I used to go to Las Vegas a lot. I was card-counting at Blackjack (sometimes) and I was dating a lady in a show there (sometimes) and I just found it easier to work in a Vegas hotel room than in my home (sometimes) and I liked exploring the showrooms and the history and the performers (always). I stopped going when my mother was in failing health and needed me to stray no farther than the adjacent zip code.
When she finally passed, I didn't resume my Vegas-going because my dear friend Carolyn was in failing health. After she died, I went a few times but not as much.
I'd stopped card-counting. I got an "Ask ME" question I never answered as to why. Simple: I got ahead and I got bored. And I was well aware that if I kept playing, there would come a moment when I would slip behind and then I'd feel compelled to keep playing until I got ahead again…and that might not happen. Meanwhile, the showgirl lady gave up that profession and moved away so that was over.
I now find it easier to work at home and since most of "Old Vegas" is gone, exploring the town and the shows and such isn't as fascinating to me. And there's another reason why I haven't been there in over a year but I can't quite remember what it is…
Oh, right. The Pandemic. Almost forgot about that.
And even if I'd been immune to it the past year, I wouldn't have gone to Vegas. So much of it is not open. A lot of what I've seen online looks like a creepy place to be these days. It's coming back but it has a long way to come back before it'll look enticing to me.
When I go back, I won't be playing Video Blackjack. I probably won't gamble even a quarter on anything but I definitely won't be playing Video Blackjack. I'll play it at home on my computer or phone but not for money. But if you want to play it anywhere, you might appreciate a lesson from Anthony Curtis.
Mr. Curtis publishes the Las Vegas Advisor, which has made my Vegas-going much, much better since I started subscribing in 1993 or thereabouts. It was only a printed newsletter then. Now, it's more like a website that you join and you can read the monthly newsletter online or, if you insist, receive a paper version of it. There's also plenty of useful news and advice on their website if you don't subscribe.
Lately, they've also been doing videos. Here's a little lesson in Video Blackjack, which is a lot different from Live Blackjack. For one thing, you can't count cards. You can't even keep track of how many aces are left in the deck because the "dealer" (the machine) shuffles after every hand. And as Curtis notes in this video, some of the rules of Video Blackjack make it much harder to leave with more than you had when you sat down…