Why Las Vegas is the best.

I was at Harrah's Casino in New Orleans last weekend. I was having a great time but I started thinking about Las Vegas and why I love it so much. The NO Harrah's is a nice place and they give me a fair amount of free rooms, food and play. I am not slamming them in any way, it's a great place (and NO is a really fun town).

But, when it comes to gambling, no place beats Las Vegas.

When you are on a bad run In NO you can't walk out and head next door to another casino and start playing there. You can't do it if all you want is a change of scenery. They are the only game in town and the nearest casino is miles away.

In Kansas City you can drive a couple of miles and hit another, but that means you can't drink (and they don't give you free drinks anyway!) I understand that in Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi and Macao you can do a little bit of bouncing from place to place, but the options are fairly limited. A half dozen properties is a good start, but it's not enough for me.

This is why Las Vegas wins.

To be able to jump from property to property, or even regime to regime is a wonderful thing. Let's say you are bored at Bally's (a CET property) and you want to put some points on your MGM card. All you need to do is walk across the street to the Bellagio. Simple.

Downtown makes it even easier.

Fremont street is the absolute best when it comes to casino hopping. The distance from the El Cortez to Main Street Station is shorter than it is from the front door of the MGM to the parking garage. They pack fourteen casinos in that area. That is the very definition of gaming convenience and it beats the pants off of the "Starbucks on every corner" business model.

It makes it easy to want to go back again and again.