In 2001, one of the premier theoretical CS conferences, Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS), held its meeting in Las Vegas at the Tropicana. Only about 200

In 2001, one of the premier theoretical CS conferences, Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS), held its meeting in Las Vegas at the Tropicana. Only about 200 people attend, but it was memorable: (1) The conference hall right next to the FOCS conference room was hosting the international lingerie trade conference ! Still, the talks were more interesting and well attended. (2) I, like many others, didnt gamble, but I watched my office mate from MIT (now a brilliant scientist who recently won the Godel Prize) lose his 40$ (a big amount for grad students back then) at the blackjack table in literally 3 hands (35 seconds). He said, "I cant leave vegas without at least trying" and he proceeded to show exactly how LV works.