Las Vegas

Karen and I don't gamble--even in Las Vegas.  Oh, I think one or two times, oh so briefly, she did play the slots.  But the vast majority of the time, the only thing we do with the casinos is walk through them.  I am always intrigued at how full they are at almost any time of the day or night.

OK, K and I likely would never go to LV again if Matt wasn't living there.  We enjoy the place, a lot, and after 15 or more trips out there are getting to know it quite well--without getting lost.  It's always great to see Matt and catch up on his doings.

That said, I'm glad we went out there, at least once, and think everyone should experience the phenomenon at least once--gamblers or not.  Walks down the Strip, once during the day and once at night, are musts.  Is "grandiosity" a word?  If it is, that describes Las Vegas--the lights, the casinos and hotels, the entertainment, the people, the works.  Even if one isn't a gambler, drinker, etc., I think a three- or four-day trip, at least once, should be in everyone's agenda.

I read that 3.13 million people visited LV in January of this year--one month!  And that number was down by .7% from a year ago.  Well, the 2012 figure was the highest January since '08, so being down a tad isn't a big worry.  Hotel occupancy, the Strip I believe, was close to 80% (78.9%?) for the month!  Wow!  And profits along the Strip were down about .2% compared to '12.  But, as the article I read noted, in '12, Chinese New Year fell in January.  This year it was in February.  And something like 85% of all baccarat monies are generated during the Chinese New Year (although that seems like an astonishingly high percentage).  So, perhaps a Jan/Feb comparison for the two years would be a better measure.  But, profits being down .2% doesn't mean a loss, not at all.  I believe the figure was about $560 million profit for January.