Las Vegas Day One

After an early 6 AM flight Vegas bound, I arrived in the 24 hour city at noon (Vegas time) with a full day ahead of me.

I am staying with the team at The Palms Casino Resort which is about a 10 minute walk off the strip. The IBN Las Vegas Classic games are being played a couple miles down the road at the Orleans Arena.

Following check-in it was time for lunch at the hotel. Vegas does everything big of course so at the hotel I settled for the all-you-can-eat buffet for $12. Then it was time to explore.

The weather was rainy and 55 degrees which is unusual for Las Vegas this time of year. The valet’s at the hotel are uncomfortable and annoyed by the poor weather.

The first stop was New York New York. We made the rounds throughout all the big resorts and casinos comparing features and the environment. Each hotel is unique in its theme whether it may be Paris, a Pyramid or Pirates.

The Casinos are all very extravagant active. Our cabbie told us this is a down week because of Christmas and in preparations for one of their biggest celebrations of the year in New Years.

While walking on the strip, I was annoyed by the amount of people throwing pamphlets and “specials” in my face. Every few steps there is somebody offering me free tickets (yeah right) to a show or a Hispanic giving nude photos with numbers aka prostitutes. Too annoying.

That night I went to dinner at N9ne Steakhouse at our hotel after hearing the Indiana coaches rave about the food from the night before. And it did not disappoint.

Following dinner my group opted for a comedy show in ‘old’ downtown. Just around from the Golden Nugget, I saw an average comedy show with two terrible opening acts. All the two first acts joked about were drugs and sex. There’s a lot in the world to make fun of, how bout a little variety?

We then returned to The Palms and chose to check out the casino. Craps is my game of choice so I had to jump in on the action. Most casinos now have a $10 minimum unless there is little action.

The tables were rolling from the outset and I was happy to make a little cash the first night. It always helps right.

Off to bed. Indiana plays Northern Iowa at 7:30 EST time. A quality test for this young IU team that hasn’t played much competition to this point.