I’ve been back from Vegas for a few days now. Went again with the same guys who I hit the town with last year. It wasn’t as wild this year — which is probably a good thing — and I realized on this trip that I am definitely headed into old-fart-dom.

My feet hurt a lot of the time, I didn’t stay out as late (heck, the first night I was in by 10), I didn’t get plotzed, we spent a lot of time talking about families and careers, and even the level of smart-ass-ness went down. I also lost a little bit at gambling — last year I had a pretty good win and it’s actually rare that I lose money gambling in Vegas. None of the other guys who went this year were really table gamers, either (or they were short of funds this time around), so I spent a bunch of time playing by myself. I went downtown the final night and realized that my longtime love of all things divey was fading away as well; I really did prefer the nicer casinos this time around.

There were a few memorable moments, mostly at the blackjack tables this time around. I caught some really fun tables, particularly Saturday afternoon at New York New York, Saturday evening at Harrah’s outdoor Carnival Court, Saturday night at Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall (the old Barbary Coast) and Sunday night at the Four Queens. Most of these involved hanging out on tables with families who were spending some quality time together.