If I told the whole story, it would be too long so I'll just do some highlights.

1 night at Harrah's, 3 each at Bellagio, Caesars & Palazzo (comped). I drove in Friday with wife/kids flying behind on Monday.

Friday-played $5/10 at the V. Got up, lost a big pot and quit +$34.

Saturday-played mostly at the B. Had quit playing there due to rude staff/tables too close, but since staying there it was too convenient. Experience was much better this time. Saw lots of 'stars' - Sheiky (very big/tall), Lisandro (who would want to play with this guy), Farha ($100 min BJ table - twice) and a few others I recognized, but couldn't place. Hit a 3 card mini royal in LIR while waiting for room to be ready (+$750). Lost $500 in first session and won $650 in later session, both $5/10. Had tried to play at the V but at 9PM on a Sat night, only had 1 table going and a list - last time I was there they had 2 tables + a $10/20 going on. Post WSOP is def slow.

Sunday-played some pit games with $150 free match play and won a few hundo. Lost $200 at WPT Hold Em-never won a hand. Played $2/5 at the V while waiting for a $5/10 seat and doubled up when flopped nut flush-other player didn't show +$500. Seat never opened so headed back to the B. Decided to take a swing at $10/20 since I was up and had watched it for a bit the night before. Very deep stacks and seemed pretty wild. I posted the results already in the Strat forum - bought in for $2K and lost it all on the 3rd hand when I flopped top set with pocket KKs. I was headed back to the room when I had this strange feeling I forgot to lock my car. I make the left/right turn past the lobby and see this guy sitting against the wall with 5 B staff standing around him with gloves on. I am just in shock when I realize this guy has blood pouring out of his eyes, nose, ears and head and it is ALL over the floor/walls. I take the elevator up and I can see a trail of blood, so I follow it to find a car with blood all over the trunk. I'm guessing the guy was rolled in the parking garage, but not sure. It is like 5AM before I finally get to sleep between those visuals and my bad luck in the 10/20 game. If I scoop that pot, I'm up like $6K for the trip instead of even.

Monday-pick up the family at the airport. We use my 2 free buffet comps, but they have no kids price (boo!) so it is still $61. First time at this buffet and it is excellent. I take the night off from poker and me & the wife play some table games. LIR is her fav game, but I always have to the play the min when she is around (she knows, but doesn't like to see it). She hits 4 kings for her best hand ever, but only has $5 out so it only pays $750. We lose a few hundred on Miss Stud and call it a night. I give her $200. Up a few hundred so far.

Tues-Move to Caesars. Use $50 comp at the Flamingo and eat at the new burger place that replaced the Italian Bistro. I decent option if you are feeding a family. Bill was less than the $50 comp and we were all stuffed. Still not ready to get back to the poker table (early weekdays are slow anyway) so I play some table games and get waxed pretty good. Down $2K.

Wed-drive to Henderson and do Chuck E Cheese then on to Lake Mead for a few hours of pontoon rental. This is one of our fav things to do. A good value for $110. Dinner is the $7.99 Steak/shrimp at Harrah's. First time we tried this and highly recommend it. I decide to dip my toe back in the water and play some $2/5 at Caesar's. This room is SO dead and used to be SO good. 3 $1/3 tables going (barely) and 1 $2/5. I keep getting second best and lose two $500 buy-ins. Down $3K

Thurs-lunch at Mesa Grill (kid's thought the Bobby Flay thing was cool). On the expensive side at $100, but food was good and different - spicy, but just right. For dinner, we are kinda tired of eating so we do the food court at O'Sheas and then dessert at Serendipity (frozen Hot Chocolate/Fried Oreos) which is fantastic. Hit the tables with the wife again and this time we lose at LIR and win at Miss Stud (I get two flushes in 4 hands) plus get really drunk. +$400 night, down $2.6K on trip.

Friday-move to the Palazzo. We got free Blue Man tix. Dinner at the Grand Lux-another family favorite. Kids wanted to go to BM, but more tix were $140 each and Dad couldn't pull the trigger. The show was good, different and entertaining, but I have to be honest-if I had paid $280 for our tix, I would have felt very ripped off. More of a $40-50 show. Wife goes to bed and I play some more $5/10 at the V. People are winning huge pots left/right from this one donater of several $500 buy-ins, but I can't get any of it. Finally I get him heads up in a pot with AK. I raise, everyone folds but him. Flop is K-x-x. I bet, he calls. turn is a 5. I shove, he calls his last $150. And he of course turns over K-5. -$800. Now I'm down about $3.5K and its late in the trip. I've got $500 left and don't really want to use any casino credit. I walk over to Harrah's and play some Miss Stud for $25/hand figuring I'll lose my last little bit and then reload Sat night for a big session at the B. Instead, I hit a full house, Jacks and 66s and win $2,500. Now down $1K, I head back to the room relatively optimistic that a comeback is now possible.

Saturday-maid service is sucking at the P. I call down to complain. We get back from the pool and still nothing. I go down to the desk and they give me a $50 room service credit. The kids always look at the menu and want stuff but they see the prices and understand why I won't let them order it. Now Dad is on rock star status when I tell them they can order some dessert later. Many years ago, I got a free ticket to see the Price Is Right at Bally's and enjoyed it. I've always wanted to take the wife, and since the kids were a little upset about missing BM, I decided to surprise them with a 2:30 PIR show on Sat afternoon. Our tix were comped and the kids were half price ($25 each). For those that have never been, it works just like the real PIR, where they call people to Come On Down and bid on some small item. Winner gets to go onstage and play for a bigger prize. Now there are like 800-1000 people in the audience, so chances are slim. On the third round, they call my name! The kids are stoked. All four of us overbid on an Espresso Maker and the second time around I bid $125...actual retail price is $140 so now Dad is on the big stage. I get to play Cliffhanger for a side by side refrigerator. First item I miss by only $3, second by only $2 so I've got a $20 cushion on the last item. Dude keeps climbing and climbing and finally stops 5 spots from falling over the mountain. Ship Dad a refrigerator. I have now assumed Mega Rock Star status with the kids. They give you a cash option and since I just bought a refrig, I take the $580 (and conveniently avoid the $600 tax threshold). Sat night we did the V food court for free wifi. Now being within a few hundred of break even, I buy the wife a purse from D&B on the way back to the room (as a reward for her services in the bathroom during week ;-) Kids order pie & a milk shake from room service. Not sure what to do after being in Vegas for more than week and being nearly even, I decide to play small ball to pass the time, netting a small profit in a $1/2 game. -$600

Sunday-last day of the trip. We do the Harrah's Sunday Brunch as a tradition. On the way out, I inform the wife that I have some unfinished business at the B and they go off to the Fashion Show Mall and we'll meet at 5PM. I buy in for $1K and win $400 playing $5/10 while waiting for the $10/20 to get started. I take my $1.4 to the $10/20 hoping to avoid the disaster. Play is wild & wooly but I'm not getting anything playable. I do get A4 sooted in LP and limp in behind a few others. Flop is 2-5-x with two clubs. I call $140 with gut shot straight and nut flush, all others fold. Turn is a magical club. I just call $250. River is a blank, V checks and I bet $400, he ponders and calls with 2-5 for two pair (see I told you these games were loose). I've got over $2K now and looking for a spot. A little while later, in a hand I also posted on the strat forum, there is a $15K pot won by middle two pair on a board of Q-T-9-7-3 with three clubs (see I told you these games were loose). 5PM comes and no real other hands of note. End up cashing +$1,100. We are so sick of eating by this point that everyone votes for McDonalds for dinner. After dinner, I head down to the casino at the P to earn a return visit. I'm back up around $500 at this point and since it is the last night, I'm willing to gamble it up a bit. I hit another 3 card straight flush at LIR for a quick $1K addition to the roll. For the next 3 hours, I play $100 hands of BJ, roulette, craps, 3 card poker and manage to lose most of that back. On the way up the room, I discover they have a Cliffhanger slot machine, and since I am now a CH Pro, I pop in a $100 bill. This is a cool machine because max coin is only $1.25 and you seem to hit the bonus often. I end up playing for prob about an hour and book a $7 profit, plus earned LOTS of slot points, which is what the casinos love.

Monday-the trip is over. Played a decent amount of poker. Never fully recovered mentally from the bad beat at the $10/20 table, so didn't play as much as expected. Never did any tournies or visited the Mirage as planned, but that is how it goes sometimes. Was thrilled to have paid for the entire trip with cash (except $110 for pontoon and $180 in plane tickets) and being up after being so close to being stuck $4K and getting a marker. LV is the only place I know of that the wife can enjoy herself, the kids have a great time, Dad wins a refrigerator and sees a man bleeding out of his head AND all of it can be done while driving home with a few hundred dollar profit. Until next time....