I recently posted a trip report from my visit with my buddy last weekend (48 hrs in Vegas) but I hadn’t yet posted a trip report from a different kind of Vegas trip I took between Christmas and New Years (yes, 2 trips in less than a month).

***I will warn you that this is very long and there isn’t a lot of pokerroom reviews or hand history stories in this trip report. ***

I say it was different because, I finally convinced my wife, who is not a gambler, to visit “sin city” with me. Let me give you some background. We have 3 kids ages 12, 8, and 6. My oldest, a daughter, has had juvenile diabetes since she has been 5 yrs old. Until the past couple of years, since she has started giving herself her own injections, it was very difficult for my wife and I to get away without the kids. We have great family that is willing to watch the kids for us, but the diabetes management is a lot of responsibility for someone not familiar with it. Going out to dinner or something was never a problem, but a few days and 2000 miles away was a much bigger deal.

Anyway, my wife and I have just celebrated our 15th anniversary in November. She has been a big Van Halen fan since she was a teenager. Always preferring David Lee Roth Van Halen to Sammy Hagar Van Halen. As you probably have heard David Lee recently got back together with the Van Halen boys and went on tour. I wanted to take her when they are in Detroit, but, alas, I had to go on a business golf trip that weekend! So I checked their tour schedule and saw the dates they were playing Vegas. Thought that would be a perfect “hook” to get her to Vegas with me. I went on Ticketmaster the morning they went on sale, got through, and ordered 4 tickets (figured I’d ask her if she wanted to bring another couple and if not I would sell the extra 2 on Ebay). On our actual anniversary I gave her the tickets inside a mushy card. How could she refuse? She couldn’t and the trip was on. I booked a room at Bally’s then booked the airline tickets. The concert was Dec 28th so we decided to go out there on the 26th and return on the 29th. She wasn’t thrilled about leaving the day after Christmas, but that was the plan. It worked out perfect because I knew her sisters and brother (Aunties, Uncles to the kids). She invited a couple other couples to go, but nobody could make it work. I was actually pleased about this as this would mean just Gwen and me going on this trip. It would be the first time we were away together alone (without kids or other people) since our honeymoon.

After the Christmas festivities we settled down and now were focused on our trip the next day. My sister-in-law arrived at our house on Christmas Day night…this was easier for her than coming the next morning. My brother in law picked us up and gave us a lift to the airport. Our flight was at 1:30 pm and we left for the airport around 11:30. We had bags to check (even though it was just a 3 day trip) so I wanted to get there at least an hour early. The Detroit area was under a thick blanket of fog that morning…I was worried that our flight would be delayed, as we heard many flights were on the radio, but is was still showing as on time. We got to the airport, checked our bags, and got through security without a hitch and had time for a quick lunch at the airport before the flight. I stopped at the gate to see if I could get us upgraded (many times I get free upgrades as I fly Northwest a lot) but no seats were available. We boarded and settled into our exit row seats…the next best thing. Flight took off on time and we were on our way.

Arrived in Vegas about 3:00 local time. Made our way to baggage claim. I was quickly reminded why I hate checking bags as it took over ½ hour for our bags to come off. There they are…finally! To the cab line… no wait. 10 minutes later at Bally’s. We were greeted at the entrance by a showgirl in full costume welcoming the guests. Of course my wife wanted a picture so we both jumped in with her why another person helped us out by taking the photo. At first the showgirl lined my wife up in the middle between the 2 of us but I would have none of that…a quick maneuver and the showgirl was in the middle…good times. Anyway, my wife is a scrapbooker who puts together customized photo albums so I knew this was just the start of lots of silly pictures we’d be taking. As I said earlier, I knew this would be a different type of Vegas trip for me. I had been there maybe 10 times before with the guys for various bachelor parties, birthday bashes, and even a couple divorce parties. Those trips, as you probably can imagine, involved non stop gambling & poker, drinking, scoping out hotties at the pool and other activities. This trip would involve shows, dinners, not so much gambling, shopping, and lots of walking around checking out the hotels. I was OK with this since I had never really done a lot of that before.

After dropping our stuff in the room and a “nap” we went to check out the rest of hotel. I showed her where the poker room was and told her she could find me there in the morning if when she woke up I happened to not be in the room. After exploring Ballys we walked over to Paris. She was amazed at how nice it was. I think in her mind Vegas was that dirty sleazy old place she saw in movies. After checking out some of the Paris shops we headed over to Planet Hollywood and walked their mall, casino, etc….again, not one bit of gambling. We decided to head back and get ready for dinner. She wanted to go to the top of Stratosphere so we decided to see that American Superstars show…basically a bunch of impersonators. They were all actually really good. They sang their own songs (no lip synching) and looked a lot like the real thing. They had Britney, Rod Stewart, Tim McGraw, Christina Aguilera (she was the best) and of course, Elvis. It was a good time. We bought the “package” which included 2 tickets to the show, 2 drinks each, 2 passes to the top of the Stratosphere, and even 2 Buffet tickets..all for about $50 each. Not a bad deal at all. After the show we headed up top…the rides had just closed down due to high winds. This was actually a blessing since I really didn’t want to go on the 2 newer ones (I had been on the “big shot” a few years ago and it wasn’t that bad). Back down, hit a few shops to pick up some things for our nieces and nephews (very inexpensive t-shirts, even nice CSI Vegas shirts, at the Strat). We were tired and starving by now. It was about 10:30 Vegas time (1:30 our time) so we decided to use the free buffet tickets. Nothing to write home about, but got our hunger taken care of and headed back to Ballys to sleep.

Thursday morning I woke up around 7. I slept better than I ever have in Vegas. Gwen was getting ready so I told her to meet me in the pokerroom when she was ready. I headed down and got about 40 minutes of 3-6 in before she came down. Nothing to write about the game…I lost like $20. Then, the marathon day of sightseeing began. We walked to the Flamingo…checked out the gardens, flamingos, etc. Then to Harrahs. They were handing out coupons for free tickets to a magic show there so we took the coupons. Showtimes were 1 and 3 pm. We walked on. To Mirage, then Ceasars, Bellagio, She got a picture of me in front of Bobby’s Room…we almost got kicked out because pictures are not allowed in the poker room. It was not very full so the manager, who was walking by as she was lining up to take the shot, just said “make it quick…no photos allowed” and she kept walking…pretty cool of her. Only pro we noticed (it was noon on a Thursday) was Sean Sheakan. He wasn’t in Bobbys Room but at one of the higher limit tables in the “stepped up” area. My wife recognized him from TV (occasionally she will watch poker with me) and thought he was hot…spare me please. The camera’s memory card was full…we were taking lots of pictures plus she hadn’t cleared all the old ones that were on there. Luckily, on our way to the next hotel I noticed a Walgreens. We went in and she ordered a CD burned with the pictures. Then we hit M&M World. If you like M&M’s (or your kids do) you have to check this place out. Its between PH and MGM on the strip. 4 floors of M&M Stuff. We shopped for about an hour and got stuff for the kids. We split up and she went back to Walgreens to pick up the photo disk…no problems it worked fine. I decide to stay there and check out the Tix4Tonight shop. I had heard that it was a good way to get ½ price tickets the day of the show if you didn’t mind picking from available options. They had lots of shows available but not any of the big Circque shows. This was fine with me…I had seen O when out there on company business a few years ago…it was cool but after the first hour it kinda dragged on. I ended up picking up tickets to go see Defending the Caveman at Golden Nugget for 9:00 that night. Gwen returned from Walgreen’s with the deleted the memory card right after I got the tickets (perfect timing) and we were off again. Next stop MGM. Very cool lion exhibit…the trainer was actually in there playing with the lions as we watched. Checked out the Pokerroom which was near the lions, then walked to the back of the casino. I still had the 2 extra Van Halen tickets. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the other 2 VH tickets on Ebay. I was a little surprised that there was no demand for these tickets…even at face value. I had heard the concert was sold out so I wanted to see if the box office needed any back for guests that were waiting. The box office was closed so I asked their players club desk if they needed them (knew this was a longshot since I am sure they kept what they would need, but figured I’d ask anyway)…no luck. Oh well, we were off again. Walked across the catwalk to NY NY. I’ve got a bad knee…I’ve had a few arthroscopies, the most recent 2 years ago, and I still have problems after a lot of walking. Doc tells me it’s the start of osteoarthritis from all the surgeries and scar tissues…great. Anyway, more photos and across the street. I talked her out of going into Excalibur. We took the tram down to Mandalay Bay. Thought we’d go see that dolphin exhibit. We walked and walked through MB…it’s a hike to the dolphin exhibit. Scoped out the pool which was closed but looks awesome…wouldn’t mind going there in the summer. Anyway we get to the dolphin deal to find out its like $20 a ticket to get in (silly me…thought it was a freebie). I had no problem forking over the cash but my wife said no way…I am lucky that she is somewhat smart about spending on things like this (now, QVC is another deal altogether). Back through MB and to the tram. To the Luxor. A few more photos and I had had it. My knee was killing me and I was not looking forward to hoofing it back to Ballys. I had heard about the “Deuce” on a different forum. Some said it was fine, a good deal, and convenient. Others said we’d be riding with homeless people and criminals. I decided to take our chances and we got in the bus on the corner where MGM was. $2 each. No problem with the clientele…mostly tourists like us. Took a while to get back down to Ballys but we had a front row seat in the upper deck so it was actually a pretty cool view. It was now about 4:30. I rested my knee for about an hour. Then we were out the door about 6:00 to the Venetian for dinner. Gwen really wanted to see the Venetian. She had been to Italy (without me) a couple years ago and they did go to Venice. She is really into Italy (she even has told me she wants us to move there someday…fat chance). Anyway, we walked the Venetian shops and decided to have dinner at Postria (Wolfgang Pucks place). We got in without much of a wait and had a nice meal. It was tasty and surprising not very expensive. Finished up around 8:00 and went down to check out the casino and pokerroom. Besides the 40 minutes of poker in the morning at Ballys, I hadn’t put out a single bet all day. This trend continued. I couldn’t believe how sweet the pokerroom was. I had read about it but until you see the real thing, you can’t imagine how cool it is. I got info on their tournaments…I was dying to play in one but I didn’t want to leave my wife alone for that long by herself…this was her anniversary trip afterall. Their noon tournament was down to the final 3 players. We watched a couple hands and listened to them trying to negotiate a chop (the chip leader refused because he was crushing the other 2 in chips). He was cool about it but basically said lets wait and see if you guys double up a couple times then we can talk about it again (good strategy).

Ok, to a cab and off to the Golden Nugget. I had never been downtown before so I was looking forward to checking it out. The cabbie took the backway which was lined with a few neon purple lighted establishments. Gwen commented that “this is what I expected to see in Vegas”. I just laughed it off and before I knew it we are at the GN. Went to the box office to get the official tickets…the Tix4Tonight place gives you a voucher you have to turn in for the real tickets that get you into the show. No problems and we still have a ½ hr or so til showtime. Through the casino (again, without playing) and out to Freemont Street. It was very cool. The light show was going on. People were drinking and dancing. A real party atmosphere. Picked up beer and walked taking more pictures. Checked out Binions Poker Room. It was pretty dead but we took some more photos and checked out all the pictures of the WSOP champs. It was cool to see. Back the GN and to the Defending the Caveman show. It is a one man show where the comedian basically defends us normal guys for our “caveman like” actions. It was really funny. Even touching at the end of it. I think you and your wives (especially if you’ve been married more than a couple of years) would really like it. Show ended. We got a picture with the guy who was there to greet everyone as we left the show. Then back to Ballys. We were wiped out so went to bed.

Gwen could tell I was chopping at the bit to play some poker. Friday morning we both got up around 8:30. She told me to go and play. I told her I’d either be at Paris or Ballys room. She said she was going to do some walking around the Paris shops herself. I had kinda rushed her through the shops our first day as I am not much of a shopper (the Caveman guy had a very good explanation for why most guys are not and most girls are shoppers so that helped). Then I noticed, on my printout from AVP of tournaments, that Bellagio had a reasonable buy in one (like $100 something) listed as starting at 9. I went to check it out. Turns out it was for a single table satellite for the main tournie later that day. Nobody was there to play in it but I would have passed anyway since we had plans that afternoon and evening. As I walked up to the desk to get info, I noticed 2 guys talking rather animatedly about some moron sucking out on them last night and that they couldn’t believe he call that much with that hand. Turns out it was Shieky and Sam Grizzle talking. I listened inconspicuously for a few seconds and then moved on. I could tell by the looks of them that they had both pulled all nighters (remember it is 9:00 Friday morning and we saw Sheiky there about noon on Thursday). Neither of them seemed in the mood to shake a fan’s hand so I didn’t even attempt it. Glad Gwen wasn’t there with the camera 

I decided to play in the 9:30 Paris tournie…$65 buy in. Had a few decent hand but never got anything going. Once the M was getting low it was time to push. I think I pushed with a weak ace and called by a stronger ace and was out. I think I will not push all in with weak ace when getting low on chips anymore. Figure I am going to get called at least by a bigger ace…I’d rather have 2 live cards. Anyway, it was a little after 11 and I rushed over to Ballys to see if I could still get in their 11:00 tournie. I could. Sat down and was playing well and catching some cards. They had about 40 players and I had made it to the last 2 when something bazaar happened. They had just broken the 3rd table and new players were coming to our table. The dealer decided to deal these players in even though they hadn’t reached the table yet and definitely were not in their seats. There was a seat open to my immediate left. Cards had been dealt and I mucked mine so action was on that seat. Here comes the guys chips in one hand, jacket over his arm and drink in the other hand. The dealer is saying…its on you its on you. He jokingly says “Oh, I guess I’m all in”. The dealer tells him to put his chips in the pot and took him literally. The guys pleads his case…he hadn’t even looked at his cards and it was obvious he was joking. Dealer wouldn’t have any of it. The guy never called the floor (not that it would have done any good). The guy to his right pushed all in. Everyone folded around. The jokester had like a 10-3 os. The all in caller had QQ. The Q’s held and crippled the jokester. Jokerster had very little chips left…called the dealer an “a-hole” under his breath and left the poker room. We had to sit there and blind off his chips. The dealer explained that there was nothing he could do since the guys said “all in” when the action was on him. I understand that is probably the letter of the law but I still think it sucked for that guy. Always keep that story in mind when you are playing. ***** Back to the game. I’m still doing OK..probably average chip count. Down to the final table now. I pick up a few pots along the way and am still in average chip count. Then it happens. I am in on the button. Early position raise to 3 times the big blind. Folds to me. I have pocket Kings. I push all in. The big blind, who was the chip leader, has a disgusted look on his face. He doesn’t really want to call but he does….he’s got chips in there already and he has me pretty well cover. Then the original raise calls himself all in without even a 2nd thought..I had him covered but not by much. He could have laid it down and still been OK. We turn them up…BB has 33, other guy 77. I am in great shape to triple up and become the new chip leader with 7 players left. Blanks on the flop, blank on the turn, then, yes, a 7 on the river…”son of a ..” I break even on the hand since I won over the big blind, but that triple up would have been nice. A few hand later blinds double and I am suddenly short stacked. Push with I can’t remember what and get bounced.

Ok, that’s enough poker for the day. My wife had come over about 15 minutes before my demise so it was time to go grab some food. We head over to Jimmy Buffets at the Flamingo. We still had the extra 2 VH tickets so my wife said “let me handle it”. We noticed another couple sitting at the table next to us. They were taking photos of each other so Gwen offered to take a shot of both of them. They took us up on it. Then she asked them what they were doing tonight. The guy said something like maybe going to a show or doing some gambling when Gwen chimed in “lame”. They looked at her like she was nuts then she asked them if they like Van Halen. The guy was all over it…he said he loved them, although he didn’t even know they were playing that night in Vegas. Gwen offered them the tickets and he asked how much. At that point I would have just given to them but since they asked I said face value which was $130 for both. He only had $100s and I didn’t have change so I said just give me the $100 and buy me a couple beers at the show. He agreed and that was that. It was now going on 3:00 so we decided, since we were right there, to check out the free magic show we got tickets for at Harrahs the day before. We found out that there was a one drink minimum for the show and each drink was like $12.00. So the free show was not quite free but still a great deal. My wife didn’t feel like drinking yet so I, of course, had hers also. The magician name was Mac King. He was kinda corny but actually really funny. He did some amazing tricks too. Again, it was not a big production but what do you expect for free. It is a great show to take kids to. Sit up front if you can and if you have an 8 year old kid have him ready to jump up an volunteer when he asks…you won’t be disappointed. After the show we headed back to Ballys to get ready for the VH concert.

We headed over the MGM about 6:00. We went a little early to meet some of my brothers friends, one of which I knew very slightly, for a drink before the show. They were in town for the VH show too before heading to SoCal for the Rose Bowl (they were Illini alums). They wanted to meet at this place in the MGM that sell Jello shots and Giant drinks. After scoping out the MGM the day before I had seen how close the entrance to the arena was to the monorail station. I had no desire to schlep through the MGM again (or do any more walking than necessary) so I figured the monorail was the best bet. I got a deal on 2 2 way rides for $9 so we bought our tickets. I had been told by some members of the other forum that the monorail is a joke and nobody uses it. Let me tell you, we used it and it was great. No waiting, dropped us off right outside the MGM arena. I highly recommend that if you are staying at a hotel with a MR station and going to a show at the MGM Arena, that you take the monorail…very easy in and even out of the show. On the way out I expected it to be very crowded. We got on the first train after only a 5 minute or so wait…it was crowded but still very easy. Back to the night. We arrived at MGM got off the monorail and met up with my brothers friends at the Jello shot place which was right there as we got off the monorail. A couple of shots and a giant frozen margarita an on into the concert. Van Halen put on a great show. David Lee Roth seemed like his old self (I had seen them last in 1984…remember the album with “Jump and Panama”. Roth hadn’t lost anything. Eddie put on a guitar clinic. I don’t know how he does what he does with a guitar. The couple we had sold the other seats to showed up. He kept his word and bought me beers throughout the show. It was a good time. Back to Bally’s on the monorail. Was starving so we hit Sbarro for some pizza as we were walking through Ballys then called it a night.

Saturday morning. We were leaving on a 2 pm flight so I figured we’d need to check out around noon. Got up around 9 and headed to the Ballys buffet for breakfast. Pretty standard buffet but did the trick. I then talked Gwen into trying some $2-$4 poker. She has played in very small home games (like $5 buy in tournies with couples) but never a cash game…wait, I take that back, I did get her to sit in on a $3-$6 game at Greektown Casino in Detroit a couple years ago when were were down there for Superbowl activities. She dropped $50 in like 10 minutes and said she didn’t want to play ever again. Anyway, I convince her to give it a try. No $2-$4 at Ballys so we head over to Flamingo. I get $100 in chips, give her $50 and we both sit at the same table at opposite ends. She wins the very first hand…off of me. I had A-K. I flopped a King on a K-10-6 rainbow board and bet out. She called, a few others called. I bet out on the turn when a Q hit. She raises me. I look at her like “do you know what you are doing” and just call since it was now just the 2 of us in the hand. I check to her on the river blank and she fires. I call. She turns up A-J for the straight and slaps me down. Now she loves poker! There were a couple of older guys at our table. You could tell they were locals and regulars. Probably retired and moved to Vegas. The one guy was an Italian guy from NYC. These guys were great…talking good natured smack to each other the whole time we were there. One guy had made a tower, probably 50 chips high, out of his $1 chips. The Italian guys says “I’m getting sick of you” and knocks over his tower…chips bouncing everywhere. Everyone laughed…lots of fun. We only played for about 45 minutes before we had to go. I was up about $40 and Gwen down around $40 so we broke even for the session. Back to Ballys to get our bags and check out. Since it’s the end of the trip I can’t resist playing a little blackjack. I’m willing to throw a $100 out there an either lose it or hopefully get on a nice run early. I will not rebuy for more. $25 minimum tables only. I am doing OK…up like $25 after a few hands, when my double down 20 vs the dealers 6 gets beat when she takes a couple cards and hits 21. I said “that’s enough of that” and take my $75 to the cage. Checked out of the room and headed to the airport. Back home around 10:00 pm with lots of stories.

As you can see, not a lot of gambling but probably about the most fun I’ve had in Vegas. It was good to reconnect with my wife and not lose a lot of $. Thanks for reading my report.

Jim