1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

When did you become crazy about Vegas

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by Snowbelle3, Feb 3, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    Messages:
    2,711
    Location:
    East
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    11
    When was the moment that you realized you were hooked? When was the peak of your overzealousness?:thumbsup:
     
  2. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    358
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    4
    We were on the strip for maybe an hour just soaking it up beer in hand when I realized the freedom of it all, I guess my girl did too as we looked at each other and both said I love this town.

    We still haven't peaked and I am pretty sure it's going to be a very long time before either one of us does.
     
  3. NeonTurtle14

    NeonTurtle14 I Run the Vegas Hotdog Stand

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2011
    Messages:
    2,700
    Location:
    USA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    47
    First time I went to Vegas, a college graduation gift from a good friend, I took $600 for the week, and ended up coming home with $12,000 after playing some serious craps. I couldn't lose at the tables, any casino I played in, somehow. I was hooked. (Wish I could say the same about any subsequent trips at the craps tables though! I've paid them back and then some!)

    As my red-eye flight home took off, I looked out the window and saw the city all lit up, my wallet overflowing with cash, and I was hooked.
     
  4. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2004
    Messages:
    6,261
    Location:
    Indiana
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    36
    My 1st trip to LV I was meeting my oldest daughter for a girls trip to "just see what LV was about". (I live in Indiana - she lived in Texas) Hubby had been several times during the 70-80's & did not want to go....so he suggested this trip for us to spend time together. We had not found this board nor did we know anything! Not even to get a players card!! Geez we were so GREEN!. It took us about a full day to get acclimated....and boy did we. I thought this town is truly a little slice of heaven....just the escape we all need at times. Before we left after 3.5 days....we were both hooked....and happily still are! :) Oh, when hubby heard us talk of the trip and looked at the pics....we started going about 8 months later and ever since....
     
  5. DBear

    DBear VIP Bear

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2006
    Messages:
    3,249
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    12
    First trip in 2006. Drove onto the strip in a taxi, saw all the hotels and signs, and thought, I'm home.
     
  6. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2009
    Messages:
    6,341
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    75
    Good topic, sco! :thumbsup:

    I wasn't completely sold on Vegas after my first trip. I was a poor college kid and there weren't all the great resources available there are today (namely VMB). So I didn't know of all the great frugal options available.

    My next few trips sealed the deal, though. The first one was a business trip (I might never had returned on my own volition). I was still pretty broke. But the fact that I didn't have to pay for the flight, room or meals meant I could do up the fun stuff pretty good. I lost my ass the entire trip until the last night when an all-nighter at the Luxor BJ tables got me back to even...firmly establishing my gambling addiction.

    My next trip was a reunion with a bunch of college buddies. And while I can't remember too much of it, I know we had a blast. :headbang: After that I was hooked.


    The height of my overzealousness was probably 2010-2012. I think I averaged 6-7 trips a year over that period. I hope I'm able to remember how much fun I had in those days, 40 years from now when I'm eating dog food as a result of my brilliant financial decisions! :rolleyes2:
     
  7. Yall

    Yall Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2011
    Messages:
    406
    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Exact same thing here. First trip in '06, I was hooked before the cab ride from McCarren was over.

    :beer:
     
  8. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2010
    Messages:
    9,417
    Location:
    Florida
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    32
    Easily the first trip.
    When planning our first trip which was about 5 days we had a full page of activities because we didn't want to be bored and left with nothing to do.
    Well only 3-4 items got crossed off the list because we were so busy.
    It was easily the first day that we were hooked.
     
  9. dankyone

    dankyone VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2011
    Messages:
    4,051
    Location:
    Chicago
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    142
    First trip, March 1994. Stayed in a beaten up old suite at the Frontier. Walked everywhere. The Mirage was like a Fantasy for me at that point but it became my second home within a few years.
     
  10. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2011
    Messages:
    9,892
    Location:
    Northern Nevada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    248
    Ditto on The Mirage! I was appointed to the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council (yes there is such a thing) in the late 80's and the Mirage had just opened. I made my first business trip for a meeting down south. Being a Nevada resident, I'd seen all the casinos up north...but was blown away by The Mirage... I was hooked. I'm not a huge gambler, but I do marvel at the size, scope and "nature" of each property. During the strip "explosion" of construction that followed, I was able to visit each new property as they opened. I still enjoy just sittin' and watchin' how these places operate, the people who come and the excitement they generate!
     
  11. lithium78

    lithium78 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2013
    Messages:
    1,442
    Location:
    New Jersey
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    5
    On my first trip to Vegas, I went with a couple of friends to celebrate a friend's birthday and brought my girlfriend-at-the-time with us. We were staying at the Circus Circus on the North End of the Strip, but partying at Nine Fine Irishmen at NY-NY on the South End, so my gf was supposed to be our ride back at the end of the evening since she was the designated driver. We got really drunk and found out that she had gotten bored and decided to leave without us, plus she wasn't answering her cell phone. Nice, right?

    I was really drunk and confused and I thought it was a good idea to walk the entire length of the Strip back to the Circus Circus. It was a bad evening and it got worse when some drunk guy tried to fight me because I was wearing a leather jacket, which he thought meant that I thought I was tough. Luckily, we were able to get away without much trouble, because I was so wasted that I probably couldn't have even thrown a punch.

    So, we're having this miserable end to the evening when all of a sudden we walk right into the implosion ceremony for the Stardust. We had absolutely no idea that it was happening that evening and we ended up in a prime location to watch the fireworks and hear the music and watch the whole place get blown up. It was awesome. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. I still find myself watching the video of it over YouTube to this day.

    I would guess that was the moment I really truly fell in love with Las Vegas.

    Luckily, I got rid of that useless ex-gf soon afterward and met my wife a couple years later and we've been together ever since. My wife is the best Vegas travel buddy ever. We have a blast when we go together and our next trip will be July 4th weekend this summer.
     
  12. gradytripp

    gradytripp High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2012
    Messages:
    548
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    2 1/2 years ago. I'd just turned 41. I'd never been to Vegas. My dad (who'd been to LV only once) said, "hey, let's go to Las Vegas--let's stay at Bellagio." A month later I got off the shuttle, walked into Bellagio, and that was that. I think an angel choir started singing. It was utterly unlike my (wonderful!) real life: the fancy glass sculpture in the lobby, the casino noises, the slot machines, the "buzz"... I'd never even been inside a casino before, even though they're all over the place now. I don't think I'd ever even placed a bet before.

    Six months later I went with my brother (a veteran Vegas fanatic). Six months after that I took my wife, who turned out to love the place as well. We've been back two more times. Dad and I have gone back twice. I now have a dedicated Vegas savings account that gets regular, modest infusions. (Hey--a guy should have a hobby.) I don't always stay at Bellagio, but it'll always have a special place in my heart, and each trip I make sure to pay a visit to the place where it all started!
     
  13. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2011
    Messages:
    4,201
    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    36
    I really took a shine to Vegas in the late-70s (as a pre-teen). My aunt and uncle had come back from a trip with a deck of cards from the Stardust, postcards, photos, etc. My uncle talked of this "new" game of poker where you're only dealt two cards. They saw a show with a comedienne who was always on Hollywood Squares (might have been Totie Fields, but don't bank on that). And even at 10 years old, I hung onto the entire story.

    I would watch for Vegas scenes during the Jerry Lewis Telethon, the TV show Vega$, and (believe it or not) the George Burns movie "Going My Way" (three senior citizens rob a bank just to see if they can get away with it, then they don't know what to do with the money so they go to Vegas with it... and win another fortune playing craps).

    I went to Vegas the first time at age 21 in 1989 (I was there two months before The Mirage opened) but I was so overwhelmed about not knowing what to do. I remember my girlfriend - ok, we impulsively got married (then broke up a month later) and I stayed at the Imperial Palace and took the bus up and down The Strip, in awe of the buildings that I've seen so many times on TV... but we were afraid to go INTO them. I don't know why that was, though. We walked to The Dunes for dinner and just watched that neon sign for what seemed like hours before going into the building.

    Then for some reason (well, it was a good reason... I had kids and a freeloading wife - that was wife #2 - that made balancing a checkbook difficult, no mind vacation) it took me until 2005 to make my second trip.

    My current wife (#3, and very likely a keeper) and I have adequate income and that 2005 trip was our honeymoon. I remember landing on Saturday evening, renting a car, driving up the strip, and being so excited we went all the way downtown and didn't stop until we got to Binions. We were staying at the Sahara, in a room looking south towards The Strip, and have a really neat photo with the Stardust and Westward Ho all lit up.

    I've now made 10 more trips since 2005... and I may be in a bit of a rut. When I go with my wife, we like certain things (staying mid-Strip, doing things during the day to stay out of the casinos, and fine dining in the evening) and when I go with the guys (each of the last five autumns) we stay downtown, play a ton of poker, and complain about the omnipresent noise no matter where you go on a Saturday night.

    I am still planning a boy's trip this fall, dropping the two older guys (their decision) but adding a younger guy. Hopefully we can find a way to freshen it up for me. I fear I've been there too much in the last 10 years that it isn't "special" any more, and it is a fear I really want to overcome without having to stay away for an extended time.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  14. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,307
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    I really enjoyed Vegas on my first trip, and helped me get more interested in gambling altogether, but I wasn't crazy about Vegas after that first trip. School and other things led to a 10-year Vegas hiatus. The 2nd trip got me hooked though and in a couple of weeks it will be 8 Vegas trips in 2.5 years...yikes! One reason I keep wanting to return is that it's one of the few places I can play mix game poker without costing an arm and a leg.

    Also myVegas subsidizing our trips with hotel rooms/cirque shows has definitely helped too.
     
  15. waverunner

    waverunner ------VEGA$------

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2012
    Messages:
    2,810
    Location:
    SoCal
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    124
    I became hooked in 1977. I was born and raised in Boston and then we moved to SoCal in 1975. I actually looked forward to driving to Vegas not for gambling etc., but as a Bostonian i had never seen the desert. In the late 70's i was a big fan of Jai Alai and used to stay at the old MGM because this new and exciting sport really caught my attention.
    I have never been a big gambler, just mostly slots, but the idea of Vegas has and always will keep my interest until i'm put out to pasture.
    I do miss the barren wasteland of the Strip in the late 70's early 80's..........nobody really walked anywhere because the properties were so far apart.
    I once walked from the Stardust (where i was staying), to the Hacienda. Distance wise it's the same as it now of course, however, it was really boring because you mostly had gas stations, a few motels, tumbleweeds, sand, etc. until the next Hotel on the Strip.
     
  16. The Stig

    The Stig VIP Whale

    Joined:
    May 28, 2009
    Messages:
    3,173
    Location:
    Lancashire, UK
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    34
    Got to be the first visit, the casino hotels, the shows, everything else as well it was mind blowing and after 5 trips I'm still wanting more of it.
     
  17. gotavegasjones

    gotavegasjones VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2004
    Messages:
    3,104
    Location:
    South Texas
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    31
    Summer 2001. We we're planning a month long trip to Colorado and Arizona. My wife suggested we make a stop in Las Vegas on our way to Phoenix because it is on the way. I had to show her a map in order for her to believe my argument Vegas wasn't on the way. She had been to Vegas a couple of times. I had never been and had no desire to go. She kept telling me how, "Vegas is Disneyland for adults." You will love it." My reply was "Vegas is just a place of glitz, and neon lights, and gambling, for sinners and low life's," She told me I was full of ****.
    She prevailed. We did include a two night stop in Vegas after spending two nights in Moab, Utah in order to hang out at Arches National Monument. I really liked Vegas. We stayed at Stratosphere 'cause they had an arcade and rides on the tower roof. I thought this would be a good distraction for our son who was 15 at the time. I knew I was hooked on Vegas when we received mail from the Stratosphere about a week after we returned home. They had a promotion for signing up for their players card. You could not be a loser during your first hour of gambling 'cause if you were a loser they would return your money. When the check reimbursing my losses ($110) and an offer for 3 free nights arrived in my mail box, they had me hook, line and sinker. But, you could only cash the check at the Cashier Cage in the Sratosphere We've now go to Vegas at least once a year, some years two or three times. She was right - I love it.

    later, GVJ
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2014
  18. jackincols

    jackincols Guest

    Like waverunner, it was the summer of 1977 for me.

    Main reason was I was on my first gambling junket out of Columbus, Oh....a junket I didn't deserve to be on because I had no gambling track record whatsoever. A friend of a friend got me on that plane and the rest is history.
     
  19. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2009
    Messages:
    4,299
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    I think the seed was planted during in my childhood in the 1970's. But, I actually became a lunatic while planning for our first trip in 2004. I think it was the endless possibilities and affordability that got to me. Then when we got there a number of factors combined and I became a hopeless case at that point. I don't want to be cured.
     
  20. monczkia

    monczkia Tourist

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2013
    Messages:
    49
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    3
    My interest was peaking seeing The Hangover and then in 2010 my ex entered a cornhole tournament at The Orleans and we booked it. I remember landing in Vegas and seeing the Luxor pyramid and getting so excited. That night walking the strip and just having all the stimulation and thinking " You can drink on the street? This is amazing", was when I realized this is somewhere I could keep coming back to.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.