Rex's Las Vegas Lists
30 Must Follow Rules For Any Las Vegas Casino Gambler - Part 1
February 17th, 2010
Top 15: Las Vegas Spots Not Found on a Tourist Map
January 27th, 2010
Top 10: Epic Las Vegas Heists
January 12th, 2010
Top 10: Best Looking Las Vegas Cocktail Waitresses
January 4th, 2010
Top 10 Best Las Vegas Gaming Pits
December 8th, 2009
17 Things First Time Visitors Must Do in Las Vegas
November 23rd, 2009
15 Ways To Get Kicked Out of a Las Vegas Casino
November 9th, 2009
Rex's Las Vegas Blog
The Resurrexion
March 10th, 2010
I just got out of the hospital, and first let me say that I very much appreciate all of the well-wishes. I even appreciate some of the questionable-wishes, such as those opining that I had some venereal disease, and even the one person who took the time out of his day to email me a simple "I hope you die".
I'm sure the latter was not a unique sentiment, so kudos for having the courage to say what many others were surely thinking. And by courage, I mean "sending an unsigned email from an anonymous email account". It must have taken hours to work up the strength to do that.
Can you imagine Rosa Parks in 2010?
From: sweet_mama_chocolate87156@yahoo.com
To: The Montgomery Transit Authority
I'm sick and tired of your discriminatory policies, and I'm not going to take it anymore. If you don't let black folks sit at the front of the bus, I'm gonna post all of your email addresses on alt.sex.bestiality and post pictures of your racist drivers on 4chan!"
The Black Panthers would probably coordinate wholly via Twitter, where uprisings would be routinely thwarted by "service unavailable" and "check out our latest deals!" messages. The 140 character limit would probably also lead to some confusion.
"We are sick and tired of the white devil keeping us down. If you are with us, fight the power and rally at the intersection of 181st Street and M..."
"Sorry, that last message was too long. We will be rallying at 181st Street and Market Avenue. We are mad as hell and will not take it anymore. Make sure you are there promptly at N..."
It's a good thing the civil rights movement happened 50 years ago.
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The Blind Leading the Blind
March 6th, 2010
This is exactly why I don't read fiction.
The truth is so much more bizarre.
On Thursday, President O'Drama signed the "Travel Promotion Act" into law.
This particular act is designed to convince people from other countries to vacation in the Unites Sates. The act will be funded by a $10 fee on all tourists to the U.S.
That's right, we will begin luring people to our great nation by charging them more money before they even set foot on our soil.
So far, so bad.
That's nowhere near the worst part, however.
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Life in the Slow Lane
March 4th, 2010
Earlier tonight, I engaged in a bit of ghetto gambling.
This was not the "play at the Western" version of ghetto gambling, instead, it was the cheap person version. Ghetto gambling is gaming that has all the fun of gambling, without any of the risk or reward. My own personal rendition of ghetto gambling involves taking only $20 to a local casino (usually the Sahara or Stratosphere) without an ATM card or even a wallet.
Then, I play along these lines:
I start out with $20, and I begin playing at a $3 or $5 table. I play a few hands until I double up or lose 50%. Unfortunately, I do not tip during these minor sessions unless I go on a big streak, and even then it's no more than a couple of bucks.
If I double up, I pocket $20, and then proceed to play with "free" money at whatever low-limit game I feel like playing. The worst I can do is break-even on the session.
If I get dinged for 50% early, I go to the $1 BJ tables or nickel Video Poker machines. If I manage to double up at these tables or machines, I go back to a "higher" limit ($3-$5) BJ table and repeat the process. If I lose it all ... I stop playing.
At times, I have been able to make a single $20 bill last two hours while ghetto gambling, while getting the occasional free drink in the process.
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Wackjack
March 2nd, 2010
"NASCAR Weekend" just wrapped up in Las Vegas, and following a new personal tradition, I spent a good part of the weekend at the Sahara.
Frankly, I've always found the Sahara's NASCAR theme to be somewhat unusual. It just doesn't seem to "fit" for some reason.
The Sahara is a desert-themed hotel with a rich and storied history (the Beatles stayed here during their first visit to Vegas), and I never really figured out how stock cars found their way into this paradigm. On any given day, you can stand outside and watch a race car roller coaster loop past the iconic neon camels. It's a very odd paring. Kind of like putting a gigantic poster of two Mormons facing the sinful Vegas Strip. As if that could happen.
Anyway, since the Sahara is ground zero for racing fans in Vegas, this is obviously one of the best places in town to spend a racing weekend ... second only to the track itself.
After walking to the casino and scoping out a prime Blackjack table on Saturday, I became slightly disillusioned with how the Sahara was conducting itself. While both $3 and $5 "real" Blackjack tables are standard offerings at the casino (which is part of why the property is endearing for me), the Sahara had converted at least half of their five dollar games to 6:5.
Given the loyal crowds, this seemed very opportunistic.
Look, I understand the laws of supply and demand, and I understand what most people consider to be "good business decisions". Americans think "capitalism" is synonymous with "greed", and they think that good capitalists need to "capitalize" on every customer.
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Sweaty Palms
March 1st, 2010
Here we go again.
It's like Deja vu.
This was how Planet Hollywood's demise began.
For those who may be unaware, keep in mind that Texas Pacific Group is also known as "Harrah's".
Texas Pacific Group, one of the private equity owners of Harrah's Entertainment in Las Vegas, is accumulating debt in the Palms resort, according to a story published Wednesday by Debtwire, a publication of the Financial Times.
Citing unnamed sources, the publication said TPG had acquired a piece of the Palms' $380 million bank debt. It also said Palms' EBITDA – a commonly-used profit indicator – fell to $12 million this year amid the recession from about $70 million two years ago.
The Palms is restructuring its debt and the Maloof family, which owns the Palms, is in the process of selling its beer distribution business in New Mexico for $100 million, the publication said.
The Palms loans are privately-held but can be traded among investors.
Palms owner George Maloof declined comment on the story and declined to discuss his resort's financing other than to say the business was on solid ground.
I certainly hope George is right.
While not as polarizing as say, Imperial Palace , The Palms is another one of those properties which people tend to have a strange relationship with. In a way, it's Hard Rock West ... with a twist.
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Shooting Las Vegas
February 26th, 2010
"Why do you take so many pictures of the Stratosphere?"
"Why do you take so many unflattering pictures of Las Vegas?"
In the last few months, I've been hit with variations of these two questions on a routine basis.
For some reason, there has been a burgeoning interest in my photographic habits.
Why? I do not know. I think some of the questions are rhetorical critiques, but perhaps there is a legitimate question or two buried within the hundred or so queries over the past few months.
The reason I don't respond to individual emails is because I don't respond to anything unless I make an effort to put some thought into it. I've never sent an email that says "LOL. Thanks." This is why I'm a bad Twitterer. I'm not brief. I don't cut-and-paste responses either. If I don't have the time to formulate a thoughtful, complete response, I don't respond at all. It is for this reason, I usually address common questions publicly. I just can't do it one-by-one.
So, for the first time, I will try to provide at least some insight into my Vegas photography "style".
When news crews are in Washington, D.C., they often film their reporters standing in front of the White House or the Capitol Building. This even extends to political cartoons. They will typically sketch a government landmark somewhere in the backdrop. This is the primary visual clue to the reader that the setting of the cartoon is in Washington.
When crews are reporting from Los Angeles, they typically have the Hollywood sign visible in the background. New York reporters will get a Times Square or a Manhattan skyline shot. Every city has a designated spot where crews congregate to report generic geographically-based stories. It's their way of saying "Look, we're really here!".
In Las Vegas, that spot is the "Welcome to Las Vegas Sign". Every time something happens in Vegas, crews from all over the country trip all over themselves to jockey for location shots in front of the sign. If there are any weather abnormalities, they go to the sign ... if they talk about tourism numbers, they go to the sign ... hell, sometimes they go to the sign for no obvious reason at all. It's a default location when there is nowhere else to go.
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