Charmy's 2013 Double LAS VEGAS SHOW REPORT w/Lots of Pics!!

[The Penny Lady]

So I just returned from a very fun and somewhat successful 5 days in Las Vegas, so I’m a bit tired from the long drive and very happy to be home!

 

I left for the show on Wednesday morning so I would have time to check in at the Rio before I went over to the PCGS show that afternoon. I like to stay at the Rio because it’s not far from the Palace Station where the Las Vegas Numismatic Society’s show is held and it’s an easy drive each morning since I avoid the Strip traffic. And the weather in Vegas was absolutely beautiful the whole time!!! Here’s my room and the view from my room of the beautiful sunny desert that Vegas is!

 

 

 

 

I then headed over to the Venetian to the PCGS show – Wednesday was dealer set up day where most of the dealers are busy getting their submissions into PCGS for grading, but there was also lots of buying and selling as well.

 

 

 

I brought a few coins to sell, found some nice ones to buy, and also submitted several coins to PCGS. I was fortunate to get this nice picture of these two very cute PCGS girls!

 

 

PCGS set up a very popular sweet “snack” bar set up in the afternoon.

 

 

I know this is a little weird, but the design in the women’s restroom at the Venetian was so beautiful I just had to take a couple photos.

 

These are the gorgeous bright red stall doors

 

And the vanity/sink area

 

After I finished doing business at the PCGS show, I headed downstairs to the Poker Room. It’s a very large room and always seems to be quite busy.

 

 

Right from the beginning I was catching some good cards and quickly built up my chip stack - and the Patron shot wasn't bad either! I was doing so well, that I didn’t even go out for dinner but had a quick sandwich!

 

 

 

The next morning (Thursday), I headed back to the PCGS show to finish some business. I also took a few more photos.

 

Surprisingly, this is a photo of the beautiful ceiling of the valet/taxi area in front of the Venetian registration

 

More wonderful and very helpful PCGS gals!

 

Behind these curtains are the tireless hardworking graders and you can hear the constant sounds of the slabbing machines!

 

Found this familiar “face” at the show!

 

Soon it was time to head over for dealer set up at the LVNS show. The room is pretty large and there are over 100 dealer tables. I tried to take some photos to put into perspective the size of the show

 

 

 

There was quite a bit of business being conducted on Thursday between the early bird badge holders and all the dealers. For a dealer day, there was quite a buzz throughout the room. Later in the day when things died down a bit, I opened this yummy bottle of Ghost Pines red wine:

 

 

The show closed at 7pm so I went back to the Rio to meet up with my friends for dinner. Everyone was pretty tired from the travel and setting up their booths, so we decided to just have a simple dinner at the Grill restaurant, then do some gambling before calling it a night.

 

Some of my friends wanted to play some Roulette so we found this table with some very happy folks. These two guys were having a blast betting large stacks of chips on red or black, and were being quite successful at it.

 

 

 

I also played my usual table games - Ultimate Texas Hold-um, 3-Card Poker, Let it Ride, etc. However, I wasn’t very lucky/successful at these games this time around, so I soon headed back up to my room. Here’s a photo of beautiful Vegas at night from my room.

 

 

 

The next morning (Friday) I headed over to the show. I went out in the lobby just before it opened to the public and was happy to see a large crowd gathered to get in.

 

 

The registration desk

 

It didn’t take long for the show to become very crowded and the usual “show buzz” to begin

 

This is Walter Ostromecki (ANA VP and Presidential candidate) – he works tirelessly setting up and running the kids’ treasure hunts at coin shows around the country!

 

 

 

This is one of my most favorite dealers - Logan of Vams & More

 

And this is his beautiful daughter Cindy who also works for ANACS at several western region shows. She was extremely busy each day!

 

I was able to round up John McIntosh and his boys for a much-protested photo op!

 

I posted this on separate thread, but I thought I’d post it here too. A good dealer friend of mine had this error note stolen from him at the show. If you have any information about it, please contact:

 

Jim Cauley at Errors and More

916-212-6752

kjcauley@netzero.com

 

 

 

After the show was over, we decided to head downtown to Fremont Street to check out the light show, have some dinner, and, of course, do more gambling!

 

 

We had a wonderful relaxing and very yummy dinner at Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse which is in the Golden Nugget

 

 

 

 

This Palermo wine has a beautifully artistic label and was fantastic!!

 

 

 

I had a very tasty seabass with a chunk lobster topping and a side of parmesan artichoke risotto – mmmmmmmmmmmm!!

 

 

 

Then I played some no limit poker at the Golden Nugget poker room. I actually had another successful run at the poker table!

 

Also, there’s a legendary coin dealer who is known for sitting down at a 1-2 no limit game and plopping down $25,000 in cash – and sure enough, he showed up at my table!

 

For those who may not have been to Fremont Street, it has a very fun Mardi Gras atmosphere with lots of interesting characters just walking about!

 

A couple of bucket drummers

 

A balloon guy

 

Don’t know what he was thinking!

 

A bunch of guys getting a photo op with a cute show girl

 

This guy was just taking a nap (probably passed out) when a girl walked up and put a dollar bill on his cap

 

This is the light show on the roof that covers the street

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday the show started out slowly but soon picked up.

 

 

There were lots of kids participating in the treasure hunt, and a “celebrity” also did some coin shopping!

 

This is Mark Hall-Patton - the Pawn Stars show expert from the Clark County Heritage Museum!!

 

 

In the afternoon, I opened this very decent bottle of Coppola zinfandel

 

After the show, I just went back to the Rio and played a little more poker before going to bed. This is the Official Main Event final World Series of Poker table for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 with a pile of chips glued together and stuck to the table.

 

 

 

 

So overall, the LVNS show was very busy and extremely well attended. However, I spoke to several dealers who all agreed that there were far too many people who just wanted to chat or graze than there were actual coin buyers. Unfortunately, many dealers reported poor or less-than-average sales. And even though I had one large sale that saved my show, it was not a very good retail show. However, I have hopes that the next show will be better and will happily return especially since “it’s Vegas baby!”

 

Next up – the Buena Park show this coming weekend!

[Coindude]

Great report there Charmy, as usual. That bone in ribeye made my mouth water! Looking forward to seeing pictures of your new pickups though!

[WoodenJefferson]

Enjoyed this tour immensely.

[RWB]

Nice. Was PCGS at both shows?

[123cents]

Great report and fantastic photos!

[RWB]

Charmy,

Didn't you meet Mark Hall-Patton from the Pawn Stars show when you were on the show with your WW-II camera?

[johnny9434]

nice report charmy, thanks for posting that error note that got ripped off. ya never know where thats gonna turn up

[The Penny Lady]

Thanks everyone!

 

Coindude: I didn't have rib-eye, I had seabass (that was in Mike's report)

 

RWB: no, PCGS was of course at their own show, but not at the LVNS show (ANACS was there though) - and no, I didn't meet Mark Hall-Patton when I was on Pawn Stars, they didn't call in an expert

 

 

[Coindude]

Coindude: I didn't have rib-eye, I had seabass (that was in Mike's report)

I know you didn't have the ribeye, but it was in your photo along with the strip steaks and whatnot! Great report, we've become accustomed to wonderful reports from you.

[Dwaine]

Awesome report