March Madness: Vegas 2010

So the annual Vegas trip was a hit again this year. I think at my count we had ~15 total there for the group dinners and clubs so a good sized crowd this year but down from the peak of 22 a few years ago.

TV Madness:
We had a plasma TV in our room - and a TV in the mirror in our bathroom - so no excuses about missing parts of the basketball games!



Nugget Madness:
McDonald's was running a special - 50 piece McNuggets for $9.99. It's MADNESS I tell you!



Building Madness:
The $10,000,000,000.00 complex of city center is Impressive! Unfortunately it is hard to get a good image to really give you the impression of being there - but the leaning Veer buildings are awesome!



These are pictures I took:


This one (though blurry) gives the best impression of being there and seeing the buildings "lean":


Craps Madness:
We LOVE to play craps. If you've seen a craps table - it's the loud, crowded table where people are cheering (assuming the table is "hot"). I'm sure I've mentioned before the reason I love craps is that the entire table is winning and losing together - unlike blackjack where you could be winning a ton while your buddies at the table lose their shirt - a good time at the craps table is a good time for all!

Also - the craps table is run by 4 of the most experienced "dealers" at the casino - the money and bets come and go very fast - in fact you as a player have to know all the rules and what you should be paid because the dealers have so much to keep track of you have to watch for mistakes. The dealers are impressive in what they are able to handle versus what a black jack dealer has to do (which isn't much by comparison).

So it's no surprise that technology is attempting to automate many jobs - including casino dealers. We played on the world's first "Rapid Craps" table where you roll the dice live just like normal but the bets are input into video terminals. The craps table makes a lot of sense to attempt this - as 1 person could run a table instead of 4 - however it was slower than usual - but video screens don't need health care etc so I am sure it will be the wave of the future of craps.




Cats Madness:
Since we have cats now - this slot machine caught my eye:




Bar Madness:
One of the most different things we did was go to the Minus5 bar in Mandalay Bay where it is -5 C (23 F) and they give you coats and gloves - and everything inside is made of ice from the bar to the seats to your glasses. Here are some pictures from their website since you aren't supposed to bring electronics in there:











When you are in the bar for about 40 minutes you are pretty much frozen. Our bar tender was this tiny girl who had ear-muffs, hat, huge winter gloves, and was still shivering - I think she said her shift is 7 hours - hopefully she gets some breaks to warm up.

Speaking of - when you get out of the bar you can also warm up in Vegas too...


I meant because it's hot in the desert!