awed by 'O'

Had a bit of free time last night and I went to a couple of casinos to check on their offerings. First up was Caesar’s Palace to see if they still have tickets for Celine Dion. Newspaper announcements have trumpeted that this is her third and last year on the strip.

Wow. Three years have passed and I have not seen the show yet. So I went to the box-office and c hecked if they had single tickets available. Turns out Celine’s on vacation and will be back by April 12. They had Elton John’s “Red Piano” show but will be available only Friday and Saturday. Boo-hoo.


I trekked back to the Bellagio and I saw this stand-by line for tickets to the 730 pm show. It was a long line and obviously, I was the last. The line was moving slowly and I was losing my patience and my hope. One young-ish looking guy approached me and asked if I was looking for single tickets.

“Yes,” I replied and he fished out a ticket from his pocket. “I can’t watch the show so I am selling my ticket, face value,” he responded.

I asked how much. He told me it was on the third row, almost center. “$165, face value,” he said.

Thought for a while and I told him that I’ll take my chance on the line to see if there are cheaper seats. “$130,” he offered. I didn’t budge. I fished out my hundred dollar from my pocket and said, “This is my budget, sorry.”

He left and few minutes later, he returned. “Okay, one hundred bucks,” he said.

Then it hit me. What if this guy was a con man. What if the ticket’s fake? I’ll have no way of finding out and no way as well to hunt him down. He sensed my hesitation. “Hey bro, this is real. I won’t screw you,” he said. Not the exact words I wanted to hear. I was sold.

I rushed to the theater and I was ushered to my seat. This was going to be a freaking good show. I’m on the third row!