I recently visited Las Vegas. Even though my wife was born and raised in Vegas, this is my first time. As a first timer, I did have several assumptions and expectations about the city and especially the strip. Please keep in mind that I do not gamble and therefore my very first assumption was that Vegas is rather cheap for non-gamblers. Everyone told me that Casinos try to draw people in with amazing food, drinks and entertainment at low cost because they know they can recover many times over on the gaming tables. As you probably already know this is not the case. Now I know that I could eat a "sirloin" steak in Vegas for $4.99 if I had wanted to, but I wasn't that desperate. No, I wanted to enjoy myself and was ready to spend my money on the tables, ah 'dinning' tables that is.

We ate at Prime, Mon Ami Gabi and Bellagio's Sunday Bunch Buffet. Honestly, for the quality of food, the food was not over-priced. They were just slightly above what I would have paid at home. I live in Dallas after all, and there are more fantastic restaurants then I will ever have the time nor the money to enjoy. Drinking on the other hand, could make a man go broke faster than a spin on the roulette board. I know that the ancient Romans didn't realize that numbers started at zero, but apparently Cesar's and every other casino think all drinks start at $10. I am really not trying to complain about Vegas, its just that I am trying to understand their business model. I worked as a bartender for over 3 years at nice upscale places like Houston's and Parigi's, so I understand the costs and profits of the liquor and food business. A 1 liter bottle of well liquor contains 22 pours at a cost of about .27 cents per drink. I just makes cence to entice people into gambling with affordable drinks. Perhaps if I had chips in hand then the drinks would have been free.