Breaking news we have know chance of winning to bracket competitions. Is that a UFO or a flock of birds either way Tommy’s tripping at the Luxor. And have we been looking in the fish tank with the site redesign? The recommendations for are a cover band with a difference and an up market Denny’s.
So we finished our strip reviews, so it’s time to head down town. The Golden Gate is a step back in time and the home to some great food bargains. If your after a happy hour Main Street Station is the place. Not to forget the signature property The Golden Nugget which has very high standards for downtown. Binions is a mecca for poker players, with the “poker hall of fame”. And lets not forget the El Cortez, no we really should forget it.
Email: Brian Mollica brian@notiowa.com and Tommy Dutch tom@notiowa.com Give us a call 206-203-Iowa
You devote an ENTIRE episode to the Barbary Coast while neglecting the World Fattest Elvis and then have the audacity to just lump all of downtown into one big “failure pile”???
I lived in Hawaii for several years and it’s alarming how often Hawaiians head to Vegas to gamble. Many of my classmates would go there every 3 months. I’d love to ask them where else on the mainland that they had been, “Have you seen yellowstone, NYC, Grand Canyon or DisneyWorld, etc?” “Nope but I’ve been to Vegas 43 times”. There are tons of great deals for them and one of the best places is the Main Street Station. The price of Hawaii residents is crazy. You can get a room with meals for like $35/night. I kept my Hawaii license for years after moving just for this reason. One of my buddies from Honolulu who now lives in Seattle meets his parents at the Main Street all the time so I’ve hung out there quite a bit. One of my favorite stories is that this guy has lived in this nice condo in Honolulu for about 20 years and he is adamant that he runs into the guy who lives 2 door down from him MORE OFTEN in the elevators and lobby of the Main Street than he does in the elevators and lobby of the condo they both live in in Hawaii. I love walking around because he knows half the casino it’s live Honolulu EAST.
I have to confess that I only had time to listen to half the episode on my morning commute prior to this post, however I felt compelled to post on a couple of topics.
Fist, I enjoyed Tommy’s recommendation for the Rainbow Bar. In a related story, I saw where the Rainbow Bar closed its doors on 25 March. Nice.
Apparently it will reopen in a larger location on the other side of the strip later this summer.
Second, there was no mention of the new co-worker in the first part of this week’s episode. That is probably good. I was a bit uneasy because, by accounts, he is a pretty good guy and, potentially, would hear about this show. I can’t imagine how much crap he has had to put up with in his life through no fault of his own. However, the talk about the Peppermill this week reminded me that I was disappointed about one thing. Specifically that one of the hosts has not yet taken the opportunity to breakout the yardstick so we could get an accurate metric on KGBs comment from the January ‘Harrahs’ episode regarding the height of the hash brown stack at the Peppermill http://notiowa.com/?p=33 .
ALRIGHT…I’M THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET.
Who’s interested in meeting up in Vegas for a “this ain’t iowa” live listener blowout?
I tried organizing this on BMO’s old show and it was basically a bunch of people who were interested and ultimated BITCHED out. It ended up being me and another guy both down there for the World Series of Poker.
I’m planning on heading back for either some of the smaller WSOP events or the Bellagio Cup Events if they run them again. I haven’t ironed out any specific dates as of yet.
Anybody interested in participating? Think of action..the excitement…the potential for grumpy punting prop bets.
TAX TIME…So I’ve offically hit rock bottom. My wife was collecting receipts and W-2′s and K-1′s and whatnot to send to our accountant to file our taxes when I let out dont’ forget this and handed her my “losing” receipt from the 2006 WSOP. Yeah you know you’re a degenerate when you try and claim gambling losses on your taxes.
Has anybody done this before? I’ve had to claim the winnings multiple times so why not stick it to Uncle Sucker, I say. I’m going to talk to my accountant about the “safety of the move”. I’ll update the class later. I polled the hosts on the subject previously by email but didn’t receive any love back…maybe they didn’t get my email or maybe they thought I’m some undercover IRS agent waiting to audit all you degenerates.
Patch –
I’m heading to Vegas May 20 – 24th and that will be my third trip there in 5 months – not sure I have another one in me until the fall – but keep me posted on your plans.
As for taxes – I thought loss receipts could only be used to decrease the amount of winnings claimed in the same year. But maybe there’s a year or two on later you can claim losses -but I know that it has to be against winnings. It’s not like a charitable donation to church.
In other words – if I go out an blow 4000 on black jack and win nothing – I can’t write off the 4000. But I am not an accountant by any stretch of the imagination.
You’re totally right….I forgot where I am…You’re absolutely right. You can only claim losses against WINNINGS in a given year. This is obviously a very important detail. You can’t head to the pit and dust off a few large to decrease your taxable income. I’ve had to report winnings several times after some big wins in tournament poker and the track….what’s painful is that it’s very difficult to prove the losses. Also, you can’t claim a LOSS greater than a win. Example, I have documentation for a $1500 loss in a poker tournament, but have only claimed $900 in winnings….I can’t claim the extra $600 loss.
I got some advice from one of my Hawaiian classmates who happened to be an accountant in a previous life. His advice is that if you ever take down a nice score in Vegas IMMEDIATELY head to the cage and request a marker for nearly the same amount. You can turn right around and cash in the marker….but you have documentation that took it out and you can claim it as a loss. A “friend” of mind did this after winning a slot jackpot for 3 g’s. Again this advice is for “novelty use only” just like my man Nelson selling quiz cheat sheets from the shitter on the Simpsons.
Heading to the local Off Track Betting Parlor and picking up old tickets off the ground will do the trick as well.
And now for something completely Useless..
(No reflection on previous posters\topics…)
Since Opening Day is fast closing in upon us, here is a list of “prominent players from the Nevada-Reno Wolf-pack who had at least 2-3 cups of coffee in the “Bigs”…
Shawn Barton
Ryan Church
Joe Inglett
Kevin Kouzmanoff
Corky Miller
Lyle Overbay
Chad Qualls
Chris Singelton
(What’s the point? It might start a thread of sorts. We’ll see..)
Play for Monday: Knicks +2 over Magic
New York is at home, they’ve beaten Orlando out right 3 of the last 4 times they’ve played, and they are only 1 1/2 games out of the 8th playoff spot.
Record: 40-25-3
Boy, I sure hope this is an early April Fools’ joke:
http://www.pr-inside.com/giant-jackson-to-dwarf-vegas-r76501.htm
Basically, some idiot wants to build a 50-foot robotic Michael Jackson (no indication if it’s the black male Michael Jackson or the white female Michael Jackson) that shoots laser beams out of its eyes.
Wow, Patch. I haven’t seem that kind of casino fueled rage since the Fennville/Silverton rant of ’07
Yeah I had to take the day off from work.
Another great show, gentlemen.
A couple of observations:
The El Co is a dump, but far from the worst dump in Vegas. That honor would have to go to either The Western or the Gold Spike. I trecked it to those garden spots on my last trip just for an adventure. A true one of a kind experience.
You forgot to mention that you can take a piss on an actual piece of the Berlin Wall at the Main Street Station.
One of the best things about downtown is the fact that you can still play single or double deck black jack with a decent table min, and get paid 3/2 as opposed to the shitty 6/5 crap on the strip.
Thanks for once again, blowing up the great(?) state of Kentucky. Damn, guys, it seems like a weekly event! Remember, some of us do wear shoes and have all our teeth. Heck…I’ve never even dated my cousin.
Going back an episode or two. I agree 100% about the fanatical Buckeye fans. You nailed that one!
What a block by Dwight Howard!..tell me why you would have a 5’9 guard drive to the hoop & take that shot.. nice job, Zeke.
One of the great times I ever had in Vegas was when a mutual friend of ours set up a meeting between Mrs. Fennville, me, and Mark Brandenberg the owner of the Golden Gate. He showed us around and gave us the whole history of downtown. A really entertaining part was his story of how the Light Show came about. Steve Wynn actually wanted to build it into the Venetion. He wanted the street turned into a canal and you’d take boats from one casino to the next. Another guy flew George Lucas into build a giant spaceship. Pretty soon those two were at each others’ throats. Benny Binion finally stood up and said,
“Damn it, the baby’s at the bottom of the swimming pool and you two dumbasses are fighting over whether we’re sending him to Harvard or Yale.”
Mark is a great guy and God bless his attempts to keep that historic place open.
I made my first visit to the Plaza, most depressing place I have ever been.
Like Tommy, in all of my trips to Vegas, I have never made it to MSS. I will have to try the happy hour, minus the Redman.
Tim and Tom owned the Nugget for 13 months and split $150,000,000 in profits from the sale. Pretty good year’s wage.
Binion’s will never be the Horseshoe….can’t bring myself to play there anymore.
Fitz has sneaky pay tables on some of their VP. Scariest parking garage i have ever driven.
Four Queens has been my luckiest spot downtown lately.
Good 99 cents margaritas at Fremont.
LVC- pretty lame.
Back to Devildog’s post on players from Neveda-Reno:
Chris Singleton played a few years for the White Sox and now does the color commentary on their local radio broadcasts.
As a side note – he makes Brian sound lucid and well prepared.
Also – of the players listed – Singleton has made the most money in MLB Salary – but Overbay annd Qualls will catch him.
Shawn Barton 109,000
Ryan Church 316,000
Joe Inglett No Info – Debuted last year
Kevin Kouzmanoff No Info – Debuted last year
Corky Miller 638,000
Lyle Overbay 3,597,000
Chad Qualls 692,000
Chris Singleton 3,950,000
Some more about Qualls – White Sox LEGEND and WORLD SERIES star Paul Konerko hit his Grand Slam of Qualls in game 2 of the World Series. Then last year in an interleague game Joe Crede hit a slam off of him.
There also was a Jimmy Qualls who played for the 1969 Cubs (ha ha ha – just typing “1969 Cubs” gets me giddy – God they are a fun team to hate). I haven’t been able to find out if he is related to Chad. But Jimmy is best known for breaking up a Tom Seaver perfect game in 69. Seaver had been perfect through 25 batters before Qualls single.
Wow – none of this has a damn thing to do with embracing my degenerate gambler – but what the hell.
Now I’m ready for some baseball!! Thanks Devildog.
Mabye Tommy wasn’t stoned……..
Here’s a link to a picture of what he might have seen in the luxor light: http://blog.notruebill.com/?p=217
….and they don’t look like fish…..
Wait – hold that thought. Holy Crap – maybe it was THIS guy:
Criss Angel-Cirque du Soleil Vegas Deal Expected This Week
Posted Mar 11th 2007 2:00PM by Robin Leach
Filed under: Shows, Celebrity, Luxe Life, Breaking News, Business News
The current TV season of shows is wrapping on a really high note. On Thursday, Criss finally achieved his most incredible illusion by levitating some 22 feet above the giant light beam of the Luxor for just over 10-minutes. “That was about four months in the making,” he said. “It was amazing being up there and literally looking down at traffic seeing me and almost crashing to a halt in disbelief.”
Ok – I know, I know – multiple posts and all…..
But in this article about the guy at the luxor,
http://www.vegaspopular.com/2007/03/11/criss-angel-cirque-du-soleil-vegas-deal-expected-this-week/
The last sentence reads, and I quote,
“LUXE LIFE has just learned of an issue at the Silverton shark tank involving Criss and medical personnel. Stay tuned.”
And I could hardly resiste a good Silverton reference now, could I?
Hi Posters
(trainfan,fennville,slashdogx,SOF,Mofoboes,devildog,patch406,etc..great stuff!)
& again Steve (vegas COPS/midget employment service link)…top drawer stuff!
Mofoboes I saw u r an A’s fan,me too,would love to watch a game with you when i’m in town(shortly)…how can we arrange this if your keen?
BoMO (i listened to your guest spot on Rounders, sounds a good nickname) & Tom (stop smoking that wacky backy mate they are only moths-thanks asterion) Guys a great show yet again….I’m a cert to spend a day Downtown now….happy hour from 2-6 at Main Station….too easy!
Just quietly, I’m going to be in Vegas soon for the 2nd time (1st trip 1999),I feel like a kid waiting for Xmas!
I dunno about other listeners but I would like to hear a bit of stuff about BoMO & Tom’s poker background,biggest wins, baddest beats,ever been in WSOP event, how did you go,etc? just an idea,i know this is a vegas podcast but if you can spend 1hr crapping on about basketball then why not!
Sorry i forgot to shout out to Tony(i know he loves recognition) great work on the website improvements but mate c’mon did you take the home page pic when you were on holiday? cos’ there’s noting like that pic in Sale!……but there is a race track!
Hey guys nice review of downtown. Don’t forget however that little slot machine casino Mermaids (across from Binion’s) where you can get the fried Oreos and the deep-fried twinkies. Guaranteed to take 1 month off of your life for each one you consume.
I’m up for the TNI meetup. I’ll probably be in Vegas in 2 weeks and then again around 20 JUN during the WSOP.
When you go to Peppermill don’t forget to get the Hash Browns piled as high as a midget’s ass!
Update on the recent thread with the subliminal messages from slot machines:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9014320
-KGB
Hey there guys:
Me and a buddy go to the NFR every 3 years or so. The last time we went, we stayed at The Plaza because their package had lower bowl rodeo tickets. Man, what a dump. We don’t stay at fancy places, but the Plaza makes the ImPal look like a luxury hotel. We had asked for a non-smoking room and the room on the non-smoking floor still smelled like an ashtray. It was something straight out of the 70s. I think we ate there once and it was so horrible that we never ate there again (the Main Street Station buffet is alright, nothing outstanding, but a good basic buffet). The rodeo seats were good, but it wasn’t worth it.
Soon after that we saw the poker show that orginated from the Plaza and we both have no idea where they taped it as it looked completely different from what we experienced.
Biggest dump of a casino? Ellis Island has to be in contention.
Stopped there a couple weeks ago to pick up a couple pizzas at Metro Pizza (very good pizza by the way). Looked around for a few minutes while waiting for the pizzas. The sportsbook was smaller than my kitchen, with about 6 chairs, some 25 inch TVs from the 70s, and the lines were posted on a dry erase board. The ceilings seemed like they were about 7 feet high, smokiest, dingiest place I have ever seen. From what I could make out in the haze, the average age had to be in the 70s.
Would be interested to here a review of this place, can’t be higher than 1/2 cigarette butt.
Calgary,
I spent about 15 minutes in the Plaza last January and was looking for a pre-emptive tetanus shot having not even touched anything.
Of all my visits, NFR was the best. Saw Chris LeDoux at the pre-fishtank Silverton. God bless him. We stayed at the Rio but spent most of the time at the Gold Coast. That is a place that goes nuts during the rodeo. It was like being in a John Wayne movie.
Scott, I totally agree on the EI. I stopped in for the ballyhooed $4.95 steak on my first ever trip. I threw a buck in a machine on the way to the bathroom and hit a quick $35. Despite the food and the winnings, I haven’t been back.
Of all of the dumps, Western or Gold Spike make the other 2 joints look like Bellagio and Wynn.
My favorite drinks downtown are in La Bayou- you can get slush drinks with Everclear in them guaranteed to get you sloppy in one drink.
I agree a TAI party would be fun. I will also be there in 2 weeks, June 20-25, and probably in Aug/Fall sometime.
Hawkeye Brad – I’ll be there the 10th-12th APR, and again probably (but not definitely) 20-23 JUN. Sounds like a meetup is in order!
KGB- Apr 13-15 for me, so that won’t work, but I think Patch said he’ll be there sometime in June, too.
It sounds like one of the ‘forums’ to be considered as part of the web-site update might be a calendar or “Who’s in Vegas When” forum.
Play for Wednesday: Heat +2.5 over Raptors
I’m kicking myself because this was available at 3.5 yesterday but I was too lazy to get off the couch. I still like Miami to win the game out right. Riley has converted this team to a slower paced defensive minded club and everyone seems to have bought in. They’ve been very effective on the road, covering 16 of their last 20.
Record: 40-26-3
Nice 1st half dicks! I guess I’d rather lose by 20 than 3. As long as that extra point I gave away doesn’t come into play.
BMO, really enjoy the show, not sure what i would do if i couldn’t listen to you ramble about almost nothing for 2 hours a week. Keep up the good work.
Plays for this weekend:
St Kilda +10.5 over Melbourne
Brisbane -5.5 over Hawthorn
Well thats my action for the start of the AFL Season here in Australia. My only advice is stay away from the Swans V Eagles, after all the drug turmoil there is no way of knowing what West Coast will do.
Record: 0-0-0
And dipper how in the world do you know I live near Sale? Yes it is a great race track. And how are you going to adjust to pokies being called slots?
Tony the guys mentioned you were from Sale in one of the shows, RE:pokies/slots….who cares, I don’t play them,I’m going to be betting baseball,playing poker & shooting the occasional dice……good luck with the AFL tips I will follow your tips this season.
Footy RULES!
uhhhh…..no it doesn’t.
Excellent Post Tony. Good luck on the St. Kilda Wager.
Anyone ever notice that most US sports fans know squat about Australian Rules Football, but most feel obligated to do their best impression of the scoring signal whenever the topic comes up?
Speaking of downtown, I always enjoy seeing the losers sitting at the “oxygen bar kiosk” in the center of Fremont Street paying money to soak-up up flavored air. Due to the heavy smoke pooring out of all of the downtown casinos, as well as, the typical unfortunate smells that come with downton Las Vegas, no amount of purchased “rasberry” oxygen is going to help your lungs.
Brian & Tommy,
how can you talk about downtown and not even mention The California casino? On a scale of one to five “chain-smoking-asian-tourist”, I would have to give it a solid two.
I was going to say that I have a couple of Jerseys I got from a company in Nebraska, one being the Canberra Sharks or Great Whites(?)..but then again,it’s Rugby-not ARF.
I do remember back in the early 80′s when ARF was one of the premier events on a fledgling staion named ESPN.
How can talk about downtown casinos and not mention the conveniently located Glitter Gulch? It’s like have a topless bar in your hotel and casino. I think it’s been providing entertainment for 50 years non-stop. Brian, here’s what you do: cash out at Binion’s, stop in at the Gulch for 2 drinks, then stumble into the Las Vegas Club feeling like a winner.
I think TAI has a great opportunity here to provide the best and most detailed reviews of the non- MGM/Mirage and Harrah’s hotels.
I mean everyone has reviews of the Bellagio – but people are staying at all of these other spots that my fellow Not Iowans seem to know an awful lot about.
Someone is staying at these places – might even be able to sell them some advertising. I personally find reading the details of the less well known places some of the most enjoyable stuff on the site.
As an aside – I posted a long reply to Devildogs list of ball players – but the system to seems to either lost it or determined it to be so far off topic that it was simply rejected.
In response to comment #39….if the “impression” is pretending to be a guy in a white tuxedo with a top hat who takes a little step forward and then quickly jerks both arms with the elbows bent at 90 degrees….yeah I’m that American-style ignoramus. You totally burned me dude. Time to go “reevalute” things.
trianfan your lost post is now up and sorry for the delay. There is a new system in place for dealing with spam and a few real post have been caught in it. Please everyone let me know if it happen to one of your post or even an email.
Hate to break this to you patch but they no longer wear the tux.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGDsXIQeoI
Dude….they went from a white tux to some jerk in an orange shirt and baseball cap….Australia is dead to me.
SERIOUSLY NO TUXEDO>>>NO TOPHAT!!!! Ah man this Bullshit. If you want me I’ll be out on the porch pouring out some 40 for Steve Irwin and cranking my vinyl copy of “overkill”.
You were spot on about the move. Not burning you, I just think it is the funny that is so common and well known when the game itself is more a less a complete mystery to most. If there was a quiz: Demonstrate the AFL scoring signal or name one AFL player in all of history, I think the scoring signal would win.
And yeah, I liked the old uni’s better as well.