Vegas on a $100 - 150 budget for two days?
And do what ...
I recently met an old friend of mine at the Networld + Interop Expo in Las Vegas. Steve and I had worked together several years ago so it was a nice surprise to run into him. I recalled that he always wanted to get to Vegas and I wondered why he wasn’t in a better mood … after all, he was going to be in Vegas for a couple of days and the show was wrapping up.
Steve confessed that he was broke. He had about $150.00 in travel money that he had gotten from his boss and another $100.00 bill that he had carefully stashed in his wallet and from what he had seen at the Hilton where he was staying, his fun in Vegas would last about 15 minutes.
Steve, I asked, What exactly do you want to do?
Well, I always had a vision of Vegas … I wanted to see a show … a topless review, I want to gamble maybe some blackjack, then some craps … play some poker and go “all in” on a huge pot … play roulette and put a huge stack of chips on a number and feel my adrenaline rush … I also saw some of the new video slots, and I’d love to get into the bonus rounds … I want to play some golf … and I want to eat myself silly on Steak and Seafood.
“That’s all”? I asked laughingly … but Steve just looked more depressed … He had built Vegas up into this exquisite dream and now that he was here … it wasn’t going to happen … not on his meager bankroll.
It was about 9:30 Wednesday evening and Steve’s flight didn’t leave until 5:00 PM on Friday … so I told him to get in the car and stop feeling sorry for himself and we agreed that we would each take $100.00 and play until we went broke or until we passed out ...
First Stop: The Klondike
The Klondike is a small casino that is on the Southern end of Las Vegas Blvd … past the Luxor and the Four Seasons … If you see a doorman, it's the wrong place!
I pulled out a $20.00 Bill and asked the dealer for two colors, and he handed us each 5 stacks of chips … Steve looked puzzled … How much did you buy in for?
Steve, It’s 10 cent chips with a 50 cent minimum. I settled in with a Scotch and Water, and Steve grabbed a Coors Light. The slow pace of the wheel made for a very relaxing evening and it was a great opportunity for me to teach Steve about clocking the wheel. I explained that I play sections of the wheel and that certain sections can actually be split so betting a 14/17 split and a 20/23 split and a 32/35 split actually covers two 3 number groupings on the wheel. After 2 hours, I realized I had tipped more to the dealer and waitress (about $15.00 total) than I was up … I asked Steve if he was ready to move on he said yes with a devious smile … The ball was in motion and Steve stacked his remaining chips on Black, stacking them in one tall stack about 15-18 inches high ($6 or $8) …It came up 32 Red but Steve was grinning ear to ear … “I always wanted to do that”
It was after 1:00 and my stomach was growling so I headed up the strip to one of my favorite graveyard stops. The Board Walk has a great Steak & Egg Buffet for $5.99. You can eat a lot of places in Vegas for less, but this was one I just had to have. By 2:00 we were back in the car and heading out for our next stop.
We headed towards the down town area and stopped in at “The Gold Spike”, and the Aztec just to check them out. They had plenty of 1 cent and 5 cent machines but no real table games going, but we grabbed a couple of 50 cent shrimp cocktails and life was good … I asked Steve what he wanted to do and he wanted to find a craps table. We headed out Sahara down to the Boulder Highway where we found the “Jokers Wild” Casino. It turns out they have a great 50 cent Craps table with 20 x odds. I pulled out $40.00 and split the chips with Steve. It was a pretty choppy table where nobody made two points in a row. Steve looked a little puzzled when I started to bet $5.00 on the don’t pass and 50 cents on the pass line. After two numbers he realized what I was doing, by taking nearly full odds, I was locking in a win of a few dollars per number. It’s a very boring way to play but I had just read a column on the system and thought it had merit. Steve connected on a 1.00 parlay on the hard four for $56.00 and the table started to get hot. I stopped playing a “Hedge System” and was taking $26 or $27 across ($5 on the 4,5,9 & 10 and $6 on the 6 or 8 – not placing the point) and then betting $1 or $2 on the come and taking (10x) odds. At 2:45 they called last shooter since the game was winding down so we cashed our chips and walked over to the 2 cent video slots buying in for $10 each. Steve was playing Sphinx while I was playing Polar Cash … about 10 minutes into the session, Steve called me over … he had just gotten into the “Second Chamber” and asked me to pick the Sarcophagus (The whole point of the Bonus round) to which I said “Steve, you wanted to play a bonus round … It’s all you”. After a second he slapped the button for the first Sarcophagus and watched it pay 2000 coins.
Exhausted, we headed back to Steve’s hotel at about 4:30 and I told Steve I’d call him in the morning.
His phone rang at 8:30, after all … it was Vegas … who needs sleep. We headed back out to the Boulder Strip for the 10 AM Poker tournament at Nevada Palace. The buy in was $18.00 each for the “Hold’Em Shootout”. The tournament was a very laid back, friendly game with several tables going. In a poker tournament, everyone starts with the same amount of chips and the betting increases each round as you go deeper into the tournament. I was playing fairly conservative, but at one point I heard Steve say “let’s gamble” as he re-raised a hand over on another table. The betting moved from $20-$40 up to $40-80 and then to $100 – 200. On one particular hand, I was dealt Ah(earts) & Kh, which I bet … The Flop was Jh 4h 2h … So I bet expecting to pick up a quick pot. I was called by the players in seat 4, 5 and 8. The next card was the 6c so I bet my lock flush only to be called again by the same players. The river was the 4c so I checked to see where the power was … seat 5 bet and we called all the way around. Seat 5 turned up her 3h – 5h expecting to win with her baby flush, I immediately flipped up my A-K flush when seat 8 turned up the 2c – 4s … who plays an unsuited 2 – 4??? Fours full … but seat 4 flipped up her pocket Jacks for jacks full and swept the pot … Glad it was only a tournament and not a $10 – 20 game. A few hands later, I found myself going all in on pocket Kings … the flop was Ac, 9h, 7c … seat 8 was on a roll and had pocket Aces and I was done when no kings hit the board..
After the poker tournament, we stopped at the Longhorn for their Ham Steak breakfast and we headed back to the strip.
We headed to the Flamingo for 2:00 show of “Best of Bottoms Up” where for the price of a drink ($5.95), we watched a Topless review ... for a moment I was concerned Steve might need a neck brace ...
After the Show, we headed over to Angel Park Golf Club where I had made a tee time on the "Cloud Nine" course. This is a 12 hole course (greens fee $25) that mimics some of the greatest par 3's in all of golf including "The Island" and Royal Troon's "Postage Stamp". The course is lighted, you can beat the heat and play at night.
Once we finished playing golf, we were both pretty tired ... but what the heck, this is Vegas ... so we headed back to the Klondike. We both bought in for $10.00, getting 5 stacks of chips. Steve caught several numbers immediately, but I had to buy in for an additional $10.00. After several hours of play, more Coors Light than I care to recall, we finally headed back to Steve's hotel. By the time I got back to my hotel, it was 4:00 AM. I drifted off to sleep only to have my phone ring at 9:30 ... arrgh ...
Steve reminded me that his flight was at 5:00 which meant we had to be at the airport by 3:30
We headed down to the Longhorn for their Ham Steak and Eggs ... There were plenty of other selections and other places ... that just hit the spot ... and the Longhorn has a Black Jack tournament at "High Noon" and $1.00 Black Jack tables. The entry fee for the tournament was $10.00. If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any ... I didn't see a hand better than 14 for the first 10 minute only to Split Aces against a 5 to get 18 and 20 only to have the dealer string out a 6 card 21. Once I tapped out, I looked over at Steve and he had a solid lead at his table ... about 45 minutes later, Steve had finished 2nd in the tournament and we were on the way to the airport recounting our victories and our adventures ...
Even if we hadn't won a single bet ... we still were on budget:
Here is a quick recap of what we spent ... before we take in the winnings ...
Where What How Much The Klondike 10 Cent Roulette $10 buy in The Board Walk Hotel $5.99 Steak and Egg $9.00 w/ tip The Gold Spike 2 Shrimp Cocktail $1.00 Jokers Wild 50 cent Craps $20.00 buy in Jokers Wild 2 cent video slots $10 buy in Nevada Palace Poker Tournament $18 buy in The Longhorn Ham Steak & Eggs $7.00 w/ tip The Flamingo Bottoms Up Topless Review $7.00 w/ tip Angel Park Cloud Nine Golf Course $25.00 The Longhorn Ham Steak and Eggs $7.00 w/ tip The Longhorn Black Jack Tournament $10.00 TOTAL $124.00 If we had an extra day ...
Throw in 4.95 Steak Dinners at Ellis Island (my favorite Micro Brew)
10 cent Single Zero Roulette at the Nevada Palace
50 Craps at Jokers or Nevada Palace
The Bottomless Beer Mug at Gillies (The New Frontier)
Look for part two ... coming soon ...