Sort of Trip Report 5/6 5/18 2012

Since I've covered parts of the trip in the GLBT section and wince WoVCon ][ and related events ahve been covered, there's little else to say.

So let's see... I liked the Four Queens, a lot. There's the problem of the noise from Fremont St., but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most nights I had no trouble falling asleep after about 12:30 am. I had some problems with the safe. Once maintenancce showed up, they fixed it quickly. But it culd take up to 90 minutes for them to show up. And of course I had to wait in the room all the time.

But what really bugged me was the lack of vanity in the room. That can easily be fixed next trip by remembering to bring along my two-way lighted mirror, as the desk by the window is big enough for everything else.

I learned that bringing along a laptop is not such a good idea. It's big, heavy and takes a long time to boot. So unless you get WiFi with the resort fees, or are willing to pay for WiFi use, it's better to just bring along a tablet. Those are light, easy to carry and either take less time to boot or you can carry them turned on.

As far as gambling goes, I did relatively little the first few days. Mostly I played 9/6 JoB at $0.25 at the 4 Queens, and tried the new Six Card Poker game at the Venetian. As carnival games with sucker bets go, this one isn't bad at all. Compared to 3CP, it has a lower house edge, and you can make side bets for $1 If the Venetian had set a minimum of $5, I'd have played more. The minimum, FYI, was $10, meaning $20 in hands where you stay in (ante and raise bets).

Oh, well. I had a lot of fun playing it. I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but a floor person stood at my side for a long time, helping with my hands (not that I needed help) and cheering me on. I don't quite see why she spent that much time there, but I liked her and so did some of the other players.

Other than that I mostly played craps and some VP. I had some winning sessions, but eventually I'd give it back in other sessions. But since I dind't bust my bankroll in the end, I count myself as having done well enough. I gamble for fun, mostly. I do want to win, but I can enjoy a session even if I don't end up ahead. Still, i think Las Vegas owes me a Royal next time I play ;)

I got a coupon book upon check-in at the 4 Queens. Two coupons interested me, a 15% off for the gift shop (which I woudn up not using), and $10 match play for even money bets. I wanted to use that one in the Pai Gow Poker table, but it was suually full when I walked past it. So I used it on a pass line bet in craps. I figured one $10 line bet, rather than my usual $5, wouldn't kill me, and I could place double odds.

Well, I got to shoot. So $10 on the pass line with $10 match. I shoot and I get... Seven!

Good enough.

I would play craps at the 4 Queens, except if the table minimum was raised to $10. The minimum seemed to vary a lot. At times it was $3, $5 or $10, in no pattern I could make out. For instance, a weekday at 5 PM it was at $10. Huh? So if the limit was too high, I'd play at Binion's or at Fremont. Fremont has one $3 minimum table open at all times, but only allows double odds.

I also played at the Golden Nugget, becasue while passing through they had two $5 tables open one day. Likewise at Paris the very next day. I kept a $1 blue chip from each place. I did horribly on both places...

Oh, well. I played at the Palace Station once, and had a really good roll. That didn't help me, as I only had the point (I think it was 10) and six and eight placed. Those numbers didn't get much action. Curiously no one else seemed to be hitting anything, either. But there was a woman on the other end of the table who'd say "Come on, young lady!" each time I was about to throw. At one point I told her "Thanks for saying 'young'. " And that brought some good-natured laughter, even from the dealers. Eventually I left up a little.

I did some window shopping, too. But as much as I enjoyed that, it doesn't make for a story worth telling.

So that's about it. Unless I think of something else.

There were a couple of incidents I witnessed, but wasn't invovled in, which were mildly shocking for the proffanity involved.

Once on the Strip, right outside PH, a night club promoter yelled at a group of girls who snubbed him "F*** A! Did we leave our manners at home with our good clothes?"

I have to say it was clever and it made me laugh. But the juxtaposition of using the F word in decrying a lack of manners is even funnier. Still, not the kind of language you'd expect to be used in public. At elast I didn't expect it.

Another time on the bus near Downtown, some guy talking on his cell let loose with something like "You tell her to spread her legs or I'll f**** se about that! Don't f*** with me you m***f*** son of a b****!" And I mean yelling it loudly on a crowded bus. He continued his rant where he got off, which was my stop, too.

I don't find the words themselves shocking. I've heard them before. I'v eheard worse, too. But to use that kind of langauge loudly and in public is a really abd breach of manners.

Oh, on my last night there was a Canadian couple playing craps at the 4 Queens. Clearly they were nebies at the casinos, and clearly they were a bit high with booze. But they asked actually intelligent questions about bets, and a dealer and I gave them a few explanations (BTW, I was pleased the dealer nodded at everything I said, including when I called the Big Red a sucker bet). They were also playing enthusiastically, exhorting the shooter and the dice to hit the numbers they were placing.

At one point the man asked about the "Don't Pass" line. I exolained, and gave him the usual warning about other players not liking to see people play the don't. The woman let loose with "If they f**** hate us for winning they can go to hell!"

Oh, well. They were obviously having fun and enjoying themselves, and they made for a happy table anyway. I left them the address for the Odds site, and encouraged them to look it up. I claimed "Every casino game in existence is there." :)

This was around 1:30 AM, and I had to get up at 5 the next day to finish packing...

Quote: Nareed

... But the juxtaposition of using the F word in decrying a lack of manners is even funnier. ...

Consider the song "Class" in the musical Chicago as an extremely amusing example of this. I expect that Tiltpoul could quote the full set of lyrics.

Quote: Doc

Consider the song "Class" in the musical Chicago as an extremely amusing example of this. I expect that Tiltpoul could quote the full set of lyrics.

All I know about Chicago is that it is a musical :)

Every guy is a snot / every girl is a twat / holy shit / holy shit / what a shame / what a shame / what became of class

Edit: the fiancee and her friend sing when they encounter asshats...

Quote: Doc

Consider the song "Class" in the musical Chicago as an extremely amusing example of this. I expect that Tiltpoul could quote the full set of lyrics.

Not without hearing it, but that song is hysterical. Chicago is a great show, and the "Class" song, which was cut from the movie, is a great number. Especially when you consider the fact that they are crooked as well...

I'll listen to it later tonight (on my lunch now) and post the funny and applicable lyrics. Cee Lo Green is too loudhere.

Quote: Tiltpoul

... Chicago is a great show, and the "Class" song, which was cut from the movie, is a great number.

Fortunately, the cut scene is provided as an "extra" on the DVD.

Quote: rdw4potus

Edit: the fiancee and her friend sing when they encounter asshats...

Thanks.

I thought of something else to coment. The street performers trying to get tips or to get paid for providing photo ops are getting a bit out of hand. I found them to be better behaved Downtown, too. meaning they rarely approached people and asked for tips. And the more disturbing ones I saw on the Strip.

There was one person in a Winny the Pooh costume, lying on the street in front of the Bellagio fountains, with an empty bottle of gin and a bucket for tips. I admit I thought it was funny, but it was also sick. Especially since the fountains are a bit of a magnet for parents with children.

On a pedestrian bridge nearby, a girl sat on the floor holding a cat wearing a T-shirt and sunglasses. The cat was cute, but what I found remarkable was that it would sit still for that. Cats usually are displeased by such things. it was the closest I came to taking a photo. Closer even than the guy near Bally's wearing a medieval friar oufit, complete with rope belt, and a sign saying "Indulgences for Sale." In smaller print the sign said somethign about sinning with impunity. I think it would go over most people's heads. But I wouldn't have minded an Al Gore lookalike selling carbon offsets, with a sign saying "Indulgences for Sale." Of course, almost no one would get the joke.

Downtown was tamer than that. You saw things like superhero costumes, showgirl costumes, people with gold or silver makeup looking like statues, some actual acts like ventriloquism, etc.

Downtown also seems the place to solicit money for charities. One time a fire engine was parked on Casino Center Blvd., with a bunch of firemen in front asking for donations to treat a childhood disease. I forget what it was. I always give money to firemen when they solicit any, and I don't ask what it's for.

A couple of times I saw a man Downtown silently holding a big sign with way too much print. The sign exhorted people to stop gambling, drinking, smoking, eating in excess, having sex, and other things. Some words about going to hell, Jesus, etc. What can I say? I admire his spunk in preaching a message, wrong as it is, so contrary to the spirit of Las Vegas :)

Nareed, you just reminded me of something that happened at WoVCon][, right after we left Four Queens and before we realized that you and the Wizard had already gone down to El Cortez.

I was looking for a place to take the group photo. I had one of those mini-tripods with flexible legs that I planned to wrap around something to anchor the camera while I used the timer-delay so I could run join in the photo. I had trouble finding anything suitable to tie the tripod to until I finally spotted a metal sculpture of a small man that I figured should do just fine.

Of course there's both bad and good news: Bad news = the statue was really one of those buskers in metallic makeup, doing a fine job of posing quite still as the crowds wandered by. Good news = I figured out that it was a real person before I started wrapping a tripod leg around his arm. I wonder how he would have reacted to that! If he had just stood still while we got the photo, I would have offered the tip for a good performance. Instead, we couldn't get the whole group assembled until we were two blocks down the street.

Quote: Doc

I wonder how he would have reacted to that! If he had just stood still while we got the photo, I would have offered the tip for a good performance. Instead, we couldn't get the whole group assembled until we were two blocks down the street.

I'll tell you one thing: if you had done that, I'd have kicked myself for missing it! :)

Quote: Nareed

So let's see... I liked the Four Queens, a lot. There's the problem of the noise from Fremont St.

I stay there a lot. Tell them you want a room up high,
the noise disappears. I like the 4Q because everything
is so convenient. Nice rooms, elevator lets you out right
on the casino floor, a 24hr cafe with good food thats right
there overlooking the floor, a great pizza place, a good
fancy dining restaurant just downstairs. Fremont St is
is just feet away, the restrooms are easy and fast to find,
the pit is mostly experienced older people. Its Vegas that
I remember from the 80's, and that ain't bad.

Another small complaint about the Four Queens. They don't have ice machines on every floor, not on the south tower. On the floor plaque outside the elevetors, it does indicate which floors have ice machines and which have soda vending machines, but it doesn't tell you which way they are.

So, turn left where you exit the elevator area and keep following the corridor to the end. That's where the ice is. I assume on other floors that's where the vending machines are, but as I don't use them I can't say for sure. Fortunately it wasn't that hot most days, so I used very little ice.

Though come to think of it, I seemed to have an easier time with the heat than most people. Considering I wore a body-shaping undergarment, plus regular lingerie, pantyhose, rather thick foundation and a wig, I should have felt it more. But it just wasn't the case. Then again I used up every trick I know for cooling off, too: standing in the shadows, walking through air-conditioned casinos rather than on the streets, sometimes even taking the bus for short distances. In fact, the first few days I would feel cold isnide some casinos. I even bought a short cardigan that was easy to carry (and I did carry it a few times).

It may be I take the low humidity of the desert well. I swear Vegas at 35 C feels cooler than Mex City at 27 C.