Known as “Sin City,” Las Vegas is a popular destination throughout the year, but one observation by one non-gambler is that once you visit this famous desert metropolis a couple of times, that’s enough.

You can spend time here and enjoy the hustling casinos, conspicuous food, high-end entertainment, a stunning environment from desert antiquity to overwhelming LED lights that cause the 4.2-mile Strip to bring about awe and wonder when you traverse its thoroughfares.   

I remained charmed by the neon Cowboy at 25 E. Fremont Street in old Las Vegas—a reminder of the past when Vegas was becoming a financial colossus and the centerpiece of the gambling world.

If you are not a gambler why spend time in Las Vegas?  The city is a big attraction for conventions.  The National Football Foundation, forced out of New York by COVID, has found a home in Vegas.  A tidy profit makes coming here an easy decision.

Like the rest, I enjoy seeing the countless Vegas patrons of all stripes find a comfortable seat at their game of choice and gamble away.  Las Vegas does not refer to its lifeline as gambling, using the word, “gaming,” instead.   

If the Vegas gaming hierarchy knew of my history when it comes to “laying my money down,” they probably would meet me at the Harry Reid Airport and advise me not to disembark.

As a college student, I frequented a few poker games in the dorm and had a streak where I won a few dollars which resulted in spending my winnings for a sweater or two at Dick Ferguson’s.

That meant that I would not lose my profit when I pulled up a chair at the next poker outing.  The other players took note of that and began to harass me about not participating.

I didn’t have money to lose and always bought something like $10.00 worth of chips, hoping to win enough to stay in the game for a while.  However, I was very disciplined and when my $10.00 was gone, so was I.   

The moral of my story is that I never accumulated any money, but I never lost any significant amount either.  I enhanced my wardrobe a modicum, however.

It has always been interesting that it was the Mormon bankers who influenced the growth and development of Las Vegas.  The Mormons also helped run the mafia out of Vegas, too, according to the Internet.

Bugsy Siegel, the notorious gangster, held sway here for years as the mafia pretty much ran Las Vegas in the forties and fifties.  Morman banker E. Parry Thomas was a key player in the city’s development and its success in shucking the mafia.

When Howard Hughes came here in the Sixties, he rented a suite on the top floor of the Desert Inn.  When the owner threatened to kick him out, after a month’s stay, Hughes bought the hotel and began buying up casinos.  His inner circle were Mormons who didn’t smoke, drink or gamble.  Parry Thomas’ big move was to convince the Nevada legislature to allow corporations to own casinos. It was Thomas who helped Steve Wynn get started in business.

Las Vegas now has an NFL team, the Raiders, the major league A’s are coming and more attractions are likely on deck for establishment in the city that never sleeps.

Maya Members, whose family moved here from Lawrenceville, is a helpful concierge at the Vdara Hotel.  She gave me a fact sheet about Las Vegas including its history.  The sheet is chockful of interesting facts including the following:

• Casinos in Vegas have no clocks or windows to ensure gamers lose track of time and reality.  (They can also lose their shirts.)
• Las Vegas is known as the marriage capital of the world with an average of 15 weddings a day.   Vegas was once the “Divorce Capital of the World,” but you can now get a divorce in most any place for most any reason.
• There are an estimated 1,000 people living in underground tunnels beneath Las Vegas.
• The Vegas Strip is so bright that it can be seen from outer space.

I discovered that there are no vending machines on the hotel floors.  You can get a Diet Coke at the mini market just off the lobby for $2.87.   Whatever you purchase, you pay a minimum of 18% tip.   

It is not noted on Maya Members fact sheet, but take it from me, Las Vegas, is not cheap whether you gamble or not.