#VegasHalloween 2021 -- day 2

My first full day in Las Vegas qualifies as atypical in several ways. 

Having a rental vehicle, I have easy access to places many tourists may never go. 

Having fallen asleep before midnight on Friday, I must have gotten a full eight hours of sleep. I set my alarm for sometime after 7 a.m., and didn't jump out of bed at the sound of the first, second or third alarm. Eventually I rolled out of bed and began getting ready for the day ahead. But my first destination of the day was sidetracked by breakfast. 

My life partner texted me. She and her sisters were coming to the Plaza for Breakfast at the celebrated Hash House A Go Go, which has more locations than I would have guessed in the Vegas area. Surprised by this, I invited myself to join the, especially given the fact I had a $25 meal voucher courtesy of the Plaza. 

After breakfast I placed a couple of wagers on the afternoon UFC main events. Yes, UFC had Saturday morning and afternoon fights, thanks to the card taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. My buddy is pretty good at handicapping the UFC, so I put a modest $30 down on two picks he gave me, which were the co-main events. I bet on one fight to go over 2.5 rounds, and the other to go under 4.5 rounds. 

Then it was off to the Broadacres Marketplace in North Las Vegas for flea market action. I had been there in June with my podcast producer, and I made my first visit on a Friday night in October 2020. I don't buy much at flea markets, garage sales or any other type of secondhand goods outlet, but I can spend long hours browsing at the right place. I spent more than two hours under the warm Nevada sun, and I will detail my experiences and observations about this giant flea market in a future post. And soon. I promise!

Who buys a mattress set at a flea market?
Somebody must, because there was more than one vendor selling them. 

I have no idea what a bunny sells for at the mall pet store, but $65 must be a bargain. 

Broadacres Marketplace has several food vendors, a stage with live music,
beer sales and a few carnival rides, as well as carnival games, for the kids. 

After my day at the flea market was complete, with one $10 purchase I won't discuss at this time, it was off to Jerry's Nugget. I wasn't hungry at this point, so I stopped at Jerry's Nugget on my way back to see what kind of low-roller action was available. Jerry's had $5 craps with 2X odds, some $5 blackjack, albeit with continuous shuffle machines and a $5 table game that was a lot like Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, but seemed to be a bit different. I didn't take the time to learn how it was different. 

Jerry was offering hand-shuffled blackjack, but even Jerry wants $10/hand for the privilege these days. 

I opted for my conservative craps play. I don't make many exotic bets, I pretty much bet the pass line with an equal odds bet behind it. I don't make big money on a hot roll, but I don't drop huge money in short order. If we make points, I make a little money. If we crap out, I don't. 

I had a couple of decent rolls, making a few points, but nothing spectacular. There was a woman who joined the table and talked quite a bit. She was making multiple side bets before many rolls, and was basically telling the dealers who was supposed to be getting paid. She was a handful, to say the least. 

Jerry's Nugget offers a couple of those prop bets where you have to roll all the numbers. If every combo of 2-12 is rolled before the 7, on any come out roll, anyone betting at the start of the come out roll wins 175-1. If you bet on 2-6 or 8-12, you get like 34-1, or something close to that. So in 10 rolls, a $1 bet could win $175, but it's likely one of the 10 numbers won't be repeated, assuming the shooter doesn't crap out. 

This woman was betting a couple bucks on all three props each turn. After me, the dude before her began shooting. He had no dice technique, he just picked them up and tossed them. And it took a while for him to do it, but he eventually hit all 10 combos without crapping out. When he hit his final number, a 3, she erupted. She had $4 on the 175-1 bet, paying her $700. She had three bucks on the lower range of numbers, so that paid her just over $100. And she collected previously on the 8-12 spread, too. So she won over $900 on this guy's turn. Amazing. 

She had several bets on the table when she won the big payout. She immediately gave the shooter about $50 in chips. As she waited to get paid, she told the dealers all her bets on the table were theirs. As soon as she got paid, she walked away, leaving money on the table for the dealers to reap the benefits of. And the shooter continued his turn several more rolls before finally hitting a 7. 

How high maintenance was this woman? She was so slow in tossing out her side bets each turn, and disputing what the dealers and stickman were doing, that it sometimes took more than two minutes for the next roll to occur. The boxman had seen enough, declaring no more string betting, or the action would be declined. He was not having any more of it. 

And how did I do with my conservative, boring strategy? I finished the afternoon $15 ahead. The woman near me walked away with hundreds of dollars. I walked away with $15. But it was fun playing on a live table for low stakes. You don't find $5 tables anywhere tourists frequent. 

After Jerry's, I decided I had to see what the Silver Nugget was like. You pass it after Jerry's, on your way to the flea market. I decided Saturday was the day I'd see what it had to offer. 

There was a little kiddie fall festival/Halloween carnival in the parking lot next to Silver Nugget, or perhaps that was part of the Silver Nugget parking lot. It wasn't open, but people were getting ready for that evening. It looked cute, and lame for kids 10 and older. 

There were a few folks seemingly hanging out in the parking lot, which I found odd. I didn't park particularly close to the door, and that didn't matter, but it could have mattered. I noticed that the front parking area and entry to the casino looked rather messy, as if cleaning up the outside of the building wasn't a priority. The pile of Pringles on the ground near the front doors was a nice touch. 

I knew Silver Nugget was a mistake when I saw the signs taped up to the entrance doors: Masks available for $2. 

If this joint can't afford to give away masks to customers too lazy or careless to bring them, this place was not for me. 

Inside I found a casino with no table games, a weird layout of machines, as if they didn't have enough machines to fill the floor space, one bar with a few folks hanging around and yucking it up, a small sports book in the back corner and a side annex that had machines scattered in there, as well as an entrance to a restaurant that didn't appear to be open in the middle of the afternoon. I would later learn that there's a bowling alley and "event center" at Silver Nugget, but I didn't realize it at the time. It's in an enclosed area separate from the casino, allegedly.  

I tweeted about what a mistake it was to stop in after driving by the place a few times, and for some reason that tweet blew up, at least by my standards. It got a few retweets, and I think I know which retweet brought it to the masses, but I can't guarantee it. All I know is that I got a lot more action on that tweet than I do on anything else I tweet, and that lasted for more than 24 hours. Very unexpected. 

I had no idea this simple picture and a comment via Twitter would
garner more attention than anything else I shared during my weekend in Vegas. 

After wasting 15 minutes at Silver Nugget it was time to go back downtown, where I bopped around and won a few bucks at the Plaza, only to lose a few bucks low rolling at Circa. Those UFC bets I made? The fight I bet to go over 2.5 ended in less than 2.5, and the fight I bet to end in less than 4.5 went the full five rounds. So much for my expert. 

Oh yeah, I had a small ticket to redeem at Circa, and I took it to the cage. As I was waiting, some old dude was at the cage, off to the side, with two much younger women. I'm not sure exactly why, but the dude was rubbing one of the young women's butt quite vigorously for several seconds. He didn't care if anyone saw him, clearly. It wasn't the most bizarre thing you'll see in Vegas, not by a long shot, but that image is forever burned in my mind. 

I returned to the Plaza to clean up. Dinner was at 7 p.m., and we were going to Chicago Joe's. 

I know of it, and it was my suggestion we go. The bride-to-be wanted a group dinner on Saturday night, and we had 18 people there for the wedding. She decided a group dinner was a great idea about four days before Saturday night. And she really wanted Italian. A little online research reminded me that Chicago Joe's isn't miles away from Fremont Street, and I've read references to the quirky little building that looks like a house. People are mostly positive toward it, so I thought it was a reasonable option, assuming they could take a reservation for 18. Sucker bet!

And yet, against all odds, they said yes. We sat at five tables in the back of the building. It was a bit tight, but it worked. We couldn't move about easily, but it worked out well, and everyone seemed pleased with their meals. 

Our group waited outside the entrance to the quirky Italian restaurant known as Chicago Joe's prior to our dinner reservation. It's downtown, about a one-mile walk from Golden Nugget, so says Google.

Chicago Joe's is a modestly priced place that makes good Italian food. They serve beer and wine, but no alcohol, as best I could tell, and they've been in business since 1975. It's not a must-visit restaurant, but it's fun, delicious and a good value. I'd like to dine there again sometime. 

I will say this, I splurged on a shrimp and pasta meal, but didn't love the shrimp. It wasn't bad, but I think next time I'll skip spending extra on the shrimp and go with the big meatball or Italian sausage. 

Perhaps most amazing: We had one waiter for the entire party, for the entire evening. Drink orders, food orders, food distribution, drink refills and multiple checks and credit card charges: Darrin did it all. He was on the move from start to finish. He would make loud announcements occasionally to the entire group, and you'd think he was from Boston, not Chicago, but he got the job done efficiently, and paid attention to detail when it was necessary. It was borderline amazing. 

Not the best photo, but the only one I have that shows the interior of quirky Chicago Joe's.

Dinner ends and we return downtown. I hung out for a bit with my life partner and her sisters. We had a drink at a Golden Nugget bar. The ladies, after a day at the pool and plenty of drinking, were ready to call it a night. These aren't late night people, for the most part. I departed and hit Fremont, soaking in the Halloween atmosphere provided by many people in costume. 

I also toured many of the casinos, as if I expected to find something new or unexpected. I walked down to El Cortez, then worked my way back through a heavy crowd in the Fremont East district. I popped into the Fremont, California and Main Street Station and gawked at the crowds. I didn't gamble a dime, and was most tempted to play a nickel video poker progressive game at Main Street Station that had a nice payoff working on the royal flush for a 50-cent max play. But I skipped it. 

I didn't take Halloween photos on Saturday night, but there was a Day of the Dead group
that gathered in front of a fire truck parked in the middle of Fremont Street near El Cortez. 

My night was almost over. I went back to the Plaza, intended to buy a $3 Bud Light and retire to my room. But then I decided to sit down at the bar, order a cocktail and play 25-cent keno. My goal was to hit 4-for-4 and win a whopping $25 for my 25-cent play. I did that within the first $5. Wow, big winner!

The bartenders were rather prompt with the drinks, so I had a few and decided to lower my keno wager to 10 cents, simply to avoid losing my tiny profit swiftly. And thanks to my continued play, I hit 4-for-4 twice more, which amused me greatly. Each subsequent win paid me all of $10. Of course I should have stayed at a quarter a game, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to win big money either way. I had about six cocktails and won $30 while doing so. I felt like a king at the end of the night. 

It's amazing how a modest win can make for such a pleasant final hour of your day.

Virtual Las Vegas: What a strange world it is

Here's a little exercise I like to challenge people with occasionally: When did you first learn about the Internet?

I knew of the Internet back in the 1980s, although I don't think anyone referred to it as the Internet. But I knew that through the power of a computer, telephone and acoustic coupler, you could connect to the world in a way I never dreamed of. And I certainly never dreamed of buying comic books (I collected them) through a computer, and having them delivered to my door, without ever leaving the house. Needless to say, there's a lot of things I never imagined using a computer to do. And here I am, doing a variety of things every week that I never would have believed were possible 25 years ago.

A photo of an acoustic coupler. I don't remember where I lifted it, but I found it via Google. This was how we did the Internet in the 1980s, before anyone knew what the Internet was.

I don't know when I learned of the Internet that we know and love today. I do know that I had dabbled with it prior to May 1997, when I left a desolate, Canadian-like community for my triumphant return to the big city. I had used email and accessed websites through a community college computer system, but those opportunities were few and far between. Cellphones were a luxury at that time, I would never have imagined I'd not only come to rely upon one, but that it would essentially become a computer.

But to this day I don't remember when I first understood the concept of the modern Internet. I would assume it was at some point during 1996.

Moral of the story: This powerful tool I use daily, many times per day, was non-existent in my world 25 years ago.

My first trip to Las Vegas occurred in January 1997. At that point it never occurred to me that I might want to seek information about Sin City via the Internet, which I had limited access to. Who knows what I might have found in late 1996. Not a hell of a lot, I'd bet.

I've been reflecting upon how my world, and my relationship with Vegas, has changed as a result of the Internet. A recent change in my online world signaled the time to finally put a few of those thoughts into words.

I have used Vegas message forums for a long time. The message forum was my first introduction to the world of Vegas chatting, and I believe it's still the best. But message forums are not as popular as they once were. I have been a member of a few Vegas forums over the years, and continue to use one to this day.

Part of the reason forums have lost their luster -- perhaps the main reason -- is Facebook. Today we have Facebook groups that bring people together when they have a shared interest. There are plenty of Vegas groups, big and small, available through Facebook. I belong to a handful, but I don't actively use most of them.

I find Facebook groups are less effective ways to share information, but I get why they're popular. Facebook is, if you believe online statistics, the third most popular website on the planet, behind Google and YouTube. A website that exists primarily for the purpose of personal communication, and is open to the masses, is the perfect place for Vegas enthusiasts to connect and chat. You have a question about Vegas that you need an answer to? You join a Vegas group and you have hundreds or thousands of people available to answer. And you're already on Facebook anyway, posting pictures of your cute kids. Could it be any easier?

The drawback to Facebook groups is that you don't have categories of discussions. Go to a Vegas forum and you might find sections dedicated to the strip, downtown, off-strip casinos, gambling strategy, transportation and bargains. You can search for topics by keyword on Facebook, but Facebook's groups are not highly organized. That's why a Vegas message forum is still an important resource for me after more than 15 years.

One of the great things about the Internet is that it has opened up so many opportunities for those of use who use a computer. I had no idea in 1997 that I'd go to Vegas more than 40 times during the next 25 years of my life. And I certainly didn't dream that I'd be one of many voices in the online world sharing thoughts about a popular vacation destination. Yet here I am.

And I'm not even a blip on the radar. There are folks who do far more interesting, far more compelling work than I do. If you're reading this, then chances are you are familiar with Vital Vegas and Vegas Unfiltered.

Vital Vegas provides inside scoop like nobody can. I've been reading it for years, and rarely does a day go by without me checking it for new content. Vegas Unfiltered provides interesting content that's hard to find anywhere else these days. Both of the blogs are one-man operations, and the authors are well connected, but their websites don't exist to generate income, as best I can tell. I've been fortunate enough to meet the authors of both of these blogs during my visits to Vegas. I never imagined meeting total strangers when I first visited Vegas in 1997. And thanks to the Internet I've been reading the writing of two people I'd have otherwise never met. How cool is that?

The users of Facebook groups and message forums like to organize social gatherings, and that makes total sense. When you communicate with a group of people for an extended period of time, it seems like a natural thing to want to meet the faces behind the screen name. I don't make it a priority to meet up with groups of strangers, but I've done it occasionally.

On Halloween morning, 2011, I met up with a small group of message forum users at the El Cortez. I don't remember much about that group, other than our de facto leader that day was a gentleman named Dewey. Dewey is one of those guys who contributes a lot, is well liked and finds his way to Vegas now and again. Or at least he did until recently.

I have appreciated everything Dewey has offered to the online world, either through the message forum or through his own blog writing, and I've managed to keep in touch with him. We may only trade messages a couple of times per year, but that has been going on for more than seven years. And we did manage to meet up again a few years after that first meeting, when another Halloween trip overlapped. Dewey is that cool guy in high school that everybody wanted to be friends with, and I am lucky enough to be able to brag that Dewey is a friend of mine.

For my Halloween 2016 trip I was staying at The Plaza. That hotel just happened to be the home base of a couple of people from the Facebook group Everything Las Vegas. I was actively using the group at the time, and despite my aversion to mixing and mingling with a group of relative strangers, I stopped into their early evening social gathering for 30 minutes. I was able to meet a few of the group's leaders and regular members, people I recognized by name and face. It was a nice perk of being a part of that group. I hope I get to enjoy another such gathering some day, even if nobody remembers me more than two years later.

There are great resources online, and great people behind them, usually. After an hour of reminiscing, I'll close for now and plan to continue my online reflections in a second chapter about Virtual Las Vegas. Despite the fact it takes me weeks to put thoughts together, I'll bend over backwards to keep it from being six weeks before I finish what I've started.

Life downtown was much different circa April 2016

I vaguely remember that night in April 2016, and it wasn't much different than tonight.

It's January 2019. I'm sitting in the same spot I was nearly three years ago. I can't promise, but in late April of 2016 there likely wasn't much snow on the ground outside my Minnesota home. And here I am in the dead of winter nearly three years later, and there are scant traces of snow. It has been a weird winter here in the cold north.

It was a weeknight in 2016 when I was sitting at the computer, later than I should have been, and reading breaking news from the Vital Vegas blog about the sale of downtown properties to the brothers Stevens. I wrote an instant response to that late evening blog post, much to the surprise of the blog's author. (I'll take praise anywhere I can get it.) And, as I'm wont to do, I provided a copy editing recommendation. (That's something only us writers understand.)

It has been nearly three years since news broke that we were losing a couple of tiny grind joints, a dying-on-the-vine casino and a dingy strip club. (That's what everyone tells me. I am proud to say I never saw the interior for myself.) Nearly three years later I'm typing on the same laptop computer about the future of downtown, and sitting in the same seat.

I can pretend to have Vegas insight, but I'm just speculating, along with everyone else. Yet there's one thing I'm confident of, the brothers Stevens are going to hit a home run if they follow through with the plans they've announced earlier this evening.

I'm still unclear why the name makes sense, but the former site of the Las Vegas Club, and other adjacent businesses, will be a new casino resort known as Circa. New rooms, new amenities and lots of uncheap booze will soon occupy the vacant lot at the west end of downtown Vegas. It's probably not for me, but I like it nonetheless.

The basic concept of the new project surprises no one.

You don't build a new property to cater to low rollers, and you don't build a new property downtown that replicates everything already offered in the business district. Therefore you end up with the plans unveiled earlier this evening, a new resort named Circa.

Nothing about this announcement surprises me. As I noted, you don't build a new resort and hope to attract low rollers with simple, cheap rooms and sparse amenities. Given downtown casinos don't have the luxury of grandiose features that their strip counterparts do, building anew allows the brothers Stevens to design a sports book that is unmatched downtown. (It will be the largest anywhere, allegedly.)  I've never sensed that sports books are the most lucrative element of the casino, but they generate a lot of traffic, and one of the keys to success is getting people in the door. Circa will accomplish that.

The elaborate sports book doesn't appeal to me, as I'm not one to spend hours in an area dedicated to wagering on sports. I make an occasional sports bet when I'm in Vegas, but it's a tiny part of my Vegas vacation.

Other major amenities planned for Circa include an elaborate pool and a spa. I suspect both of these will be smashing successes as well.

Neither element is a surprise. It has been known that the elaborate, multi-tiered pool area Circa promises has been on the Stevens radar all along. And why not? I've never understood the appeal of a "day club," but plenty of strip casinos market the hell out of the concept, and the people who favor such an atmosphere are willing to pay plenty for the privilege.

The strip casinos wouldn't bother with turning their pools into day clubs if they didn't generate meaningful cash. Although I've never experienced the preciousness of a day club, I know people drop a lot of cash for the privilege of enjoying a manufactured party in a pool. The concept wouldn't have appealed to me 20 years ago, and surprisingly doesn't appeal to me now. But I sense plenty of people who like the downtown vibe are interested in turning their afternoon in the sun into a raucous, lustful party. And the brothers Stevens are wisely banking on it. When people are willing to pay approximately $180 per case of beer at a fancy pool on the strip, I'd try to get a piece of that action, too.

There's no question the pool scene downtown is lackluster. This brings an element of the strip to downtown Vegas. I don't expect thousands to follow, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a healthy crowd dropping fat stacks of greenbacks on expensive handcrafted cocktails served by the pool. You can't put a price on that!

Like pools, spas are a foreign concept downtown. I get it, most of us who stay downtown aren't looking for the fanciest amenities, and there would be far more options buried within the bowels of the Plaza or the upstairs floors of  El Cortez if the demand was there. (Instead we get Happy Feet on level 2 of ElCo.) But you can't attract a high-end crowd to find its way to your high-end resort if there's nothing for them to dump all that discretionary cash that lines their pockets. A top-notch spa will garner plenty of fans, even if the Golden Nugget is already catering to that clientele.

My biggest disappointment is that I didn't hear anything about a fancy or exclusive showroom. I know we have a few showrooms in Vegas, and they're not exactly hotbeds of entertainment. Nobody seems to have the space to dedicate to a major production the way the strip properties to, and the downtown crowd doesn't seem to be particularly hungry for anything more than a free movie stage. So I can't say I'm not surprised that a major showroom is not part of the announcement. There are places for such shows, and Circa clearly isn't one of them.

So how successful will Circa be? It's no secret Vegas has been taking it on the chin in recent years. Increased resort fees, parking fees on the strip, high-buck bottled domestic beers at fancy casinos less favorable gambling conditions are not helping the city's image. And Circa is not the only project in development at the moment.

But for all the disappointment Vegas delivers with each passing year, nothing is replacing it. People may choose to gamble closer to home more often. And they may choose to visit other cities. But few places are cheap to visit, and for all the ways online commerce has changed the world we live in, virtual vacations are not a thing. People need to go somewhere to enjoy life, whatever the cost. Vegas still delivers incredible value. And for those who can afford more than value when they travel, (perhaps that will be me some day,) Vegas still holds a lot of appeal, despite its sins.

Circa won't be a license to print money, but plenty of people have plenty of cash to spend, as Vegas proves year after year. And there's enough of those folks willing to spend it downtown, I'm certain. Every hotel has high-end accommodations, but only the Golden Nugget markets that vibe from top to bottom. I don't think the addition of Circa is going to oversaturate that market. And the brothers Stevens are wisely positioned to pounce on that.

Nothing is foolproof, or impervious to the woes of our economy, but Circa is the downtown opportunity that nobody has jumped on, until now.

The Christmas spirit is everywhere in Vegas

I haven't found time to write about my early December visit to Vegas, but that will change soon.

For now, here's a collection of Christmas tree pictures from my recent trip. I hope I remember the location of each of these. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not a shutterbug, but I have carried a digital camera with me in the past. Cellphone cameras are so good these days that I am content with relying upon it for capturing images from my trips. I have plenty to share in the weeks to come. I won't win any awards for my photography, but I can live with that. Photography is not an art form I have the time or patience to study. Plenty of people are better than I ever will be, and I appreciate those who share their work with the masses. How did we enjoy life without the internet?

Merry Christmas!

Outside the New York New York, I believe. (Dec. 3)

Big tall tree in the outdoor park area of Park MGM, leading up to T-Mobile Arena. (Dec. 3)

Modest trees inside The Shops at Crystals. (Dec. 3)

And then there's the Swarovski crystal tree at the Shops at Crystals. (Dec. 3)

This giant tree looms large over Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. (Dec. 3)

This modest tree was near the poker room at The Orleans. (Dec. 4)

A lovely tree near the entrance to the cafe at Ellis Island. (Dec. 4)

A fancier tree display near the hotel check-in at The Orleans. (Dec. 4)

One of the trees along the retail mall area leading into Bellagio. (Dec. 5)

An off-center shot of another tree inside Bellagio. (Dec. 5)

The big tree inside Bellagio's conservatory. (Dec. 5)

A tree inside Caesars Palace. (Dec. 5)

A tree outside The Cromwell (Dec. 5)

A tree and menorah inside El Cortez (Dec. 7)

Small, but festive, this tree can be found inside The Mint. (Dec. 7)

#VegasHalloween (day 6 and 7): A quiet ending

Unlike those who like to go out with a bang, I tend not to overdo it during my last day or so in Vegas.

I'd rather not drink all night and head to the airport hung over and tired. I'm old. I'm boring.

I had hoped to meet up with Karla for breakfast on Friday, Nov. 3. She flew into town two nights earlier from Minnesota, missing all the Halloween fun, and was heading home on Friday night. She had flown to Vegas, along with her heterosexual life partner, to gather with a few other Prince fans for two nights that really had nothing to do with Prince, the little purple musician from Minnesota who died less than two years ago.

Karla couldn't shake free of her conclave to meet up for breakfast, even though I was willing to drive down to Mandalay Bay to meet up with her for an hour. So instead I had another egg breakfast in our Tahiti Village unit and drove over to Orleans for a couple of hours of cards. My girlfriend wanted to take it easy and read a book, and we had decided we weren't going to spend our afternoon at the pool. It was still sunny and pleasant, but it was a bit windy, and not as warm as it had been at the beginning of the week. Oh well. We still have a great week by the pool, something we weren't going to get in Minnesota.

I drove over to Orleans and found, much to my disappointment, that they weren't dealing $5 double deck blackjack, again. I played Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em and didn't have much luck. A guy sat down next to me and was betting big right from the start, and he hit big hands quickly. I think he raked in about $1,000 while he was there, betting a lot of $25 hands. I couldn't get a decent payoff to save my soul for about 30 minutes. I eventually made a few decent hands to start to reverse the trend, but that didn't last long enough for me to break even. I finished my session down $145. Not a huge loss for the day, but combined with my losses the previous night, I was in the hole with 24 hours to go. Not by much, and that's fine. I'm  happy if I can break even for my week.

I picked up burgers and fries from Jack in the Box for lunch. There was a location south of Mandalay Bay that was easy to hit up on my way back to Tahiti Village. I don't normally dine at Jack in the Box when in Vegas, but it was easy, quick and not something I get here in Minnesota. We didn't love it, but it was fine.

Our afternoon started with a trek over to the Pinball Hall of Fame. That's the one place I get to during every trip to Vegas, at least once, no matter what. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't spend more than a couple of hours there during my six-night stay, but time is a precious commodity.

I won't say much about the HOF. I have long intended to write about it, although it has been featured in hundreds of blogs and Vegas tourist websites. It's not a secret at this point. Here are a few pictures from this visit.

This game is often hard to photograph. It's called "Pinball Circus" and this is a prototype machine that's more than 20 years old. It was from the early '90s, and is unique in that it's a pinball machine built within the confines of an arcade video game cabinet. The project was shelved, and this prototype was eventually donated to the Pinball Hall of Fame years later. It's the only one you can play here in the United States, and perhaps the world. I'm still not clear about where any other prototypes are, and opinions differ as to how many were produced. Some say two, others say four.

This long, silly, old baseball game involves rolling an object (puck, if I recall correctly) into the playfield, sort of like Skee Ball. It's silly, it's old-fashioned fun, and you likely won't ever find this old game anywhere in the United States

This machine has a very old-fashioned playfield, but it was produced in 2015. It's very creative and cheesy, and a little suggestive, obviously. It's not the most exciting game to play, but somebody decided there's a market for new retro pinball gaming, and this is the end result of that. 

Nothing special about this old, simple pinball machine, but you will find dozens of old machines like this, and many more from the past 40 years, at the Hall of Fame.

Here's another classic machine that is impressive to see. I always play several games. It's a poker game where balls bounce into a 25-hole board that represent playing cards. You get to "discard" the cards you don't want for a second chance at making a better hand. It's pretty neat to see how well this machine works, given it was created long before arcade games have any sort of "computer" components within them. It's one of several old relics you won't find on display in many places. I have seen this game on display at some roadside attraction video I watched on YouTube once, but I've never seen it for myself anywhere else, and I'm quite sure I never will. This game likely dates back to 1959, based upon my Internet searches. 

We left the HOF and made the long, slow trek to downtown about 5 p.m., taking Maryland Parkway much of the way there. Damn, Friday afternoon traffic is a slow, tedious exercise.

We parked in the California's ramp, which didn't have many spaces to spare, and used a Las Vegas Advisor coupon for two-for-one dinner in the cafe. We both had the prime rib meal, which is decent and offers you plenty to eat for, including a salad bar, for about $10. I expected it to take 30 minutes to get a table, it always seems to at dinnertime, and yet we were able to get a seat without having to wait. So weird!

After dinner we went to Main Street Station. My girlfriend likes their microbrew, so we always end up having a couple of beers at the Boar's Head Bar. This time, however, I left her behind and trekked down to El Cortez, expressly for redeeming my free play coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book. I'm not militant about using every free play, but I always make a point to visit El Cortez, and my girlfriend didn't want to walk back and forth.

I ran $10 through video poker and won a few bucks more than that. Rather than chase a big payoff, I took my modest cash payout and headed back toward Main Street Station. During our stay there I did play a little $5 double deck blackjack. I didn't win much, but I got a beer out of the deal.

After Main Street Station we popped in and out of a few casinos, turning in a couple of match plays and free plays. We eventually went to the Fremont, where I played more $5 double deck blackjack, with no luck. I was about $30 down by the end of our night, which ended a bit early for a Friday. We weren't going to stay out and booze it up until 1 a.m.

We drove back to Tahiti Village and enjoyed one last late night session in the hot tub. The tub was a bit crowded as a bunch of folks who were in town for the annual SEMA show and were soaking up the warm water. I listened as several people traded stories about how many time share weeks they own, how great of a deal they got for the second week they purchased, all the ways the time share property try to upsell people who already own a week, etc.

Nobody asked if we were owners, so I didn't have to tell them I bought a week of time share at Tahiti Village through the resale market for less than these folks pay for their annual maintenance fees. Entertaining stuff.

After the hot tub we called it a night, as we had to pack up and be out by 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Our final morning was uneventful and we had a late first meal back at Ellis Island. I had another two-for-one cafe coupon, so we had lunch. I ordered the ridiculously sinful half-and-half burger. The patty is half ground beef, half bacon. I'm sure my blood pressure went through the roof following that meal.

We had an early afternoon departure, so Ellis Island was our last stop. While waiting for a table in the cafe, I played a few $5 blackjack hands. I was down $29 to start the morning, and won $15 before lunch. I figured if I could break even it would be a huge victory, despite my lousy luck the previous 24 hours.

I had but a few minutes left after lunch before it was time to head to the car rental center. I played $5 hands at third base, and lost seven in a row, including a double down hand. And I made a couple of decent hands during those seven, yet would be beat by the dealer every time. Disgusted with the seventh consecutive loss, I grabbed my remaining chips and cashed out. Had I not sat down after lunch, I'd have been down $14 for the week, and that includes at least $14 in table chips that had been used as tips.

Instead I lost my final seven hands and left Vegas down $54. Not a bad week by any gambler's standards, but so damn annoying as I'm about to leave town. Such is life in Sin City.

#VegasHalloween (day 3): My boyfriend loves crack more than me

I wanted Tuesday (the day after Halloween) to be a low-key day, at least for me, so I suggested we meet for lunch. That meant another morning spent watching The Price is Right.

Our destination for lunch was Main Street Station. There's always a nice variety at the MSS buffet, and at a great price, especially when  you factor in a coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book.

I used lunch as an opportunity for a discussion. While I know, more or less, what my friends do when it comes to employment, and I know their current life situations, for the most part, I didn't know how or why my friends wound up working at the haunted attraction where we all met. Three of us have been there since 2006, and the other two have been there for several years. It was interesting to hear the life circumstances that led each of us to what I like to refer to as "the amusement park of death." None of us knew each other before we became members of the haunt industry, and none of us would have guessed that applying for a seasonal job all those years ago would unite us in Vegas. It's a crazy world I live in.

Our afternoon began with a visit to Container Park. My friends were entertained by the quirky retail center, and I made a visit my favorite little toy store, Kappa Toys. I picked up a handful of small trinkets for my nieces and nephew, which went into their pumpkins upon my return. Halloween was over, but I had a Halloween party to host after vacation.

I had dropped everyone off at Container Park and drove over to the El Cortez valet, because we planned on stopping in afterward. Trista and I thought it might be worth checking out Happy Feet, the massage joint on the second floor of ElCo. Joe, Jon and Mike thought it sounded like a good idea, as well, so we all went upstairs.

Happy Feet offers a variety of services, and the rates are lower than you'll typically find at a casino spa. Unlike a traditional spa, there aren't private rooms for each customer. Massages are performed in one room, with customers separated by curtains. But they were only able to take four of us. We discussed our options and I settled upon sitting out by myself. I had barely gambled nearly 48 hours into our trip, so I was happy to play blackjack while everybody else had a massage. I suggested I'd head up after they were done, but I knew it was unlikely I would.

Everybody was pleased with their 30-minute session, which included hot stones, evidently. I didn't ask how much anybody tipped, or if they were hassled about the tip. A few online reviews suggest that the staff of Happy Feet will strongly suggest what you should tip. True or false, my friends had no complaints about their experience.

And I won a couple of bucks playing blackjack while the gang was upstairs, so I have no complaints about my experience, either.

It was late afternoon and we headed back to the Plaza. Word from my friends on Halloween morning was that the hot tub wasn't working. The word Tuesday afternoon was that the hot tub was functioning. So I went down to the pool to join them.

Mike was lounging on a chair and Jon was nowhere to be found. He had left his room key in the room, and needed security to let him in. That left Joe, Trista and I to soak in the hot tub. It was less than 30 minutes until closing, and the three of us had the hot tub to ourselves... until a woman showed up to join us.

She was by herself, and as I saw her approaching, I could tell there was something odd about her, and I'm not talking about the blinking pumpkin earrings she was wearing. Or the tutu.

When she entered the hot tub, still wearing the tutu, I knew I was right.

Being rude Midwesterners, none of us said hello, or engaged her in conversation. We kept to ourselves and continued our conversation. About two minutes into her appearance, with no prompting whatsoever, she broke down crying, telling us her boyfriend loved crack more than he loved her. Trista was the first to express condolences, and we engaged her in conversation at that point.

The woman pulled herself together and explained to us that she and her boyfriend had been at MGM for a week, that they were from Colorado and that she had recently quit a job. I'm sure she told us more than I can remember, or cared to know, but our conversation was otherwise drama free until it was time to go.

Lesson to the kids: What happens in Vegas will never be forgotten by some of us.

Our evening plans called for another meal at Ellis Island and a trip to the Pinball Hall of Fame. That changed a bit when Trista had to bail out. She wasn't feeling well when it was time to depart, so she bowed out. That left the four of us to dine without her.

Our trip to Ellis Island started with a detour to the Hard Rock. We parked at the casino. Jon and I headed across the street to a CVS store, as I had to pick up a prescription that wasn't filled back home in time for my departure. Joe wanted a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, and as it turned out he had to go to the actual cafe across the parking lot. They don't sell cafe T-shirts in the hotel gift shop. Had my memory been better, I might have remembered that I could park outside the cafe, instead of in the hotel parking ramp.

We had to wait a while for our seats at the Ellis Island BBQ restaurant, which is not uncommon. We had two Las Vegas Advisor coupons for three free rounds of drinks for two people, so we cashed them in as we waited to dine. We also had the two-for-one dinner coupons for the BBQ restaurant, so we feasted on chicken and ribs for less than $10 per person, and there was not a complaint to be heard.

It was getting late, and Trista was feeling better. She wanted to join us for pinball, but there wasn't time to pick her up and still make it to the Pinball Hall of Fame before closing. And even if we went without her, we'd have had about an hour to spend there, so we postponed our pinball trip and headed back downtown.

I concluded my evening with a couple hours of cards at the Plaza. I played Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em and had decent luck. I played alongside a guy from California who was having even better luck, and betting a bit carelessly, only to be rewarded for it. He was celebrating his birthday, by himself it appeared, and was in a good mood. He had plenty of drinks while I was at the table, so that probably helped. I cashed in for the evening when my friends showed up, including Trista, so we all had drinks, which I paid for with my winnings, and headed to our rooms.

It was late, I was tired, but the final table of the World Series of Poker was still going on. I arrived in my room to see what looked to be the final hand, but the all-in player hit running cards after the flop to make a winning hand and extend the heads-up battle another hour or more. I tried to stay awake through the wee hours of play, but it was a struggle. I posted comments on Facebook and Twitter as I watched, but by 3 a.m. I could hardly stay awake. I drifted off, only to magically awaken just before 4 a.m. as another all-in moment commenced. This all-in moment would prove to be the concluding had of the tournament, and I promptly went back to sleep.

Click here for day 4. 

Dinner and belly dancing with "Jasmine"

My girlfriend wanted to treat us to a special dinner during our May trip to Vegas, and we decided Thursday night would be the night to dine at Marrakech.

We don't do many fancy dinners during our trips to Vegas. Our nice dinner use to be at The Flame inside El Cortez, and that's because I always had a discount coupon for it. Now that The Flame is gone, we don't have a go-to restaurant, and in searching for interesting places that weren't overhyped celebrity chef restaurants on the strip, my girlfriend found Marrakech.

I vaguely knew of this place. Years ago I knew a woman who had worked there, as a belly dancer. I didn't know where the place was, or much else about it, and never in my wildest dreams did I expect I'd wind up dining there. Perhaps there's more than one Mediterranean restaurant featuring belly dancers in the Vegas area, but I doubt it. 

Marrakech is quite an experience. It's located in a strip mall north of Flamingo on Paradise Road. It's very unassuming from the outside. 

But once you step inside reminders of Sin City are nowhere to be found. It seems rather dark inside, and the dining room area is highly decorated. The dining room is designed to look like the inside of a Moroccan tent, according to the Marrakech website, and I'd say they nailed it. Candles illuminate the dining area, and although it seems rather dark when you first enter, your eyes will eventually adjust to it. 

There's no lunch menu at Marrakech, it's dinner only, and it's a prixe fixe menu. Sure, you can substitute chicken for beef along the way, and they offer vegetarian options, but you eat what they make for you, and you will like it! 

It's a $50 dinner and you have little choice in the matter. If you're a red meat and potato gal, you probably shouldn't dine at Marrakech. But if you enjoy the Mediterranean flavor, you'll love Marrakech.

The dinner includes a sauteed shrimp appetizer that was delicious, a lentil and rice soup that was tasty and a vegetable and dip tray that I enjoyed, and I'm not the biggest fan of raw vegetables. Dipping sauces, be it ranch dressing or hummus – the latter being part of the Marrakech offering – go a long way toward my enjoyment of the uncooked vegetable. 

We were also served a beef kabob and the "royal Moroccan couscous platter with djaj (chicken)." Both were outstanding. Many of the offerings are eaten with your hands. I don't recall if they gave us a spoon for the soup, but I do recall they gave us forks to eat our royal chicken platter.

By the time you've been served the five courses, and eaten your share of bread, you've had a healthy meal. They wrap it all up with a Moroccan pastry stuffed with bananas, nuts and chocolate. 

We skipped the pricey beer, wine and cocktail offerings, but that didn't diminish the experience. The service staff was prompt at filling our water glasses and great all around. 

We dined early in the evening, and the place was far from full. We were seated next to a trio, and could see one other group from our semi-private corner. There might have been another group seated in an area we couldn't see, but that was about it during our visit. And as promised, the restaurant featured a belly dancer that would perform intermittently throughout the evening, sometimes near our table.

The first time she came to our area she beckoned one of us to get up and dance with her. My girlfriend was quick to be a stick in the mud, so I deemed it necessary to get up and be a good sport. Although it's a bit dark in the dining room, my girlfriend managed to get a decent picture of me attempting to mimic the dance moves of the belly dancer. And she posted it on her Facebook page. Her sister showed the picture to her 5-year-old niece who seemed to think I was belly dancing with the Disney princess "Jasmine." 

Marrakech has been around since 1979, according to its website, and they promise a feast for your senses. While it's not a cheap date night dinner, it's a great experience, and well done within the confines of a Paradise Road strip mall. I won't be making a return visit later this month, but I have no doubt I'll be back some day.