Las Vegas is what happens when an unlimited amount of money meets an unrestrained imagination . Ideas that, in a sane time and place, would be dismissed out of hand go on to be implemented and even succeed here. Las Vegas takes the phrase "suspension of disbelief" to a whole new level. Do you want the Statue of Liberty? Put it up. The Brooklyn bridge? Go on. The Eiffel Tower - why even ask?
Everybody needs to visit Vegas at least once - if only to see the sheer indulgence of the place. Visiting Las Vegas usually means seeing the 'Strip' - otherwise know as Las Vegas Boulevard. Extending some 5 miles from end to end, it is dotted with some of the most surprising architecture, pirate ships, roller coasters and volcanic fountain displays.
Each casino has a theme of its own, sometimes obvious by its name : MGM Grand, Sahara, Treasure Island. The insides are quite a sight. Sweeping staircases, underwater magic shows, lion habitats, live music shows by 'Elton John' and 'Tina Turner', Elivs Presley impersonators milling around - a real wow. The business section of each casino is full of slot machines, poker and blackjack tables. On the card games the mimimum bet is usually $5 but the slot machines mostly play quarters and many even play nickels. Change is never a problem : the casinos have people walking around who will give you change. Usually, photography is not allowed inside the casinos - camcorders might attract even more attraction but some places allow you to use both in the entertainment areas. Some casinos are more liberal than the others. It is safest to ask before trying.
Can you win any money here? Probably not. That's why it is an industry worth
hundreds of billions of dollars. Why is LAS the 8th busiest airport in the
world? Simply because few of us can resist the hope that a quarter in will
result in a $50 out and, with a little more 'intelligent' play, one can earn
atleast a few hundred dollars. Many of the casinos offer you a 97 or 98% chance
of winning. That cant be that bad - can it? Analyze what that means -
mathematically that means is that if you put in 100 quarters, then you will get
back 97 *on an average* at the end of a single try. Say you start with $50. Then
for each time that you put in your money and press the button you will make
$50*.97 = $48.5 ( Hey! you just lost some money - but dont think about it ....
too much. )
Using some fairly elementary mathematics, this means that before you go from
$50 down to your last quarter, you get to play n times where n can be found from
the equation 50*4*(0.97 raised to the power n ) = 1.
Crunch-cruch, glug-glug and voila, approximately n = 174. In other words, in 174
tries you can reduce your hard-earned $50 to a hard-earned 25c. If you play like
the devil and average 30 secs per try that still means a great deal of fun.
Usually what happens is that you will occasionally win something back so you
spend a few minutes feeling smart. Sometimes you might hear a 65 year old woman
smoking her 50th cigarette of the day win a load of money. Ah! That tinkle of
money. Who can resist that? So you want to move to her machine. At least one
closer. Maybe you don't want to donate all your money to the MGM grand. How about
some for Caesar's palace then? As long as you keep switching machines and
casinos you can have a surprising amount of fun for not so much money. Going
with friends is even better, there is more money between you, and someone wins
big atleast once. The key thing is to not go in expecting to win a lot of money.
Personally, I have tons more fun walking on the Strip outside rather than
playing inside.
Walking the Strip is an experience in and of itself. The amount of lighting and the crowds of people would only make sense, in any other city, only for a major New Year's bash. Apart from the ticketed shows inside, there are shows right along the road. The Mirage has a particularly good volcanic fountain show. Photo opportunities are plentiful though it would help to have a tripod and be able to increase the exposure time. Disposables are lousy for this. I should know.
Another interesting section of Las Vegas is Downtown which is often missed out. The prime attraction there is Fremont Street where almost four blocks have been closed to traffic and covered overhead with a steel frame. At night, there's a music and light show projected onto this artificial roof. Hundreds of people sit around for this 10 or 15 min spectacle and the atmosphere is worth experiencing. It then repeats after an hour. Fremont Street can be reached by going north on the Strip - past the Stratosphere.
