a drink, meet like-minded sophisticados of the open west. places like this. bartender: it s the good stuff. it s jameson black. bartender 2: yeah, that s gone. anthony: ah. ruhlman: you can do 30 of those. anthony: puntridge tavern, where those who have to live it, see it, the things that men do day after day, night after night, in a town where people are encouraged to do their worst, where they can drink the stain away. this is the side of vegas i like. ruhlman: this side. anthony: yeah, because people here are like, really cynical.
half are going. bartender: half are going. ruhlman: there are probably more knuckleheads per square foot in the, in the vegas strip than anywhere in america. anywhere in america. anthony: yeah, but i m not, i m not hanging with those people, man. there will be a few, a few high-end meals during our adventure here. we will be sampling the other side but there s a, but there s a price. ruhlman: there s always a price with you. anthony: there are places in vegas where the available rooms are not listed on any websites.
ruhlman: really? anthony: they have a dim world view, even more dim than me. ruhlman: that s hard. anthony: you know what this whole show s about? you know, there s a theme. ruhlman: no. anthony: this is about people who live here. you know, when all when all the meatheads come and go, they re still here. these people have seen every variety of horrifying human behavior. so the whole business model is, come to vegas and behave really, really badly. ruhlman: i think it s encouraged people to be their worst. they re expected to do that. it kind of makes my skin crawl. anthony: really? ruhlman: not here. here, i like it. i m comfortable here, even in my blazer. anthony: right, right. is this an easy town to make a living or a hard town to make a living? bartender: depends on what you do. 25 years behind a bar, you see some shit. anthony: if you were born and bred here bartender: i am. ruhlman: she is. she s third generation. bartender: third generation.
places reserved for the whales, the high rollers, the 10 million a night gamblers who arrive by private plane. bobby flay probably lives like this all the time. ruhlman: yeah, it could, it could go dark, couldn t it? could get very dark here. i honestly never thought it would have come to this. anthony: well, i was dunking fries 14 years ago, so. ruhlman: you have, uh, you ve made some, uh, steps up. anthony: you re making me feel about feel better about all of this luxury, looking back at that. ruhlman: yeah, you deserve this. anthony: you re right, you re right. ruhlman: you deserve this. anthony: entering my golden years era. they don t show this in the viagra commercials, you know? they re always running on the beach with a tennis racket. they re never sitting here. you know, go out and kill some
oscar: but that s what vegas, that s what vegas is. vegas is unique. but i ll tell you one thing. you go to the airport here, everybody s smiling. when they come in they re smiling and they can t wait to lose their money. and then when they leave they re smiling after they lost their money. so, i think it s very, very special. it s a special kind of place where people can take their basest instincts, and just let it, let it fly. i think that s good! i have no problem with that at all. anthony: when you come to vegas, you see this. the lights and smoke and mirrors, the casino floors. but who manages the machine? where do they come from? beneath the floors, behind the walls, above the winking surveillance camera lenses a whole other world. manned by thousands and thousands of waiters, maintenance people, repairmen, chefs, engineers, plumbers, and croupiers. three shifts a day they slip in and out of the casinos almost unseen through their own