My son turned 21 this past year and for his spring break we decided to make our first trip to Las Vegas. I spent several weeks reading trip reviews and recommendations before booking a room at Mandalay Bay. Our goal was to get a good mix of Vegas activities in and around the city.

I’ve played my share of Hold em in local games with friends but was anxious to test my skills against other players in the Mecca of poker. I found the AVP website about a month before our trip and enjoyed reading the comments and trip reports. I even took someone’s suggestion and started reading Harrington on Hold em to get in the right frame of mind.

We arrived in town on a Thursday night and because of the time zone change decided to get a good night’s sleep and hit the ground running on Friday morning. At the Mandalay Bay check in I put a $20 bill on the counter in plain sight and proceeded to tell the clerk how excited we were to be in Las Vegas and were hoping for a great first impression of their hotel. I also played up the fact that my son just turned 21. The young women seemed engaged by the idea of our father/son trip and proceeded to say she needed to check a couple of things. After a minute of clicking on the keyboard she said we would be very happy with our room. “I have a room on the 32nd floor directly facing the strip for you and your son”. And I have a Stonewall Jackson for you young lady! Absolutely incredible view from up there.

FRIDAY. After breakfast we head for the casino at Mandalay Bay and spend some time getting acclimated. My son sat down at a Blackjack table and I headed over to the poker room. There was a new 1-2 NL hold em table starting with a max buy in of $200 so I got a seat and began my play with $150 in chips. I have to admit I was nervous and played fairly tentative. Never really saw a good hand the first few orbits around the table. I watched 2 players go head to head on a $150 pot with a set vs 2 pair. Finally 2 new players sit down and I now know what you guys mean by a maniac. These guys started the alcohol early and are loud and aggressive. One guy starts blind straddling and blind calling hands. I’m in position 2 and they are in 3 and 4. I know if I can just get a hand I can pick up some quick chips. On the button I get KQ and make the call. Maniac 1 calls the BB and Maniac 2 give the go ahead. Flop comes KJ4. On cue Maniac 1 throws out some chips while bugging the cocktail waitress for a full menu. Maniac 2 folds while complaining about his drink. The rest of the table folds and I call the $15 bet. Turn card is an 8 and Maniac checks. I bet $15 to make sure this is not a trap and he calls. River card is a 7. I put him on a smaller pair when he checks. I bet $25 and sure enough he folds. Whew, it was nice to get that first real hand under my belt. I played for a couple of hours and eventually busted when I started to try to make hands without good cards. Lesson #1 learned, you have to be patient.

SATURDAY. We discover the food inside the casinos is not cheap. We decide to make use the rental car and drive down to the outlet mall area on South Las Vegas Blvd for breakfast at IHOP. This became our go-to spot for the rest of the trip. You have IHOP, Chipotle, Outback Steakhouse, and Chile’s right in a row with convenient parking and small lines. Back to the hotel and we discover Mandalay Bay is connected to The Luxor and Excalibur by an indoor walkway and a tram that runs about every 10 minutes. We head over to the Excalibur where my son discovers a few $5 Blackjack tables and settles in for another session. I check out the poker area and find a $40 buy-in tourney starting in 15 minutes. The tourney had about 20 players divided between 2 tables. I survive the first round and make in to the final 9 with a short stack. I barely have enough to survive the forthcoming blinds so I move all in with A8 and lose to a pair. After 2 sessions I’m down $190 but have gotten the nerves out of my system. After supper at Chipotle we head back to the casino at Mandalay. The crowds are much bigger but we can’t find any $5 Blackjack so we go back to Excalibur. That place is packed and we both sit down to play low stakes Blackjack. After an hour we’ve both doubled up. I decide to go back and check out the poker room at Excalibur. I watch a table for a few hands and notice they get 7-8 callers for $2 and everyone see the flop. I buy in for $100 and take the empty seat #1 at this table. On my third hand I limp in with K10. Flop is K10x. I’m in MP and after several checks I raise to $12 and get 2 callers. I don’t remember the turn but it was no help. I bet $15 and get one call. River card is a 10 filling me up. I bet $30 and after tanking for awhile he folds and I turn over my hand to make him feel better. It was the beginning of a good evening for me. I had quad 4s to take down a nice pot and hit a straight on the turn after calling a $50 all in after the flop. I left the table at 1:30 a.m. with $350 and my son had turned $40 into $170 at the $5 blackjack tables. We slept well that night.

SUNDAY. It was time to get some fresh air. We hit McDonald’s for a late breakfast and headed down I15 into the desert. We took a small road east over to Searchlight and then headed north to Hoover Dam. It was a nice change of pace and the Hoover Dam is a must see while in Vegas. For supper we decide to go up town to old Vegas and Fremont St. The old original casinos were neat but very smoky. We have a hard time getting a table at the restaurants so we drive back down to the outlet malls for a steak at Outback. We were back in the casinos after supper and I found myself at the same 1-2 NL hold em table as the night before. With a feeling of confidence (first mistake) I was ready for another winning session. I bought in for $100 and ended up in seat #1 again. Early on I’m in a 4 player hand with 910 and the flop is 5cJcQc. Everyone checks including me. So, nobody has 2 clubs right? Turn card is an 8 giving me a straight. First 2 players check and I bet $15 and get 2 callers. River is the Kc. Player 1 makes a $35 bet and gets raised. I figure both players have a club or bigger straight and I sadly fold my straight. Thank goodness. Player to my left has 2 clubs and loses to the other player with the Ac. If the river card isn’t a club I probably lose my entire stack because of the way he played the hand. Trap #1 avoided. Later I’m in a hand with K10 again. Flop comes JJK. This is followed by a lot of checking. I figure I have top pair. As the hand plays out I have a pair of kings with no flush or straight possibilities on the board. Female villain and I had played an earlier hand to the end where I won with a pair of 8s against her pair of 7s so I knew she would stay in a hand if she had possibilities. She bets $50. Uh-oh. I’m thinking 2 pair is the best she can do but she has a bigger chip stack and might think I’ll go away. I call and she turns over the 3rd jack. Trap #2 not avoided. Lesson 2, the Saturday night crowd is not the same as the Sunday night crowd.

MONDAY. We both sleep late and take our time getting around. Neither of us seem anxious to get back into the casino. My son hangs around the room and I check out some of the souvenir shops. We decide to play the penny slot machines for the afternoon then blow $50 each at the $5 craps tables. After supper we go back to Excalibur and I enter the 8:00 buy in tourney. The field is about 25 players and once again I make it to the final 9. There are 3 short stacks at the final table and I have about 13,000 in chips (begin with 3000). The short stacks start doing their thing and I end up taking down one of them with a set of 8s. We are down to 5 players and top 4 places get paid. You talk about some tentative play. The chip leader directly to my left takes out player 5 and we are in the money. Scandinavian/Swede player and shortest stack suggests we all 4 chop the pot of $750 giving each of us about $185. One guy says OK, me and chip leader say play on. Two hands later Swede villain goes all in and I look down at AQ. The blinds are 1500/3000 and I’m last to play and call. Villain turns over 3c6c. I get an A on the flop with no clubs and we are down to 3. A couple hands later chip leader pushes all in pre-flop. I look down at KK and decide this is my chance. He tosses over 1010 and cannot believe when he sees my hand. I survive and become the chip leader. He goes out a couple of hands later to the other player and we’re down to 2. Other player immediately asks to chop 1st and 2nd. I decide to accept the chop and take $281 for a net gain of $231.

TUESDAY. Check out time is 11:00 am. But our flight doesn’t leave until 11:00 pm. We decide to go over to Excalibur and get a room for the day so we have a place to rest, change, shower, etc. Basic room on a Tuesday was $42 and worth every penny. I decide to play in the morning buy in tourney at Excalibur and had the follow hand. We have 3 tables of players for this tourney. I am card dead for the first few orbits and find myself down to 1500 chips after winning no hands. Next hand I look down at pocket Aces. Villian in early position with about 4000 chips moves all in. Villian to my right who has played almost every hand calls! Are you kidding me, I’m going to triple up and get right back in this. Chip leader has us both covered so we turn over our hands. Villian 1 has KQ suited and Villian 2 has J8. Flop comes J62. Turn is a 10. Uh..that makes 10,J,Q,K. You can guess the river card…yep, it’s a 9 and Villian 1 comes out of his seat with a celebration dance. Oh well you can’t win em all.

We spend the rest of the day exploring the casinos up the strip and find ourselves wishing we had an earlier flight back east. All in all it was a fantastic experience for both of us. We were down a few hundred at the blackjack and craps tables but net positive for poker. I cannot wait to get back out there. I learned a lot about live poker in those 5 days and hope to use this to build on my skills. Keep those trip reports coming.