The Mother Plucker’s Ramblings

I just got back from Sin City for my 35^th birthday and figured I needed to blog about why I love that town so much.  After more than 50 appearances there, I consider myself a salty veteran of the town.  Feel free to use this as your Frommer’s for Las Vegas if you have never been.

1.  There is no other town in America where a guy who makes $20,000 a year can have as much fun as a guy who makes $20 Million a year.   The guy who makes $20,000 a year has $1.99 All You can eat Prime Rib and Shrimp, $3.00 Blackjack downtown at The Nugget and $1.00 Natty Lights at O’Sheas.  To that guy, Vegas is the same utopia that it is for a movie star. 

2.  Every girl gains at least 2 points in Vegas - Guys will typically describe a woman on a 1-10 scale when describing her beauty.  In Vegas, every girl gains at least 2 points.  That means a 4 can become a 6, but even better, a 6 can become an 8.  I think over the past 10 years, the ladies have learned that Vegas is a great place to get in their little red dresses and always look their best.

3.  Nine Steakhouse in The Palms - I haven’t found a better steak anywhere in the country.  Sure it costs $50 for a New York Strip, but where else can you get a steak as good with an atmosphere as cool.  I was there last Saturday night and sitting within earshot of me were the Maloof Brothers (owners of The Palms), Kid Rock, UFC Champion Tito Ortiz with his emaciated girlfriend Jenna Jameson, Wayne Newton and Maria Lopez and his Dancing with the Stars partner Karina.

4.  What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas  - Besides “If you don’t like our wings, we’ll give you the bird”, I don’t think there has ever been a better marketing slogan than this one.  I mean, this can be interpreted into pretty much anything you want and allows for people to feel they can do whatever they want without recourse.  Cheat on your wife?  Stays in Vegas.  Lose two-months worth of salary?  Stays in Vegas.  Get naked and run down the strip tanked on Jagermeister?  You get the point.  

5.  Tao in the Venetian - for my money, no club has a better vibe than Tao.  Not only is the restaurant incredible (try the flash fried spicy tuna rolls), but the club is unparalleled in Vegas.  I’ve seen Paris, Lindsey Lohan and tons of pro athletes there, plus the DJ always is playing great music.

6.  Drinking is encouraged by everyone in the town.  There aren’t many places you can go where your hosts actually want you to become a blubbering mess.  In Vegas, they build $1 billion hotels like the Venetian based on this theory.

7.  McCarran Airport – Sure the cab lines can take an hour and a half to get to your hotel and you need to get there at least 2 hours early for departure, but can you go to any other airport where 50% of the people have a mischievous grin on their face that says “I am going to own Vegas after this trip” and 50% have a look that says “Please never bring me back to this town again”.  Oh yeah, slot machines in the airport…you can’t beat that.

8.  Sitting Down with the Stars – I am not much of a stargazer, but Vegas is the one place in the world that you can spend a few minutes sitting with someone in the pages of US Weekly.  I’ve sat down with Tommy Lee and Vince Neil of Motley Crue fame, David Faustino from Married with Children (when the show was still on the air) and we even saw Bill Simons this trip who has written the greatest articles ever on Vegas.  If you haven’t read any of them here’s a great one http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/vault1.  And if you are the hot shooter on a hot craps table it’s a great feeling when everyone else at the table is ignoring Dennis Rodman because you are the star of the casino.

9.  The Super Bowl and March Madness – I have been to the Super Bowl to watch my team, the Falcons in Miami and I have been to 4 Final Fours, but I promise you that watching these events in Vegas is better than being at the games themselves.  My college buddies have a long tradition of going to Vegas for the Super Bowl every year and in 1998 when I missed the trip to see the Falcons in Miami, I swore I would never miss the Vegas weekend again.  There is nothing like sitting in a room with thousands of other degenerate gamblers who bet on the coin flip, who will score the first touchdown or if NW Directional School State can cover the 32 against Duke.

10.  Spearmint Rhino – If you don’t get this reference and you are a man, I feel sorry for you.

 Have any other suggestions on topics?  Email me at dpaul@pluckers.net and I would love to hear them.

For those of you that were at any Pluckers last Thursday for the Cowboys and Packers, you know just how crazy the day was.  For those of you that couldn’t get it, we are sorry we couldn’t accommodate you.  Every one of our locations was at capacity by 4:30 on Thursday and we even had one guest who showed up at the Round Rock store at 10:00am to get the best seat in the house.We were voted best Sports Bar in Austin by Citysearch last year, but the Cowboys game may have been the best night ever to watch a game at Pluckers.   We want to thank all of our loyal guests that help make Pluckers special.  Don’t forget that the Cowboys play one more time on NFL Network against the Panthers, so make sure you get to Pluckers early that Saturday if you want a seat!