A good link about the casino industry

I haven't stopped by the Stiffs and Georges blog for a while, shame on me.  The ins and outs of the gaming business is interesting to me, although a good deal of it is over my head, non-businessman that I am. 

I popped in and found a great post today.  David McKee actually does understand these things, and, like me, he is a bit suspicious about the whole Sahara rebuilding/rebranding process.

Anyway it's interesting stuff, and a great blog.

Five Weeks for Sahara Sam

Now have a nice day.

I just booked for April..........

I have been watching airfares from Boston for a while now, and one finally popped up that I can live with.

So I'm going in three short months.  WOOHOO.  You have to love blowing your tax return before you even file.  That's how I roll.  I guess

I have no idea where I will be staying, but, as always, I'll be looking on the cheap side.  Because that's how I roll too.  Low.

Right now, having put less than an hour's thought into this trip, I'm considering staying downtown.  Some people hate the downtown area, but I'm a fan of good old Fremont St.  I'm also a fan of cheap. Maybe I've mentioned it before. 

I will, however, bide my time a bit and see what the sometimes fickle gods of comps will through my way.

So, if you are semi-interested, stay tuned. 

I'll also throw out a link I've referenced before, but it's worth repeating - http://www.fremontstreetbars.com/ . They don't pay me for pimping them or anything, but I'm open to all forms of corruption.

Have a nice day.

Bags are Packed!!!

Getting on the plane in a little while, hopefully the thunderstorms in the midwest won't slow me down.

Because I'm way too cheap to pay a resort fee or pay for my internet at the hotel, you will have to wait until I get home for all of the salacious details of my trip.  If you are truly interested (and I can't believe you would be), you can stalk me on twitter - @seanbeh3

Wish me some luck. 

And, as always, thanks for reading.

I Want to See What's Up at the D

In downtown Las Vegas there is a hotel and casino that used to be Fitzgerald's, now it's "The D."  Kind of a lousy name for a hotel/casino, but apparently it's now a "resort".  As in "The D Resort".  Still a lousy name.

I liked the old place just fine, it had a fake/creepy Irish theme and a nice balcony bar upstairs that looked out on the Fremont Street Experience.  It was a fun enough place, good dealers at least.  I stayed there once years ago, the rooms were fine enough in a Howard Johnson-type way.

Last year, Fitzgeralds was bought out by the guys that own the Golden Gate.  I haven't been there since, but these guys did a great job fixing up the old Golden Gate, so I'm optimistic here.  They built the Long Bar, supposedly the longest bar in Nevada (and who am I to argue), which looks like a pretty cool place to hang out in the pictures.  I'm also excited about Sigma Derby and "vintage" gaming on the second floor (Vegaschatter.com  tell you what sigma derby is).  If nothing else, the news coming out of the place makes me damn curious.

Oh, and Vegaschatter also reports that The D is hiring 100 party pit dancers.  Which also makes me curious.

But I think I'll still call the place the Fitz.

A general plan for the first night....

When I go to Las Vegas, I don't like to overplan.  It's a vacation.  One of the things I like most about Vegas is that it's a 24/7 town, more so than any other place I know.  You can loung at the pool, make a run at a craps table, settle in at a bar, take an afternoon nap, whatever.  And you don't feel like you are missing anything.  It's wonderful.

So, unlike flying into some places, I'm not worried about arriving at ten o'clock at night.  The cabs will be there, the hotel will be ready to check me in.  The town is just barely waking up at ten o'clock.

So I have a general, and very flexible, plan for my first night.  After my long confined flight, I want to do two things when i get off the plane: walk alot and eat.  So I'll settle into my hopefully super-cool room at Planet Hollywood and then run out to eat.  Since I'll be so hungry that a quality meal would be wasted, I'll eat for fuel rather than satisfaction.  I'm thinking that I'll walk over to the brand-spanking new Metro McDonald's on Harmon Ave.  I have my doubts that it's any different than every other McDonald's on earth, but I'll let you know.  When I'm sufficiantly stuffed with greasy fast food, I'll start walking.  Generally, the plan is to cross over to Caesars, move south to the Cosmopolitan, where I'll sit at the Chandelier Bar and watch the beautiful people walk bye for a bit.  Last on my list for night numero one is the Monte Carlo, I like the front bar there.  A few rounds of video poker, a beer or two, by that time the adrenaline will have worn off, and I'll start feeling the long day.  Maybe 1:00 AM, I'll have one (or two) more beverages at a bar at PH, see the club girls and the other cool kids walking by, see if I can spot the working girls.  And then to bed.  Call it a bar crawl if you will, it's more of just a walk.  With beer stops.  Like I said, all plans are flexible, and I'm easily distracted, so there are no guarantees.

Since my body never quite catches up with the time change, I'll probably be up at 6:00 AM or so, looking for that big over-the-top breakfast, one of my favorite things about Vegas.  And then we will go from there.

Thanks for reading.
 
*BTW, spellcheck doesn't seem to be working.  Forgive me.

One week away............

Only one week until I take the long flight out west to my favorite desert paradise.  I've been terribly busy with work, so it hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure that by this weekend it will.
Of course, as my luck tends to run, there is a hurricane moving up.  I'm pretty sure that it will be gone by next week, but just another thing to worry about.
If you've been following, I split my stay for the trip, three days at Planet Hollywood and two days downtown at the California downtown.  It might seem a bit crazy, moving from hotel to hotel, but it makes sense for me, and many of my fellow posters on Tripadvisor do the same thing.  it gives me the sights and restaraunts and such on the strip, and the better gambling downtown.  Same city, but the two areas have different "vibes" to them.

Anyway I've been posting a bit here and there, will be fine tuning the details of my trip in the next week or so.

Thanks for reading!!