My wife and I planned a three night trip for August 1 to 4 staying at the Wynn. We had never stayed here before, and weren't disappointed. The room/view were aweseome: 58th floor overlooking the strip, we could see the mountains in the distance, great view of Trump, TI, and Mirage on the opposite side of the strip, the Palazzo blocked a lot of the view looking down the strip, but we could see Mandalay Bay, some of New York New York, some of the MGM Grand, and the PH Towers.

When we arrived our room wasn't ready yet, so we went for lunch at the Peppermill. I had heard in multiple places online that this was a great restaurant, and wanted to check it out. The interior was very retro, lots of neon lights, and a cool atmosphere. The food was just ok. I had eggs benedict which were too runny/undercooked and my wife had the Belgian waffle, her waffle actually looked pretty good as it had multiple types of fruit. I tried a bit and it was pretty standard. After lunch we walked back to see if our room was ready, to no avail. In the meantime we signed up for the Red Card (Wynn's player's card) and got a $10 match play for slots. We put in $20 and got down to the very last spin before hitting, cashed out for $30 so at least we got the free $10. Shortly after our room was ready. As mentioned above, the view was great. The bathroom was large: it had his and hers sinks, a nice shower, a big bathtub, and doored-off spot for the toilet. The room had a wall-mounted swivelling Sharp HD television, a desk, a table, a leather couch, king-size bed, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the strip.

Once we had our room ready we went down to the pool, we just hung out there for about an hour and a half before the sun went down. My wife had booked the helicopter tour of the strip ahead of time for half price through her work, so we got ready for that. While my wife got ready I had a quick half hour $1-3 NL poker session and made $44. The notable hand i was involved in was from the big blind, i held the Q10 of clubs. An early position player raised it to $6, there were several callers and i called as well. The flop was Q,9,7 rainbow. I checked and the original raiser bet out $20, leaving only about $40 behind. He was called in two places before it got back to me and I popped it to $100. The original raiser called as did one of the others. When the original rasier called I feared an overpair, the other player I suspected had a draw. Turned out to be a $78 side pot for me and the player who I put on the draw, a blank came on the turn and I bet my remaining $85ish, he called, another blank on the river and I took the side pot. The preflop raiser had AQ and took the main. So I did a little better than break-even on the hand. My wife met me in the poker room and we took a cab to the helicopter place.

It was just before the airport on Tropicana. The tour was cool, but much shorter than I anticipated. It simply went up the strip, around downtown Vegas, and back down the strip. Total flying time was 15 minutes tops. The tour is normally $140 per person and we got it for $140 total, and even at that seemed expensive for what it was. It had some nice views, but our photos didn't turn out well. It was good, but I wouldn't do it again. After that the company shuttled us back to the Tropicana so we had a quick look around inside and it is much brighter with the renovations. We were hungry and went to the MGM to find a bite to eat. Settled on the Rain Forest Cafe. It wasn't anything special. We shared a Caesar salad and half-chicken dinner. We walked up the other side of the strip, checked out the Cosmopolitan hotel, watched a Bellagio fountain show, and then went for a late night dessert at the Cheesecake Factory in the Forum Shops. Ended up taking a cab back to the Wynn from Caesar's. On our way back in to the hotel a man asked me where the taxi stand was and I told him, he then says "here, take this," and puts $21 of Wynn chips in my hand. I tell him "it's yours, don't worry." To which he replies "I'm not comin' back here anyway." Well, I don't say no twice, thanks. I ask my wife if she wants to put it on red. She wants to cash it in and play slots with it. I let her so that I can play poker while she plays it. She comes to the poker room soon with a Wynn shopping bag in hand so I know she must have won something! She made $30 on the slots and bought some small souvenir; cool with me. Then she went to bed and I continued playing poker. It was an up and down session, had one fairly sick suck-out against me, where my opponent hit a six-outer on the river in a good-size pot. In another hand, I did manage to hit quad 5s on the turn and got modest value on it from another player who easily could/should have stacked-off to me. I held 5,8 of diamonds and he held pocket 7s. The flop was 5,5,7 and I bet it out, he just called. The turn was another 5 and I just decided to keep betting. Again he called. I bet the river and again he just called. Probably made a little less than $100 on the hand; too bad he didn't raise on the turn. but in the end made $119 in a bit under two hours of play before hitting the sack.

The next morning we had breakfast and then went to the pool for most of the day. In the afternoon we went across the street to the Fashion Show Mall, ate at the foodcourt there and did some shopping. We didn't end up buying too much as there are a lot of pricey stores there. Just got a purse for my wife and a pair of pants and a shirt for myself at Macy's. We walked around for a bit, then dropped our purchases at the hotel before taking a cab down to New York New York. We had purchased tickets to Zumanity and had to pick them up before the show started, so we did that, then walked across the way to the ABC store to kill some time. My wife bought some souvenirs for her family there. We walked back over and had a pretty good turkey club sandwich from a small, almost cafeteria-looking restaurant in NYNY, and then settled in for our show. Zumanity was a good show. I enjoyed it, my wife really liked it. It wasn't really very risque, and I actually thought it was hilarious, with some cool stunts, etc. as well. We cabbed back up to the Wynn and again my wife headed to bed, so I got to play some poker.

Ended up making $220 in a little under three hours that night. Won and lost some pots throughout the session. I hit top set on the turn with QQ my very first hand for a large pot. Lost a small pot with 1010 when i tried to slowplay a flopped set. I had raised preflop with my 1010 and was called in two places. The flop was A,10,3 with two spades. I was first to act and checked hoping that someone would bet with the ace. The next player bet, and I was the only caller. Turn brought another spade and it went check, check. The river brought the fourth spade and again, check, check. My opponent showed 5,5 with the 5 of spades! It happens, I think I lost about $45 on this one. As it was getting later and players started leaving our table was down to six players and one of them requested that we move to other tables as there was clearly available seating for us. One of the poker room manager's said "no, we don't break six-handed games here, it's bad for business." I didn't really like this comment, I thought they should break the game too. I understand that the more tables going the more rake for the casino, but six-handed is a reasonable point to break the table in my opinion. That player left shortly after and they broke our table anyway. I didn't go to a new table, just went to sleep.

The next morning my wife had booked an appointment at the spa so I played again, for about two and a half hours. I lost my first buy-in with J9 vs JJ on a A,J,9 board. This was my only major cooler of the trip. I made it back and then some with some good play and good cards. One really nice hand I was in the big blind with A4 offsuit. An early position player raised to $6, several callers to me and I called as well. The flop came 4,4,6. Cha-ching! I checked and the original raiser bet $25, everyone folded and I called. The turn was an ace. I checked and he bet $50 leaving himself about $120 behind. I moved all-in and he called. My opponent had 4,3 and the river couldn't save him. Not longer after my wife was finished at the spa and wanted to go to the pool so I went with her. Finished that session up $280.

We stayed at the pool almost all afternoon, just had some snacks and drinks there. In the evening we went to Lagasse's Stadium at the Palazzo. We had a travelzoo.com deal which included two beers, two appetizers, and two entrees for $40. This was a great deal. The menu for this offer was limited, but the offerings were reasonable. We shared chicken caesar salad and pizza bread for the appys, and ribs and fish 'n chips for the dinner. We couldn't finish it all. The food was solid. Not spectacular, but it filled us up, and for that bargain I would certainly return. Once we finished there we went back to the Wynn and relaxed at the Parasol Down. Had a drink and watched the little water show there for a bit. Had one last session of poker where I made $123 in two hours of play.

The last morning we packed up and checked out. Went for a walk up to the Riviera and bought more souvenirs at the random shops of Vegas crap along the way. Took my picture with the "No ifs, and, or ..." in front of the Riviera. Walked back through Encore and settled on lunch at the Grand Lux in the Palazzo. I had the strawberry Belgian waffle and my wife had pasta. We were both happy with the meal. After lunch we walked around the strip: through the Venetian, Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. Had another quick bite to eat at the golden arches before returning to the Wynn and chilling at the sportsbook while we waited to leave for our flight home. The only reason I didn't play cards on the last day was because I was satisfied with what I had won and would have been disappointed if I had lost, say, $400 with no time to make it up. In the end I made over $780 in about 10 hours of play. There wasn't a lot of drinking going on in the Wynn's poker room, most people were only ordering water or coffee. This a big contrast from what I am used seeeing while playing poker in Vegas.

We had a three hour delay on our flight back home which was annoying. On my last four trips to Vegas now my flight home has been delayed. All were with Allegiant Air. I really like this airline as the fares are usually low, and it is a quick, easy, no-frills flight. Next time I think I'll try for an earlier flight home and see what happens. Still, all-in-all it was another fun trip to Vegas!