High Rollers

high roller: n. Slang

1. One who spends freely and extravagantly, as for luxuries or entertainment.

I guess you don't know what the high life is until you actually get to live it. This past weekend five of my college friends and I spent went to Vegas to party for my roommate's 21st birthday. I learned two great lessons:
#1: it pays to have a friend with a dad on the board at the Hilton, and
#2: Even unlimited money can't guarantee good room service in the middle of the night.

My friend Zack Oates happens to be the son of a former NFL player who now happens to sit on the board at the Hilton in Las Vegas. Zack told us he could get us some discounts on rooms, so we decided to plan a Vegas trip. Little did we know just what it means to be an Oates.
After we had some car trouble on our way to St. George Zack placed a call to the Hilton explaining how difficult it had been for us to make it. "If there is anything at all you can do," he said, "to make our stay more comfortable, we would appreciate it." Well, that line apparently doesn't just work in movies.
When we got to the hotel Zack walked past the check-in counter lines to the VIP lounge where he was greeted by name by one of the employees. "Hello, Mr. Oates. We have been preparing for your arrival for a while." Zack emerged from the lounge with two VIP suites, VIP passes for all of us, and a little buzz word that made all the differnce in the world: "Comped."
Comped . . . yes . . . our rooms and anything and everything that we charged to our rooms was completely comped. All of the hotel's shows, restaurants, roomservice, etc was on the house. It's good to be an Oates.

Diet Cokes and Chocolate-covered Strawberries . . .

Sandy and I decided to add a little comfort into our beautification on Friday night before we went out for dinner and clubbing. Love that word, comped.

Party like a Rock Star . . .

We spent two days in Vegas partying like rock stars, VIP passes and all. We ate the Bellagio, went clubbing at the Wynn, ordered a cart of room service at 3:30 am, shopped, saw a show, and basically had the time of our lives. You know, if this really is how the other half lives, I might need to reconsider my profession. :)