At the Winter Meetings: Part 1

I've been in Las Vegas for just over twenty four hours now, and what a twenty four hours it has been.

Forget the baseball, the meetings don't really start until tomorrow.  But in Vegas, things are so unique and different from everywhere else.

When I arrived at the Bellagio yesterday, my friend Brian met me in the casino.  The casinos here are amazing.  They are huge, and there are people everywhere in sight.  Some people are playing blackjack.  Others are playing craps or roulette.  But there are a ton of people trying their luck with slot machines.  And most lose.

At least, I did.

At first I tried some dollar slots.   I lost twenty dollars pretty quickly.  Then I downgraded to the nickel slots.  I put a five dollar bill in.  I figured, I'll get one hundred plays, and maybe I can make a few bucks.

I lost it all.  Then I played five more.  Lost again.

I tried some video poker.  Lost.  I tried some other slot machine.  I lost there too.  But it's Vegas, and it's an experience.

Brian comes to Vegas often, so he had the room complimentary last night.  He was also given complimentary room service and free drinks in the room's mini-bar.  We definitely took advantage of that.  Let's just say the menu last night was steak and lobster.  And we didn't pay anything except a tip for the server who brought it up to us.

Sunday morning we were up by eight 0'clock and we were at the sports book by ten.  The sports books are incredible, and a perfect place to watch football on an NFL Sunday.  And a great place to put a little action on the games to make things more interesting.  

I didn't do quite as bad with the football, as I made a little money on the Bears and the Colts.  Too bad the Jets and Patriots blew it for me late in the day.

The drinks are complimentary in the sports book, and there are tons of leather chairs to watch the games.  The television monitors are probably fifty feet high, and they split the screen four ways so you can watch multiple games at once.  We were watching every early game at the same time.  It was sensory overload.  

But it was a fun day.  And tonight the night has just begun.  We're at the Hilton now for the Minor League Meetings.  I'll be here until Wednesday.  And I'm sure I'll have plenty more great experiences to tell you about later this week.