"Wait...I won? I won!!!"
Usually when I go to Las Vegas, I know exactly what I am going to get. The formula for a two day trip is usually something like this: 100% male (90% degenerate gamblers) = 28 (hours gambling) + 4 (hours eating) + 6 (bar hours) + 2 (pool hours) + 2 (strip club hours) + 6 (hours sleeping). This time, though, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. What kind of equation would 50% male (33% degenerate) produce? I have to admit I was a little nervous. The tourist activities were sure to increase. This was the first time in Vegas for 4 of them and all were saying things like, “I’m going to play a hand or two of blackjack, but I don’t want to lose more than $20.”
On our first night in town, we were all a little tired. We had woken up at the Grand Canyon that morning at 4:00 AM to catch the sunrise and no one had managed to nap much. It was Julia’s last night of traveling with us, so everyone fought through. But my hopes weren’t too high. We started our night with a fantastic meal at the Bellagio buffet, but my fears began to come true right after dinner. We watched the water show and wandered the strip for about 20 minutes, but soon all of the girls decided their high heels were hurting their feet and headed back to Bally’s (our hotel) with Truong. Jon and I stayed out to gamble a little, but we couldn’t find a cheap blackjack table at the run down strip casinos. I don’t understand it…the Bellagio and the Wynn are offering $10 tables on weekend nights, but the likes of the Imperial Palace or O’Shea’s don’t offer $5 tables on week nights? What gives? The night’s momentum was nonexistent, so we headed back to Bally’s.
When we got back, I ran into Julia, Emlen, and Truong (now all in sandals) lurking at the edge of the $10 “Party Pit” Blackjack Tables. I’m not sure if the gambling or the nineties hip-hop was the bigger draw, but Julia and I sat down to play a few hands. Before the first hand, Julia was asking questions and I was patiently answering. “Yes, you put the money on the table and the dealer will give you chips.” “This is what you do if you want another card, this is the symbol to stay.” “You have to bet at least $10 on every hand.” After a few more questions, Julia politely informed our dealer that it was her first time. Our dealer, a nice woman in her twenties named Jenny, responded dryly, “I can tell.”
We held steady for a few hands, but quickly began to win more than we were losing. After a few more seats opened up, Truong and Emlen joined us and we all kept winning. Playing blackjack with first-timers is a little bit like re-watching old Disney movies with children…you don’t care so much about your own enjoyment, because you are too busy watching them to see how they are reacting. Thanks to a friendly string of dealer busts, everyone was having a lot of fun. As long as “Jenny from the block” (a Julia-ism) was our dealer, we couldn’t lose.
Before we sat down, the table was dead. It is amazing how quickly a table comes alive when a pretty girl starts winning. Within ten hands, Julia had everybody talking and cheering for each other. In ten more hands, she was fist bumping the dealer. In another twenty, she had convinced a reserved sixty year old man to wear Mardi Gras beads and was high-fiving a man who had seemed too cool for school just five minutes earlier.
After another hour or so our luck began to turn, but we all left the table up $50 - $200. After the financial Armageddon that was the Kevin-Alex bachelor party, it was amazing to go to sleep in Vegas with everyone up on the house. This WAS different than any other Vegas trip that I had ever been on, but there haven’t been many that I have enjoyed more.
What I’m Listening To: Little Secrets – Passion Pit, Help I’m Alive – Metric, & Pale Blue Eyes – The Velvet Underground
Next Stop: Los Angeles
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