What is Real in Las Vegas?
You’re a little surprised to see them and yet, not surprised. Almost the minute you get off the plane and into the airport there they are. Waiting for you. Beckoning you. Tempting and teasing, right there for the taking. Beautiful and bright. No skill needed. No rules. Do you succumb, or attempt to resist? Come on. Take a chance. Live a little.
It seems a little too obvious that the Las Vegas airport would distinguish itself by having slot machines right there in the terminal. It’s almost comical. Like of course they would have slot machines. Why wouldn’t they? Most airports around the world seem to be very similar in design. If you took away the signs you wouldn’t really know if you were in London, New York, Rome or Miami. The long greyish halls, the wide open spaces, the gates seemingly at the furthest end of the terminal.The waiting in line, the endless walking from one place to another just so that you can fly from one place to another.
But the Harry Reid International airport serving the Las Vegas area distinguishes itself with over 1,200 slot machines within it’s confines. Tell me you’re in Las Vegas without telling me you’re in Vegas: shows airport slot machines.
What type of person gambles at the airport slot machines? Did you just get off your flight and just can’t wait to hit the slots? Have you lost thousands of dollars and this is your last chance to win something back before you leave.
I’d come to Las Vegas to attend the wedding of two friends. Would I be able to resist gambling? I have the kind of job where I don’t get paid vacation days so if I don’t work I don’t get paid. And I’d taken several days off of work to come here. Maybe I could gamble and win just enough so that it would balance out the days I’d be missing from work. Or maybe I would end up losing money and be even worse off.
I have something of an obsessive, addictive personality. I must win. I must be improving. I can play online chess for hours just trying to get my rating up. If I lose a game I must then win a game and if I lose two games I must then win two games, but if I win two games maybe I can win a third game. Then I lose and now I’m down a game, so I have to keep playing and playing and playing, trying to get my pathetic rating higher and higher, but it just keeps getting lower and lower. Or I’ll get on a winning streak, get over confident and think I’m some kind of a grand master, I can’t lose. Then I start losing and think “Just one more game, just one more. This is the last one, I swear to God this is the last one. I made a stupid mistake that last game, that won’t happen this time.” And before I know it the sun is coming up, it’s time for work and my rating is way lower than when I started. (I’m exaggerating, but just slightly.)
Had I come to Las Vegas by myself simply out of curiosity it would be a different story. But several friends had also come to attend the wedding and I was afraid to hear bragging tales of how much money had been won. And what a fool I’d been not to have at least tried. How many other times do you go on vacation and think “Maybe I can win back the cost of the vacation on the vacation.”?
Another striking thing about the airport in Las Vegas is just how close it is to the city. It was just a 10 minute car ride from the airport to our hotel, the Bellagio, which is right in the heart of the Vegas Strip. Just 3.2 miles away. For comparison, if you fly into New York’s JFK airport and you’re staying in midtown Manhattan, it’s at least a 30 minute drive, usually more like 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic, and about 16 miles away. If you fly to Chicago’s O’Hare airport and are travelling to their main area, the Chicago Loop, it’s about 18 miles away, a 30 minute drive at least; London’s Heathrow airport to Buckingham Palace: 15 miles and at least 30 minutes, Rome’s Leonardo DaVinci Airport to the Colosseum: about 18 miles, a 30 minute drive.
You look out the window of the plane when you land in Vegas and you see the black pyramid of the Luxor hotel and other tall buildings around it and you think: “Really? Is that it? Is it really that close? Is it really that small?” It doesn’t seem real. It seems like a joke. Like someone’s playing some sort of a trick on you. But no, it really is that close and it really is that small.
Tricks. Playing a trick on you. Magic. There must be more magic shows in Las Vegas than any other city in the world. From the vegas.com website: “Bring on the sexy assistants and rabbit-filled top hats because when it comes to Las Vegas magic shows, our lineup of master illusionists will knock your socks off before they make them disappear. From larger-than-life productions to head-scratching close-up card tricks, when the curtain rises on a magic show in Las Vegas, you're in for a stupefying evening. Book your tickets today before they vanish into thin air.” A list of magic shows listed on the website include: David Copperfield at the MGM Grand, Penn and Teller at the Rio, Criss Angel Mindfreak at Planet Hollywood, Hypnosis unleashed starring Kevin Lepine at The Four Queens, Shin Lim at The Mirage, Nathan Burton Comedy Magic Show at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly at the LINQ Hotel + Experience (I don’t trust a guy who spells Mat with only one t), Paranormal Mind Reading Magic at Bally’s, Xavier Mortimer: The Dream Maker at the STRAT Hotel Casino and Skypod, Piff the Magic Dragon Show at the Flamingo, The Mentalist at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Excalibur, Banachek’s Mind Games at The STRAT Hotel, Casino and Skypod, Mike Hammer Comedy Magic at the Four Queens, Murray the Magician at the Tropicana, The Magic of Jen Kramer at The Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino (Interesting how there’s only one female magician on this list), House of Magic at the Downtown Grand Casino and Hotel, Totally Mental at Neonopolis, and Late Night Magic at Alexis Park All Suite Resort.
I think it says something that there are so many magic shows in Las Vegas. It’s a town meant to deceive you, to trick you, to bring you into a fantasy world where you think you’re lucky, lucky enough to gamble. Would I fall prey to the illusions? Well, there were several illusions that did amaze and astound me at the David Copperfield show. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. Things disappeared and appeared, but the greatest disappearing act was when he made my hard outer shell disappear a tear appear in my eye as he told a story of missing his dead dad that I couldn’t help but relate to.
As I walked from the David Copperfield show I got a closer view of the New York New York Hotel and Casino with it’s imitation versions of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty. I’d seen photos of it and had wondered how it compared in size to the real things. And of course it wasn’t even close. Seeing this hotel in real life, you can see how fake their Empire State Building and Chrysler Building look compared to the real things. Nowhere near as tall, or as beautiful, or as powerful. They look so fake and empty in person. Like a pale immitation of the real things. And as I stood there pondering these “buildings'' I wondered if anyone ever walked by and looked at them and said “Well, now I don’t have to go to New York.” I was joking, but within just a few minutes a couple of tourists came by and a girl had her friend take her photo in front of it and she literally said to her friend: “I don’t have to go to New York now!”
But it’s just an illusion! It’s fake! It’s not real! The real thing is so much better! You have no idea! Las Vegas is full of these fake versions of the real thing, meant to make you think you’re anywhere other than Las Vegas. Some fantasy world where it’s ok to gamble away hundreds, or thousands of dollars. The Luxor has a little, fake Sphinx and a fake, little pyramid, The Venetian is a fake Venice with a smaller, fake version of the St. Mark’s Campanile Bell Tower, Excalibur has a fake castle, The Paris is a fake version of Paris with a smaller, fake version of the Eiffel Tower. This didn’t makle me think I don’t have to go to Paris now. It made me want to go to Paris and see the actual Eiffel Tower. It made me want to go to Egypt, to Venice. I wanted the real thing not some imitation. I wanted something real!
The Paris was where the wedding was to be held. We made our way inside where bright colorful slot machines and gambling tables were interspersed among the half hearted attempts at Parisian street scenes. (New York New York actually did a better job of trying to be like a mini version of New York inside). We had to wind our way through this maze of tables and lights searching for the chapel, reading street signs that weren’t really helpful (In this regard it’s probably the most like the actual Paris). I was afraid we were going to be late. Eventually we found a sign leading to the chapel. We took the elevator up a few floors and found the right spot. A small, simple little room. There were maybe about 20 guests in total. The man officiating the ceremony was a charming little old man (not an Elvis impersonator as some had hoped).
When it came time for the vows, the bride and groom had written their own vows. I’d never seen this done in person before. I’d only seen this sort of thing in movies or t.v. shows. And now before my very eyes were two people openly and honestly expressing their love for each other. It was shocking. It was amazing. It was beautiful. We were in Las Vegas, immersed in illusions and fakes, surrounded by massive buildings dripping with glitz and glamor, and yet here, in this simple little chapel, was something honest and true. I’d spent days looking for something real in Las Vegas and now, at long last, I’d finally found it.