Weekend Update

I just saw my parents off after a full week of Vegas excitement for them. After I met back up with them on Saturday, we headed out to Lake Las Vegas since I had never been there before and wanted to check it out with them. It's not a bad little half-day trip out there for anyone wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the Strip, etc.

The only casino out there is Casino Monte Lago. For such an upscale place (it includes the Ritz Carlton resort), I was let down by the casino. It was nice enough (and small), but the table limits were at $5 for most of the blackjack games, and the one lone craps table was NOT even open. I haven't kept up on that property very closely, but I do know its had some financial troubles in the past......and I can see why.

On Sunday, dad stayed back at the hotel while my mom and I played tourist for a day and walked the Strip. She wanted to do some shopping at the Miracle Mile, so we parked at Planet Ho and made our way down the Strip. The one place she always wants to visit is St. Mark's Square at the Venetian for the free shows and atmosphere. When we were there, I realized I had not yet checked out the Palazzo yet. So we made the extra little walk over there. My opinion on the Palazzo is pretty much the same at the Wynn. It's a very nice place with fancy chandeliers and whatnot, but I'm not sure why I would ever want to go back. It seems like whenever a really high end place opens up on the Strip, it does a good job of being "spectacularly bland", with no big draw that would keep the common, non-gambling folk from coming back. The Bellagio has the fountains and the Conservatory which attract slack-jawed yokels. The Wynn and Palazzo don't really have that. One thing that did surprise me was the plentiful $10 and $15 blackjack tables that were around in the Palazzo. It was my understanding that the Palazzo was only going to try to attract the best of the best players. Apparently, that's not really the case.....yet.

Oh, on the walk back to Planet Hollywood, we stopped into Chris' place of employment to watch his mad dealing skills in action. We found him dealing to a couple of guys on a 3-card poker table and, much to my absolute delight, he was wearing probably the gayest dealer uniform I've ever seen in my life!!! It was almost completely white with various "poofs" and frilly little ridges, and his collar and buttons were light PINK! Awwwwww, he looked so precious!!! Hilarious. So at least I've got THAT over him. Sure he has a pretty good job dealing on the Strip and I'm up in the air going into a mediocre off-strip gig. But at least I won't be looking like Little Bunny Foo Foo prancing through the felt forest anytime soon!

As far as the job situation goes, it looks like I'll be starting at another off-strip property pretty soon. I'm just waiting for the call to come in to fill out the HR paperwork and get my schedule. It will probably turn out to be the same situation as Sunset where I'll be an extra board dealer with no real promise of hours. It also has the added detriment of having lower tokes than Sunset (about $30 per day). However, at least its something for now, and I'll still be actively looking for either a better job or a decent 2nd part-time job. It WILL be good getting back behind the felt though. It feels like its been a month, even though its only been less than 2 weeks so far. I also think I might be getting a little more hours in due to my dice dealing abilities.

Tonight will be spent over at Chris' place, playing some 5-cent craps. It will be a nice departure from Fiesta Henderson, where I've spent the better part of the week with mom and dad. Fiesta isn't a bad place, but I can only take so much of it.