The Legion of Super-Gamblers Try-Outs In Las Vegas!The trip has come and gone now. There's a Trip Report available if you'd like to know what we did.
Time to break out that Venturan Walking Money you've been saving and make your offerings to the Luck Lords! Viva R.A.C.Vegas!
Michael "Anal-Retentive Checklist Lad" Grabois, Troy "AOL Chat Report Boy" McNemar, and Sidne Gail "Dinner-Organizing Damsel" Ward would like to invite all you LSH-L subscribers and rec.arts.comics.* readers to try out for the Legion of Super-Gamblers during the first combination LSH (and General Comics) Fan Get-Together/Gambling Junket to be held from Friday, August 1 through Sunday, August 3, 1997 in Las Vegas.
We will be staying at Treasure Island on the center strip for the nights of August 1 and 2. Our plans include gambling (blackjack, roulette, video poker, slots, etc.), dining (with a trip to the legendary Rio Carnival World or Seafood buffet a must), shows (Cirque du Soleil's Mystere, magician Lance Burton, and a traditional showgirl
revue are possibilities), and a visit to the Las Vegas Hilton's soon-to-be-opening Star Trek Experience. 
[Update: It appears that the opening date for the Star Trek Experience has been pushed back to late August.] We'll be cruising up and down the strip and make at least one gambling foray to the downtown area as well.
And, of course, no matter what else we're doing, we'll be talking about the Legion of Super-Heroes in all its incarnations! (Among the three of us, we also read comics ranging from Golden Age Batman to Silver Age Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane and Fantastic Four, and modern Kurt Busiek's Astro City and Scare Tactics, so we can converse on a wide variety of comics-related topics as well.)
If you want to join us, just make your reservations and let us know when you'll be arriving. We'll set up meetpoints. E-mail me at sward@panix.com as soon as you decide to make plans since some of the shows and other activities require advance arrangements.
Here are the answers to some frequently-asked questions about the try-outs. Reading them may enhance your chances at becoming a member of the Legion of Super-Gamblers.
Other potential activities include watching all the "free" shows such as Treasure Island's Pirate Battle, the Mirage Volcano, Excalibur's Dragon, Siegfried and Roy's white tigers, and downtown's Freemont Street Experience.
In addition, several of the casino/hotels have amusement park type stuff (for an admission fee) such as the rollercoaster at the top of the Stratosphere Tower and the MGM Grand's theme park. There's also hanging out by the pool since the typical daytime temperature in August is well over 100 degrees. If that's not enough, check out this list of 100 things to do in Las Vegas.
As of 5/12/97 the rate for a double occupancy room at Treasure Island was $99 (plus 8% room tax) per night for August 1 and 2. [Update: As of 6/6/97 the rate for Treasure Island for August 1 and 2 is $119 (plus 8% room tax) per night. Further Update: As of 6/18/97 the rate had decreased to $109 per night.] The phone number for reservations is 800-944-7444. Las Vegas room rates change often (both up and down), so if the rate is significantly higher than that quoted above you might want to keep checking. [Note: Rates do have a tendency to rise as the date of the proposed visit approaches.] When I made the reservations, I gave them a credit card number and they actually charged the card for the first night's stay. According to the reservation agent, cancellations may be made up to 48 hours before arrival; the credit card will be credited back. [Note: I believe they'll also put a two week "courtesy hold" on a reservation without a credit card number. If you don't call back within that time period to confirm and give a credit card number the reservation will automatically be cancelled.]
For the more budget-minded, the Barbary Coast (800-634-6755) is a possibility. It's on the center strip about a 15 minute walk from Treasure Island. It's a much smaller hotel with a darker, smokey casino and no pool. As of 5/12/97, double occupancy rooms were $69/night for August 1 and 2. [Update: As of 6/6/97 the rate of $69 per night for August 1 and 2 was still available.]
If you're interested in possibly staying somewhere else, there are maps of the Las Vegas strip and downtown areas as well as a list of hotel 800 numbers available.
If you're not familiar with Las Vegas and you'll be coming in with someone else (particularly if you'll have a car for transportation), you may wish to check out some of the hotels on the southern or northern ends of the strip.
If you've never been there and you're traveling alone, I don't really recommend staying in a different hotel by yourself. Las Vegas casinos and the strip are
If you have questions about the different areas or hotels, feel free to e-mail (sward@panix.com) and I'll do my best to answer.
I'm willing to run a roommate-matching service. If you'd like to share with someone else, send me an e-mail (sward@panix.com) message with your age, gender, roommate gender and smoking preferences if any, and price range and I'll try to put you in touch with others.
If you live in Las Vegas or you've visited previously and would prefer staying somewhere else, just let us know and we'll arrange to meet up. Don't forget that we'll be making show reservations in advance.
Sidne will be arriving at 9:25 am on August 1st at McCarran Airport. Troy will be driving in about 6:00 pm on that day. Michael will be flying in during the day as well.
Sidne's flying out at 6:20 pm on August 3rd. Troy will be leaving at approximately the same time. Michael will likely be leaving around this time as well.
Flying into Las Vegas is usually relatively inexpensive from almost anywhere even if you don't have a flight ring. As of 5/12 there are some airfare wars raging. I've heard expiration dates of 5/17 and 5/20 for these so make your plane reservations early! [Update: Some additional summer airfare wars have just started. The expiration date for purchasing tickets at these fares may be 6/16/97.] The most popular flights (Friday morning and Sunday evening) fill up quick. If 2 of you are traveling together (or even if you're traveling by yourself) you might check in your local Sunday newspaper travel section for air/hotel packages.
Southwest and America West have a number of flights. I've used Yahoo's Travel Planner to search for and purchase inexpensive flights in the past. There are other flight reservation sites available on the web as well. You might want to check several of them.
If you're traveling from the Southern California or Phoenix areas, Las Vegas is about a 5-6 hour drive (or about a 5 second run if you're the Flash commuting from Santa Marta). Friday afternoon and Sunday evening traffic on these routes can be very heavy and dramatically increase the driving time.
There are taxis and airport shuttles to the hotels. Shuttles may be a little cheaper, but take longer to get there.
Within Las Vegas, it will be possible to walk to other locations on the center strip. To go to the north strip or south strip areas, downtown, or other off-strip locations such as Rio it will be necessary to have transportation. Taxis and rental cars are possibilities. There is also bus service up and down the strip and to downtown. The buses are often very crowded and it can take awhile to catch one.
The legal minimum age to gamble or frequent the casino areas of hotels and to drink alcohol in Las Vegas is 21. For some of the shows you may need to be 18. Most other activities are available to all age groups. You're certainly welcome to join us if you're not 21, just be forewarned that gambling isn't legal. [Note: It also may not be possible to check into some Las Vegas hotels by yourself if you're not at least 21.] (Additional note to parents: Las Vegas is not a town friendly to small children. There are some restaurants that won't seat children under 6, for example.)
Any and all LSH fans (pros are welcome, too!). We don't care which era is your favorite. Just don't argue so loudly you get us thrown out of the casino! You can even invite your non-LSH-loving significant other; we'll attempt to brainwash him or her for you.
And you non-LSH-reading comics fans are welcome to join us for brainwashing sessions as well.
Depending on which activities you're interested in, costs can fluctuate wildly. Here's some information from the Legion of Super-Gamblers to help you estimate the impact on your wallet. [Note: Some of the cost information was updated as of 6/8/97 and 6/18/97.]
The Legion of Super-Gamblers decided we felt a little silly calling ourselves a "Legion" with only three of us. Therefore, we decided to hold these try-outs to recruit some additional members. The qualifications for acceptance are: 1) you have to show up at the try-outs, 2) you have to gamble at least once, and 3) ...actually, I guess there're just the two qualifications.
If you're unable to attend the try-outs because you're under 21, you can apply to enter the Legion of Super-Gamblers Academy. But gambling isn't part of the curriculum.
There are hundreds of Las Vegas and gambling web sites. Just fire up your favorite web search engine and start looking.
The usenet newsgroup alt.vacation.las-vegas is full of people who visit Las Vegas frequently and would love to answer any questions you may have about vacationing in the city that never sleeps. As always, lurk for a little while or do a Dejanews search to see if your question has already been answered. There is no FAQ for this newsgroup.
The gambling-related usenet newsgroups are collectively referred to as rec.gambling. There's a web site devoted to general information about these groups and their participants. Newsgroups that may interest potential members of the Legion of Super-Gamblers include: rec.gambling.poker, rec.gambling.blackjack, rec.gambling.craps, rec.gambling.racing, rec.gambling.sports, rec.gambling.other-games, and rec.gambling.misc (which includes information on traveling to Las Vegas among other topics). There is a general Introduction FAQ to all of the rec.gambling newsgroups. You should read the FAQ and might want to do a Dejanews search before posting to these groups.
Please send any additional questions, comments, etc. to me at: sward@panix.com. I'll do my best to answer them. If the question appears to be of general interest, I'll post the answer here as well.
You can also reach Michael and Troy at:
Michael Grabois: orbit@ix.netcom.com
Troy McNemar: troyesq@indirect.com
A good place to start would be the Legion of Super-Resources. This is a comprehensive list of resources (both on and off the web) related to the LSH.
Of course, you can attend the try-outs in Las Vegas and ask some Legion gurus in person as well.
Currently there are only the three founding members of the LSG: Michael "Anal Retentive Checklist Lad" Grabois, Troy "AOL Chat Report Boy" McNemar, and Sidne Gail "Dinner-Organizing Damsel" Ward. The three of us met while cruising through cyberspace on the LSH-L e-mail discussion list and rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh usenet newsgroup. We were drawn together as part of a mysterious incident in which we saved the life of a wealthy industrialist through use of our super-powers.
This industrialist suggested we form a team of others like ourselves to do good and fight evil. It sounded like a cool idea to us, so we've decided to go ahead. Unfortunately, even though we saved his life, the wealthy industrialist has refused to bankroll us so we decided to headquarter ourselves in Las Vegas and finance our new team with gambling winnings. And thus the Legion of Super-Gamblers was born!
We attempted to draft additional members with super-powers similar in usefulness to our own, but have been unable to convince any governments to send representatives to join us. So we decided to hold open try-outs and just let anyone who wanted to join us.
If you can think up a goofy super-power and codename to go with it, we'd love to have you. And heck, even if you don't want to call yourself something silly like "Dinner-Organizing Damsel" you're welcome to become a member of the greatest team based permanently in the 20th century, the Legion of Super-Gamblers!
Based on responses so far we're going to have a really good turnout, so we hope you join us!