
Turning 29 in Vegas
A big win and a visit from Stevie G
My birthday is shared with my best friend Cris (pictured above), so we decided to head to Vegas for our 30th. He had never been and I hadn’t been in 8 years. We were due. There aren’t many pictures since you really aren’t allowed to take photos inside casinos, and most of our time was spent inside casinos. Oops!

There was one magical semi-hungover morning to our trip though. We were walking from the Luxor where we stayed to the sports book at Comso to eat breakfast and watch some college hoop/NHL/NBA action and just watch the day go by. As we are walking through the lobby I spotted a few guys in LA Galaxy shirts. Weird, but whatever, I suppose their fans exist. Then, from behind, I saw him. “That is Steven Fucking Gerrard”
“What? No way. Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I asked for a picture and he happily obliged. Chatted for 30 seconds, and then we went on our ways. Shaking from excitement. That would have made the entire trip worthwhile, never mind what happened next…
As we are gearing up for another afternoon of degenerate gambling, we decided to walk to the MGM grand. It was pretty nice so we stopped in for a bit. I threw craps while Cris went to play blackjack (our usual routine). He is the least lucky man alive and it is contagious. The man is a cooler.
I started making friends at the craps table (as you do) and began to explain what the small, tall, and make em all bets were. I will generally acknowledge that this is throwing money away, but if a friend or I is shooting, its worth a fiver just in case. I convinced my new found friends that it was worth a five bet as well.
20 minutes later I need a 4 for the small and a 9 for the tall. Everyone at the table is quiet and I’ve been throwing hot dice. We all know that it could turn into a big win with one roll. Then, he arrives. The cooler. I think me exact words were “NO! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! GIVE ME 10 MINUTES!” but it could have been anything along those lines really.
Hit the 4. Quiet excitement. Hit another point. Then it came… the 9. One roll for about $2,500 for 4 different people. Needless to say the crowd went wild, I invited Cris back over, and we called it a session after that one. Again, I’m left shaking. I love craps.
I love Vegas.

