Vegas, baby!
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Hey chums.
Myself and two friends and visiting Vegas in December and taking a cheeky car ride down to LA.
Anyone know of anything awesome to do in LA off the beaten path?
Make it awesome and I'll buy you a beer.
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Well you could always get beaten off of the path.
I've never really been to vegas but I saw the movie Casino so I'm an expert.
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Vegas can be the time of your life or the most depressing weekend of you life depending on how things go.
Some recommendations for maximizing your stay:
Some things cost money and be prepared that unless you spend serious money you're not going to have that hanging out with celebrities at exclusive clubs, the topless private pool cabanas and backroom serious player 4 in the morning poker tournaments with Vince Vaughn and JayZ sort of experience. If you want those sorts of experiences you'll have to do some serious research on the pros that do that sort of stuff- they can tell you when it's cheaper to hire girls to go to clubs with you because you're more likely to get in by improving the female to male ratio and when and at what clubs you're better off just bribing the doorman. Keep in mind you're now spending hundreds of dollars to get in and pay $14-40 a drink at a rooftop dance club. I've made a lot of friends at the pools though and are sometimes worth the cost/weirdness and shady dealing you have to do to get into them.
If you want to slum it like I do, you've got to spend your money more wisely.
The Hard Rock pool/casino. Spend a day and the money to get a seat at the pool or at least pull up a seat at the $5 blackjack tables for a while. Check out and see if there's a band playing the pool and get tickets and get in that way- a private cabana poolside is $1000 for a few hours and the drinks that come "free" with that price tag aren't very good so you end up spending another hundred on cocktails. If there's a band (I've seen Geroge Clinton and the Violent Femmes there) you can usually get fairly cheap tickets up to a few days before and it get's you in the pool area for a good long while and seeing a concert in that venue is worth dropping a little cash on. You can play blackjack in the main room and girls dance on poles nearby which if that's your thing, it's a good place to sit a slowly bleed money with a nice view. (The dealers and dancers there are actually super nice and will hang out and chat sometimes if you're not some pervy ass. Appreciate and don't judge what people do for money and don't be a creep and the locals are super helpful.) (If you like bands - check the lists at MGM and the two by the MGM (?no clue now) and a couple others- there are some great buys- I saw Social Distortion with like 80 people in a small club for $20 one night.)
Old Vegas. (May be called Binions now)The Horseshoe is great. Free drinks in plastic cups that are stronger than you get on the new strip, aging Elvis impersonators, helpful dealers who can help you play to minimize your losses- a couple dodgy old vegas places to eat inside that are a total laugh. Throw on large sunglasses, a thrift-shop blazer and a gold chain and go make friends with locals. Do not follow anyone, stand near anyone who has tried to sell you drugs in old vegas. At worst they will mug you and at best they are selling meth, so it's a losing deal wither way.
Sports. Do you like sports? Even if you don't- plan on getting up early and getting a spot at a sportsbook Saturday or Sunday morning (In December I'm not sure if you'll get a good Saturday college football schedule but the NFL schedule should be strong through most of the month). You can make ridiculously small bets and enjoy a pretty posh place to sit down for a while and get cheap/free drinks. You can make $20 in bets and sit and watch football for four hours if you want. Also all the screaming and yelling and high fiving with strangers can make you some friends pretty quick as you all yell for your favorite teams or teams you hate but who are going cover the spread. You can bet on horses, soccer, lacrosse, almost anything even non sports related and usually watch it on TV as well.
Guns. I'm not a gun nut or anything but I will say there are people who will take you into the desert and let you blow up old TVs and cars with 357s and uzis and sh*t. Ammo can run $100-200 and up depending on how much/how fast you shoot, plus the fee for the "guide" and guns so it's not super cheap but it's pretty american cowboy old west awesome in some sort of way.
There's and arts district and shows and cirqu du solei and all that sort of stuff but I've never seen any of it. Hear it's nice.
General thoughts:
You may look at a map of the strip and think why is everyone standing in line for a cab? Here's the thing- the strip is not like a normal city, the casinos are bigger than college football stadiums. If there are 2 casinos in a block- that block is like 3 miles long. If you're going to check out something 6 casinos away you're walking some ridiculous distance usually in scorching heat. Some hotels/casinos (MGM? and a bunch) are connected via a maze of skybridges and tunnels and monorails and you never have to go outside- ask for a map at the desk.
The pretty girls you meet walking back to your hotel room at 5AM who are very interested to talk to you are prostitutes. That time of day they run some deals and discounts and have a lengthy sales pitch so make it clear upfront you're not interested.
Getting drunk: I recommend it and with the oxygen the pump into the rooms and the free cocktails you can somehow manage a good 12 or 14 hours of drinking without passing out if you're an accomplished drinker. Here's the deal- manage an all day buzz rather than going for a massive shot filled bender of a few hours. It's tough to be the drunkest guy in Vegas, but if you're an ass you will get thrown out by very large men onto very hard pavement. And banned for life. The Vegas cops are very understanding of the fact that drunken tourists pay their salary and will work their best to get you returned to your hotel if they find you wandering the street. Mouth off and you will be thrown in jail.
Check the websites of stuff- thinking you're going to have a Hunter S Thompson bender and freak out at Circus Circus and showing up and realizing the midway is a super kid friendly Dave and Busters like experience now can be a little letdown.
If you are taking the trip between the strip and old vegas you have to have faith. In your cabby. Faith in him so much that it sorta becomes your new religion. I have yet to take that ride at anything less that absolute top speed of the cab. I'm talking weaving in and out of traffic at 100mph. Going anywhere but the strip itself costs them money so they get it done as fast as humanly possible.
I haven't been in 3 years so the names and places may have changed a bit. They knock over 1200 room hotels there every weekend.
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Nikko knows his vegas, baby!
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It is amazing how very different the lives we live.
:)
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He really wants that drink.
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Wow, Nikko. Write that up on a pamphlet/booklet and sell that for profit, baby!
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In Vegas, don't expect to make money.
Expect to lose money and have fun doing it.