Archives

The flight to Las Vegas was only my second ever flight with somebody I know (out of over 50 easily). It was nice to be traveling with my dad, stepmom and Cory. During the flight I watched Matrix Revolutions (which was a waste of time) on my powerbook, and read more of my Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling that I picked up for 8 bucks while I was in Chicago. I highly recommend it for the Vegas virgin, because not only does it explain the games, but details how you should behave, what's expected, and of course all the exact mathematical odds you can handle. I already knew that I wouldn't be playing much of the slots because the odds are horrible and there just isn't much decision making involved than pulling a handle. I was expecting to rip it up in Blackjack, but browsed the Craps chapter as well just to broaden my awareness a bit. We stayed at the fabulous Excalibur hotel which I had no complaints on for the entirety of my stay.

We started at the MGM, and moved throughout the night when the crowd got boring or when drinks started becoming harder to come by. For the next 3 or so hours I was somewhat grumpy because I had only lost money on both Blackjack and Slots (though not much on slots). Right off the bat Cory hit a $120 jackpot off of a slot, and throughout the weekend my stepmom Lottie always seemed to come out on top with them, but they just weren't my thing. I only brought $60 with me to gamble (yeah yeah, but I'm poor) and had already lost it all the first night, so I was a bit peeved. I had also lost $40 of Lottie's winnings on the Blackjack tables and just wasn't drunk enough to not care.

At about 1amish my parents went up to the room, and my dad slid me a $20 bill. As they both bid me a good night and happy birthday, I knew this was my last chance. I headed over to the craps table, trying to recall all the details I had read about on the plane ride. The minimum bet was $5 and slowly and surely I parlayed my dad's $20 into $120, and then called it a night. I went to bed buzzed and happy. That night I had a dream that I was playing Craps and was just on fire, and rolled forever while people cheered. It must have been a premonition...

The next day I woke up late, tucked away my original $60, gave my pops back his $20, went downstairs and ate at the Excalibur Buffet, then headed out. We bought tickets to a Second City show that night. I have attended a few Second City shows in Chicago and have always walked away feeling I got my money's worth in laughter. They specialize in improv and most of Saturday Night Live (the classic, great actors) started out there.

We worked our way through New York New York and then ended up at Paris. This is where my dream came true. But first a few lessons in Craps. When you walk up to a Craps table it looks awfully confusing with all the boxes and dice flying and people yelling out all the jargon. It's not *nearly* as intimidating as they want it to be. Simply walk up, being sure to take note of the table limit (most are $5 or $10, and you can even find some for as little as $2 at the ghetto casinos), and drop your cash on the table. The dealer will take it and give you chips. Make sure the circular marker (about 6 inches wide) is on the OFF position before you place any bets. You don't have to do this, but you get better odds by waiting for a new round to begin. Then place one chip (or whatever the table minimum is) on the Pass Line, which is a pretty (relatively) safe bet. Now you're in the game! You are hoping that the next person that rolls gets a 7 or 11. If they do you just doubled your money, and can pick up your winnings. If they roll a 2, 3, or 12 you lose. Any other number becomes your point, and that circular marker will now be flipped over to the "ON" position and put on that number (lets say its a 6). Now that person keeps rolling. If they hit a 6 before they hit a 7, you win. If they hit a 7 before your 6 you lose. Anything else has no effect. As you can probably guess sometimes it takes quite a while to hit your number, but thats what makes it exciting. You can also be betting on other simultaneous bets while this is going on, but the beginner should stick with 2 or 3 bets on the table. Another good bet I liked to make was "Placing the 6" or "Placing the 8". In order to do this, you throw down $6 worth of chips (if you only have 5's they gladly give you change) and say "Place the 6" or even just "On the 8". Now, *every* time somebody rolls a 6 or an 8 you win. And you can leave your bet on the table for as long as you'd like. If the person rolls a 7 then you lose your place bet (and your Pass Line bet unless its the first roll). Also, Place Bets are not active on the initial (called Coming out roll) so that is when you want to route for a 7 with no fear of losing. Enough of my inept lessons though, you should really get that book.

So there I was, at the Paris Casino, and I was next up to roll. I grab the dice and roll, and roll and roll. For a good 20 minutes I was rolling. You stop rolling when you hit a 7 (and its *not* the coming out roll) and cause everyone to lose their money. For me to roll 20 minutes means I won, again and again and again. This also meant everyone at the table was winning like crazy too. So much, that I was getting $5 chips thrown at me thanking me. Everytime I shook the dice the table cheered and I let it fly and BAM! another winner. It was an amazing feeling, and my fondest memory of the trip. Eventually I hit a 7, and lost but it was time for the Second City show anyway. I walked away with $160 in winnings (which is alot when you are playing $5 chips) and a huge smile on my barely legal face.

After the show, which was hilarious, my parents headed back to the room, and I set out with Cory, Steve (a friend from gainesville that happened to be in Vegas the same time) and his brother. We hit a few different casinos, and I drank more and more, and apparently grew looser and looser with my money because by the time 7am rolled around, I had lost everything (but not my initial $60 I left in the room!). I was a bit depressed, fell asleep and flew home. I got a bit cocky with my winnings and started placing multiple bets like I was a high roller. I learned my lesson, and next time I think I will have the reservation to walk away with some winnings, but I still had a great time. Las Vegas is definitely not a place you can stay very long though. It's heart and soul is sex, booze, and gambling, and honestly there is only so much of that you can take before it starts having negative effects on a person. I'm glad it was only for a weekend, and one I will not forget.