Jose and me flashing my 350 smackers at Aladdin
Last full day in Las Vegas, a quick (overpriced) breakfast at Luxor. Rather fitting that the young lady named Semira who served us is from Eritrea (I guessed Eithiopia), that part of Africa was part of Ancient Egypt’s Upper Kingdom. I took another day to see what I wanted to visit while the Glenn and Jose went to see Hoover Dam. I sincerely had no interest and didn’t want to put up a fuss, once you’ve seen Mansfield, Hoover is just a larger version of it. They did their thing, I did mine. I rode the entire length of the monorail. An employee there said there are plans to expand it to the airport. I don’t think the cabs and rental car companies have anything to fear from it. I spent more time at the Fashion Mall to score another shirt for swinging. (I definitely need a third or fourth suit.) Then a leisurely pace through the casinos until I made it back to Luxor followed by a soaking of my sore legs in the spa.
I finally squeezed in some gambling time. I put down $10 on 27 (the wedding day) at MGM while looking for a lion-themed gift for Christina. Lost. Bummer, that puts 27 1-2 (+$350/-$15). Not much else until we three swinging dudes (Glenn, Jose and me) were ready. Herman and his dad had to bow out since they had an early morning flight home. Glenn was generous enough to grant me my one big wish, one last evening of gambling at Aladdin since next year it will be converted into Planet Hollywood, blech! Clear Channel’s dirty fingers will be in it too, double blech!! Despite the bleak future, I have generally positive memories of the place and I wanted to end it on a high note.
To kick off the evening, another $10 shot on 27, lost. Puts 27 at 1-3 (+$350/-$25). I must place a big, fat thank you to Jose for leading the charge and tutorial on craps. I forgot that the house advantage on craps being low like blackjack. What a great game! For $100, I managed to hang in there for an hour, two drinks and only lost $20 ($5 was a tip to the workers). I know I was up $20 for a while. My favorite part of this game is the camaraderie at the table. Everyone is on the same side, cheering on the shooter (person rolling the dice). Real colorful people at the table too. Craps is definitely my game the next time I go to Las Vegas since you can still get knocked out quickly in blackjack.
The gambling ran its course and it was time to hit the nightclub at Luxor, Ra. I wanted to give the wedding day one more time. Bam! Scored on 27 like the wife and I did two years ago! As you can see in the above picture, Jose and me are brandishing the three black $100 chips, a little victory lap. We were still sober but I woke up the wife to let her know our wedding day is still lucky. Jose’s roommate in Orlando was still up so we had to alert him to our good fortune. My lucky 27 is now 2-3 (+$700/-$25), not bad for roulette without one of those grind strategies.
The nightclub Ra was interesting. Thankfully we got in for half price being guests of Luxor. It was like most clubs I’ve visited. The music was too loud, there was too much rap, so on. There were go-go dancers present and those ladies were pretty skilled, not quite Cirque du Soleil but they’re still in better shape than me. Glenn had some good fortune, he met a fellow lady from New Jersey. Fingers crossed they cross paths again back East.
We closed the place, then had after hours snacks. Not exactly a wise move since we were all headed for the airport in a few hours. It wouldn’t be vacation if you don’t do something a bit foolish and decadent. When it comes to Las Vegas, staying up all night at least once is the law too.