Join the Legion of Super-Gamblers this August in Las Vegas

If you're interested in joining us in Las Vegas for the 13th annual "Legion of Super-Gamblers" weekend, let me know. A group of 8-10 or so of Legion fans get together every summer for a long weekend of gambling, partying, and socializing. This year we haven't quite decided on a weekend in August yet (we have too much free time), but it'll be a Thursday through Sunday, or whatever part of that you choose to show up. Anyone who joins us is welcome to hang out with us as much or as little as they like. The earliest it will be is the weekend immediately following San Diego - so you'll have a few days from the con to recuperate.

We've got a private Yahoo group (no spammers allowed!) and a public Facebook group to discuss the details, so if you think you might be able to make it, I'll get you set up. Nothing like Vegas in the summer, I hope you can handle the heat. This will be our 13th annual trip, with people flying in from places like New York, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Houston, Seattle, and Phoenix, among others.

Summer party planning

A couple of summer party events to start thinking about...

1. If you're interested in joining us in Las Vegas for the annual "Legion of Super-Gamblers" weekend, let me know. A group of 8-10 or so of Legion fans get together every summer for a long weekend of gambling, partying, and socializing. This year we've chosen the weekend of Thursday July 17 through Sunday July 20, or whatever part of that you choose to show up. Anyone who joins us is welcome to hang out with us as much or as little as they like. We've got a private Yahoo group (no spammers allowed!) to discuss the details, so if you think you might be able to make it, I'll get you set up. Nothing like Vegas in the summer, I hope you can handle the heat. This will be our 12th annual trip, with people flying in from places like New York, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Houston, Seattle, and Phoenix, among others.

2. Which brings me to the second item... who's planning to go to San Diego this year? The Comic-Con is the weekend of Wednesday July 23 through Sunday July 27. Not coincidentally, the Vegas and San Diego weekends are back to back this year, so that those traveling from points east can make one long trip if they want instead of two long weekends. This is the 50th anniversary of the Legion, and although I have no firsthand knowledge of any programming, I'm sure that'll be part of the convention programming.

I haven't been to the convention since the 2002 season, and from reading about it each year, it gets bigger and bigger. If anyone scores a convention hotel room for relatively cheap this week and is possibly looking for a roommate, let me know!

Luck Lords protect me!

Update July 9: OK, maybe "super" isn't the right word. But we did recruit a new member of the LSG, who happened to be there at the same time as we were.

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Off to Planet Ventura today with the Legion of Super-Gamblers. I had a bunch of stuff I was going to post before I left but my car battery died tonight and I lost a couple of hours waiting for a jump start (where's Lightning Lad when you need him?).

This link shows how Las Vegas should be portrayed in the DC Universe, Luck Lords and Haruspexes notwithstanding. I doubt we'll see GL or Batman there, but you never know who's really a Durlan in disguise or a time traveller looking to put down some bets on past sporting events.



Topic for discussion while I'm gone: which Legionnaires' powers would be most useful while in Las Vegas, and how? You've got the the obvious ones like Dream Girl knowing which number is coming up on the roulette wheel or which card is coming next, Saturn Girl reading minds at the poker table, or Ultra Boy using his penetra-vision to see the next cards at blackjack. How about the others - how could Star Boy cheat? Wildfire, Matter-Eater Lad, XS, Ferro Lad, Quislet, Sun Boy, Theena?

Legion of Super-Gamblers XI: Anyone for Vegas?

Just like last year, this isn't a delayed April Fool's joke, it's an open invitation. Several of us will be getting together in Las Vegas for our annual weekend. This year it's Thursday July 5 through Sunday July 8, 2007.

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The legendary Legion of Super-Gamblers! Blackjack Boy! Pai-Gow Poker King! Roulette Lass! One-Armed Bandit Boy! King Queen! (Or Queen King under the influence of Grandian Gender-Reversal Germs.) And their headquarters, the Black Pyramid (with its bright LSG beacon on top, which can be seen thousands of miles out in space)! Bring out the Planetary Chance Machine, pay homage to the Luck Lords, and book that trip to the planet Ventura....

Actually, it's a bunch of comics fans who happen to have at least a passing knowledge of the Legion, and one weekend a year we travel from all over the country to Las Vegas. No hidden agendas, nothing you're required to do (except show up and have fun, either with us or on your own as much as you want). There's a core group of us that goes every year, usually around 8-10 of us, with a half dozen or so who have joined us at one time or another over the years. This will be our 11th annual trip - thus LSGXI - with participants from Houston, NYC, Phoenix, Kansas City, Seattle, Philadelphia, Long Beach, Mountain View, and more.

Note - Very few of us are actually Super-Gamblers, though from time to time we do come out ahead. It just sounded good. Not all of us can live like Bruce Wayne in the recent "Brave and Bold" issue with Green Lantern.

Typically we fly in on a Thursday afternoon and leave Sunday afternoon or evening, though due to work considerations some don't show up until Friday night and some stay over until Monday morning. This year it's the weekend of Thursday July 5 through Sunday July 8. We're trying to plan to see a show one night, have a fancy dinner one night, and casino hop the rest of the time, chasing our money up and down the Strip.

If anyone's interested in possibly going, or just want more information, send me an email (it's in my profile) or leave a comment. Here are some photos and trip reports from our early missions.

Viva Las Vegas, DCU style

Just back from a long weekend in Las Vegas with the Legion of Super-Gamblers (or, in my case, "Sub-par"). Among the interesting topics of discussion: what would Las Vegas look like in the DCU?

Bruce Wayne would be a player in the Vegas scene. After selling off his chain of casinos he bought piecemeal (for a huge profit) he'd build the biggest, flashiest, techiest casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Not The Wynn Hotel and Casino, but The Wayne. Unlike Steve Wynn, though, he'd have Lucius Fox running the show, but he'd be there for all the gala events and charity parties.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Strip, Lex Luthor would have his own casino, the Lexor. He uses the profits from the gaming to fund his nefarious schemes.

Somewhere in there I'm sure you'd see The Atlantis and Paradise Island hotel/casinos, the former with a distinct nautical/underwater theme and the latter with a Greek/Roman theme (maybe in place of Caesar's Palace).

Planet Krypton would be taking over and transforming the Aladdin, not Planet Hollywood, so you'd have a super-hero themed hotel/casino.

You'd probably still have New York, New York, but the DCU version would include sightings of NYC-based heroes (although they'd have to be careful not to infringe on Planet Krypton's licenses).

With people like Booster Gold and the Legion running around the 21st century, and with aliens (Superman, Hawkman, J'Onn J'Onzz, the Dominators, etc.) and high/future tech known to the general public (maybe not believed, but still seen), I think there mnight be room for a science-fiction based hotel and casino - maybe call it Time Warp after the old DC series. The hotel part would be shaped like a large rocket ship upside-down, similar to how the post-reboot Legion HQ looked. Inside you'd have a mix of retro tech (1950's-60's style fins and chrome, 30's pulps) and high/alien tech (Krypton, Thanagar). Maybe something like the Las Vegas Hilton's Star Trek Experience but on a bigger scale, with real tech instead of Hollywood special effects. This is where all of the time travellers would stay when they came back to the 21st century to bet on sporting events where they already knew the outcome - the hotel already has the futuristic touches that they're used to back home. The big favorite there would be the Planetary Chance Machine, and the food court would be famous for the Nine Worlds Ice Cream Parlor (check out the Martian ice cream).

Oh, and of course, Zatanna would be headlining at the Mirage. Top hat and fishnets, naturally.

Legion of Super-Gamblers: LSGX

No, this isn't a delayed April Fool's joke, it's an open invitation.

The legendary Legion of Super-Gamblers! Blackjack Boy! Pai-Gow Poker King! Roulette Lass! One-Armed Bandit Boy! King Queen! (Or Queen King under the influence of Grandian Gender-Reversal Germs.) And their headquarters, the Black Pyramid (with its bright LSG beacon on top, which can be seen thousands of miles out in space)! Bring out the Planetary Chance Machine, pay homage to the Luck Lords, and book that trip to the planet Ventura....

Actually, it's a bunch of comics fans who happen to have at least a passing knowledge of the Legion, and one weekend a year we travel from all over the country to Las Vegas. No hidden agendas, nothing you're required to do (except show up and have fun, either with us or on your own as much as you want). There's a core group of us that goes every year, usually around 8-10 of us, with a half dozen or so who have joined us at one time or another over the years. This will be our 10th annual trip - thus LSGX - with participants from Houston, NYC, Phoenix, Kansas City, Seattle, Philadelphia, and more.

Note - Very few of us are actually Super-Gamblers, though from time to time we do come out ahead. It just sounded good.

Typically we fly in on a Thursday afternoon and leave Sunday afternoon or evening, though due to work considerations some don't show up until Friday night and some stay over until Monday morning. This year it's the weekend of Thursday June 15 through Sunday June 18. We'll try to see a show one night, have a fancy dinner one night, and casino hop the rest of the time, chasing our money up and down the Strip.

If anyone's interested in possibly going, or just want more information, send me an email (it's in my profile) or leave a comment. Here are some photos and trip reports from our early missions.