Landed in Vegas Oct 11, 2008 at 10:30 am and picked up our convertible at Hertz (rented through Hotwire at $24/day), flight was great, no lines for anything and we were on our way to TI. Stopped at In and Out burger as we missed it last trip, very much like McDonald's I thought.

Checked in at TI tried the $20 tip, but not necessary put us in a nice room on 33rd floor overlooking strip. The good about the room is that the top 6 floors had secured access and 4 elevators dedicated to them. The room was nice, newly renovated, but too noisy for my liking. Had two connecting doors and the other guests might have well just shared our room. Also TI's location so close to the strip that it made it very noisy in general(much preferred stay at Venetian last year). Also had an issue with guest in room next door repeatedly trying to get into our room at 4 am on our last night. Not impressed!

Availability of food at TI was average. Buffet average, Pho was good, but disappointed they didn't have more quick food options for lunch or late night except for Canter's Deli.

Easy hotel and casino to get around in as it's smaller. Access to car excellent. Pool very small and not so inviting.

Played poker at Caesar's, TI, PH and attempted to play at Imperial Palace just from comments on this site, but only had two tables going and no movement, so didn't want to wait. Have to say staff at the 3 casino's we played at were great. No spectacular hands to speak of, I generally bought in for $100 as this was my comfort zone. Overall, my husband broke even and I was down about $190 this was spread over some poker losses, blackjack and minimal slots. Really average players all around except probably Ceasar's where the caliber of play seemed higher. Although we played for about 40+ hours we didn't accumulate any comps? I guess it was because it was spread between the casino's and we generally played late at night, so tended to play for just under 4 hours a session.

Basically spent the week eating, drinking and playing some poker, so it was all good. Enjoyed hitting Ellis Island for some cheap food and drinks again. Loved the Rio buffet, which we'd never tried before and of course you can't go wrong with the Grand Lux at the Venetian. Also hit a locals fast food mexican joint called Felipito's on Tropicana across from the UNLV, which was really good.

Sorry, not much more poker to report. I generally try to forget bad hands or my own bad play and honestly can't say there were any unusual or wicked hands to speak of.

For all those who are devouring these reports in preparation for your upcoming trip - good luck on the tables!