Day 1 – Took a United flight from Des Moines thru Denver to Vegas. Flight was free as I used miles to purchase the ticket. Everything was on time and smooth flights. I studied my Largay No-Limit Hold ‘em book and an Omaha Hi/Low book during the flights. I’m on my own on 2/12 and 2/13 with my wife joining me on 2/14 (Valentine’s Day). We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day and her recent birthday once she arrives. She was originally supposed to be in Vegas for business 2/8 – 2/15 with me joining her 2/12 – 2/18 but the convention she was attending was cancelled. I already had booked by flights and she didn’t see any need for me to be in Vegas for 6 days without her! We were originally booked to stay at the Wynn. With the cancellation of her business trip I wanted to stay at the Flamingo (my usual home base in Vegas) but she said for her birthday and Valentine’s Day we needed to step it up a notch. We booked the Bellagio at $171/night including taxes. Not bad for the Bellagio, but it would have been $20/night cheaper if she would have let me book it a day earlier instead of waiting to see if the Wynn/Encore or Venetian/Palazzo would offer a better deal. Oh, well! As it turned out, we loved the Bellagio. Once in Vegas, I took the shuttle for $6.50 to the Bellagio. It took a little while since the Bellagio was a late stop but no big deal.
Checked into the Bellagio and went up to the room. Very nice room. I couldn’t figure out how to open the curtains and finally found buttons by the king size bed that opened and closed the sheers and drapes. I unexpectedly had a perfect view of the Bellagio Lake/Fountain, the strip, and Paris and the Eiffel Tower! I discovered that when the fountain show was running you could play the music for the show through the TV. Very nice. The bathroom included a nice sized glass shower and separate tub. Granite counter tops. I scared myself when I flushed the toilet as it had the most powerful flush I’ve seen in a hotel toilet. Heck, it created a breeze, lol. In any event, excellent room with an awesome view.
Decided it was time to venture out. I walked up to O’Sheas to get a cheap dinner at Subway. I then went to the Flamingo to play 1/2 NL. Started play at about 10 p.m., buying in for the $300 max. Within 30 minutes I was re-buying, lol. I had roughly $280 in front of me when I was dealt a pair of Kings. Villain bets, I raise, Villain re-raises, I re-raise, Villain all-in, I call. Villain, of course, has Aces. I don’t improve on the flop, turn, or river. His aces beat my kings and I’m felted. Obviously, it had been some time since I’d played and my spidey sense never tingled. Looking back, what else could he have? In total I played from 10 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and was down $279 for the day including tips to the dealers and waitresses. I did get one offer from a hooker hanging out by the Flamingo elevators when I was returning to the poker room from the bathroom. I determined that would be a very -EV move.

Day 2 – I started the day with a late breakfast at Café Bellagio. Very long line but I got in a little faster as a single and sat at the counter. Very good broccoli and bacon omelet with hash browns and coffee for $23 with tip. I then walked to the Venetian and decided to try Omaha Hi/Low for the first time in a casino (I’d played a little for very low stakes online). I wanted a change of pace and Omaha makes you think and can be a lot of fun. It was 4/8 limit with a half kill (if someone scooped the pot and the pot was $40 or more, that person had to post $6 and the next hand was 6/12). The only limit I’d previously played in a casino was Hold ‘em at 2/4 and 3/6 so this was a new game at a new level for me. I tried to play only those starting hands listed in the book I read. I played 3-4 hours and was down $14. It was a nice change of pace and challenging. There were clearly regulars at the table and they were all friendly. One was a dealer at the V and he occasionally helped the game’s dealers as it was clear they weren’t all 100% comfortable with the game. I made a new friend from CA sitting next to me who would always show me his hand if I had folded and he was still in. I’d recommend that people give this game a shot if they want to do something other than Hold ‘em. The V was very busy with the deep stack tournaments and the place was hopping.
I went back to the Bellagio for a solo dinner at the Café Bellagio. $30 for a burger, fries, glass of Shiraz and a cup of coffee. The hostess saw I was alone and offered me a magazine. I declined given the 3 poker books in my hand, lol. I then made the mistake of lying down on the bed in my room and took an unintentional two hour nap. I woke up and decided to head back to the Flamingo for 1/2 NL. I played from about 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and finished up $137. Had one guy sit to my left all night and straddle my big blind every time. Nice sun glasses guy, just wanted constant action. He was a high variance player, lol. Another good guy on my other side. Former marine living in CA and now a guidance counselor. Air Force guy from Idaho and originally from MN. Just about my favorite thing about playing poker in Vegas (other than winning, of course) is the people you meet. Notable hand, I was dealt aces and the flop came A, 4, 4. I made some decent money on that hand by slow playing. That kind of hand and flop didn’t happen often on this trip. I was too tired to concentrate by 3 a.m. so I just walked the strip for a while drinking a beer. I did tack on two additional hooker offers so I’m up to 3 for the trip so far. Down $156 for the trip.
Other tidbits from the day – several women were playing 2/4 limit at a table at the Flamingo. I never heard a table hoot, holler, and laugh so much. We all wanted to move to their table. I saw several $5 black jack tables on the strip, at least during the day. Hooters had people walking around with signs promoting 24/7 $3 black jack. The $2 hot dogs at Bill’s are pretty good. I walked by Harrah’s poker room. The fish bowl just doesn’t appeal to me although I can certainly understand why some really like it. Bill’s can have a pretty good sized line at the Tickets4Less outlet or whatever it is called. I don’t remember that being located there in the past. Flamingo added dancing/go-go girls at one of their black jack areas. Reasonably entertaining when taking a break from the poker room. Most positive EV move for the day was finding a dollar bill in the hallway at the Bellagio on the way back to my room.

Day 3 – Long line for breakfast again at Café Bellagio (Vegas was reasonably busy due to Valentine’s weekend and President’s Day on Monday). Decided to head over to Tropical Breeze with my poker books for breakfast. Had the Gambler’s Special for $21 including tip. Covered by the comps on my Total Rewards card. Took my time reading and writing up trip report notes since my beautiful bride was due in at 1 p.m. Went back to the Bellagio and my wife called saying she was almost there. She arrived in a Lincoln Town Car. She said there was a long line for the shuttles and she didn’t want to go find a taxi. I didn’t ask how much it cost since we are celebrating her B-day and V-Day. To ask would have been a negative EV move. We had lunch (soup) at Café Bellagio after I showed her the view from our room. She was very pleased with our accommodations. We then decided to take a walk and pick up our tickets to Danny Gans (for that night at the Encore – Saturday) and Jersey Boys on Monday night at the Palazzo. I had already picked up our tickets for Donny and Marie at the Flamingo for Tuesday night. Needless to say, walking to the Palazzo and Encore and back was a long haul. We walked back on the Bellagio side of the strip which was less crowded and a little quicker. My wife informed me that we would not be walking up to the Encore for the show that night as her feet were killing her. We went back to the room, got cleaned up, and headed to Harrah’s and The Range for dinner. Excellent steakhouse which I would highly recommend. I’m thinking it was around $120-$130 for the two of us including a nice bottle of wine. We headed down to catch a cab to the Encore for the show. Bad news….very long cab line and the show started in about 20-25 minutes. Bad news…we had to walk and my wife was wearing spiked heels. Bad news….this put us both in a bad mood. We made it just in time for the show although my wife was anything but happy as she chased me up the strip since I was determined not to be late. So dinner was a positive EV experience. Getting to the show on time was a negative EV experience. Clearly, we would be giving more thought to pre-show meal planning going forward! Fortunately, Danny Gans was as good as advertised so we put the experience of the rushed walk behind us. I would highly recommend Danny Gans to anyone looking for a great Vegas show. After the show, we had a couple drinks at the bar outside the restaurant Switch. At this restaurant, the walls and ceiling periodically change. Interesting. We also checked out the restaurant, Sinatra’s. Looked very nice and we agreed that is where we should have eaten dinner given that our show was at the Encore. We took a taxi back to the Bellagio (I think the driver went the long way…) and decided to play video poker outside Fontana Bar. We sat where we could see the live entertainment and each put in a $20 so we could drink “free” Bailey’s and Cream which was otherwise $9 a pop. We certainly had a positive EV experience with that well known approach to drinking in Vegas. We went back up to the room where my wife notified me that she was going straight to bed because her feet hurt. Whoops! I headed off to the Flamingo to play some 1/2 NL and played from about 1 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. I finished down $78 for the session and I’m down $234 for the trip. The competition I’m seeing so far in Vegas seems somewhat better than what I had been seeing. I’m wondering if the reduction in internet poker players is making the games tougher? Or maybe it’s because of in spite of trying to play with a TAG approach; I’m actually playing tight and passive. I leave thinking maybe I should become a Nit at Harrah’s…..or I’ve become one and just haven’t played at Harrah’s.

Day 4 – Slept in. We walked over to the Miracle Mile by Planet Hollywood and ate lunch at the Cheeseburger place. Stopped and bought a couple bottles of wine for the room. My wife travels a lot and wanted a refrigerator for the room. She had called down and said she needed one to keep her medicine in and they delivered one within 10 minutes. I asked her what medicine she was taking and why it needed a refrigerator. She smiled and said wine is her medicine. Told me it is a secret Travel Director’s trick. I love that woman! In any event, she put on her tennis shoes and went shopping. I headed back to the Venetian and put my name on the lists for 1/2 NL and Omaha Hi/Low. I was seated at 1/2 NL and proceeded to lose $27 over the course of 3 hours. I’m now down $261 for the trip. I went back to the Bellagio and my wife and I had a bottle of wine in the room. We then went to dinner at Fix in the Bellagio. Food and wine was great. I had a filet and shrimp surf and turf special. We had a side of mac and cheese which actually looked like cheese sticks….but it was outstanding (my wife and I are kind of mac and cheese freaks, lol). We then went and assumed our seats at the bar outside Fontana’s and played video poker while drinking several Bailey’s and Cream drinks. I’m hoping our basically break even video poker play will end up generating some nice future offers from the Bellagio in this down economy. We then headed upstairs………

Day 5 – Had breakfast/lunch again at Café Bellagio on this rainy day in Vegas. I headed out to play some afternoon poker. The Flamingo had a list so I decided to head up to the Venetian to play Omaha Hi/Low. I would note in walking through Bill’s that they did typically have one, if not two, tables going. I meant to play the $1 NL there at some point but it never worked out. I stopped at Harrah’s to see if Las Vegas Michael might be playing and indeed he was. I introduced myself and he actually recognized me and knew who I was from my picture posted on this site. I was impressed and it was great to meet him. He indicated that he was thinking of heading over to the Bellagio to try their new 1/2 NL game and that Southpoint Perry was over there playing 15/30 (limit I assume). I was then off to the Venetian where I proceeded to lose $159 playing Omaha. When I couldn’t recognize the fish at the table it certainly must have been me! I did, however, really try to play only appropriate starting hands. Guys were winning money playing hands they shouldn’t have even called with pre-flop. Oh well! It was still fun and interesting. I did screw up once when I was focused on making sure I had nut low, didn’t realize I probably had high, only called on the river, and left money on the table by just calling to scoop the pot. I will play this game again! I then walked back to the Bellagio to meet my wife, get cleaned up, and head to the Palazzo for Jersey Boys. This time we did take a cab and we also ate at the place where the show would take place (I can be trained). We had a very nice dinner at Dos Cominos Mexican restaurant. I had a kind of “build your own ribs taco” meal and wine. This restaurant had a very nice ambiance. The food was excellent. They had 3 salsas for the chips. The hottest one was REALLY hot. Kind of like the Blazing sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings. Excellent but have lots of water! My wife said the guacamole was excellent. The Palazzo classifies this place as “casual” vs. fine dining but it was nice and our total bill with drinks and tip was probably about $110. Jersey Boys was simply outstanding. It was a great story (who knew Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons had such an interesting history?), great music, and excellent performers. Definitely recommend (you can probably tell I’m not into Cirque-type shows). After the show we went and listened to the live band at La Scena lounge. Then back to the Bellagio to assume our usual position at the video poker machine at the bar outside Fontana’s. We now knew the bartenders and had a nice conversation to go with our Bailey’s. I actually finished $70 ahead on video poker for the night. After tucking my wife into bed, I headed to the Flamingo for 1/2 NL and FINALLY ran into the type of loose, passive NL players I’d remembered in Vegas. I finished up $62 for a couple hour session. Notable hand – I had A/J of diamonds in the small blind. Called. Flop is Ace and two diamonds. I raised 1/2 the pot. 1 caller. Turn is a diamond. I give it the old fake sigh to indicate I didn’t like 3 diamonds on the board. Somewhat short stacked guy goes all in. I call. He flips over connected low diamonds. I flip over the nut flush. Why can’t it always work that way? Down $358 on poker for the trip.

Day 6 – Late breakfast at Café Bellagio. MUCH shorter line due to it being a Tuesday. Wife joined me after a massage at the Bellagio spa. She also said she sat in the hot tub for a while with a bunch of naked women who shouldn’t have been naked. I asked if she did the naked thing but she said no, she’d taken her suit, lol. She said the spa was very, very nice. I’m actually surprised she only used it once. After breakfast, she headed up to the room to do some work in advance of an upcoming business trip. I decided to try some 1/2 NL at Imperial Palace. I was impressed that they now have an electronic players list, they check you in and out on your Total Rewards card at the table, and they still have free cookies. The tables seem huge though. I had to move to seat 6 so I could see the flop at my advanced age of 49. I finished down $116 but didn’t feel I played terribly. Ok, maybe again too passive to go with my desired tight. One guy hit a couple of big hands (one in which he took a significant amount from me) playing 8/3 or 4 gap suited to a pre-flop raise. WTF? I raised, denying him proper odds, pre-flop, on the flop, and on the turn. He flushed on the river.) But it was suited! And I thought that was a 2/4 limit approach, lol. After about 3 hours I headed back to the Bellagio to get cleaned up and head out to dinner followed by Donny and Marie at the Flamingo. We had planned to have the excellent mac and cheese at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris but decided to keep things simple and ate at Olives in the Bellagio since it is right on the way to the Flamingo. We were offered a patio table (the outdoor heaters were running) overlooking the fountain show but my wife decided it was still too cold for that. We ate inside next to two ladies visiting Vegas together. Ended up having a nice conversation with them and they and my wife traded pieces of flatbread (basically pizza) to see which kind they liked better. My wife and I also enjoyed a bottle of wine. Again, a very nice restaurant that I would recommend. We then headed to Donny and Marie. My wife had rolled her eyes when I picked this show since Bette M. and Barry M. weren’t available, lol. And our friends had give us a hard time as well. But we were right up by the stage in an old style Vegas show room and they actually put on a great show. Donny actually walked across our table (literally) twice and my wife got to shake his hand. I told her to wipe the drool off her mouth. He did look pretty decent for a 51 year old. He must, however, dye his hair since I didn’t see any gray and I’m getting plenty at age 49. In any event, they work very hard during their show. Comedy, singing, dancing. Marie is in great shape, I must say. Nutrisystem and Dancing with the Stars really agreed with her. The show was sold out and the crowd loved it. If you can get over the “it’s not cool to see Donny and Marie” factor, you will enjoy this show.
From there, we headed to a bar in the back of the Flamingo to play Video Poker and have a few drinks and get some Total Reward play recorded in order to hopefully get some future room deals. We played and lost a co-worker’s $40 that I had promised to play with and stop if I got up by $10 or more dollars. I then proceeded to win $72.50 on my nickel. I think my wife lost $20-40 so we finished up. Of course we also had several Bailey’s and Cream while we played. I’m pretty sure my wife and I at least broke even on VP for the trip and had a significantly positive EV on the Baileys. I do regret that I didn’t play any VP at the Encore or Palazzo but maybe we can get a deal at those places anyway given the economy. From there, I tucked my wife into bed and headed down to the Bellagio poker room for the first time at about 1 a.m. or so. Obviously, I could have played there frequently during my trip but hadn’t since I really like playing at the Venetian and Flamingo, coupled with some bad reviews of the Bellagio poker room on this site. I sat down and bought into a 1/2 NL game for the $200 max (interesting that their max for this game is $200 and not $300 but I’m sure they have their reasons). Given the time of day and time of week I got right in. The dealers were excellent and players quite friendly. Overall an enjoyable table and experience. The table broke up after about 2 and 1/2 hours. I would play there again, particularly if staying at the Bellagio. Hard for me to give a complete review of the room because I wasn’t experiencing the room during prime time.

Summary – Finished down $484 playing poker over the course of 6 days. I guess considering I lost $300 in the first 30 minutes it could have been worse. Certainly a positive EV playing video poker at the two bars. Thoroughly enjoyed staying at the Bellagio. Loved the fine dining and Vegas shows (Danny Gans, Jersey Boys, Donny & Marie). Quality time with my wife…..priceless! Can’t wait to return. I’m planning on taking my daughter for her 21st birthday. I might make it a family affair and have my wife and 23 year old son come along. My son and I can play poker and my wife and daughter can hang by the pool, shop, go to a show or two, and play video poker. My wife even said she might learn to play enough poker to play 2/4 limit…..now I need to follow up and get her to learn the basics. Then the Vegas trips would come much more easily and willingly. And, of course, I need to plan my next solo trip………..