Fair warning – if you don’t have patience or time for a detailed report, escape now!

As a background, my mother-in-law (MIL) is in pretty frail health, but is still capable of travel and enjoys it, as long as it’s carefully planned around her weaknesses. My wife (Wifey) tries to help give her things to look forward to to keep her motivated. This summer started with a trip to DC because MIL had never been and had always wanted to go see the major monuments. In early July MIL went on a 4 day Carnival cruise with Wifey’s brother and 2 friends. After that, we planned this little trip to LV for her (she loves playing slots) and the same 2 friends (L&R). When Hurricane Dean was churning across the Caribbean, we were concerned that it might interfere with MIL (who lives in Corpus Christi) coming on this trip if it veered toward the Texas coast. As it turned out, even though it missed Texas, we ended up dealing with some of the remnants of it in Las Vegas. Strange how these things happen sometimes.

Saturday, Aug 25:
Wifey and I flew SW direct from Austin Sat, Aug 25, arriving at 10:05, giving us 3 hours before we needed to pick up the others arriving on their flight from Corpus Christi via Houston. We had these 3 hours carefully planned. Wifey went to the Harrah’s airport registration desk to check in for our room at the Flamingo (chosen specifically for location and pool), while I went to get the bags. Wifey met me at the baggage carousel 10 minutes later already checked in due to the short line, but was unable to get keys because our room had not yet been cleaned (she asked specifically for a room close to elevators due to MIL’s condition). Got our bags and headed for the rental car shuttle.

I have to say, the new rental car facility and system is an outstanding improvement over the old. Everyone gets on the same type of shuttle bus, and there were multiple buses loading at once. Easy. The bus made a fast trip through the tunnel to the huge new facility. It was a very hot and windy day, so it was great to walk into an air conditioned modern facility with all the companies’ counters arranged in a circle and comfortable furniture in the central waiting area. The folks at the Dollar counter were somewhat hard-sell regarding the supplemental insurance, which we didn’t appreciate.

But we were out of there quickly in our minivan (since we would need to seat 5 of us easily), so we headed to the Flamingo. I left Wifey at the main entrance to go see if she could score room keys while I parked. I got back to registration just as Wifey was getting keys (Plan B was to check our luggage at the bell desk so we could more easily load luggage for the others). Since the room was now ready, we dropped off our luggage at the room and headed for Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill for Saturday brunch.

Our room was what we needed for this trip, very close to the elevator and easy to get to and from, but if this trip were just for Wifey and I, I would have wanted a nicer room with better view. It was room 6056 in the older part of the hotel directly above the registration desk. Our view was primarily of the Flamingo casino roof below and Bill’s. The room furnishings were somewhat dull, but OK, the bathroom was tiny and worn. Had to look to the extreme left and right for any view.

Mesa Grill’s food was fantastic. We ignored our usual health conscious ways and ordered the Queso Fundido appetizer (goat cheese queso topped with small sweet peppers, served with blue corn tortilla chips). Wifey ordered tomato-tortilla soup (her favorite) and I got the mahi-mahi with roasted pineapple salsa. YYUMMM!!! Washed it all down with a mojito for me and 2 margaritas for Wifey and we were good to go. That lunch was our one little indulgent splurge for this trip.

Got back to the airport baggage area just as MIL and her 2 friends (L & R) were getting their bags. Dropped L&R at their hotel (Riviera) and headed back to Flamingo with Wifey & MIL. Dropped them at front door & parked minivan.

OK, I’ve done my family thing now. I’m free for a few hours of poker before this evening’s planned trip downtown. I head across the street to Bally’s and notice the Bellagio fountains starting up. It’s Time to Say Goodbye, my favorite, so I stop and watch it, even though I’m burning up in the hot afternoon sun. I arrive all sweaty at the Bally’s poker room where there’s a wait, but notice that there are seats available at Paris, so I get in a 3/6 game there. Within the first few minutes I pick up a couple of good hands and rake in a couple of pots. I play another round or 2 to see if this little run is over, which it seems to be, so I’m out of there in 20 minutes (+43). That’s how I like to start a trip. Hit and run and try to rack up a small profit or 2. Compensates for what I know will be some inevitable losing sessions. That’s just how it is in low limit poker.

I’m still feeling uncomfortably hot, even in the AC, so I head back to Flamingo to take a quick dip in the pool to cool off. It’s really crowded and loud there, so about a 15-20 minute dip works for me just fine. I get dressed again and head for the Flamingo poker room for some 2/4. Well was dry this time. No playable hands, so I left (-18) after about an hour of folding.

Left Flamingo, picked up L&R at the Riv, & let everyone off at MSS. I had suggested eating at the MSS brewpub. Since it was Sat evening, I knew most places would be jammed, plus I knew the prices would be good for decent food (the Corpus crew are not fancy folks, nor do they have much money to spend, so we kept things pretty simple on this trip). We waited about 20 minutes as it was, but MSS brewpub turned out to be a good choice. Service was very good, food was good for the price, & my 16oz tall glass of red ale was great… just what I had in mind.

We agreed to meet at 10PM there at MSS. I headed over to GN for another limit poker session. GN poker room was packed, but I got into a 3/6 game after about a 10 minute wait. Not a good session for me. I got a string of good hands that were not winners at the end. The worst was pocket kings in the small blind. Guy in early position raises, of course I reraise, he calls. I bet out all the way. Turned out the other guy had pocket 10s and caught his set on the river. Anyway, after several hands like that I was down about $80, before staging a partial comeback. Finally won a few pots, so I was only down $27 when it was time to leave to meet the others.

Took everyone back in the minivan and said goodnight. I headed over to Caesar’s to see the Sat night pretty people parade. What a show! The Pussycat Dolls were going full steam (goodness!). Lots of Paris & Lindsay wannabes seeing and being seen. Lots of 20-something guys standing around salivating. The entrance maze to get into Pure was packed & you could feel & hear the boom boom boom from inside. Of course I checked out the nearby Caesar’s poker room & found a long waiting list for 3/6, so I headed back to Flamingo to finish out the night with a final session of 2/4 before collapsing from exhaustion (I am 51 years old after all). I quit about 1:30, in bed by 2AM (4AM Texas time, after getting out of bed over 22 hours earlier), another $31 down. Total loss for Day 1: (-$33) – acceptable for the amount of limit poker I played. I was happy with the way I played and felt that I had made all good decisions (which for me is the challenge and fun of poker – it’s not about the money).

Sunday, Aug 26:
Awake about 5AM after 3 hours of sleep. Out of bed just after 6. Nice sunrise. Wifey and I headed to Flamingo buffet, which opens at 7AM. Sunday brunch is $17.99. but we got a $5 off coupon good for both of us upon check-in. The buffet was certainly worth $12.99, but the full price? – I don’t think so. It was pretty average, as I expected. We were some of the earliest there and got to sit next to the windows looking out at the flamingos & tropical garden area, which was a nice relaxing way to start the day.

Afterward we all went out to the pool. I stayed out there until about 9, then headed back in to change and walk over to TI, where I intended to play in the 11AM poker tournament. Got there plenty early & signed up. Then I decided I’d better make sure I got some snacks so I wouldn’t get hungry during the tournament. Bought a couple of Nutri-grain bars and checked out Starbucks in TI, where the line was enormous. There must be another Starbucks over at the mall, so I headed over there. Sure enough, there’s a Starbucks right on the front of Fashion Show Mall and it had no line, so I got a nice heavy bakery item for poker fuel.

TI tournament is $65 for 3500 in chips, with blinds starting at 25/50, going up every 20 minutes. One of the best structures in town for the price (others being PH and Sahara). I intended to start quite tight and patiently wait for good opportunities. Early on I recognized that the 2 most aggressive players at the table were a very sharp girl just on my left (GOL), as bad luck would have it, and a young Asian guy (YAG) at the opposite end of my table (I’m in seat 3 on the end). I fold hands (either weak hands or marginal hands out of position) for about a half hour until it’s second level and I get KQ one off the button, so I raise. GOL (button) calls along with 1 or 2 other players. Flop is Q 10 2. Checked to me and I bet 400. GOL calls and others fold. Turn is a 9. I bet 500, GOL calls. What the hell does she have? QJ? Q10? KJ? Does she already have me beat or does she have a weaker queen or is she on a strong draw? Finally I bet 1000 on the river, GOL thinks it over long and hard and finally calls. She has a set of 2’s and takes most of my chips. Now I’m down to about 1300 and blinds are about to go up to 100/200. I’m going to have to find a good hand and try to double up. I dwindle down to my last 600, put it all in, and triple up. I go up and down for a while from 2000 down to 1200. Finally, I’m at around 1300 and get AKs in the small blind with blinds at 100/200 and only a few minutes left before 200/400. Another player raises to 400, This is it, I’m all in. Other player shows J6. J6???? Are you kidding me? Mr. J6 spikes a 6 and I’m out, just like that. OK, I can’t be too unhappy with the way I played. I went out making the right play. I was still questioning whether I made the earlier play correctly against GOL (she thought I did). That was a tough one. I had one other hand where I had hit a straight on the turn against YAG and bet out rather than check raising (he folded), but at that point I was short-stacked & felt like I needed to pick up that pot & not risk giving him a free card. Those were my only 2 questionable plays. GOL turned out to be very nice and a gracious sport, and as I found out later, a dealer there in the TI poker room. She ended up winning that tournament by the way. I was happy that she put my chips to good use. Let this be a lesson – don’t sit just to the right of the tournament winner. Got that? I’ll try to remember that next time.

After busting out, I bought into a 2/4 game there at TI. It was a good friendly touristy table. I went up and down a little (+20/-20) for a while, until I got hungry, so I stopped when I was even for the session and got a pretty good chicken sandwich (so big I could only eat half) from the TI coffee shop. I went back to TI for more 2/4 until quitting (+$6) to meet the rest of my party just before 4PM at bottom of the escalator for the 4:30 showing of Mystere. I enjoyed the very well run poker room at TI, both the tournament and the limit cash game. It was the first room I’ve played in where the dealers call you by first name “Frank, your turn to act”, or “and Larry’s in the big blind” because they have names (from player’s cards) displayed in front of them. I think that’s a really nice extra touch.

Seeing Mystere again (also in 1997 and 2001) again was the highlight of this trip for me. We found $50 tickets online a few weeks ago, and grabbed them. Audience was only 2/3 to ¾ full, so I wonder how much longer this show will last at TI. Anyway, the show was as good or better than the first time I saw it 10 years ago. I have the live soundtrack CD, so I was quietly singing the soundtrack to myself during most of the show. I absolutely loved it! Mystere – still my favorite Cirque du Soleil show! The first-timers (L&R) loved it too.

Ate dinner at Isla. I was surprised it wasn’t very crowded immediately after Mystere let out. The food was very good as always.

Afterwards, I went over to Venetian to see about playing more poker. I was put on a list that didn’t seem to move after 10-15 minutes, so I left and went across the street to Mirage & got right into a 3/6 game. This one turned out to be my worst session of the trip. I got good cards that ended up as 2nd best hands over and over. I gave up after depleting almost all my $100 buy-in. (-$93)

At this point I was asking myself why I play this stupid, stupid game. So I took a little break and wandered over to watch the Bellagio fountains a couple of times. I watched God Bless the USA from the front corner next to the Bellagio entrance. I was enjoying the light cool mist given off by the fountains until near the end of the song I suddenly remembered that the water for the Bellagio fountains is treated wastewater, so I quickly changed locations.

The next show was a second helping of Time to Say Goodbye. OK, now I feel better and can bravely face my next round of bad beats.

The kind folks at a Flamingo 2/4 table relieved me of yet another $24 before I gave up for the night. At least at 2/4 I lose my money more slowly. I had felt groggy and somewhat out of it all day, so I made up my mind early in the day that I would hit the sack at midnight and enjoy a full last day. I stuck to it and the next day I was glad I did.

Monday, Aug 27th:
Managed to sleep over 4 hours. Even slept through what my wife told me was some loud thunder at 3AM. I was out of it. Looked out the window about 6 as it got light outside and noticed some heavy clouds and lightning strikes to the west where we were to be headed that day – Red Rock Canyon. Ate breakfast at the Flamingo Tropical Breeze café and left in the minivan to pick up L&R at the Riviera. Ran into flood debris and street closings in the area just behind the casinos on the east side – Audrie & Koval, so we decided to head up the strip. It was still sprinkling rain and bumper to bumper with 2 lanes open on the strip going north. There was water flowing down the southbound side past the Mirage. Once we were past the Wynn, there were no more traffic problems, so we picked up L&R & headed down the I-15 to our first stop, Silverton.

Wifey really likes aquariums, and I made a point when I checked out Silverton last February that I wanted to bring her back to see the giant fish tank. It’s really a pleasant little casino. We just stayed about a half hour, then we headed up Blue Diamond Rd to Red Rock Canyon. MIL really enjoys the mountains of the SW, so we included a loop through the Red Rock park for her. By the time we got there, weather had cleared off for what turned out to be a very nice comfortable day that was not as hot as the previous days.

We made it to Red Rock Casino about 1PM. This was the other place I wanted to show Wifey after visiting last February. MIL wanted to spend some time here after one of her friends had recently won at RR playing slots. First we headed for the buffet. My treat. With my player’s card the lunch was just $9.99 per person, which was good for 4 people, plus the regular price of $10.99 for the 5th. What a deal! This buffet rivals all of the best strip buffets for food quality and freshness. It doesn’t quite have the variety of fancy or ethnic foods that you might find at PH or Bellagio, but there is plenty there for a great meal. For the price, OMG!! – you can’t beat it!

After our Red Rock gorge, it was about 2, so we agreed to meet back at the entrance at 4. Wifey and I did a lap around the place, until I found the poker room. I sat down to play 2/4 with some good-natured (seemingly) well-off locals. It was an easy-going group of folks, just playing as a hobby, not trying to cut each other’s throats. This is the kind of poker I enjoy. Nice and relaxing. By the time we got to 3:30 I was (+15), so I decided to leave.

Found my wife, and then we found her mom, just as she was racking up a $400 win on a penny slot. It basically put her about even for the trip (she likes them slots). Of course she wanted to keep playing, so I found a nearby Multi-strike VP to play while she tried to lose some of her winnings.

We left soon after. I asked Wifey to drop me off at the Tropicana, where I could walk right over the pedestrian bridge to the MGM poker room. The others wanted to go back to the Riviera and play slots there a while.

MGM had a long list for limit & were not going to start any more limit tables, so I headed over to MC. Lots of remodeling being done at MC. A big chunk of the front part of the casino is blocked off inside and out. They’re building some sort of pub on the front. I’llk be interested to see what it turns out to be.

MC poker room was slow too. Got into a 2/4 game with only 5 other players. Picked up a few more players before long, so we weren’t short-handed for long. Had 2 hands back to back where I flopped 2 pair, which I played aggressively only to have an opponent hit a straight on the river. Lost $18 in each hand. Next hand I’m the one who hits the straight on the river, so I get it all back plus a few chips. Then I proceed to get pocket aces twice within just a few hands (my only pocket aces of the trip). That’s amazing enough, but what was REALLY amazing was that both of the hands held up in 2/4 limit to win the pots. Not real large pots, but I’ll take them. So I left MC within an hour up $20 to add to my $15 from RR and headed up the street to check out the new Planet Hollywood.

The City Center construction is amazing to see. Such a huge area filled with lots of unfinished building skeletons going on and on and on. The scope of the project is enormous. I look forward to seeing it in a couple of years.

When I walked into PH I could not believe I was entering the same space that used to be occupied by the Aladdin casino. Holy crap! The décor is very contemporary, but not in a cold dry way. I found it very inviting and visually interesting. Lots of red and black. Lots of video posters all over the place. It’s as totally different from the Aladdin as you can possibly imagine. The Miracle Mile shops are not yet transformed, so it’s a little strange to walk out of the modern casino and see the middle eastern style of the “old”(?) Desert Passage shops. Worth a browse is the store downstairs by the registration desk with movie and music posters autographed by stars. Everything from Pirates of the Caribbean w/Johnny Depp ($649) to the Beatles ($31,995). Most fall into the $600-800 range, but some of the older classics like the Godfather and Marilyn Monroe go for a whole lot more.

No limit poker going on there, so I headed on to Paris. Put $10 through some penny slots to let the Harrah’s computer know I’d been there. Stopped by the café and had a turkey wrap. Only tournament tables happening in the Paris poker room, but I noticed that Bally’s had 3/6 seating available, so I headed there.

Much to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that the bar by the poker room in Bally’s serves draft Alaskan Amber Ale. That’s been my favorite since I discovered it in Seattle a few years ago, but it’s regional and I can’t get it in Texas. YUM! I fold hands for a while, then pick up pocket tens in early position. The rest of the table gets out of the way except for the small blind, who calls. K and J come up, but small blind keeps checking to me, so I bet the flop, turn, and river, thinking he’s about to raise me each time. He finally folds on the river. He told me later he had AQ. Finally a decent hand I didn’t get sucked out on. Picked up a couple more hands, then the table got silly, several guys raising to the max pre-flop. I’m staying out of that mess. Wifey drops by (we’d been in touch via cell) and I leave (+30) and walk around with her a while.

I showed her the new PH and the autographed poster store, then we head across the street to watch the fountains. Once again, Time to Say Goodbye – my 3rd time for the trip. We get all cutesy wootsy (OK go ahead and gag), then go our separate ways again - her to bed back at the Flamingo – me back to Bally’s and more Alaskan Amber Ale. Almost time to say goodbye to Las Vegas too.

Bally’s 3/6 tables are now full with a waiting list. I leave & head over to Caesar’s, since it’s fairly close. No luck there either. Back to Bally’s and I get a seat at another 3/6 table. This one is not so kind as earlier. I start getting good hands AQ & AJ suited hitting an ace on the flop, pocket K’s, only to get beat on the turn or river. Then, almost like my session the 1st night at GN, I’m down to