Is a free trip to Vegas ever really free? I'm being asked to participate in a highly contentious case with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. To do so, I have to attend a court hearing in NY. I've also got to go on record with my declarations to help correct a certain misunderstanding in the proceedings. Naturally, I can't be expected to pay for my own trip up there, so I get a "free" trip to Vegas.
Let's analyze what "free" could entail:
1) Opportunity cost of my time spent in LA which could be $1,000/day. Assuming I don't work on Sunday, that means -$1,000 for Monday.
2) Loss at blackjack. Conservative estimate of -$500.
3) Loss at craps. Conservative estimate of -$600.
4) Gain at pai gow poker. Win $350. Hey, I've got to win sometimes, right?
5) Loss at poker. Lose $2000. I was up at first, but it was no limit, and we pushed all in when I was a 7-to4 favorite but I still lost.
6) Humility faced when the cage tells me my credit card is maxed out. Loss is priceless.
7) Slots. Win $40. Yay! Something goes right on this trip.
8) Lawsuit against me for my participation in the case. Estimate of -$30,000.
Holy crap. Free just ended up costing me $33,710 and whatever "priceless" means.
Oh what the hell. Sometimes you just have to do things on principle.
