Wednesday, September 15, 2004
What Happens In Vegas....Is Completely Insane
So, I was in Vegas for the past few days, and had quite a fun time. It's really unlike any other place I've seen - a testament to American excess, but also a melting pot of diversity, and a real collection of people from all walks of life. The combination of the "anything goes" attitude and the variety of personalities combines to make it sort of a perfect storm of humans behaving badly.
For the first two nights, my fraternity brothers and I stayed downtown, in Binion's Horseshoe, the site of the World Series of Poker. The difference between downtown Vegas and the illustrious Strip is stark. Downtown used to be what it was all about, but the mega-hotels built on the Strip really put the old-school casinos to shame. They're nice for their simplicity, but they're also cheap and some can be rundown. However, they're also mostly devoid of distractions, and because they need to work hard to attract gamblers from the shiny Strip, the rules on the games are much more favorable to the player. For that reason, it's generally a better place for more hard-core gamblers. And, to be honest, it's got a decent rustic feel to it, not as showy, but not as fake, either.
So, we arrive in Vegas and convene at Binion's, then decide that it's only midnight, and we should start getting our blackjack on. I'm pretty sure the first place we stopped was the Fremont, one of the mid-range casinos, in terms of downtown quality. We find a blackjack table that can hold all seven of us (downtown never really seems to be crowded), and start playing, getting settled in for what will prove to be a long four days of gambling. Directly behind us, there's a ruckus, which is not uncommon for a late Friday night in a casino. Two guys are nose to nose, pushing each other around a bit in front of a bank of slot machines. They're probably about 20 feet from our table. There's a girl off to the side, shouting at them. A couple other guys stand around menacingly. Then, at some point, the girl throws her glass into the face of one of them, and all hell breaks lose. The guys start going after each other. One lands a stiff punch to the other's face. Then they start grappling and throw each other into the slot machines. Seeing that the brawl is headed our way, and not wanting to get between two 250-pound likely drunken, fighting idiots, we move around to the sides of the table. We're basically in the pit, but no one's really paying attention. At some point, the dealers realize their tables are exposed, and shout to each other to cover their chips.
The fighting goes on for at least two or three minutes. It ebbs and flows, but basically these guys are hurtling around the casino, unimpeded, for at least that long. FINALLY, a couple of security guards come over and start to break it up. We return to our seats, figuring that it's over. But it's not. For the next two or three minutes, instead of just two guys fighting, it's two guys fighting, with five security guards surrounding them, all flying over the room, just like before, but worse. These were the most impotent security guards I've ever seen. Chairs are getting knocked over, and old ladies are getting pushed out of the way. Finally, the security guards get the fighters out of the casino, but we never see any real cops. The pit boss implores us to go back to playing, as shards of glass are scattered about the floor. Later on, we see both of the guys in another casino, minding their own business. If this was the Strip, they would have been subdued and tossed out, likely arrested, in three seconds flat. But that wouldn't have been any fun now, would it?
Later in the evening, we head over to another fine establishment, Fitzgerald's, in search of more excitement. Out front is a seemingly drunk guy on the ground. A little later, we notice he's not moving. Security tries to wake him up, but it seems like he's dead. Finally, after a few minutes, he starts stirring. Apparently this happens pretty often, because they address him by name...I think it was Carlos.
As our trip progressed, it returned to normalcy. Honestly, I can't think of much else that happened that was out of the realm of normalcy for Vegas...which is definitely not normal for everywhere else. We stayed up until 4, 5, 6 AM, gambling, eating, talking, having fun. I ended up losing 400 dollars, but it was definitely worth it.
For the first two nights, my fraternity brothers and I stayed downtown, in Binion's Horseshoe, the site of the World Series of Poker. The difference between downtown Vegas and the illustrious Strip is stark. Downtown used to be what it was all about, but the mega-hotels built on the Strip really put the old-school casinos to shame. They're nice for their simplicity, but they're also cheap and some can be rundown. However, they're also mostly devoid of distractions, and because they need to work hard to attract gamblers from the shiny Strip, the rules on the games are much more favorable to the player. For that reason, it's generally a better place for more hard-core gamblers. And, to be honest, it's got a decent rustic feel to it, not as showy, but not as fake, either.
So, we arrive in Vegas and convene at Binion's, then decide that it's only midnight, and we should start getting our blackjack on. I'm pretty sure the first place we stopped was the Fremont, one of the mid-range casinos, in terms of downtown quality. We find a blackjack table that can hold all seven of us (downtown never really seems to be crowded), and start playing, getting settled in for what will prove to be a long four days of gambling. Directly behind us, there's a ruckus, which is not uncommon for a late Friday night in a casino. Two guys are nose to nose, pushing each other around a bit in front of a bank of slot machines. They're probably about 20 feet from our table. There's a girl off to the side, shouting at them. A couple other guys stand around menacingly. Then, at some point, the girl throws her glass into the face of one of them, and all hell breaks lose. The guys start going after each other. One lands a stiff punch to the other's face. Then they start grappling and throw each other into the slot machines. Seeing that the brawl is headed our way, and not wanting to get between two 250-pound likely drunken, fighting idiots, we move around to the sides of the table. We're basically in the pit, but no one's really paying attention. At some point, the dealers realize their tables are exposed, and shout to each other to cover their chips.
The fighting goes on for at least two or three minutes. It ebbs and flows, but basically these guys are hurtling around the casino, unimpeded, for at least that long. FINALLY, a couple of security guards come over and start to break it up. We return to our seats, figuring that it's over. But it's not. For the next two or three minutes, instead of just two guys fighting, it's two guys fighting, with five security guards surrounding them, all flying over the room, just like before, but worse. These were the most impotent security guards I've ever seen. Chairs are getting knocked over, and old ladies are getting pushed out of the way. Finally, the security guards get the fighters out of the casino, but we never see any real cops. The pit boss implores us to go back to playing, as shards of glass are scattered about the floor. Later on, we see both of the guys in another casino, minding their own business. If this was the Strip, they would have been subdued and tossed out, likely arrested, in three seconds flat. But that wouldn't have been any fun now, would it?
Later in the evening, we head over to another fine establishment, Fitzgerald's, in search of more excitement. Out front is a seemingly drunk guy on the ground. A little later, we notice he's not moving. Security tries to wake him up, but it seems like he's dead. Finally, after a few minutes, he starts stirring. Apparently this happens pretty often, because they address him by name...I think it was Carlos.
As our trip progressed, it returned to normalcy. Honestly, I can't think of much else that happened that was out of the realm of normalcy for Vegas...which is definitely not normal for everywhere else. We stayed up until 4, 5, 6 AM, gambling, eating, talking, having fun. I ended up losing 400 dollars, but it was definitely worth it.
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