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Stories - Inspirational / Las Vegas

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onlyme:
I was at the gym today and a guy was visitng from Vegas.  We started talking and he ended up knowing my uncle who was considered a "Whale" in Vegas back in the 80's and early 90's.  His secretary would tell me he would spend (or lose) between $300,000 or $400,000 a month in Vegas.  He had his own beuatiful British Hawker Jet that we would fly there and Reno. 

Well everytime I start talking about Vegas I always have to bring up my stories that I had when I was with my uncle.  So this thread I will be telling some unreal stories about my times in Vegas. Some of them are unreal.  Some of my most unbelievable times I ever had were in Vegas and with my Uncle.  Some of these stories are ones you only dream about. 

So, this thread is for everyone to share their Vegas stories.  Stuntmovie has a million of them too since he has been going there since the 60's.

So everyone share your stories whether it was when you went to the Olympia or just the night to gamble.  What happens in Vegas doesn't have too stay.........you can share it with us.  I will be back tonight for my intro story

onlyme:
Besides going to Vegas with my parents as a kid I started going with my friends back in the early 80's.  Me and my friends on countless occasions would be sitting at one of our houses and just decide to go to Vegas on the spur of the moment.  I am addicted to craps.  Back then I painted houses and did very well and always had money.  The funny thing is for about 2 months I had no home.  I stayed with my friends or slept in my car.  But, on weekends I went to Vegas or Palm Springs and always stayed at nice hotels.  It wasn't that I had no money cause I actually had more than any of my friends, it was for some reason I never really thought I needed a place. 

Anyway, my friends loved coming to Vegas with me to watch me play.  I never won.  But for some reason I loved to go and didn't mind losing.  I did mind but didn't really care since I knew I was always working and had money coming in.

I'd get a room and everyone would stay in it.  In Palm Springs one time I had 17 guys staying in the room.  3 guys slept in the bathtub.  Anyway, in Vegas we stayed at the Stardust or Circus Circus most of the time.  Sometimes I'd stay at Caesars.  And we even stayed at the hotel at the entrance to the strip with the pool with the giant window built in.

Anyway, most of those trips weren't that eventful.  I usually budgeted about a grand for the weekend, nothing big.  But starting in 1987, I started going to Vegas with my uncle. 

Now these stories may go all over the place but I will try to keep them as orderly as possible.  My first trip to Vegas with my uncle;

I was at his office in Huntington Beach one day.  He just asks me if I want to go to Vegas with him.  I said duh!  SO he tells me to meet him at the Garrett hanger on Imperial Hwy.  Thats all he told me.  He said be there by 3pm.  I figured I'd meet him there and we'd drive to the terminal.  Well I am running a little late about 10 minutes and I pull up to the guard shack.  He says to me Mr. Jones go ahead.  I couldn't;t figure how he knew my name but I go in.  This other guy directs me into the large hanger.  And there in my Uncle standing there.  He kinds of scolds me for being late.  I said what about my car he said leave the keys they'll move it.  I didn't know what was going on.  Then he points to the light brown jet behind him and says lets go as he goes up the stairs.  I couldn't believe it,  I didn't know he had a jet.  Well I get inside and his wife is there along with Richard Roundtree, Chuck Norris, his wife Diane, Benny Urquidez and his wife and Bob Sidell (a Oscar winning Makeup artist and the guy who formulated my suntan lotion) and his wife.  They all say hi and I sit down.  They had all kinds of food, like from KFC, Taco Bell and Jack In Box.  Really healthy stuff.

So now I am all excited.  One of the first things I liked was how the plane waits for you even if you are late.  So we get in the air and he is showing me around the jet and cockpit.  He had some kind of video and information screen on the front wall that constantly told us where we were how fast how high and all kinds of other shit.  He asked me how I like the interior cause he just had it redone.  Of course everyone said how beautiful it was and I went along.  But in reality it sucked.  It was all light tan leather and Naugahyde.  The seats were really soft and nice.  But everything was covered with leather.  The carpet was nice and kind of western looking.  Anyway I had to say it was nice so I didn't hurt his feelings.

So we land in Vegas about 45 minutes later at the Executive airport.  Literally you get out of the car and there were 2 limos waiting for us to take us to the casino.  He always stayed at the Barbary Coast.  He would always have an entire floor just for his guests.  He always stayed in the John Wayne Suite which is really nice.  He like it there cause it was in the middle of everything and the owner Michael Gaughn (who owns the Gold Coast, Orleans and Sun Coast) is a good friend.  Michael's dad owns 17 casinos in Vegas and Reno and Louisiana I think.  Anyway, we get to the casino and first thing is we check in go to our rooms.  He tells us to meet at Michaels at 6.  If you have ever been to Vegas you have to eat at Michaels.  It is constantly being voted as the best restaurant in Vegas.  It is very very expensive.  Well when I get to the restaurant (I wasn't late) the guy sat me at the table and there was maybe 15 or 20 people at our table.  These were some of the people that go to Vegas when my Uncle goes.  They always meet up there.  One guys whose name was Russ owned a company called Botany 500.  They made suits.  There was another guys named Bob Waller.  His family had just sold San Diego Gas & Electric for around $700 million I think.  And then there was the mayor of Vegas at the time but can't remember his name.  Something Fury or like that.  And then Tony Alamo who made the fancy denim jackets that sold at fancy stores for $3,000+.   And there were others but can't remember right now.  So some really fancy people.

SO we start to eat and they tell me to get the fish but order two cause I will like it so much.  I ended up eating 3 of them.  Anyway, I remember the bill was around $6,000 for dinner.  SO after dinner the guys and girls split up.  The girls go play slots and the guys go to the tables.  Now I never been to Vegas with him.  There are some rules that I loved.

Number one my uncle likes to bet his money but for you too.  I mean he would put a $100 chip on the line and tell me don't touch.  He did that for just about all of the friends.  Then when a number was established he would put the odds behind it.  Don't touch he says.  When you win you pick up your money and he places more n place of it.  Unreal!  Other rules included no one at the table can smoke.  another rules is no one else can roll the dice if he doesn't want you too.  Now there are plenty of people playing not with our party.  He will have the pit boss raise the minimum to get rid of the people who play to slow.  I remember one time this Mexican lady and her husband were playing very slow and playing with $5 chips and he got so mad.  He threw them a $500 chip and told them to leave. They were so excited.

Another thing that happened that night, was a guy was smoking next to him.  He grabbed the ashtray and threw it away.  The guy looked at him and he pointed to me and said to the guy, this is my bodyguard, you have a problem talk to him.  Well the guy left.  Another thing I found out is that he plays very serious.  And if the dice aren't going for him then he gets really pissed.  I have seen him on numerous occasions pick the dice up and throw them at the camera overhead.  He gets really pissed off.

Another thing he does is when he is losing he will play blackjack a little to cool down.  I am with him at the blackjack table.  You know when they deal and the dealer has an ace showing and asks for insurance.  Well my uncle will lean over the table and look at the dealers hole card.  He has done this on numerous occasion and I just don't believe it.  He gets away with allot of stuff that no ones could ever do.  We went to the Barbary allot and I ended up seeing one of the front desk girls for awhile especially when we were there.  She told me they would always have a staff meeting about when he came in.  If there were any new staff on hand they had to be filled in about how he is.  Everyone put up with his antics because he was a huge tipper.  I saw him numerous times tip the girls with $500 chips.  And some of them numerous times a night.

Now when we started this night Bob Waller had never really played Vegas.  He was a Reno man and a Europe player.  I was standing between him and my uncle.  I heard Bob tell him he need a line of credit.  My uncle asked how much and he said at least a million.  I sweat to god.  So the pit boss comes over and I hear my uncle telling the pit boss that Bob needed a line of credit.  He introduces him and within maybe a minute at the most.  They gave Bob a million dollar line of credit solely on my uncles word.  That is when I really realized he had some power here.

Now allot of people go to the Barbary.  I would say we had about 50 or more people looking at our table.  There were so many chips around. I counted them one time.  Just before a 7 hit.  My uncle had about $40,000 out on the table when the 7 hit.  I just couldn't help thinking  of that the money out on the table was more than 90% of the people watching us play made in a year.  It was just unreal cause that is how it was every roll.  He loaded up and as long as the dice were rolling he was getting paid big.  He made allot of off table bets.

Anyway, after about 5 hours I was $8,000 up as was just about all the others he was playing for.  Russ always lost money.  He was such a cheap skate my uncle said.  Anyway, Bob Waller ended up losing about $250,000 that night but the next night he won almost $100,000.  SO he ended up okay. 

Now I decide to quit and go to bed cause i am tired.  Chuck and the others stayed.  Well at breakfast the next morning Chuck and Benny come up to me and said I should have stayed a little longer cause my uncle went on a 45 minute roll.  Those guys ended up with $12,000 each. So I learned from then on to stay as long as I can no matter how tired I am.

There are a few more things on this trip and I have many more stories from other trips.  SO till tommorrow.  Sorry for being so long.  Like my girlfriend coming with me so my uncle could win her enough money to get a boob job.  And the party at Caesars for Sugar Ray Leonard in the fantasy suite.  When I met SS.  A billionaire bachelor who ended up owning $7million to Caesars and gets arrested at the airport on the grand opening night for the Bellagio.  Steve Wynn (my uncles ex business partner) bails him out and loses another $5 million at the Bellagio that night.  I got some good ones. 

Hope others write some good stories

619Rules:
OK Only-

What the fuck did your uncle do for a living? ;D

onlyme:
Well if you know anyone in the t-shirt business they would know him.  He also owned a company that most everyone sees when they go to the market.  It is called Don Miquel.  It is a line of mexican food that is on every grocery store and 7-11 in the country.  Frito Lay bought it from hm back in 1988 or so.  Also, the company that manufactures ceramic decanters with alcohol in them called Lionstone Distilleries was his and he sold it.  Back in the 60's he had Southern Wine & Spirits with Steve Wynn in Las Vegas.  At his peak in the t-shirt business he was doing $10 million a month in t-shirt sales.  He had several of those plaques on the walls of his office saying that.  He was the only t-shirt wholesaler in the 70's and early 80's in the country. You usually had to buy from the mills at full price.  Then allot of other companies started.  He owned the t-shirt industry in Hawaii with Happy Shirts and Diamond Head T's.  His latest company Legends Sports Memorabilia was huge in Vegas and the country with the best Memoraibiia magazine on the market.  In fact back when Tiger Woods won the Grand Slam his playing cards he made of Tiger were on Ebay for sale for $30,000.  They were CNN and ESPN and every other channel.  He has owned several other companies too.  He is now retired and just hangs out.  Plays everyday still but allot less money than before.  He also owns a hospital or care center in Korea

He also invested in Vegas back in the 60's.  He at one time owned the property where the Palms Casino is built.  He sold it back in the early 80's.  He told me he wished he hadn't.  Back when he was buying along with Gaughn the property was as low as $1,500 an acre.  You can imagine what it is worth now.

619Rules:
Will if your uncle was in business with Steve Wynn he was doing some good business I bet-and by the sound of it he was.

Steve Wynn's first casino in Vegas was the Golden Nugget Downtown on Fremont Street-which is 1 block from the Clarke County Courthouse and 2 blocks from the Federal Defenders office where I worked.

Hey-any chance you can get me a ride in that private jet!

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