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The Hanukkah Rodeo Trip December 2017

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by alanleroy, Feb 11, 2018.

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  1. alanleroy

    alanleroy Click my avatar

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    My Trip Report



    Shalom!

    This year’s December Vegas trip was during the usual timeframe Dec 13 – 18, but the calendar aligned differently. For the first time in memory, The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and Hanukah, The Jewish Festival of Lights all took place while we were there.

    It seemed a natural to blend two very different concepts into a new direction in Vegas trip reports: I call it “the Hanukkah-Rodeo Trip”. The lead-in and the planning section of this report is very long. I’m including a lot of extra details trying to make this informative for those of you who might want to make a Hannakah Rodeo trip of your own.

    My gambling buddy Robin is Jewish. As a young college student he decided to visit Israel….where he ended up living on a Kibbutz and was drafted into the Israeli Army. I’ve had a few very close Jewish friends though the years and have always loved Jewish people and culture. As part of the trip I wanted to learn as much as I could about Chanukah…Like why it’s spelled so many different ways.

    On the other hand, little about the Rodeo has ever interested me. Except maybe those Big Ass Belt Buckles (BABBs) they wear.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Hell, I don’t even like the music…either Country or Western. I thought that might change as we planned to attend many free rodeo entertainment events. Maybe I was never exposed to the ‘Right’ country music or the right rodeo events. I wondered if they still had that Mechanical Bull at Gilley’s we could ride. I also kind of thought some of those rodeo events are mean to the animals and borderline cruelty and maybe that's why I never liked rodeo.

    Pre-Trip Research…
    And since this was MY FIRST RODEO I decided to do some pre-trip rodeo research. Here are my findings.

    No. Wait….Let’s start with the Cowboy Classic 'Ain't my First Rodeo'…because First Rodeo!

    This Ain't My First Rodeo

    Vern Gosdin

    …Lately, your head hurts every night
    Could it be you wear your cloths too tight
    Since you don't seem to hear a thing I say or do
    Then I know there's nothing I can do for you
    This ain't my first rodeo
    This ain't the first time this old cowboy's been throwed..

    Rodeo Research:
    I had no idea of the scope of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo since we have always purposely avoided it. 10 major casinos are fully involved for the two weeks of this event...All of them have free 'After Parties' every night, many with free live entertainment. They sport viewing centers with big screen TV's and serve up Cowboy refreshments like Pabst and Coors and Bud. It’s like the Super Bowl of Rodeo and weak beer..but for 2 weeks. I also studied rodeo slang and idiom so I could better communicate with the rodeo people we encountered. I learned important concepts like: "Buckle Bunny", "Tits Up" and "He was just helping that sheep through the fence."

    How the contest works in a nutshell
    There are 7 rodeo events. The top 15 in earnings Year To Date in each of the events participate in the National Finals Rodeo. There are 10 rounds at the NFR....one each night. Each round adds to the cowboy’s prize money if they place in the top 3 of their event. There are nightly Big Ass Belt Buckles (BABBs) presented for each event. At the end of the rodeo, the participants who won the greatest prize money for each NFR event win more BABBs and more money. The highest year to date money winnings in each event win the Prized Big Ass Gold Belt Buckles (BAGBBs) and more money and are considered World Champions. The highest money earner overall is the World Champion. There's 10 Million in Prize money at stake in the NFR so it's possible the initial money leaders can lose the title if they don't perform well.

    Every event runs every night. So all 120 contestants have a go each night. That's a lot of action for a 3 hour event. Of course each run only lasts a few seconds so I thought it would be great for people like me with short attention spans....if only they weren't mean to the animals. Maybe in the future they can use real Cowboys and robotic animals.

    My initial analysis of the Rodeo Events:
    So I looked further into each of the Rodeo events. First of all, I don't even know why they call them 'Cowboys and Cowgirls'. These are obviously grown men and women, not boys and girls.

    1. Bareback riding: A Cowman gets on an unbroken/mad/frightened horse and rides him for 8 seconds...It's important for the Cowman to use his spurs to gouge the horse on every buck. Both the Cowman and the horse are scored and the scores added together with a maximum of 100.

    2. Saddle bronc riding. Same as #1 except instead of no saddle, they use a saddle. Duh.

    3. Bull riding: Just like 1 & 2, except they use a bull instead of a horse. They have no bull saddles.

    4. Steer wrestling: A frightened steer is let loose from a chute and he goes tearing off trying to get the hell out of there. A Cowman is parallel to the chute on his horse and he quickly runs down the cow. The Cowman slides off his horse while grabbing the frightened cow by the horns and wrestles him to the ground. When the cow is off all 4 legs, the timed event is over.

    5. Tie-down roping: In this event they use a young cow...also known as a calf. The frightened calf is let loose and tries to run away from the horse mounted Cowman. The Cowman lassos the calf around the neck, dismounts, runs to the calf and ties three of the calf's legs together with a short rope known as a "piggin' string". A half hitch knot is used, sometimes referred to as "two wraps and a hooey" or a "wrap and a slap".

    6. Team roping: In this event two Cowmen team up on a single frightened cow. One Cowman is the header. He ropes the cow (who is running for his life) around his head to stop and then turn him by wrapping the rope around the horn of his saddle (this move is known as the 'dally'). The second Cowman (the healer) then ropes the cow around his hind legs and also does a dally. The poor cow is then stretched out and immobilized at which point the timed event ends.

    7. Barrel racing: This timed event is for Cowwomen. The Cowwoman on horseback navigates a series of barrels in a cloverleaf pattern trying for the fastest time.

    Event Summary
    The events can be lumped into a few categories.

    We have the ‘Riding Events’ where Cowmen attempt to joy ride on the backs of frightened horses and bulls. In those events I planned to root for the horses and bulls.

    We have ‘Cow events’ where frightened cows are roped or wrestled. I’d prefer our cows just grow old and fat gracefully and then eat them rather than exploit them for entertainment.

    Finally we have Barrel Racing. I thought I could get into this one. The horse and rider work together and race on a course and don’t torture or exploit other animals in the process. Besides…Cowwomen. Yes. This would be my event.

    Rodeo Analysis Conclusion
    I understood there’s a rich cultural history of Rodeo. I understood that they probably don’t purposely try to hurt their animals and the participants honestly don’t believe they’re being mean or cruel to them. Just like the Circuses didn’t believe that either. I also understood that Rodeo is an industry and the NFR prize money this year topped 10 million dollars. I wasn’t sure if it was acceptable to actively root for the bulls and bucking horses during the events we attend. That might just depend on how many martinis I consumed.

    Is Rodeo Cruel to Animals?
    As I researched the Rodeo I found there is a serious opposing view to its suitability as entertainment in modern society. I call this group ‘The Rodeo Protestors’. I thought it would be good if I could meet up with the Rodeo Protestors during their Planned Protest on the Rodeo’s final night outside the Thomas & Mack Center and get their thoughts to balance out the trip report.

    From my extensive Internet research…examining various comments on random message boards…I determined that there are a two major schools of thought on Rodeo Cruelty.

    1. Rodeos are cruel to animals
    2. People who think Rodeos are cruel to animals are stupid.

    I found the e-mail address of the person leading the 2017 NFR Protests. That would be Carrie The Protestor. A couple of days before leaving for Vegas I e-mailed Carrie and asked her if would be ok if Robin and I stopped by and took pictures and asked the protest crew a few questions..because I wanted to learn more about their positions for my Trip Report. I was a little disappointed I didn’t hear back from Carrie before leaving for Vegas. I thought “What's wrong with protesters these days? Can't they respond to a simple e-mail?" I hoped they weren't slackers. Well even if they were slackers, we still intended meet up with the Rodeo Protestors and try to document their arguments. What could go wrong with that?

    Miss Rodeo America
    Another interesting NFR phenomenon I discovered....They Coronate their Queen beforehand. That's right. . Miss Rodeo Florida, Keri Sheffield was crowned Miss Rodeo America 2018 on Sunday, December 10 in Las Vegas just 3 days before we arrived..
    [​IMG]
    Congratulations Keri. Dreams do come true. I kind of think these ladies should compete in categories like steer wrestling and bull riding instead of just horsemanship and personality though. Are you trying to be a rodeo queen or just a beauty pageant horsewoman?

    And then there’s Hanukah
    Hanukah celebrates the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees over the Hellenistic Greek Seleucid dynasty back in 165 BC. After this victory, the cleansing of the Second Temple of Jerusalem was ordered. That process required a Menorah to burn all night every night. Unfortunately they only had enough kosher oil for the Menorah to burn for one night yet somehow it burned for eight nights. It must have been a miracle and thus the 8 day festival of lights was born. The dates for Chanukah vary each year because it’s based on a Lunar Calendar. The first day of Hanukkah can come as early as November 28 or as late as December 27.

    In addition to the nightly lighting of candles of the Menorah, there are other rituals including Spinning of Dreidels (4 sided Tops used for gambling), Geld ( or money/chocolate coins) given to kids and eating foods fried in oil…like Donuts or Latkes. What’s not to like about gambling tops, chocolate coins and fried fatty food for 8 days? This is my kind of celebration.

    Hanukah in Vegas presented us some opportunities to enjoy both special Hanukah dinners and Menorah lighting ceremonies.

    TRIP GOALS
    Robin and I always set some trip goals for our annual Vegas trip. We’ve never met all of our goals and this trip had a hell of a lot of goals. We try to extract as much Vegas value from our hard earned money as possible. We take advantage of coupons, My Vegas rewards and discounts wherever possible. Our plan is on an Excel spreadsheet. This year it was about 140 rows.

    • As always we each kick in $100 to our shared gambling wallet and then try to do every free-play, match-play, rebate, win card or other special gambling opportunity. Wins go back in the wallet and we split the wallet on our last night in town. We’re gambling Commies. We always have Las Vegas Advisor Member Reward Books and American Casino Guides with us for the bulk of these plays. This trip we planned to visit 47 casinos. Our number one goal is always to have fun while making money by gambling. Maybe that should be our mission statement.
    • There are major viewing events and after rodeo parties at all of the sponsor hotels...Including The D, Golden Nugget and Plaza Downtown; Silverton, Orleans and South Point off strip and MGM Grand, Mirage, TI, Tropicana and Mandalay Bay On the Strip. Many other hotels also have rodeo specials and events. We planned to attend and document at least 7 major parties In search of the Rodeo Queen, Extra Large Belt Buckles (ELBBs) and Menorahs.
    • Attend and document two massive Cowboy related holiday gift sales events; Cowboy Christmas at the Convention Center and the Cinch Western Gift Show at South Point. I wanted to see if I could buy one o’ them piggin’ strings fer Mrs. AlanLeroy fer Christmas and one of them Big Ass Belt Buckles fer me.
    • Dine at several special Hannakah dinners and buffets…consuming an abundance of fried in oil goodness.
    • Ride the mechanical bull at Gilly’s rodeo party. Better yet, talk Robin into riding the mechanical bull at Gilly’s rodeo party.
    • Attend and record a Hannakah lighting ceremony
    • Visit with the Rodeo Protestors on the final night of the National Finals Rodeo and get their point of view about rodeo cruelty.
    • Visit NuWu Cannabis…The world’s largest recreational Marijuana dispensary. Purchase and consume massive quantities of legal marijuana.
    • Record as much Live Rodeo action as possible without actually paying to attend the rodeo.
    • Answer the age old question “what inspires a Cowboy to purchase/wear a Black Cowboy Hat vs a White Cowboy Hat.” Do they have both colors and they wear it based on their mood or do they go with one color and wear that all their lives.
    • Visit the Mob Museum (For Free By attending the Community Safety Forum--Traffic Stops: Rights and Responsibilities https://themobmuseum.org/events-posts/december-17-traffic-stops-rights-responsibilities-free-monthly-community-safety-forum-partnership-las-vegas-metropolitan-police-department-sponsored-nv-energy/ }
    • Visit Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay (For Free via My Vegas)
    • Attend the Big Elvis Show. This has been on the to-do list a few years. We never quite make it. It’s unfortunate because you never know how long a Big Elvis is going to last.
    • Visit the Lucky Dragon. This has been on the list since its opening. We never quite make it. It’s unfortunate because you never know how long a new Casino on Sahara near Golden Steer is going to last.
    • Pictures of the Semi-Truck sculpture downtown.
    • Visit Downtown Vegas' first and only practice arena and stalls at the Plaza…. (Presented by Heel-O-Matic). They were supposed to have team roping practice sessions daily from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and sported 120 VIP Stalls.
    • Drinks at Mandarin Bar
    • Visit the Bellagio Conservatory
    • Complete our 8th annual Photography Contest. Below are the 2017 categories and scoring system.
    • Monte Carlo Branded—15
      • We were spending 2 nights at Monte Carlo. As it’s rebranding to The Park completes, Monte Carlo Branded items will become scarce.
    • Monte Carlo/Park Branding in same Photo 100
      • This lets us capture a recognizable Vegas moment...a point in time.
    • Hooker 75
    • Person Barfing 100
    • NFR->Casino Branding 5
      • Any item that includes both a Hotel/Casino Brand and the NFR
    • Live Rodeo Action 50
    • Picture of a Heel-O-Matic 100
      • If only Heel-O-Matic made a fully robotic cow we could stop the cruelty.
    • Miss Rodeo America Contestant 100
    • Miss Rodeo America Queen 300
    • Miss Rodeo America Contestant Barfing 500
    • Christmas/Jewish/Cowboy in the same photo 500
    • Cowwoman Belt Buckle 200
      • A challenge to take photos of all of the awesome Cowwomen's Belt Buckles....without getting beat up by their drunken Cowmen friends. Robin found this whole concept iffy as it required us to stare at people's torsos and people don't like that. My theory was they must be proud of their Buckles and want us to stare at their torsos...otherwise they wouldn't be buying such ostentatious BABBs
    • Jewish Mob Artifacts 20
    • Menorah 30
    • Menorah/Cowboy 100
    • All 5 Menorah Light Stages (Wed->Sun) 500
    • Bridal 50
    • Bridal w/Nudity 500
    • Hidden Area of Casinos 200
    • Bass Pro Shop Cheapest Item 50
      • And why not? Silverton was our Home Base. We had a room there for 5 nights, but only really stayed there one night.
    • Bass Pro Shop Most Expensive Item 50
    • Silverton Mermaid (Best Only) 50
    • California Hotel->Reference to the State of California…but not just the word California (Picture/Flag etc.) 250
      • We were spending 2 nights at the California. I wondered why there is such a dearth of California references at the California. Why the fuck don’t they just call it The Hawaii? Well we found a few ‘California’ artifacts. A few.
    I know. Those were lofty goals for a 5 day trip on a $300 bankroll. Every activity was carefully planned and precision timed. We would be a like a well-oiled Vegas tourism machine.

    And so, without further ado I give you

    The Hanakka Rodeo Trip

    "My Hannakah Rodeo Trip speaks to The duality of man. The Jungian thing."
    AlanLeroy

    "Whose side are you on, son?"
    Detractor

    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG]

    Wednesday December 10.

    Mrs AlanLeroy dropped Robin and I at FAT at 7:21 PM. It was important that we arrived on time because we had a lot planned for this Wednesday night. If all went well we’d be landing at 9:50 PM at LAS. All did not go well. Oy Vey!

    END OF PART 1
     
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  2. smerrian

    smerrian View from Bally's

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    Good intro. I'm waiting with baited breath. Always want to hear what travel horrors to try to avoid...like the time it took us 2 days flying to get from Philly to NOLA. What's your misery?
     
  3. charlestfuller

    charlestfuller Low-Roller

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    That is a lot of goals!
     
  4. Texas Steph

    Texas Steph A Work in Progress...

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    What a wonderfully written, informative start to your trip report! I'm hooked!!
    More! More!!
     
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  5. martinr

    martinr Rock Chalk Jayhawk

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    @alanleroy :
    What's up with the lighting of that giant menorah? The sequence of lighting a menorah is simple. The center candle is lit every night and it then is used to light the candles starting with the farthest right one on the first night. Each night, an additional one is lit until all eight are lit on the last night. In the picture, the only one lit/being lit would be the one for the fifth night. Something is not Kosher about this.
     
    First Time Staying on the South End. Will I Hear Southern Accents?
  6. alanleroy

    alanleroy Click my avatar

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    Yes indeed the lighting was not Kosher. Robin pointed that out to me too. They were having some technical difficulties as the wind was continually blowing out the candles. However the Dancing Dreidels from New York City made up for any Menorah lighting shortcomings.
     
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  7. martinr

    martinr Rock Chalk Jayhawk

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    Most outdoor menorahs that I've seen are actually using electric bulbs instead of candles. Maybe they'll discover this someday there.
     
    First Time Staying on the South End. Will I Hear Southern Accents?
  8. NittyOne

    NittyOne VIP Whale

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    Wow great intro, I’m in. D look forward to reading about this. I’m also a coupon whore and I love the idea of hitting up 42 different spots.

    Question do you have any issues using the ACG and LVA coupons during one visit?
     
  9. alanleroy

    alanleroy Click my avatar

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    Generally it's not a problem. Although Palms did not allow us to use both LVA & ACG $10 match plays for the first time ever. Of course there is no 2018 ACG Palms coupon so it wont be a problem in the future. Oh..and we prefer the term 'Coupon Gigolo'
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
  10. blkshirt

    blkshirt High-Roller

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    Following...
     
  11. nancyf

    nancyf VIP Whale

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    enjoying this so far.... looking forward to more
     
  12. alanleroy

    alanleroy Click my avatar

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    PART II
    One of the worst sights at Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) is the Delayed status next to your Allegiant Flight. We’ve been delayed by Allegiant many times. Sometimes it would have been faster to just make the 6 hour drive to Vegas. We’ve done that too. It starts off at ½ hour late. Then an hour….Then…The plane arrives and we board! Not too bad, but would our delay screw up our precision timed first night’s accomplishments?

    Arrived in Vegas at 10:50. At the Alamo Rental floor at 11:10. I had the ‘Skip the Counter’ setup to save some time.

    [​IMG]
    It was like a sign.

    I asked Connie, the Alamo Lady if it was possible to get a ‘Complimentary Upgrade’ from our Compact Car as I was fondling a crisp $5.00 bill. “Sure!” she exclaimed. “What do you want? A pickup? A Minivan? A full Size?”. I answered “How about a Luxury Car?” “Sure!” she exclaimed. “What do you want? A Cadillac? A BMW?” “A Cadillac would do nicely” I replied slipping her an Honest Abe. Connie pointed us to a brand new Cadillac XTS that would be our luxurious Vegas transportation. SCORE!
    [​IMG]
    Man, this trip is already WINNING!

    Out of the lot, down the strip to Tropicana and then I15 to downtown and the California Hotel, our resort destination for the next two nights. Valet Parked (It’s free for guests) and checked in. I requested a “Complimentary Upgrade” to the Presidential Suite. They don’t have a Presidential Suite. Settled for a ‘Room with a view’….of nothing. I tried to put my notebook in the safe, but it was locked. Then tried the ever popular 1234 combination and Bingo the safe opened.

    [​IMG]
    Hey Look! Pridiyathorn Nana left us a check.

    Our goal for tonight was to collect our various downtown Match Play and Free Slot Play. Not to actually gamble, mind you, but just collect it. We were also looking for any Rodeo or Hanukkah action. We fell woefully behind in our goal. Some players clubs were already closed. We ended up at the D about 1:30 AM and took the next logical course of action: to start drinking heavily at the Vue Bar. We made our customary toast to Mrs AlanLeroy’s Uncle Dave (His favorite place in the world was a seat at that bar) RIP Uncle Dave. Then we played a little keno and returned to The Cal Market Café for a late snack. In honor of the Rodeo, I went with the steak special…a mere. $4.25 after the LVA 2fer coupon.

    [​IMG]
    We ate a lot of cow in honor of the Rodeo this trip.

    [​IMG]
    Photo Contest. There are actually 3 paintings of San Francisco at The California in the Market Café. I still think they should call that joint The Hawaii” Then they could wear Hawaiian shirts and say Aloha and Mahalo and serve Hawaiian food and make it feel like a trip to the Islands….Oh wait a minute…

    Finally crashed out around 3 AM. Way behind schedule….But tomorrow’s another day. The schedule actually called for us to be up and on Fremont at 8:00 AM. Ha ha ha…When will we learn that’s never possible?

    Thursday December 15.

    We were playing catch up this morning. Out on Fremont by 9:30.

    [​IMG]
    We were more than a little behind.

    Breakfasted at the MSS buffet (LVA 2fer), then on to our gambling plays at MSS, Plaza, Cal, Downtown Grand, Fremont, Four Queens and Binions. We do our Free Slot Play first to pad the shared gambling wallet; otherwise a few missed $25 match plays could wipe us out and ruin our $200 bankroll.

    [​IMG]
    Menorah at Fremont Hotel Player’s Club

    We broke off the downtown gambling medley around 1:30 PM. Robin had hit a few $25 4 of a kinds and I held my own. The Gambling wallet was growing fast and we still had all of our Downtown match plays for tonight.

    NUWU
    Our first stop in the Luxurious Cadillac XTS was NUWU Cannibals.
    [​IMG]

    NUWU is the world’s largest Recreational Marijuana dispensary. NUWU is owned by the Paiute Tribe of American Indians. It’s located on Main Street between Fremont and Jerry’s Nugget.

    [​IMG]
    They are open 24 hours 7 days a week and have a drive thru for your Mary Jane imbibing convenience.

    [​IMG]
    This is one big beautiful legal recreational Marijuana store. I never thought I would actually be writing that.
    [​IMG]
    We went with the MTF which stands for Mantanuska Thunder Fuck. They claimed the effects include:
    Happiness, Euphoria, Stress Relief and Sustained Energy. Kind of like sex without any of the effort.

    [​IMG]
    Venue Menu

    [​IMG]
    Food glorious Food.

    [​IMG]
    Incredible edible

    [​IMG]
    20% off the $36 chocolate bar. I never thought I’d be writing that.

    [​IMG]
    We smoked a lot of Kosher Kush in honor of Hanukkah this trip.

    I was so engaged in examining the vast array of marijuana product offerings I didn’t even notice the long line of people in front of a table at the far end of the building. What’s going on?

    [​IMG]
    Why it was B Lister Cheech Marin in an autograph signing session. How could we be so lucky?



    Cheech actually has his own line of marijuana including the Cheech Marin OG strain
    https://cannabis.net/dispensaries/chief-and-buds/menu/cheech-marin-og

    Our Budtender was quite helpful. We bought about a hundred bucks of Marijuana and marijuana related products including the MFT disposable vape and many pre-rolls.

    SOUTH POINT
    After gambling stops at Jerry’s nugget and Palms, we pulled into the South Point parking lot around 3:30. It was packed to the gills with cars, campers, horse trailers and RVs. Luckily we pulled right into what appeared to be the very last parking spot.

    We were at South Point to attend two events. The Priefert World Series of Team Roping and the Cinch Western Gift Show.

    The world series of team roping is held annually at South Point. It coincides with the National Finals Rodeo. They also offer 10 million dollars in prizes. The best part about the Priefert World series of Team Roping is it’s absolutely free. I don’t know how they can do that: Pay for the South Point Arena, Run a 7 day team roping event and Give away 10 Million In prizes without charging admission.

    [​IMG]
    I’ll Take 2 Musburgers and an order of fries.

    On the way to the Arena, who did we see but none other than Brent Musburger (Himself) performing his daily satellite radio sports betting talk show. Can you believe it? Two minor celebrities in a single day. We were only missing Carrot Top for the trifecta.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    Maybe they should just rope other cowboys. Call it “Peer Roping”

    [​IMG]
    Baby Cows are tough.


    My Roping Video

    [​IMG]
    What if that was your dog instead of a cow? (That’s what the protesters say)

    [​IMG]
    Yippee Ki Yay

    [​IMG]
    South Point’s Famous All Beef $1.50 Hot Dog. This is what happens when a cow doesn’t make it on the rodeo circuit.

    The Cinch Western Gift Show is HUGE!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    They had me at ‘Complimentary’.

    [​IMG]
    All Kinds of shit at the gift show. All this shit and I can’t even find a Pyggin' string for Mrs. Alan Leroy.

    [​IMG]
    Dave made these hats.


    David Johnson, World Famous Hat maker, explains White vs Black Hats.

    [​IMG]
    Good hats ain’t cheap.

    After the rodeo action and gift show we made the short drive down to Silverton. I was checking in on a 5 night comp, but we weren’t actually staying there tonight. The deal also included a $75 Dining Voucher + a $25 Dining Voucher + $100 in Free Play. Allegedly. On last year’s trip we made our last stand at Silverton on the way to the airport. I blew like $200 in 8 minutes. I don’t even remember what ail I played. Then I started getting mailers. It culminated with a 4th Quarter offer that was good for any 5 days. I even got another mailer/teaser before I left that was also good for any 5 days in December. I set it up via e-mail with Host Anthony.

    When I got to check-in, the clerk didn’t know me. He had no reservation on file. No Comps. Nothing. What?? Luckily Anthony was there so the clerk called him over. Anthony didn’t know me either. I had my e-mail somewhere but couldn’t find it. Anthony went back to his office to research further. He was back a few minutes later, apologizing for the confusion. “I’m so sorry Mr. Schneider” he said. “Who?” I asked. Then he took my ID and went back to his office again. Finally, it was all straightened out. I’m still not sure if I got that sweet comp because they incorrectly thought I was Mr. Schneider or because they incorrectly thought I was the type of gambler who would blow $200 every 8 minutes.

    [​IMG]
    Pfffffft

    Checked out the room. Ok. We really just checked out the Marijuana. Then we wondered around Silverton an hour or so.


    Say Hi to the Mermaid!

    Next stop was Dinner at Rampart’s NY Deli Buffet. (Half Price with LVA Coupon). The NY Deli Buffet is like a Hanukah feast every Thursday Night. You get to wash it all down with free Dr. Brown’s Sodas.

    Rampart
    [​IMG]
    Krugel

    [​IMG]
    Roast Turkee

    [​IMG]
    Latkes

    [​IMG]
    Knish

    [​IMG]
    Beef Brisket

    [​IMG]
    Krugel, Roast Turkee, Latkes, Knish and Beef Brisket…and some brown.

    [​IMG]
    Menorah at Rampart. Let’s have a party!

    After dinner we returned downtown to the California where we smoked massive quantities of marijuana. That vape pen was especially powerful and there was no odor whatsoever. We started carrying it wherever we went. And toking whenever the buzz started to wear off. It would be a challenge to smoke all that weed before we left. Robin and I have never been ones to shrink from a challenge.

    We intended to attend the Rodeo parties at Plaza, Golden Nugget and The D this evening along with playing our many downtown communal match plays. Either we forgot to attend those parties or we no longer cared about our schedule after smoking all that dope. I don’t even remember. Short term memory is the first thing to go. I’m going with we just didn’t care.

    We were blessed with good luck on our match plays though and were ahead several hundred at the end of a very long day…but still way behind schedule. That’s ok. We could get up early and make up for lost time. Yeah right.

    Got to admit we did a lot in one day in Vegas. We gambled constantly and won. Visited the World’s Largest Marijuana store, and saw Cheech and Brent. We watched the World Series of Team Roping, Met a Hat Maker, Shopped for Pyggin’ string, ate a Hanukkah dinner, smoked a shitload of Ganga and said Hi to the Mermaid.

    Stay tuned for the next installment where one of us rides the Mechanical Bull, we actually attend a Rodeo Party or three and we either join the Rodeo Protests or it snows in Vegas or both.

    End of Part II
     
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  13. nancyf

    nancyf VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    LOVED the pictures...
     
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  14. TomTWI

    TomTWI Custom Title

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2012
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    Excellent Report I'm in
     
  15. Flopitbaby

    Flopitbaby Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Sounds like your doing Vegas right ! Good report.
     
  16. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

    Joined:
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    Enjoying your report. You missed a VMB meet at Cosmo during your trip :(
     
  17. Texas Steph

    Texas Steph A Work in Progress...

    Joined:
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    Houston, Tx
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    Great reporting!
    Eagerly awaiting the next installment!
     
  18. alanleroy

    alanleroy Click my avatar

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    Dang. If I had known I would have invited Cheech and Brent Musburger to come with us.
     
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  19. NittyOne

    NittyOne VIP Whale

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    Great update, up in smoke, keep coupon whoring.
     
  20. Robdude

    Robdude Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2017
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    California
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    Excellent report thus far. I also have the FAT predicament of taking a cheap Allegiant flight that is delayed often or making the drive. It’s always a gamble!

    Wish another airline would fly that route, paging SW...
     
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