Nice piece Tank. Anyone else think the Bellagio has a little something extra? Seemed more classy than the rest.
The flashy lights of the slot machines and Americans wandering around in shorts and "fanny packs" completely spoil the atmosphere as far as I'm concerned. I'm looking for James Bond wannabes tuxedoing it around with glamorous molls in sheer backless gowns. Not a lot of that going on in town, the dress code on the casino floors seems to simply be "no swimwear"
I remember reading a Benny Binion quotation somewhere "When he walked into the baccarat pit and pulled out $25,000, we decided he met the dress code just fine"
There probably are places where everyone wears their Sunday best to be fair, it's just that they won't let scum like me near them.
I will agree that
in Vegas the classiest casino prize does go to Bellagio.That fountain show and elegant building clinches it as far as that award is concerned.
I remember joking that if we ran out of money, we'd just camp outside and watch it all day long.
The Wynn comes in a very close second. The building itself isn't too impressive. Mr. Steve apparently decided that spectacle from outside is the wrong way to go. Have the impressive s**t inside the actual casino, so the punters have to come through the doors.
Here's a wee story from the Wynn that didn't quite make the cut of the article itself (it was plenty long enough already)....
The Wynn - We played a little of that WPT table game there. The dealer with a southern drawl asked us "So what part of Texas are y'all from." To think the guide book said to watch out because few Americans had a sense of humour. We experienced the opposite with most folks.
He was an elderly gent, looked like he could be related to Mike Sexton. We wondered why he was a dealer and not some sort of pit boss type dude. It soon became clear.....
The game is simple enough, another table game for silly people, cashing in on how popular poker on the telly has become.
You ante up, and are dealt two hole cards, the dealer gets a couple too.
You then decide to either fold, (give up the ante)
raise (punt 5x the ante)
or go all-in (punt 10x the ante)
If you've raised, the dealer will play if his two cards total 13 or higher, or if he has any pair. 5 board cards are then dealt, and the best hand wins. If his hand doesn't qualify, you just get paid on the ante, and take your "raise" back.
Similarly situation if you've gone "all-in" except the dealer needs 17 or better, or any pair, to play with you.
Anyway, I know what you're thinking, what is a so called professional poker player doing playing this version of the game that's clearly for mugs. Well, I was on holiday, leave me alone.
So I'm punting away at this for a while and getting fairly lucky (which in Vegas means breaking even.) Two other players are also trying their luck when the following hand comes up...
We all raise, the dealer flips his hand
. Twenty-one, more than enough to call. We all flip our hands
Player 1 (a desperado type, all the chips he has on the table are riding on this hand) has
Player 2 (one of the aforementioned fanny packers) has
Player 3 (Meeeeeee) has a cheeky pair
I can just hear Vince Van telling the viewers that we have a "classic race situation".
The flop comes down..
Desperado has a pair, but that's not a problem. In this game, it's just the dealers hand you're playing against.
Turn time..
for the lads.
The mighty pair of 4's is still good, but we have a cart load of cards to dodge. 7's, 10's, Q's, A's as well as any spade spell bad news for captain me.
Argghhh it was too much to ask.. the
(that promiscuous tart) means that's thirty buckeroonies I'll never see again
Player 1 bangs his fist on the table and storms off. The dealer looked in his direction and kinda petted his bottom lip in a kinda "Oh dear" gesture.
So it's just the formality of taking my chips and placing them in his neat little tray thing. He look at my hand, looks at his own, then pays me out.
He's missed the straight! He believes himself to only have Ace high.
Oh dear I think, as we come to paying out player 2. He has a straight too (for a split pot) surely all will become clear now. I snatch my chips I've just been payed, hoping beyond hope that he won't ask for them back.
Amazingly, Player 2 doesn't voice his objection when the dealer collected his chips. That's two people who've missed it now.
He goes to pay out the (now absent) player 3. As our friend is long gone, he calls over the pit boss to ask what to do. Now I'm sure I'll get rumbled. Nevada law doesn't prohibit casinos demanding a payout back when an error has been made. You never know though, I might still get to keep it, PR and all that.
The pit boss looks at the situation. "He must have thought you had a flush" is what he says.
Am I the only person who has heard of a straight in this town? I double and triple check the cards that have been dealt, yip, I definately have no right to this $60 my sweaty fingers are playing with.
After a minute of looking for Player 1, the dealer gives up. The pit boss tells him to just rack up the chips. The cards are all collected and we proceed with the next hand.
The cocktail waitress arrives with another fuity rum type thing for me (again, leave me alone, I was on holiday.) I decide now is as good a time as any to tip the dealer and bugger off. A small profit logged, a souvenier chip in hand.
So I was well chuffed, in perhaps the greatest casino in the gambling capital of the world, this "professional" was able to play house game poker with an edge. I want to know what part of Texas
he was from.
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