real gamblers

Some people run red lights. Some rip those little "do not remove" tags off of mattresses. Real gamblers go for the gold - Vegas.

My parents are actually in Vegas this week. They decided to drive on over for New Year's and got a great deal on a Vegas condo rental from a guy who was looking to trade some Bronco tickets, which my father deals in regularly. My parents have become regular gamblers in their "semi-retired" status, and they frequent the casinos of Blackhawk and Central City in Colorado fairly often. My sister is convinced that they are blowing too much money, but my parents tend to focus on their winnings, rather than what they have spent. I suppose that neither really matters, as long as they are having a good time, don't get too carried away, and never borrow money from a guy known as "Vinnie" with helmet hair and obscure facial scars.

Personally, my wife and I could never really get into it. On the rare occasion that $20 would last us a couple of hours, we had a relatively good time, but we never got so involved as to have an opinion of the casinos and determine which ones were our favorites. My parents have, though. In fact, it seems that they have gone one step further and now have favorite slot machines within their favorite casinos.

I recently ran across a casino news site at PPP that I believe I will have to share with them. It is a site called OG Paper and they specialize in casino and gambling news. For example, you may find it interesting that countries outside of the United States (like Italy) have actually decided to issue "gambling licenses" for their citizens to gamble at online casinos. I didn't realize the reach of these online ventures. On the other hand, countries like Russia are actually banning online gambling altogether. It's all rather interesting, and the gambler aficionado will probably slot this site into his daily surfing routine, as many of the articles lend insight into the future of both online and physical casino gambling, that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks of your hometown newspaper services.