I don't know why but I'm a big fan of The Orleans too. I've never stayed there and probably wouldn't but it is a fun day trip.

The problem is so many casinos seem openly telling you they are going to not even give you a chance at winning. I like table games but sometimes I just want to sit and have a good time and lose my money in a slower fashion but so many of the games are so heavily tilted in their favor compared to other places that it isn't even fun. The Paris was absolutely horrible for video poker. I just played 25 cents a hand for a while. I can only imagine the slot machines, which I don't enjoy, would be even worse.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

My last trip to Vegas was about 3 years ago. My wife and went with another married couple that are friends of ours. They're very cheap people (and probably had a higher HH income than us), and they insisted on going cheap and staying at Harrah's. My god that place was truly a dump. I had gambled there in the past, but the rooms and food there was just god awful. It has to be the worst hotel on The Strip.

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I really enjoy Red Rock as well. Decent food options, it's a nice drive, and mostly locals who aren't quite as amped up.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Mandalay Bay

I've only been to Vegas three times with one stay at Mirage and two at Palazzo.

Both places were too expensive to gamble for a college kid and/or new grad. I'm not much of a casino gambler but one nice thing about Palazzo was they had war.

Higher card? You win. Pretty easy way to kill time and not lose too much money while your friends are on hour 2 of a craps binge.

Pamplemousse is a awesome. It's not a place to go with the guys but when you're with your girl, it's great. It's run by a couple of gay dudes who like to argue with each other. The food is absolutely first class. The night before we went there we had eaten at Michael Mina in the Bellagio. It was a pretty good dinner. One of the courses was a lobster pot pie. I can tell you I had a very similar dish at Pamplemousse that absolutely blew the one at Michael Mina away.

The Golden Steer is as good as any hotel steakhouse on the Strip.

Years ago my friend Jerry who died and I were out there for a bowling tournament. We were in Vegas for about a week and one night we just got in a cab and told the guy to take us to a good restaurant that wasn't in a fucking hotel. He took us to Battista's Hole in the Wall. I liked it so much that I had the reception dinner for my first wedding there. My mother-in-law complained like, "what is this fuckin' place?" until she had the food and then she was all apologetic and even got her ex-husband to pick up the check. Bonus!

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Battista's!!!! You even get the all you can drink wine that tastes a step up from anti-freeze. I thought I heard they were closing down. I hope not, it is a great spot.

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After each time visiting I've felt dread. I could've funded a decent week long vacation instead of a 3 night bender in Vegas. I haven't been back in 4 years after making my 3rd visit.

It's probably different for West Coast people. It's really easy jaunt to get there and back.

Are you trying to destroy your brand, denni$? CFMB finds it hard to believe that having $135 in bets on the craps table at once is a big problem for you.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I've been to Batista's a couple of times, a group I know goes out there for a week every October for the last 25 years, and about every 5 years I'll join them for 48 hours if I have to be out on the west coast for work anyway. Batista's looks like nothing, but it's pretty good.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

We stayed in a king suite at the Palazzo. Awfully good. There is a nice Mexican restaurant near the casino. Our server was from Chicago. He hooked us up with some free drinks.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I guess Arizona didn't work out.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Nice!

Didn't they have draft Guiness? It's been a while.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This.

At least you have the beach if you bust out at gambling

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't think I have been for a decade. I'm sure the city is completely different since then so any suggestion I would have is outdated.

One time I went where it was the tail end of a trip out west for my wife and I. I was meeting friends at NYNY. She was going to a bachelorette party with her south side irish friends, predictably, at The Flamingo. She was pregnant at the time. We got there a day early and stayed at NYNY. The next day I took her to The Flamingo and it felt like I was dropping her at the gates of Auschwitz. I really didn't want to leave her there like that while pregnant.

There was a perfect confluence of cheap everything and guy oriented advertising of Las Vegas just as I was entering my years of financial freedom. The casino's had their own airline with Chicago being a major hub. 7 pm out of O'Hare on Thursday was perfect for working a full day and hopping the el to ohare for your flight then arriving in Vegas in time for an all nighter on Thursday. Win or lose, I always felt suicidal by the Sunday flight home. Great times.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Been to Vegas twice with other couples and it's just a weird experience both times.

Guy I went with the first time blew through $200-300 in probably the first 30 mins of the trip at one of those Super Texas Hold'em tables. Basically he proceeded to not really gamble the rest of the trip saying he was broke after that save for a $20 bet on the Cubs.

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What kind of jabroni goes to Vegas with only $300?

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

You have to have a first day limit.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Why did you go to Vegas with shit-foot?

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CIJ said that broke the guy for the entire trip.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Still waiting for 'piracy to write the Dylan-esque 'Ballad of Shit-Foot & The Ditcher'.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I know. I was agreeing with you.

Spending your whole bankroll the first day is just dumb.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

There was a $20 poker tournament we played in the next day but besides that I dont remember gambling with him that much. I do remember catching a bit of grief from my wife saying that such and such is hanging out with his wife so why weren't we hanging out. I had to break the news to her that he lost $300 in an hour and that was more likely than case than his love for her.


I wanted to go to Vegas to drink and gamble and sit at a poker table for hours upon end. We can do dinner at a nice restaurant at home.

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Yes, I think they did. True Irish Pub vibe. Except for the Burger King in the back

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."