The Las Vegas Experience

The Las Vegas group - Robby, Andy, Sarah, Mikey, Adam (Ryan not pictured)

For the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, I ventured to Las Vegas with my brother and two friends to enjoy the games, the gambling, and the food.  While the focus of this blog is normally on the third part of that grouping, I'll instead give a running diary of the trip and everything it had to offer...

5:15 PM EST - My buddy and I decided that we wanted to have a drink in Las Vegas called "Easy Money", but we weren't quite sure what should be in it.  Our plan, then, was to have bartenders fix us something that they created in hopes that it'd catch on as "Easy Money".  My first attempt came at the 42nd Street Oyster Bar at RDU Airport, and the result was... Crown Royal, Grand Marnier, and a maraschino cherry?!?  Needless to say, I was underwhelmed.

Sometime between 10 PM EST and 11:30 PM PST high above America - Next try for the drink on Delta Airlines, and their offering was a double Woodford Reserve with a splash of Coke.  Better I suppose.  The best part of the flight was a random guy telling me, "Pitt would have made a really good 2 seed" whatever that means.  This is on Wednesday before they played a game.  Maybe he meant a 10 seed.

12:30 AM PST - For our first meal of the trip (the often overlooked second "dinner" that is in play anytime you fly across the country to the West Coast), we tried First Food and Bar (http://www.palazzo.com/first.aspx) at the Palazzo, our hotel for the weekend (As an aside, I cannot recommend the Palazzo as a hotel enough!  Our suite had two queen beds and a huge wrap-around couch, which is probably enough room legitimately for six people if you're in a budget crunch.  It was cool having space to hang out in the room without feeling cramped.  As an added bonus, our bay window overlooked the Wynn golf course and the airport, plus the back end of the Strip).  First had their bar menu going, and I tried the Buffalo chicken lollipops, grilled pepperoni pizza, and Dorito mac and cheese.  Although expensive for bar food ($15 or so for the entrees, $8 for the side), all of the items were tasty, unique, and plentiful.  The Buffalo chicken was just as it sounds; chicken flavored with hot sauce served on the bone to look like a lollipop.  The grilled pizza was an oval flatbread-type thing with large, thin slices of gourmet pepperoni.  The Dorito mac and cheese was exactly as it sounds; creamy mac and cheese with crumbled Doritos on top, an obvious delight.  This was a good start to the food part of the trip.

Sometime between 1:30 AM and 3:30 AM - We finally hit the blackjack tables at the Palazzo.  I inexplicably won $80 (not a lot to most but riches to someone who traditionally digs himself a $300 hole the first night) before packing it in (for some reason, I entered the table with only $190 instead of $200, which became a running joke for the weekend).  No need to give it all back early.

Thursday, March 17

7:30 AM - Time to give it back early at the blackjack table... mission accomplished.

The Hilton

8:30 AM  until 1 PM - For the games, the group (at the urging of my brother) decided to watch at the Hilton.  I cannot recommend this highly enough.  The games are shown on five huge HD projection screens in what amounts to a large theater typically used for shows.  The seating area eventually fills up and you are left watching games with probably 1000+ people who either a) like a team, b) bet on a team, or c) both, leading to cheering and groaning throughout.  Next to being at a game, I'm not sure the atmosphere can be matched.  On top of the spectacular atmosphere for the games, the side bar offers $1 hot dogs, $2 draft beers, $3 Jim Beam and Cokes (my buddy despises Beam but drank them all weekend on principle!), as well as countless other food items.  The hot dogs stole the show; perfectly cooked all beef franks.  The rest of the food (pretzels, chicken bites, sandwiches, etc.) were good enough for the cost.  With all of this going for it, the Hilton became our game-watching spot for all three mornings (another highlight, the ridiculous NAPA commercials with the guy "Gimme six of these, and wash it down with this!!!").

1:05 PM - Apparently when you need a cab for five people in Las Vegas, you must ride in a yellow one.  Who knew?

1:30 PM to 3 PM - Our first Treasure Island run of the week... we calculated being up $500 between the four of us, solid play for low betting.

3 PM until 6 PM - My two buddies and I planned to hit up Shadows (our traditional spot at Caesar's Palace for games and drinking in the afternoon).  As we enter Caesar's, Andy proclaims, "I love this place, it's the one casino where I always know where I am", a quote to remember in two sentences.  Shadows was inexplicably closed, shutting down our whole plan and leaving us grasping at straws.  Flustered, we decide to exit the hotel through the Forum Shops, a great idea that puts us, obviously, at some service entrance where they were unloading lemons and oranges as no one could figure out how to get out.  After avoiding jumping into the truck to help unload, we finally managed to move our way down the Strip in search of another sports bar for the games.  Finally reaching the Monte Carlo, with zero interest to continue any further, we are told that the wait for their sports bar is two hours!  Well then, Sbarro it is.

8 PM - For our second legitimate meal of the trip, Robby and I hit up the Khotan Bar (http://www.treasureisland.com/restaurants/khotan.aspx) at Treasure Island (which we were again killing at the tables).  We split the Kobe sliders trio and I enjoyed the spare ribs as well.  The sliders were dynamite; the Kobe beef (which I'd never had before on a burger) was incredibly tender and flavorful, and the buns were the sweet Hawaiian variety.  The spare ribs were equally good, and more than enough to eat on their own.  Prepared with an Asian barbecue sauce, the ribs fell off the bone and matched any ribs I've had in the South.

9:30 PM until 12 AM - Andy and Robby basically swapped places, leading to Andy and I wandering down to the Mirage, only to find nothing of interest.  Up for the trip, I was in no great hurry to force myself into a table, so the night was finished (Of note this night was Jersey, the obnoxius guy from... New Jersey who basically ruined our blackjack table with bad jokes, uncomfortable dealer banter, and general crappiness.  Jersey started innocently enough, and just seemed goofy, but as he progressed with his act, it became more unbearable.  From insinuating that he and the dealer were a couple and ordering her to track his finances to getting mad when players played by the book to claiming he could count the rotation of the automatic card counter, Jersey was a disaster.  And for those thinking he was a typical "Jersey Shore" type, incorrect; he was a poorly dressed, socially awkward, inexplicably self-confident dude that belonged at the Barbary Coast tables).

Friday, March 18

7:30 AM to 7:50 AM - I just got blasted at the blackjack table at the Palazzo again.  I never once busted and even carried 19s and 20s into many showdowns with the dealer, only to see a five-card 21.  After seeing the guy next to me burn $500 on a hand splitting 8s three times, I got up myself.

8:30 AM until 2 PM - Hilton time again.  This session of games had Ohio State playing, leading to a great exchange between me and a fan.  Being from Pittsburgh, I have a general distaste for the state of Ohio, so jokingly I would give thumbs down to a woman with an Ohio State shirt on whenever you walked past me in our row of seats.  All in good fun for us, I thought, as we both spoke nicely to one another and laughed at my gesture.  Out of the blue, while conversing with my friends, her brother leans down about two inches from my face and unleashes the biggest "Booooo" I've ever heard, followed by "Michigan Sucks!" of all things.  Of course, I have no rooting interest in Michigan and I bet AGAINST them when they played (a fitting way to show how terrible I did at the sports book this weekend), so I was baffled.  We decided that when he came back, we'd ask him to repeat this ridiculousness so that we could film it, which we did.

3 PM until 6 PM - Hanging out in the room drinking, the glory of a nice suite in Las Vegas.  We watched a handful of games (including North Carolina scoring over 100 points against LIU yet failing to cover for my parlay I had with them and Duke, costing me $80) and finally dipped into the drinks that Ryan had brought over from Los Angeles.  This brings up another underrated aspect to the trip; my brother drove from LA so we had car access, which was huge.  His willingness to pick us up (from the airport, to the Hilton, etc.) made the trip much more convenient and time-efficient.  I wouldn't go so far as to rent a car for a trip here, but if someone has one, all the better.

Wagyu beef at CUT

8 PM - My one request for the trip was dinner at a nice steakhouse; the group ended up picking CUT at the Palazzo (http://www.palazzo.com/cut.aspx).  We were seated in a cool booth that had two people on the back wall and two on the ends.  The restaurant brings their wagyu beef offerings on display to the table to show their specialties, and also has their wine list on an iPad, a cool touch.  For bread service, we were offered an assortment but everyone chose the pretzel roll, which was superb.  Coupled with butter, the salt and warm bread matched any soft pretzel I could imagine, but with a lightness that is tough to come by.  I think I put down two or three more before the meal.
For appetizers, the table split Kobe steak sashimi, pork belly, and prosciutto burratta.  The Kobe steak sashimi was fantastic; large strips of beef served raw with just enough seasoning and green onion to add flavor.  The pork belly was even a notch above; the crisp edges and fatty middle were cooked perfectly until tender to literally fall apart as you ate them.  I didn't sample the third dish, but reviews from Ryan and Robby were excellent.

Porterhouse for two

Ryan and I split the porterhouse for our main course.  Served tableside, the meat is finished with a garlic butter sauce and then cut into nice strips and plated.  We added bone marrow to accompany the steak, which was my first time trying.  Honestly, I didn't really get it; it just seemed like fat that lacked much flavor and added little to the dish.  The consistency is probably best compared to maybe the fat on brisket, but without the flavor.  Our side dishes were fries and macaroni and cheese, neither of which disappointed in the least.  As for the steak, it was perfectly cooked and flavorful.  The filet side was tender but I enjoyed the strip far more for the crispy grilled fat and overall flavor.  I've had many steaks in Las Vegas and while this one certainly held it's own, I wouldn't say it's the class of the town.  Overall though, the meal delivered greatly, particularly on the appetizers with their originality and bold tastes.  CUT fits right in with the Las Vegas scene with their trendy atmosphere and unique food offerings.

10 PM - My final table at Treasure Island was shared with a group of good guys from Kansas City.  After a great deal of jokes, drinks, and losing, I recovered to be up $75 on my initial buy-in.  Having had a good week, I rolled the dice and threw it all in (I know, big time spender, but I normally go with $15 hands).  Of course, as anyone who's been to Las Vegas would know, I was dealt 7 and 4, meaning I needed to throw another $75 in to double.  I asked for the card down (granted) and watch in terror as the dealer gives himself a six-card 20.  My only hope now is that a face card is laying upside down in front of me.  And as luck would have it... Jack.  Bedtime for me.

Saturday, March 19

8:30 AM until 2 PM - Breakfast at McDonalds (A+ as always) and then the Hilton.

4 PM until 9:30 PM - Andy, my brother, and I hit up the Hard Rock for my first time.  After watching the Pitt debacle in my brother's friend's suite (complete with a pool table mind you), we hit the blackjack table for a few minutes before dinner.  The Hard Rock plays killer music while you gamble and has the most personable dealers you can imagine.  Little did we expect James, though, the king of all dealers.  In a million words, I could never describe how cool this guy is, so maybe the easiest way would be just to say he truly is the epitome of "smooth" in every sense.  Transfixed by James, his hilariousness, and his ability to get Andy $300 in winnings, we burned the rest of our trip at the table, skipping dinner for a few extra hands.  We'll be back James, I promise!

How would I grade this Las Vegas trip?  Easily the best of my six; good friends, great times watching games and gambling (I ended up slightly ahead in my overall bets), a fantastic hotel room, and James.  The group is already planning for next year...