Dave's Thoughts of the Day: February 27th

Howdy folks!

Been away a few days.  I was in Vegas from Sunday through Tuesday.  Now I am back at my house that I call home in Santa Monica... more like an apartment I call home.

It is raining outside, and quite thoroughly too.   Let me try to recap the particulars of the Vegas trip.

No hijinks to report, really.   I know people have this vision of Vegas teeming with babes spilling out from the bar stools ready to pounce on you.  That's just not what it is in real life!   The guys in Vegas are just other tourist jokers like me... no doubt, you'll see babes in club gear walking up and down the sidewalk at night, but not that many...   the rest of the crowd is just average mongos from all over the land.

Vegas *this* time around was a very different experience.  My friend and I flew in instead of driving... rock bottom rates from Virgin America.  Virgin America is a fantastic airline!   I'm even willing to forgive the 2 hour plane delay on the return flight... I had no other plans so I thought they handled the malfunction as well as they could.    2 hours isnt *that* long a delay... it could have been a lot worse.

Why do I like Virgin America?   Much more comfortable seats, a more attentive staff, and better services on a basic coach flight.  I get satellite TV and some music on demand, much like that on JetBlue.   The rates were pretty good too!  The flight from LA to Vegas was comically short... I don't think the actual flight time was very long... roughly 35 min, but another 20 minutes were spent landing.   I think we were hovering over San Bernadino county only 20 minutes in. on our return flight.

Gambling wise, I was hot and cold all weekend.  You talk about a gambling rollercoaster, there it was.  I got obliterated at blackjack on Sunday late night, and again on Monday night.   My sunday morning was spent turning 20 dollars into 90 dollars.

Trying to recap how that all happened would be overwhelming, but the basic details are this.  It all started at  Double Diamond slot machine... somehow I doubled my money with that.  Next, to the Wheel of Fortune slots... that went REALLY well... it ended w/ me winning 100 bucks...

but then... it came to the Wheel of Fortune ONE DOLLAR machine.  I thought the payout would be akin to the usual quarter machine with enough plays.  Not so... I tell you, Casinos purposely skew the odds for payout so that dollar spinners get an extremely small amount of money.   That was nuts.

THEN... moving from my hotel at Monte Carlo where I did most of my gaming, I went to the Mirage w/ my friend where she was just having a blast winning in Blackjack left and right.

I know I talk up Blackjack a lot on here, but I had a great time with Blackjack too!   The only problem is that I would go way ahead during most games and THEN mis-time my exit... so I'd be up double my investment (so like 60 bones becomes 120 during a blackjack session).. and id find a way to lose all my money completely.  but with all that said, the vast majority of my blackjack sessions would go over an hour.

Finally, I must detail my dining adventures in Vegas.  We went to the Carnegie Deli outlet over in the Mirage for our first meal.  The Pastrami was good as advertised.  In a twist, I couldn't get any sleep so I woke up early Monday morning and got my next meal from the "Stage Deli" at MGM Grand.  The pastrami sandwich I got at Stage Deli was also VERY very good!  Maybe superior to the Carnegie. 

There's nothing quite like eating a pastrami sandwich with your coffee in the MGM Grand Sportsbook while watching Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN2.   They even kept the sound of the show on.

Meal Number 3... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baby was this the meal of the month.   I had the best buffet of any kind at any location in any city in the union.   This is food you'd eat at a 4 star restaurant served in unlimited quantities.  Red Velvet Pancakes, juicy sliced beef culotte pieces, crab legs, a superb eggs benedict, angry mac and cheese, delicious desserts, sushi, chinese food, and many more delicious delectables I've forgotten.  I speak of the WICKED SPOON BUFFET at the Cosmopolitan.

I am telling you, this buffet blows any other buffet I've had out of the water.   They'll tell you all about the MGM Grand Buffet, the famous Rio Buffet I had years and years ago, even some decent buffet runs back here in California.   Wicked Spoon Buffet blows them all *away.*  and everyone had talked up Wicked Spoon for two years!!  What a wonderful experience.  And all for the weekday Brunch price of just 26 bones.

Vegas -- a wonderful experience in total.  My hotel of choice during the last 5 years has been Monte Carlo, near NYNY, MGM Grand, and Aria.  It's the best... great accommodations, good service, and friendly people for a budget price.   I think if I concentrate my future trips and gaming at Monte Carlo I may get some comps there someday.  Stay tuned!

Did you ever notice that Crispix and Chex are really similar to each other?  It's almost like the same kind of cereal.

I didn't even mention the remaining meals of the trip... I believe the meals I had afterward were the Five / 50 pizza at Aria, and on the final day, the Aria Buffet for brunch.  Good times, good times.

That's all from here.  It is still wet in Los Angeles.  Take care, stay dry, and stay warm!