Comments on: Trepidation and Mild Disdain in Las Vegas http://semanticdrift.com/travel/trepidation-and-mild-disdain-in-las-vegas/ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:41:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: A. http://semanticdrift.com/travel/trepidation-and-mild-disdain-in-las-vegas/#comment-661 A. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:24:16 +0000 http://semanticdrift.com/travel/trepidation-and-mild-disdain-in-las-vegas/#comment-661 I dislike Vegas for the same reasons that you do; the odds are in favor of the house, meaning that for every hand (or slot pull) that you lose, it's actually a win for the house. I wouldn't go hang out at a friend's place where they took my money and disguised the exits; I certainly won't do it at a commercial establishment. Las Vegas is almost always better in theory than reality. I dated a professional gambler (the whole poker tour thing) for a while and learned that, after 72 hours, even the social experiment of people-watching gets disconcerting. Because it is an unreasonable and unlikely place, built in the middle of the desert, it brings out the most irrational behaviors in people. They forget logic and rely on luck, eschewing instinct for superstition. I'm glad you made it back intact. And one more thing: you used the present tense in reference to Hunter Thompson. Shall I quote his suicide note? "Football season is over. No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt." I dislike Vegas for the same reasons that you do; the odds are in favor of the house, meaning that for every hand (or slot pull) that you lose, it’s actually a win for the house. I wouldn’t go hang out at a friend’s place where they took my money and disguised the exits; I certainly won’t do it at a commercial establishment.

Las Vegas is almost always better in theory than reality. I dated a professional gambler (the whole poker tour thing) for a while and learned that, after 72 hours, even the social experiment of people-watching gets disconcerting. Because it is an unreasonable and unlikely place, built in the middle of the desert, it brings out the most irrational behaviors in people. They forget logic and rely on luck, eschewing instinct for superstition. I’m glad you made it back intact.

And one more thing: you used the present tense in reference to Hunter Thompson. Shall I quote his suicide note? “Football season is over. No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax — This won’t hurt.”

]]>