Ok, this is a trend that has been going on for some time now, but Vegas is getting damn expensive. My first trip to Vegas was over 10 years ago and it was great. Rooms were reasonable (I wouldn't say cheap), food was cheap, and you could gamble on a reasonable budget. But times have changed my friend.

Now the rooms are outrageous at any of the nicer hotels, especially when compared to the actual amount of time you spend there. Food is equally ridiculous since there are a zillion people and you are essentially hostage to the food venues at the various hotels and casinos. And gambling has turned into a big dollar proposition. It used to be $5 minimum blackjack and craps tables were readily available on week nights and even on weekends there were a few until the popular spots got hoppin'. And you could always go to downtown Vegas for "cheap" gambling any night of the week.

Not any more my high risk investment friends. $10 minimums are the norm everywhere, and even $25 minimum tables are jammed. When it comes to gambling I am not a prude by any means, I know my odds in the various games (which is why you never see me at slot machines and I would have to be on drugs to play many of the other games), and understand the amounts I need to risk to have a decent shot at getting "lucky". $100 at the craps table used to be the price of entertainment, but now is more like $200 to $250 if you want to be able to play right at blackjack or craps. WOW! A few nights in Vegas meant a bankroll of $300-$500 assuming you didnt hit a bad streak right off the bat. But now, you would need at least a $1K to play right and have any hope of the money lasting.

Hey, I know it is gambling. I understand that outside of a few select games its all just throwing your money away. I still find it amazing though that people can gamble that kind of money and that there are enough of them to fill hundreds if not thousands of tables. Either folks make a lot more money than I think they do or I am just getting more risk averse in my old age. Well, I still made $200+ playing poker so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

Be among the first to get an in-depth look at the concepts and techniques from Rockford Lhotka's Expert VB 2005 and C# 2005 Business Objects books on distributed business object programming updated for .NET 2.0. You will learn how to design Windows and Web-based applications based on distributed business objects, achieving high levels of reuse, scalability, long-term maintainability, and other benefits. Learn how to apply System.Transactions, generics, new ADO.NET features and data binding when building distributed applications on .NET 2.0.

CLSA is pretty cool stuff so if you haven't had a chance to look at it, here is a great opportunity to learn about it and see how it has gotten better with .NET 2.0. Make sure to register for the event to we have enough food to go around!