Las Vegas

I visited Las Vegas for the first time this weekend. The neon of the Strip reminded me of Times Square. Other similarities to NY include the plethora of expensive stores and the amazing array of fine dining options. Las Vegas is no longer the home of the $0.99 buffet; it's the home of the $99 pre fixe tasting menu.

Unlike Times Square, Las Vegas makes no attempt to be kid friendly. Everyone smokes, which is really annoying to us Californians. People drink in the streets. Pamphlets for strip shows litter the street. They don't call it Sin City for nothing.

And the gambling? I have trouble getting into it, knowing that it's a losing game. As you might expect, the more skill required, the better the odds. Slot machines lose you about 8% of your money. Roulette loses 5.4%. Blackjack loses 0.5% if you follow the strategy printed on those laminated cards. (Amazingly I didn't see them very often. Do people just have them memorized, or are they too stupid or proud to pull them out?) Video poker is my favorite game. The odds are very good (close to blackjack), it takes some skill (but not too much), and you can play for hours on very little money.