Arrived at the Venetian Thursday evening, quick check-in, and then walked down to Bellagio,
in the stifling hot 9 pm air. Ambling down the strip, I found myself fighting off families and fanny packs.
Morose, I started wondering what was becoming of Vegas. Then, I saw a guy passing in a limo,
standing out of the sunroof, wearing a cowboy hat, and rapping along with the car radio. Attaboy!

In the Bellagio, sat down for a friendly round of BJ before dinner. Excellent dealer, great cocktail service,
and very good drinks. Real Ketel One screwdrivers, strong, in nice, heavy glasses. What class.

At one point, I hit a couple of stiff hands, decide to pull back a bit, when I suddenly see 2 hot chicks.
On a whim, I put on 2 betting units. Win. Very next hand, have 2 sixes versus dealer 6. Split em up,
and draw a five on the first hand. Double, draw another five to 16, stand. On the other six, draw an Ace
- soft 17. Double, draw another six to 13, stand. So now I have $100 on the table with two stiffs versus
the dealer's 6 (I'm betting $25 a hand.)

Dealer busts.
Moral of this story: hot chicks are good luck.

Had dinner at Aqua - Eggplant consomme as an amuse-bouche, Foie Gras as appetizer and halibut as
the main course, washed down with a nice Pouilly Fume. All in all a very good meal in very nice surroundings.
Then I went back to the BJ table and quickly found myself $300 in the hole.

So in order to change scenery, went out to Binion's downtown. Sat down beside a guy who had flown in
from Taiwan just to gamble, God bless him. Started winning back the money I had lost at Bellagio.

Later on, moved to another table where there a bunch of guys from a bachelor party are hanging out.
This proves to be a rollicking good time and I stay hanging out with the boys, sucking back drinks,
until 5 AM, leave up $40, after being down 300 and up 400 at various points in the evening.

When I left Binion's at 5 AM, it was absolutely rocking - most tables were still full.
This is in sharp contrast to the Venetian which would be dead at the wee hours.

The next day when I eventually woke up, I hung out by the Venetian's pool, listening to the terrible
chanteuse and nursing myself with bottled water and a frozen marguerita. That evening, the bachelor
party came into town. I shall be brief in describing the events:

Clubbing at Rain at the Palms: I didn't really like this place, since it was very very crowded on the dance floor,
and the crowd seemed heavy on meatheads. We had a "skybox" booked, which involved us (14 guys) hanging out
in a private room, and were persuaded to buy an expensive bottle of vodka. (Don't remember prices, but I think
this portion of the evening came to over $90 each). The bouncers then went downstairs to cajole girls into
coming upstairs to hang out.

My buddy Ace and I took off with 12 of these girls in order to go to Drai's after hours at the Barbary Coast.
It is my experience that you need to have girls with you in order to have a fighting chance to get into this establishment.

Drai's was not as fun as the last time I went (in August 2001), but it was a good time nonetheless.  It was a little
too crowded, and the mix of people was not as entertaining as last time (when there were tons of off-duty strippers).

The next day I spent sleeping, or by the pool. Eventually, we trekked out to Ruth's Chris Steak House,
which had excellent bone-in ribeye. Evening was finished with Cubans and 10-year port.

I was still smoking my Churchill Havana when we entered the famed Olympic Garden.
This place was highly recommended by Cyberhog and others, and rightfully so.

That morning we finished up with craps and bj at the Venetian. I've decided that I'm not as much
of a fan of the Venetian's tables - too quiet and reserved.

On Sunday Ace and I pile into a cab to take us to the airport.

The sun is shining, and the Chinese guy in the taxicab is playing loud music. Ace asks him to turn it down,
and he does for like 30 seconds, then turns it up again. Then we notice that he's singing into a microphone.
Turns out the guy's cab is a fully-functional Karaoke room! So he passes me the mic, and I sing
"Fly Me To the Moon" and "Michelle", and then I can't find any songs for which I remember the lyrics
(I've had little sleep, and am a tad bit slow after all the carousing).

Then he mumbles something in heavily-accented English, and eventually we discern that he's asking us
if we know "Bohemian Rhapsody". So Ace and I shrug, and start singing along. At this point, he's riling us
up, shouting encouragement, and the memory of the lyrics is coming back to us, and we're really getting
into it - "Bismillah - no, etc." Then during the Brian May guitar bridge, Ace and I are head-banging, a
la Wayne's world, and playing air guitar.

Chinese dude: "What airline?"

Me: [giggling, headbanging]

Ace: [headbanging]

Chinese dude: "What airline?"

Me: [giggling, headbanging]

Ace: [headbanging]

Chinese dude: [frantic] "What airline?"

Me: [yelling] "United!"

Ace: [yelling]: "So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye. .."

We finished the last few bars just as he was pulling up to the curb at McCarran.
He claimed it was the best cab ride he ever had, but I bet he says that all the time.

- Elporco