The Neon Gutter

Burt, Dan, and Matt prepare for their $39 a Day challenge, wherein they will live or die on the all-inclusive budget of $39 a day for 72 hours in Las Vegas. You'll probably think they're idiots (and be right), and yet still glean some money saving (and making) tricks.

Matt reveals to Dan and Burt how he, Stinky and Robert survived the mean streets and even meaner gutters in Las Vegas all the way to the conclusion of their $19 a Day trip. Also discussed is a near brawl, contraband, egg equivalencies, and how the trip changed the boys forever.

The Boys recall a trip done on $19 a day for all food, lodging, transportation, entertainment, gambling, and--of course--drinks. Including a stay at the famous Western Hotel, cheap hot dogs, bus rides, and near death experiences.

Surgeon General’s Warning: This episode of The Neon Gutter is a gift to you. And keeping it in the gutter, it’s cheap and may be hazardous to your ears. So, listeners be forewarned that you are entering the Stupak Community Center where the Neon Gutter Crew played “Stupak: the Game,” designed by Bob Stupak, whom you may have heard about in Episodes 1 and 2.

This is freewheeling, noisy, and as exciting as listening to a bunch of guys playing a terrible board game sounds. You have been warned.

The Neon Gutter crew takes a live stroll down Fremont Street, from the headwaters of the Plaza Hotel at Main Street past Binion’s, the Golden Nugget and all the way East, past the D, the El Cortez and on to the husk of the Western. Along the way, they reminisce of what used to be and used to happen along the fabled street, and they encounter surprise guests, panhandling locals, and the noise pollution that clutters downtown Las Vegas nowadays.

Burt grills Matt, Dan, and their guest Phil on the crummiest, dirtiest, smelliest, and most fun casinos they ever wandered into or escaped from. A philosophical discussion breaks out about what makes a casino a shithole, the difference between good and bad shitholes, and why the dumps can be more fun. Stick around and learn where you can go today to have your clothes indelibly marked with stench of tobacco, bodo odor, and failure.

Burt queries Matt and Dan about all the terrible places they stayed in Vegas, including why in the world they stayed in them. Join us to hear about hookers working the front desk, broken Magic Fingers, jumping on beds, and dead pigeons by the pool.

Matt and Dan are joined by Phil and Mike for a look back to their first group trip to Las Vegas, when they were just babes in the woods, thrilled at the prospect of cheap buffets, free decks of cards, and a chance to see naked ladies.

In this episode, the Neon Gutter recounts the many ways they thanked Bob Stupak for the free money, free rooms, and free drinks with a series of practical jokes involving a lump of beef, police tape, Jell-o, and the most advanced printing technology the era offered to college kids. One of the jokes had a lasting legacy on Vegas World in its waning days.

In this episode, Burt, Dan, and Matt recall what was surely the strangest major hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the space-themed Bob Stupak’s Vegas World, its maverick owner, and how the Neon Gutter crew exploited a loophole to enrich themselves while the property fell into decay.