playing Video poker before meeting my cousin at Caesars. He had left the hotel early (I Had checked out when I left too) and met me at the forum shops where we ate at some italian restaurant that wasn't very good to be honest. We proceeded to walk around Caesars and then headed to the Flamingo where I got dominated at Baccarat and lost another $150 or so. Not a good day gambling for me, not at all. After this, we headed to the airport and flew home!
All in all it was a very good trip. For me it was mostly gambling and in the end, I ended up being ahead $200-300 so that was a huge plus, as my wife would have been pissed if I lost any money. Like I said, I'm not a huge gambler, pretty low limit, but for the year, I'm up over $1000 so I can't complain. My cousin was not so lucky. The only time I saw him win some money was when he hit $50 bucks on the big wheel once, and won a little with some sports bets. Right before he left he bet his last $200 on some sports bets hoping to recoup his money he lost. $100 for the Chiefs to cover the spread against the Broncos, and $100 for St. Pierre to lose in the UFC fight. He lost both bets.
Hopefully this was entertaining for some of you, this is my first post here. I'm going back to Vegas in a few weeks where I got 2 free nights at the Cosmopolitan and 3 Free nights at the stratosphere, so I'll post a trip report for that too, especially if you guys found this to be worth it. I'll be seeing more shows and stuff when I'm out there again, and hopefully get out to the Grand Canyon, as I've never been, but have always wanted to!
Don't be a douchebag.
December 30th, 2013 at 12:34:16 AM
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Pretty good trip report. You didn't bore me with
details of every meal you ate, or what the view
from your room was. Good details on the gambling.
Is your cousin like the Randy Quaid cousin in
Vegas Vacation? I mean, who plays the big wheel..
And you hit so many casinos, it would kill me to do
that many in 3 days. But you're 30, you're young,
good for you.
details of every meal you ate, or what the view
from your room was. Good details on the gambling.
Is your cousin like the Randy Quaid cousin in
Vegas Vacation? I mean, who plays the big wheel..
And you hit so many casinos, it would kill me to do
that many in 3 days. But you're 30, you're young,
good for you.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
December 30th, 2013 at 3:29:08 AM
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Good report. Glad you had a good time. Spirit is cheap. Your cuz seems like an interesting character, a vegetarian that drinks like a fish. I like it...lol
December 30th, 2013 at 1:58:12 PM
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Thanks guys,
He is an interesting character. He got hammered on Red Bull and Vodka's at Binions and was talking a mile a minute while I just wanted to go to sleep. He's also a terrible terrible gambler haha! It was interesting to try and find stuff we could both eat because of his vegetarianism, ha!
We did hit quite a few casino's, and I probably didn't list half of the one's we stopped at too. I'll be doing the same again when I go in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to it. I'm deciding right now if I want to go and see Styx the night I fly in, or just get right to the gambling!
He is an interesting character. He got hammered on Red Bull and Vodka's at Binions and was talking a mile a minute while I just wanted to go to sleep. He's also a terrible terrible gambler haha! It was interesting to try and find stuff we could both eat because of his vegetarianism, ha!
We did hit quite a few casino's, and I probably didn't list half of the one's we stopped at too. I'll be doing the same again when I go in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to it. I'm deciding right now if I want to go and see Styx the night I fly in, or just get right to the gambling!
Don't be a douchebag.
January 4th, 2014 at 7:04:44 PM
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Quote: kyle4350After this we walked around for a bit until we headed over to NYNY to ride the roller coaster. It was dead there, so that was good, the roller coaster was cool...
I've never done the NYNY rollercoaster, how much does it cost? I'll be looking for non-gambling things to do on my next trip, since it'll be my fiance's first trip to Vegas.
"So drink gamble eat f***, because one day you will be dust." -ontariodealer
January 4th, 2014 at 7:21:35 PM
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You "got the go ahead" from your wife? Sorry, but I hate to see things phrased like this. You shouldn't have to ask your wife permission to go somewhere.
January 4th, 2014 at 11:43:37 PM
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I found the NYNY roller coaster to be overpriced and underwhelming. I don't have any specifics, but that was my general opinion of it.
Its - Possessive; It's - "It is" / "It has"; There - Location; Their - Possessive; They're - "They are"
January 5th, 2014 at 3:47:23 PM
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Quote: sodawaterYou "got the go ahead" from your wife? Sorry, but I hate to see things phrased like this. You shouldn't have to ask your wife permission to go somewhere.
We're newly married, she's pregnant, and she's the breadwinner out of the two of us, so you gotta do what you gotta do haha!
Don't be a douchebag.
January 5th, 2014 at 3:48:46 PM
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Quote: AcesAndEightsI've never done the NYNY rollercoaster, how much does it cost? I'll be looking for non-gambling things to do on my next trip, since it'll be my fiance's first trip to Vegas.
I had a 2-1 so the price didn't hurt too bad, but even at that it's "overpriced." If you take the price out of the equation, then it was a pretty damn good roller coaster. You can find 2-1 tickets at all kinds of places, but normally it's about $14.
Don't be a douchebag.
January 5th, 2014 at 4:20:47 PM
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Quote: kyle4350We're newly married, she's pregnant, and she's the breadwinner out of the two of us, so you gotta do what you gotta do haha!
I know a young couple in that exact position. She
says jump and he kills himself trying to please her.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 5th, 2014 at 4:22:34 PM
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in my experience, women respect you a lot more if you have self-respect and don't jump at their every command.
January 5th, 2014 at 5:09:46 PM
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Quote: EvenBobI know a young couple in that exact position. She
says jump and he kills himself trying to please her.
So sad...
January 5th, 2014 at 5:24:15 PM
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Quote: AxiomOfChoiceSo sad...
She was a totally spoiled kid and she picked
the guy so she can walk all over him. He
rarely even speaks, she has him trained well.
He'll never talk unless you ask him something,
then its as few words as possible. So of course
I bombard him with questions every time I see
him.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 5th, 2014 at 5:30:29 PM
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Good old Bob. Always the peace maker.
Shed not for her
the bitter tear
Nor give the heart
to vain regret
Tis but the casket
that lies here,
The gem that filled it
Sparkles yet
January 5th, 2014 at 5:52:50 PM
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Good report. Maybe setup a secret stash of cash so when you go to Vegas and inevitably lose she won't be pissed! Did she really expect you to go gamble and not lose?
January 5th, 2014 at 6:01:04 PM
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Quote: EvenBobShe was a totally spoiled kid and she picked
the guy so she can walk all over him. He
rarely even speaks, she has him trained well.
He'll never talk unless you ask him something,
then its as few words as possible. So of course
I bombard him with questions every time I see
him.
And he probably has to pay afterward.
January 5th, 2014 at 7:13:03 PM
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I have ridden the roller coaster on the NYNY and it was okay. I remember it really beat me up for being a steel coaster. Rode more like a wooden coaster with the way it jolted you.
The SkyJump from the Strat is way better! Of course, that costs a heck of a lot more, but I really enjoyed that jemp.
The SkyJump from the Strat is way better! Of course, that costs a heck of a lot more, but I really enjoyed that jemp.
Always borrow money from a pessimist; They don't expect to get paid back !
Be yourself and speak your thoughts. Those who matter won't mind, and those that mind, don't matter!
January 5th, 2014 at 8:01:49 PM
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Happy wife happy life fellas
Don't be a douchebag.
January 5th, 2014 at 8:27:28 PM
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Quote: kyle4350Happy wife happy life fellas
Quaint homilies are cute. And mostly untrue. The
whole thing goes: 'Happy wife, happy life. For
her.' The best you can ever hope for is to keep
her distracted so she barely notices you, then
you might have a chance. Kids are good, kids
keep wives majorly distracted. Have two and
you'll disappear right into the background.
Never a bad thing.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 6th, 2014 at 9:18:24 PM
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Considering a few of the comments on this thread, I was wondering if most of the posters are either single, dating, divorced or married?
Seems like many of you think you have the right to do whatever you please whenever you please, no matter what your wife says?
You must not like nooky on the reg then :)
Seems like many of you think you have the right to do whatever you please whenever you please, no matter what your wife says?
You must not like nooky on the reg then :)
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
January 6th, 2014 at 9:24:45 PM
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Married 45 years, no lack of nooky, and I always get the last word with Josie ! YES DEAR.
Shed not for her
the bitter tear
Nor give the heart
to vain regret
Tis but the casket
that lies here,
The gem that filled it
Sparkles yet
January 6th, 2014 at 9:28:59 PM
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Quote: BuzzardMarried 45 years, no lack of nooky, and I always get the last word with Josie ! YES DEAR.
You seem to be a man who has been through the trenches....would you ever saunter off to Vegas without telling your wife or asking her if she wanted to go or if you could then indeed go by yoruself?
I'm the man in my houselhold but I still have respect for my wife :)
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
January 6th, 2014 at 9:30:08 PM
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Quote: TomspurConsidering a few of the comments on this thread, I was wondering if most of the posters are either single, dating, divorced or married?
Seems like many of you think you have the right to do whatever you please whenever you please, no matter what your wife says?
You must not like nooky on the reg then :)
It's not a sign of a healthy relationship for a woman to use access to sex to regulate her husband's behavior.
January 6th, 2014 at 9:31:26 PM
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Quote: TomspurYou seem to be a man who has been through the trenches....would you ever saunter off to Vegas without telling your wife or asking her if she wanted to go or if you could then indeed go by yoruself?
I'm the man in my houselhold but I still have respect for my wife :)
The problem, I think, many here have is the idea of getting "permission."
Clearly, in a healthy marriage, the husband and wife should be equal partners. Any big decisions should be discussed like adults. No partner should have to ask permission.
January 6th, 2014 at 9:47:45 PM
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Soda, you seem to have pretty stringent rules about this subject. I assume you are happily married and enjoying the quality of it all?
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
January 6th, 2014 at 10:39:27 PM
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Quote: TomspurI assume you are happily married and enjoying the quality of it all?
Happily married and quality, never seen those two
words in the same sentence before. Makes me uncomfortable.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 6th, 2014 at 10:50:46 PM
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Quote: TomspurYou must not like nooky on the reg then :)
If you like regular sex why the hell would you get married?
It's all about the single life....
January 6th, 2014 at 11:29:42 PM
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Quote: AxiomOfChoiceIf you like regular sex why the hell would you get married?
It's all about the single life....
Guess it would all depend on what type of wife you have? Some close up shop after marriage, some remain insatiable long after nuptuals.
Sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield :)
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
