Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Click here for all 400 pictures
Use the slideshow link to view them quickly
I have been to vegas countless times, but this was a very different trip than the others. First of all, it was a full week in Vegas, when usually I go for 2 to 3 days. I thought a week would be too much, but it definitely wasn't. I had six nights of partying, and in the end I changed my flight so I could stay even longer.
Some Vegas firsts: I went to places in Vegas I didn't even know existed. I gambled only two nights I was there. I saw two Las Vegas shows. First time I unpacked in a hotel. Four hours of sleep per night average, for 6 nights.
Before I get into what we did in Vegas, here's a few gambling realizations (these might seem obvious, but think about if you actually follow them).
When gambling in Vegas, you HAVE to start with a lot of money. Take a game like craps where betting on the line is very close to 50/50 odds. So why does the casino win? Because they have unlimited funds. People walk up to craps and blackjack tables, put down $40 or $60, lose, and go home. If a casino loses $60 to a player, that player stays around and loses it back.
So, you have to play with as much money as you can play with, all at once. The longer you play, the greater the chances of at least breaking even. I didn't gamble until the third and sixth nights I was there, so I could put down a good chunk of money at once. DO NOT PLAY $40 PER NIGHT.
Also, I have always played blackjack because I felt like I had some control over the game. Of course you really don't. 90% of the people playing blackjack just follow "the book". So that's when I discovered roulette. This is the first time I played because I never liked how you are at the mercy of the wheel.
The great thing about roulette is the odds are very obvious, and you can control how aggressive you want to play. If you cover most of the board, you will win quite often and stay relatively even (and get free drinks the whole time). If you selectively bet on a few numbers, you are going all or nothing. You can control the speed of the game.
Here's the break down for NAB 2004 partying:
Saturday:
Rain night club. Awesome, awesome place. We had to pay the bouncer $25 to skip the 3 hour line, but it was totally worth it. Inside I randomly ran into John Chao, my old manager at Stanford residential computing. We had a couple drinks together.
We went to Barbary Coast to go to Drai's but there was a long line, so we headed to Denny's.
Sunday:
After sleeping for 1 hour I went to the Venetian for the Apple product announcements. Very cool show. Afterwards there was a reception with lots of champagne.
That night we saw The Second City, a sketch comedy act that has started the careers of many SNL stars. It was HILARIOUS. Great surprise. They should cancel SNL and put this show on.
That night was the Motion launch party at the Voodoo Lounge. Everyone at Apple was getting trashed. This place is great. Good music, amazing view.
Monday:
Monday night was the all Apple dinner. I don't remember what the restaurant was called but it included all you can drink house wine, always a recipe for a good time. At some point I started telling people to spill red wine on my stain free shirt. Brian took a full carafe and started pouring. The shirt came out perfect.
After dinner I told a few people to come by my room to grab some drinks. Al and I had stocked a fridge the previous day. People started rolling in until the room was completely packed! eventually security came by and we left.
Then it was off to the Rum Jungle. We had a big Apple group there. Cool place. After a while I went out to get some air.. Then the bouncer wouldn't let me back in with the beer that I bought INSIDE the Rum Jungle. I guess I wasn't very nice to him and he wouldn't let me back in.
Back to the room with some others for an "early" night. I had to demo at 8am.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was the real-time dinner at Lowry's. We all had Prime Rib except Gary the vegetarian. It was good.
Then I went to the hard Rock and met up with my cousin who was also there for NAB. We played blackjack for a few hours. The hard rock is great. Good music and good beer. They are one of few places that has Newcastle and other dark beer.
Wednesday:
Apple took over the V Bar in the Venetian.
At some point we started racing down the moving escalators in the wrong direction. Unfortunately my camera flew out of my pocket and got pretty dented up. It still works though. Luckily Amex will replace it with their protection policy.
At around 6am someone called me and asked for my room number, which I gave to them. Then they came by and I opened the door, of course. I don't want to let them in so Daniel says he has to go to the bathroom. he goes in, grabs the hair dryer, goes over to Sean sleeping on the bed, plugs in the hair dryer, and lets it rip.
It was funny at the time.
Thursday:
I went to the Bellagio and checked out the Monet exhibit. I also took some cool black and white pictures of the Bellagio garden with my 35mm SLR.
That night we saw Penn & Teller. Those guys are hilarious. I just wish they rotated their act more. Most of us had seen some or all of their show on TV or elsewhere.
After that we went to Bikini's at the Rio. It was a cool club, but it was all guys that night. So we left and started gambling all night. Slots, roulette, blackjack.
At 7am I realized I would be dead if I tried to take my 1pm flight, so I got a 2pm checkout time, and a 9pm flight.
Friday:
Mostly relaxed. Saw Kill Bill 2.
Click here for all 400 pictures
Use the slideshow link to view them quickly
Here are the highlights:
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0283
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0849
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0854
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0310
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0864
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0884
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0936
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0987
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0962
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0469
355 days until NAB 2005.
If anyone has any stories from NAB that i missed or "can't remember" post them in the comments below.
Use the slideshow link to view them quickly
I have been to vegas countless times, but this was a very different trip than the others. First of all, it was a full week in Vegas, when usually I go for 2 to 3 days. I thought a week would be too much, but it definitely wasn't. I had six nights of partying, and in the end I changed my flight so I could stay even longer.
Some Vegas firsts: I went to places in Vegas I didn't even know existed. I gambled only two nights I was there. I saw two Las Vegas shows. First time I unpacked in a hotel. Four hours of sleep per night average, for 6 nights.
Before I get into what we did in Vegas, here's a few gambling realizations (these might seem obvious, but think about if you actually follow them).
When gambling in Vegas, you HAVE to start with a lot of money. Take a game like craps where betting on the line is very close to 50/50 odds. So why does the casino win? Because they have unlimited funds. People walk up to craps and blackjack tables, put down $40 or $60, lose, and go home. If a casino loses $60 to a player, that player stays around and loses it back.
So, you have to play with as much money as you can play with, all at once. The longer you play, the greater the chances of at least breaking even. I didn't gamble until the third and sixth nights I was there, so I could put down a good chunk of money at once. DO NOT PLAY $40 PER NIGHT.
Also, I have always played blackjack because I felt like I had some control over the game. Of course you really don't. 90% of the people playing blackjack just follow "the book". So that's when I discovered roulette. This is the first time I played because I never liked how you are at the mercy of the wheel.
The great thing about roulette is the odds are very obvious, and you can control how aggressive you want to play. If you cover most of the board, you will win quite often and stay relatively even (and get free drinks the whole time). If you selectively bet on a few numbers, you are going all or nothing. You can control the speed of the game.
Here's the break down for NAB 2004 partying:
Saturday:
Rain night club. Awesome, awesome place. We had to pay the bouncer $25 to skip the 3 hour line, but it was totally worth it. Inside I randomly ran into John Chao, my old manager at Stanford residential computing. We had a couple drinks together.
We went to Barbary Coast to go to Drai's but there was a long line, so we headed to Denny's.
Sunday:
After sleeping for 1 hour I went to the Venetian for the Apple product announcements. Very cool show. Afterwards there was a reception with lots of champagne.
That night we saw The Second City, a sketch comedy act that has started the careers of many SNL stars. It was HILARIOUS. Great surprise. They should cancel SNL and put this show on.
That night was the Motion launch party at the Voodoo Lounge. Everyone at Apple was getting trashed. This place is great. Good music, amazing view.
Monday:
Monday night was the all Apple dinner. I don't remember what the restaurant was called but it included all you can drink house wine, always a recipe for a good time. At some point I started telling people to spill red wine on my stain free shirt. Brian took a full carafe and started pouring. The shirt came out perfect.
After dinner I told a few people to come by my room to grab some drinks. Al and I had stocked a fridge the previous day. People started rolling in until the room was completely packed! eventually security came by and we left.
Then it was off to the Rum Jungle. We had a big Apple group there. Cool place. After a while I went out to get some air.
Back to the room with some others for an "early" night. I had to demo at 8am.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was the real-time dinner at Lowry's. We all had Prime Rib except Gary the vegetarian. It was good.
Then I went to the hard Rock and met up with my cousin who was also there for NAB. We played blackjack for a few hours. The hard rock is great. Good music and good beer. They are one of few places that has Newcastle and other dark beer.
Wednesday:
Apple took over the V Bar in the Venetian.
At some point we started racing down the moving escalators in the wrong direction. Unfortunately my camera flew out of my pocket and got pretty dented up. It still works though. Luckily Amex will replace it with their protection policy.
At around 6am someone called me and asked for my room number, which I gave to them. Then they came by and I opened the door, of course. I don't want to let them in so Daniel says he has to go to the bathroom. he goes in, grabs the hair dryer, goes over to Sean sleeping on the bed, plugs in the hair dryer, and lets it rip.
It was funny at the time.
Thursday:
I went to the Bellagio and checked out the Monet exhibit. I also took some cool black and white pictures of the Bellagio garden with my 35mm SLR.
That night we saw Penn & Teller. Those guys are hilarious. I just wish they rotated their act more. Most of us had seen some or all of their show on TV or elsewhere.
After that we went to Bikini's at the Rio. It was a cool club, but it was all guys that night. So we left and started gambling all night. Slots, roulette, blackjack.
At 7am I realized I would be dead if I tried to take my 1pm flight, so I got a 2pm checkout time, and a 9pm flight.
Friday:
Mostly relaxed. Saw Kill Bill 2.
Click here for all 400 pictures
Use the slideshow link to view them quickly
Here are the highlights:
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0283
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0849
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0854
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0310
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0864
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0884
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0936
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0987
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0962
http://gallery.isachin.com/gallery/nab2004/IMGP0469
355 days until NAB 2005.
If anyone has any stories from NAB that i missed or "can't remember" post them in the comments below.