Vegas musings-Part 1

I just finished my 7th trip to Vegas and I’ve gotten to the point where it’s probably no longer necessary to give a blow-by-blow account. I’ll stick to the highlights (and lowlights).

My friend John went to Vegas at the same time as me and it was fairly obvious he was going to have better luck than me. I checked in before John and I was assigned a window seat without getting an option for any other seat. He was offered an exit row seat. On the way back, he checked in an hour later than me and was offered the 6th row. I was placed pretty much in the restroom, next to a couple guys with a gas issue. He won $450 at blackjack, I got my ass handed to me everywhere I went. John was probably due for some good luck, he got divorced last year and got laid off 3 months ago.
The first night we got there was a Thursday. It was the first time I can recall walking down the strip and not seeing any porn slappers (that’s the term used for the people slapping cards with pictures of “escorts” on them. I thought maybe they had a union and had gone on strike. No such luck, they were back the next night. It was also the quietest I have ever seen the Strip. The pedestrian traffic is typically nut-to-butt, that night it was almost eerie how quiet it was.
I had expected to be approached by some ladies of the night since the wife wasn’t with me. No, I wasn’t going to do anything as I’m entirely too cheap to pay for that kind of service. Instead, I wasn’t approached once. Maybe it was because I didn’t shave and I tend to look a little like a homeless person on vacation. Or I’m just not as hot as I think. Meanwhile, John was approached twice. The first time he didn’t realize what was happening until she asked if he was looking for some company.
I spent some time (and money) playing a game called Sigma Derby. I’ve never seen a machine like it before in all my gambling adventures. I’m not sure how old it is, but it probably dates back to the 70’s. It has 5 mechanical horses and the game gives odds on the chances of each 2 horses finishing 1st and 2nd. The odds range from 2-1 to 200-1. The winner is obviously more likely to be the 2-1 odds than 200-1, but that doesn’t stop everyone from betting at least a quarter on the longshot. Anyway, what really makes the game fun is seeing a bunch of fools screaming at mechanical horses.