Haven’t been to Vegas for about 10 years. How has it changed the most in the last decade? Similarly to playing well on a golf course, is your favorite casino usually the one you win at? Is the seedy/cheap area on the strip still O’Sheas or has that been torn down? $1 craps with 100x odds at O’Sheas was bananas.
S/o Battista’s. Great spot if you like free wine and decent Italian food.
Also, first experiences in Vegas are usually great stories. Mine was Circus Circus with a bunch of college buddies for 7 nights… that’s correct. SEVEN NIGHTS
Parking and drinks are less free. The great majority of blackjack games now pay 6:5 for blackjack. Comps are almost impossible to come by at the major casinos playing less than $50/hand. The mid-range (for Vegas) restaurants in Strip casinos have continued to get better.
Edit: Speaking of which, Caesars just announced today it’s bringing back parking fees (most of the casinos waived them when the re-opened) for non-platinum card holding, non-hotel guest tourists at its properties. $12 for 1-4 hours. $15 for more than that. Welcome back!
Really enjoyed this pod. @MrChickPhilA and I listened on our last leg of our trek home from NC this morning. We frequent Vegas very often (pre covid that is) and 2 of our best friends live there. @anon47037505 everything you talked about are the reasons we love visiting there. Food, shows, golf, blackjack, steak. You sounded like us talking about Vegas.
What are your thoughts on off strip resorts for “family trips”? I have always stayed on the strip and most of the time been in strict party/gamble mode, but now with two kids we probably want to do some fun stuff for them and dad can gamble and golf a reasonable amount when the kids and wife let their guard down.
I don’t have kids, so I’m not sure which resorts would be family friendly. But up until it was sold to Waldorf-Astoria, my favorite hotel was the Mandarin Oriental, which is next door and connected to the Aria, but has no casino, so no smoke, etc. the W-A of course also has no casino. Likewise, the Vdara is connected to Aria and has no casino.
There are some hotels at Lake Mead that of course have accessibility to all that offers, but I’ve never stayed there.
Shoutout to Fremont Street – especially Four Queens. One of my favorite places on the planet.
Anyone spent time at Casino Royale on the strip? Such a fun ‘dive’ casino. Not sure if they still have the $1 Michelobs, but matching that with $5 craps and a mini sportsbook was a pretty sweet combo.
Spot on @anon47037505 about the March madness drive. My buddy and I got stuck driving from LA to Vegas during the first Thursday of March madness. Took us 7 hours. Thank god we were loaded up with plenty of joints.
Herbs and Rye is fantastic. Local friends took me last year and food/drinks were top notch.
Planning to dive into this episode on my drive home, but @anon47037505, have you ventured into Loser’s at MGM Grand before? That place got me big time this past February.
Not that I recall. Is that located near the TAP Sports Bar? A couple of buddies and I spent a couple of days during MM a couple of years ago when we didn’t plan ahead. It was not too bad.
Shoutout to Excalibur if you want a cheap room on the strip! O’Sheas has definitely been cleaned up but they still have beer pong and is a rowdy scene.
Spent my 21st and bachelor party in Vegas. Highly recommend a time or two (even if it’s out of the comfort zone, it’s a wild experience). Can support the pod, Paiute Resort are some really good courses and we also had 40 mph winds. The wolf course was practically unplayable and it was awesome!
Wolf creek is worth the drive- Its a tough track. I remember 4 putting one of the greens last year. Phenomenal views, crazy elevation changes and the food is good.
The most fulfilling part of this pod for me was putting @Randy publicly on the hook to finally see The Godfather. I can’t wait for the Jax Beach roundtable with @RobertHunter and him discussing their first viewings.
Spreading the Gospel of Francis one Refugee at a time.
Nah, closer to the middle of the floor, pretty well across from the cirque du soleil theatre. My buddy who lives out there says it’s got the best country music in Vegas, and I will say that the house band’s cover of Friends In Low Places was outstanding. That song is the last thing I remember from that night.
