The night before Christmas

I'm sitting alone, 90 minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve, and I have no complaints. Without explanation: I'll be home soon and will spend Christmas with my girlfriend. We had dinner with her family earlier this evening. I'm sitting here alone out of necessity, and it allows me an opportunity to do something I enjoy, yet don't make enough time to do as often as I would like: Writing.

I have vague recollections of Christmas Eve from my youth. Vague, at best. From my earliest days in Indiana to my teenage years in Minnesota, with divorced parents living in two separate states. Like most people, my Christmas memories are faded and dust covered after more than four decades.

I don't remember a lot from my college years earlier. I remember working early one Christmas morning at the local hospital when I was in college. I was paid double and was done working by 2 p.m., that seemed like a great deal.

During the past 20 years I've had memorable and not-so-memorable holiday celebrations. I'm always amazed how, at least here in the Minneapolis area, the world around us nearly grinds to a halt for 18-24 hours. Yes, thousands of people are working in a variety of capacities, both essential and non-essential. And yes, there are stores and restaurants that remain open for one reason or another, both late into the evening on Christmas Eve and during the day on Christmas. But so many things are closed, and for nearly 24 hours my day-to-day life changes, even if there's still Facebook posting happening and televised sports on TV.

I'm thankful I've never had to seek out that random bar that remains open late into the evening on Christmas Eve, and I'm grateful that I've always had family members to share Christmas with. Yet I'm fascinated by the contrast that Vegas provides, and a small part of me wants to experience it for myself. If I was a wealthy, self-employed blogger, vlogger, journalist or podcaster, perhaps I'd experience Christmas in Vegas firsthand. What exactly do I want to see? Allow me to explain.

For starters, I'd want to be able to spend a day or two scouting locations around Vegas, getting a sense of what is and isn't open on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Then I'd get plenty of sleep leading up to Christmas Eve, as I'd start at 5 p.m. and make a marathon session of seeing and exploring Vegas for as long as I could physically tolerate.

I'd love to see who is or isn't hanging around a lot of places. I think I'd start at the Tropicana. It's a sad, sterile casino these days, even with all those hotel rooms and, from what I can tell, decent occupancy. How depressing is it? I'd likely run over to Hooters, as well. Is Steak 'n Shake open? Who chooses an overpriced burger and fries for their Christmas Eve dinner, assuming it is open. Is it a festive environment throughout the casino, or a ghost town?

From there I'd head to Excalibur, New York New York and MGM. Would it be any different than any other night on the strip?

I'd have to check out the Miracle Mile Shops, as well. Are they all closed? How many are filled with last-minute Christmas shoppers and tourists who don't celebrate Christmas?

I suppose I'd have to head over to Bellagio, too. That place is always bustling. What is it like on Christmas Eve?

At some point I'd head down to the Pinball Hall of Fame, as it is open until 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve. They wouldn't be open if there weren't people coming every year on the night before Christmas. So who is there, families looking to go out and do something together, or lonesome singles trying to forget the world is celebrating the birth of Jesus.

After that I'd probably sit out in the parking lot of a 24-hour rub-and-tug massage joint. I've gotta believe those places aren't closing for the holiday, and I'd be curious to see how many people show up in a 30-minute span as midnight approaches.

I'd have to run downtown by midnight to see how sedate the crowd is. I have no doubt it's business as usual, but how does the vibe compare to a typical night downtown? I'd probably bop into a few casinos, as well, to survey the crowd. Would I be surprised by how many people are gambling in the early hours of Christmas? Would Santa hats be the only way I could tell it's the holiday season?

By 2 a.m. it'd be time to take off. I think I'd head north briefly to Jerry's Nugget. I finally had their prime rib dinner earlier this month, and spent an hour gambling there. I'd be curious to see how quiet a locals casino in the middle of the night. How depressing would the gambling masses be early on Christmas morning?

So by the middle of the night It'd be time to head to Frankie's Tiki Room. This might be the first time of the night I indulge in a cocktail. Who celebrates Christmas at 3:30 a.m. with a mixed drink at Frankie's?

I'd have to enjoy in moderation, but from Frankie's I'd stop off at The Mint and the Peppermill. The Mint is a cute, modest 24-hour bar, and I'd be curious to see what kind of crowd it would attract. I've never been to the Peppermill for cocktails after the sun has set, so I'd have no idea what to expect.

From there, assuming I'm safe to drive, I'd drive around and check out a variety of off-strip joints to see what's happening, places that are always open, such as the "Pawn Stars" pawnshop, smaller restaurant/video poker joints and anything else I could identify as a 24-hour business that's not simply a grocery store or gas station. I suppose I'd like to see what the Ellis Island crowd is like after 5 a.m. on Christmas Day.

I'd also want to see how few, or how many, people are gambling at the Orleans. How quiet is the poker room?

I think I'd spend the rest of my day, for as long as I have the energy to do so, checking out the Christmas morning atmosphere mid-strip. What restaurants are bustling on Christmas morning? Are tourists out and about, sightseeing, like any other day of the year? Are people hustling tours, time share presentations and rap music CDs? Are the small, strip mall businesses near the north end of the strip open for business as usual on Christmas morning? Is there a different sentiment among those walking up and down the strip because it is Christmas morning?

Vegas is a 24-hour city, but things get awfully quiet on the strip, and in casinos, after 4 a.m. on a nondescript weeknight. I suspect Christmas Eve/Christmas morning are a bit quiet by Vegas standards.

I'd love to see it for myself. Unlikely I ever will, but damn, I'm curious.

Neil Sedaka, naughty nurses and Tropicana

I really didn't envision using my blog as a vehicle to comment on Vegas podcasts, but I had a few thoughts about topics inspired by the latest episode of the Vital Vegas Podcast.

The host gushes over Neil Sedaka, who he interviewed. I'm not that much younger than the host, but young enough not to remember how big of a presence Sedaka had in the world of popular music. I know the name, I know he's a big deal, but I don't know much about his music, his career or anything else.

I learned a bit thanks to the podcast, and it was entertaining to listen to the host's interview.

I don't consume any Vegas podcast religiously, but there are a few I listen to with great regularity, and what sets the VVP apart is that the host includes interviews periodically. The interviews are with entertainers, like Sedaka, and Vegas movers and shakers, some of whom are otherwise anonymous to tourists like me. Most of the interviews have been worth the time to listen, even if I didn't think it was a person I was interested in hearing from. I'm not that interested in learning about Sedaka or his career, but I gave it a listen earlier tonight and was entertained.

Kudos to the host for giving me something unique, and highly valuable, via the podcast.

The host also discussed the awkward circumstances surrounding the short-lived existence of a Heart Attack Grill on the Vegas strip. I'll assume you know HAG is a gimmicky, high-calorie burger restaurant downtown. For less than two months it opened a second location on the strip, in a sports bar that once bore the name of Pete Rose.

The host had an explanation for why the HAG was gone within two months. Allegedly the lease was on a month-to-month basis, leaving the building's ownership the ability to sell off the property the restaurant is a part of -- and swiftly kick out its tenants -- for redevelopment by an eager buyer.

That's plausible. And allegedly the HAG ownership wanted to invest more into its leased space, but was unwilling to do so without some sort of lease that extended beyond one month. That makes sense.

What didn't make sense to me, and wasn't addressed by the host, was why HAG moved into the space in the first place.

If you are serious about a restaurant on the strip, and you want to invest in the space you're going to lease, then you don't move in without negotiating a lease agreement prior to occupancy. The former Pete Rose sports bar was already equipped to run a bar/restaurant, so it was probably easier to open HAG there than it would have been in other places. But it's hard to believe a restaurant proprietor would take over such a space on a whim, hoping to get what s/he wants after the fact.

I don't doubt the ownership wanted to invest in the property, and the ownership wanted a longer lease term than 30 days, but I'm skeptical that the lack of a long-term lease was the reason HAG pulled out in less than 60 days.

I suspect the real reason was that, by most online reports, HAG had a tepid reception on the strip. If an established business was failing to drive a lot of traffic through its new doors upon its arrival, (even if it was relying upon word of mouth for advertising,) it was easier to pull out quickly, given its investment into the space was likely minimal by most restaurant standards.

I'm quite certain that if HAG was doing gangbuster business in its first six weeks, the month-to-month lease wouldn't have been enough of an issue to quickly shutter the breastaurant.

Choose to believe what you will. I continue to believe it was a cheap, easy way to try to duplicate the downtown HAG success on the strip, and with early returns as soft as they were, the ownership cut its losses.

One might only have needed to look at how lackluster the Pete Rose experiment was to guess that naughty nurses serving mediocre food wasn't going to set the strip on fire.

Lastly, the host talked about a variety of new show offerings coming to Tropicana, a casino with a great location on the south end of the strip, but one that seems to enjoy "also ran" status.

I was contemplating this today during a discussion thread online about how the big two, Caesars and MGM, are monopolizing the strip and stifling the concept of competition. It's not quite that simple, but that's the general overview of the strip casinos these days.

Tropicana is not part of a strip conglomerate, but it is part of some sort of hotel group. Being the only strip casino in the corporation's portfolio, Tropicana should be operated like a loose cannon. Decisions don't need to be weighed in relation to several properties, and with plenty of people continuing to express dissatisfaction with the big two and their bloodsucking ways, the Tropicana should be selling its old school vibe and offering many of the things Vegas gamblers love about Vegas of yesteryear.

Old school sells downtown, and using that approach, while positioning the property as the only one of that kind on the south end of the strip, certainly couldn't hurt the Trop's bottom line. There's a real appetite for vintage Vegas on the strip, and it's pretty hard to find these days.

It's unlikely that formula would result in record profits for Tropicana, but I suspect it would be well received.

Other game shows in Vegas

When I wrote my previous column about the game show history of Las Vegas, I noted that there were probably a few things I wasn't aware of, or had forgotten.

A search of Vegas Chatter informed me of something I didn't know, "Cash Cab" taped episodes in Las Vegas several years ago.

A game show enthusiast noted that "Las Vegas Gambit" was taped in Vegas. Turns out it was at the Tropicana, the same casino where the current run of "Let's Make A Deal" got its start.

And the Wikipedia article for Gambit noted that a show called "Dealer's Choice" taped part of its two-year run in Vegas, too. Like LMAD, Dealer's Choice started at the Tropicana before moving to Hollywood.

That's it, I'm done reminiscing about game shows in Vegas. If you know of one I forgot, please share it in the comments!

I couldn't close a deal

Previously I wrote about a faux game show coming to downtown Las Vegas, "Lovers or Losers: The Game Show."

In 2009 I attended a real game show. In Las Vegas.

As noted previously, I have enjoyed game shows about as far back as I can remember. As a teenager in the 1980s I thought the greatest job in the world would be game show host. And I've wanted to be on a game show for most of my life, dating back to my teenage years when I mailed a letter asking if "Press Your Luck" was planning a teen week. Never mind the fact I had no idea how I'd get from Minnesota to California to appear on the show. My parents weren't about to finance that trip. (I still have the "No, but thanks for watching" letter the show sent me more than 25 years ago.)

I've taken several solo trips to Vegas over the years. My friends all say they want to go to Vegas, but when you ask them to commit to a trip, the timing just isn't right. With nobody to join me in the fall of 2009 I went during the first week of November. I flew out on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 1, and stayed at a timeshare property west of the Orleans. 

I planned the trip because I could afford to go, I wanted to go and I hadn't been to Vegas in at least a year. I went in early November because I work weekends in October at a local haunted attraction.

As I started planning my trip I learned that the latest incarnation of "Let's Make a Deal" was coming to CBS, to be hosted by Wayne Brady. And it would tape at the Tropicana. I knew that my Vegas vacation would include attending a taping of the show if at all possible.

It turned out they had two taping days during the first week of November, Monday and Friday. And each day they'd tape two shows. 

I took the bus down Tropicana Avenue to the casino at 8 a.m. Monday morning to make sure I was in line early enough to ensure a seat in the audience. Game shows give out more tickets than they have seats for, as they know there's a no-show factor, and they want to ensure all the seat are full. 

I brought my costume in a bag so I didn't have to wear it on the bus. I wore pink scrubs, with a pink cartoon jacket and a nurses hat. The scrubs were one of my costumes for the asylum maze I worked in at the haunted attraction. The idea was that I was a pediatric nurse, and my makeup included false eyelashes and bloody red tears. I have longer hair, and despite the fact I'm 6 feet tall, some people wouldn't realize it was a guy wearing the pink scrubs, at least until I spoke. I surprised a lot of people. 

Ever wonder why LMAD contestants dress as if it's Halloween? As the story goes, way back in the 1960s people use to wear their Sunday best to go to the show. One week a woman showed up with a fancy had and/or a sign, and that got the attention of host Monty Hall. That inspired future contestants to try other stunts to get Monty's attention. Soon LMAD became a daily costume party.

LMAD gave us $10 in free play at Tropicana for showing up, and we waited in line for hours to attend the mid-afternoon taping. It was a lot of standing or sitting around and talking with others in line, and there was a break where we could grab a snack inside the Tropicana, although it lacked a lot of quick, easy fast food options, as I recall. 

By early afternoon we were being filed into the makeshift studio in the back of the Tropicana, and soon the show was underway. Host Wayne Brady would pick people out of the audience to play games for prizes, and he doesn't pick the players at random. There's a short interview potential contestants do prior to the taping, and the producers decide who they think will make a good contestant. 

I wasn't picked on Monday afternoon to play a game. Before the show ended we were told they'd have a few open seats for the second taping of the day, and we were welcome to stay and fill a seat if we wanted. Most people left, but I figured I might as well stay and watch them tape a second show. I had little hope I'd bet picked to play a game on the second day. They had 200+ new contestants to choose from, why would they choose somebody who they passed over during the first taping?

I recall being told they'd choose somebody from the 30-40 holdovers who stayed to fill a seat during the second taping, but I'm not sure if they did. It's not as if all of us sat together in one section, we filled seats mostly at the far ends of the studio, out of camera range for many shots during the game. 

The next taping day was Friday and I went back in the morning to do it again. Same result. I stayed for the second taping, despite having no hope of being picked.

I remember Friday better. I wound up in line that morning next to a group of locals, including a young, attractive woman who was full of energy all day. Her grandmother was part of her group, and by the time we were being seated for the taping, they wanted to make sure I was part of their group and we were seated down in front.

I was so sure the cute, personable woman was going to be picked. She struck me as a perfect contestant, but she didn't get picked either. I don't think their group stayed for the second taping, but I was going home the next day, I hadn't won money playing blackjack that week and I didn't have big Friday night plans since I was on a solo trip, so I stayed just for the experience of seeing a TV game show taped one more time. 

The latest incarnation of LMAD is decent. I'm not a big fan of the fact they have Wayne Brady and his announcer do skits and bits during the show, and unlike the classic version of the game, there are no pricing games. They've worked in a few games that incorporate trivia, and they have some fun games of strategy and luck that are fun to watch, so I watch it during those rare weekday afternoons I'm not working. 

I tried to videotape all the shows I attended, and I know I saw myself in the audience in most, if not all of them. I don't remember a lot about the games, the players or the Big Deals, at this point, as it has been five years since those shows aired, and I haven't seen them since they aired. Obviously I'd have more vivid memories had I been picked as a contestant.

So why wasn't I picked? It's hard to say. I think I project well and have a lot of the qualities a producer looks for in screening contestants. Despite that, LMAD passed me over, and I have yet to be picked as a contestant after attending six tapings of "The Price is Right."

In hindsight I might have made a stupid decision when I attended LMAD. It's a costume party, sure, but you never seem to see any gory, creepy costumes. I wore pink scrubs, and a white nurse hat, as well as my pink animal print jacket. One thing I didn't do before attending the taping, however, is wash my costume. I had fake blood on the shirt and pants, and the old-fashioned white hat had blood stains on it. I wore the jacket closed to cover the shirt, the pants weren't covered in blood, and I didn't wear any Halloween make up. But perhaps my costume was bloody enough that they didn't want me to be on camera. I don't know it for a fact, but my hunch is that I killed any chance I had of being picked because of my poor costume choice.

I wish I would have rinsed the costume in my shower after Monday's taping. The fake blood is water soluble, so I could have rinsed all of it out and skipped wearing the hat on Friday. It might not have gotten me picked as a contestant, but it wouldn't have hurt my chances. 

Since that November 2009 trip LMAD moved to Hollywood. It started in Vegas because Wayne was doing a show at the Veneitan, if I recall correctly, and this allowed him to do double duty easily. Once he was able to end his run of Venetian shows they moved the production out of Vegas. I never had a chance to go back to Vegas and try my luck again. Had they continued to tape the show in Vegas, I would have made a point to try again. 

I have never been a game show contestant, and it saddens me a bit. Being a game show contestant is not an obsession, but it's still a goal, and hope to someday make it happen, even if it means I have to skip making a trip to Vegas to do it. 

The $7,000 mistake

I'm too tired to write anything that requires critical thinking, so here's a simple tale from a night of gambling many years ago:

I don't remember much about this specific trip, but I remember I was at the Tropicana, playing roulette. I'm not a high stakes gambler, and I probably hadn't played much roulette in my life, but I knew the basics, I knew the payouts, I kept it simple. 

There were several of us gathered around a table, minding our own business. A guy, dressed up rather nicely, comes to the table with a lovely young woman in tow. She's dressed quite nicely, too. They didn't look like newlyweds, but they were overdressed for the low stakes game the rest of us were playing at the Tropicana. I think he was wearing a tux on this occasion.

He had $200 in cash – two $100 bills – and he placed them on the 3. He told the croupier that he wanted to bet the cash on the number, but the phrasing of his comment confused her. The woman was probably born in another country, but she didn't have trouble communicating or doing her job. She did just fine. It was something about the way he phrased his play that confused her. 

I was certain he was trying to say he wanted to make a cash wager on the number, and the way he placed his money on the felt convinced me of it. Even though he wanted to make a straight bet on the 3, he used a term (I don't remember what) that suggested he wanted to make some other type of bet. The croupier's confusion between his requested bet and his cash play resulted in her pulling the ball from the wheel. It had been spinning above the wheel when he walked up to our table, and with the croupier unable to understand his intended bet, she stopped the ball before it had a chance to drop down onto the wheel. 

The man, incensed by her action, grabbed his $200 from the table, tugged his lovely young companion by the hand and off they went. He verbally expressed his frustration as he did this. Nothing profane, he was simply irritated and made it known. All the while his female companion seemed a bit aloof and oblivious to the episode. 

All of us at the table looked at each other, equally dumbfounded by what just took place. We soon went back to our business and play resumed, the brash young roulette player nowhere to be seen.

Sure enough, the very next spin is 3 red. I don't think any of us made a special effort to bet the 3 after the guy stormed off with his $200, but we quickly realized that his premonition had come true and proceeded to look at each other, dumbfounded again.

I'm not sure how many people drop $200 on a straight roulette bet at the Tropicana, and perhaps the $7,000 payday would have been a drop in his proverbial bucket. 

This story probably dates back 15 years or more. I'm not sure about the rest of the players at my table, but clearly I never forgot this guy, his lovely young companion and the $7,000 windfall he walked away from.