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Just to confirm I will be there for sure - I will pay on the night as there is a chance my wifes son who is coming in for the concert may come on the Wednesday and join us if there is still space available.

I have just booked into Harrahs across the road from Caesars from next Sunday so I will keep $50 in my back pocket separate from my gamblers stash!

My Vegas rule for Gamblers is

1 Decide how much you can afford to lose .

2 Divide it by the number of days you are there.

3 And if you get significantly behind your acceptable loss projection hire a car and go sightseeing or in my case start going to the movies.

I was once $1200 down after two days and had decided i had a $1600 'kitty' and in the next two days kept clear of the tables, watched football at the Sports Book and saw 7 movies. That left me $400 for the last day which I turned into $2400 and was $800 up on the 5 days.

Such cash management should appeal to Jarkko as he's an accountant!

In truth if you invest the time to study the seemingly bewildering and complex rules of Craps one finds they are all based on the rules of probability and in fact Craps is one of the most beautiful and ingenious games invented - one could almost call it the Cohen of the gaming industry! It can also be a very sociable game with the table often winning or losing together altho the brave gambler who follows the dice can always bet against the table as long as he/she keeps their elation in check when everyone else loses! Its just a pity most people throw the dice and scatter their chips without fully understanding which bets offer good value. It is in fact the only casino game in North America when on some bets you get the true odds with no 'edge' or commission for the casino.

OK I digress - back to Leonard or should it be back to dinner!

PS In case you wonder about my interest in gambling I used to live in Australia where they will bet on which of two flies will fly away off the window first! In fact I made the seed money for what is now after 30 years a successfull international travel company employing 50 people - wait for it - devising and selling gambling systems to punters in Australia! So you will understand why the combination of Vegas and Cohen is truly irresistable for me

Thanks for the wise words on 'Craps' and gambling...I don't understand any of it but would love to learn poker...
Thanks for confirming you will be at the dinner. There is still plenty of room so if your wife's son wants to join us that is great.
See you next week!
Leslie (Mutti)

Casterbridgecohen...it will be very interesting to share your gaming insights! I lived in Las Vegas for 8 years but was not a gambler.....not one ounce of "luck" in this body....simply circumstance, if the moon was right!

Looking forward to talking with you...and have a safe trip!

All the best,
Diana

Casterbridgecohen, read your posting with interest and I have similar gambling beliefs! I have an onging separate Vegas account and on my trips I have my allocated amount and it is divided up into money bags for how ever many days I am there! So, this trip, I will be there for four nights so will have my four little bags of $$$ all set up! As you say, I only gamble what I can afford and just love the buzz! My sister in law plays craps and have watched her on a couple of occasions but really dont understand it! When in Vegas I am a slots and roulette gal!

Anyway, look forward to meeting you and everyone else a week tonight!!!!

PP

Nice to hear from you both and look forward to meeting you both next week............and PP we will have to get you away from the slots and roulette wheel and by the blackjsk and craps tables instead!

You should always play Roulette in Europe but never in the States. Why? In the States you have a double zero which statistically means that all things being equal and following the laws of probability everyone will lose twice in every 38 spins which is a 5.26% advantage in the Casinos favour. In Europe there is only one zero (so one loss in every 37 spins) which means that the Casino's 'edge' is only 2.7% so the odds on your losing at roulette are 100% greater in North America (5.26 being almost twice 5.26) and that 5+% in the casin's favour can wipe you out pretty quick. Of course this ignores Lady luck and your chouce of bets. And of course it will cost you more to fly to eEurope than you will lose at las Vegas!

With Blackjack the odds in the casinos favour are between 1 and 2% and in sme craps bets it is 0% - you get the 'true' odds - of course you still need luck and select the correct bets.

As for the slots - the casino can set the machines to whatever percentage they want and I believe most are between 15 and 20% in Vegas. You can have a lucky pull but you cannot beat the slots over any period of time. I have been gambled for almost 40 years and it has given me much pleasure and wasted a lot of my time but I have only ever pulled one slot handle in countless visits to Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and Casinos around the world - and that was adime in Reno in 1978!

Now to more important matters - see the thread I am about to post on odds which songs Leonard Cohen will perform next week.

Michael

Casterbridgecohen,,,thank you for your statistics! Suppose for me I dont gamble to win - sure, if I do win, its an added bonus. I just enjoy so much the buzz and the anticipation when that roulette wheels spins if it will be one of my numbers that the ball lands on. Same with the slots, especially now with so many machines having bonus spins - I just get such an adreneline rush! My brother is a big Blackjack player so I have played a couple of times when he has been by my side giving me advice!

Well, must get back to the packing - am so looking forward to getting on that plane next Wednesday! And a week today will be the big night!!!

See everyone soon

PP

Thanks so much for setting everything up! How exciting!

Hi Denise,

See you in a few days! Have a safe trip.

Diana

Eija and I are now in Las Vegas at Caesars and have located Cafe Lago, the Colosseum and also the Shadow Bar. The idea has been to have drinks & chat at this Bar after 10 pm on Nov 11th (after the dinner). The Bar is located at the Cleopatran Way next to the Casino area. This unfortunately means that it's a bit noisy (and there are three screens showing sport, with quite high volume sound). It's a bit difficult to change the plans so late (we have invited a lot of people to the shadow Bar), but if we find a much better place at Caesars when we go aournd tonight, we may want to change it anyway! I will keep you posted.

Well at least you got there Jarkko - two nights without much sleep and I missed my flight after getting my departure time wrong! Never trust a Tour Operator!

Hope to get on another flight tomorrow Monday but you now know why I did not call you tonight or tomorrow - still I used my time productively booking five tickets for lille on March 3 !!

I think I will hold off booking anything else until we get the inside word from you !!

See you soon

Jarrko, luck you being in Vegas already - enjoy and look forward to meeting up with you very soon.

Casterbridgecohen,,,think of the money you have saved from the Craps table by missing your flight - always a positive out of every negative!

We checked all the bars tonight at 11 pm - none of them is good (Shadow Bar, Seahorse Bar etc), if we want to chat with each other. All were playing music so loudly that you cannot hear your own voice. Seahorse Bar is inside the casino, so there is more noise from the slot machines and another music source nearby. IWe will check more options (if we find any) tomorrow.

But it's okay Jarkko - we can talk over all the noise. As many of us are 'mature' folk, talking louder enables us to hear what is being said (drat, I hate these 'Scream' movie smilies).

We checked the bars again tonight with Dick and Linda. Caesars was today (Monday) not so crowded as it was during the weekend. Shadow Bar was full and the music was still very loud. However, Seahorse Bar was pretty silent (no music), and the dancer's stage next to it was empty. If the circumstances will be the same on Wednesday, this is a much better place for our after-dinner meetup.
SO: after 10 pm let's meet at SEAHORSE BAR, in the Forum Casino. If it is full, maybe we can buy drinks and occupy the chairs at the Race & Sports corner near the Bar. The betting had ended by 10 pm (at least on Monday). If you come a bit later, just have a look around in the area, I am sure we can easily be found.

Am sure will find you all Jarkko! My flight times have changed sligtly so am arriving a little later than planned - have just checked in online so am veryyyyyyyyyyy excited now! All my clothes are out on the spare bed so just a question of trying to fit everything in the suitcase now! Hows the weather there?
Ok, see you all soon and those who are already there, enjoy!