So here's a little background about this trip:

My mom is an incredibly hard worker, owns her own retail business and works 7 days a week. You know the type of mom she is. The kind that says, why did you waste your money to get me flowers, and never eats out to save money. She has not gone on a vacation in almost 20 years. Now that I'm out of college and working a decent job, I told her I am taking her and my sister for a weekend to Vegas. Being her normal self, she tried to cancel a couple of times, but in the end, gave in and went, and had the time of her life.

I flew in SW and got to Treasure Island around 3:00pm with one day to play cards before the family came in. Strangest thing, the lady that checked me in said I was already checked in. I had to show them my hotels.com confirmation and they had to make some phone calls to get my room because someone else with my exact same first and last name was checked in under my reservation. For my patience I was rewarded a free upgrade to a strip view room. Woot! Good start!

I strolled over to MGM (my favorite, perhaps formerly favorite poker room) and immediately turned my 200 buy in into $300 within two orbits. Then, under the gun, I folded K9. Flop was KK3, turn 9, river 3. I could have doubled up off of this old man if I called preflop! ARG! It was all downhill from there. This annoying Indian guy at the end of the table trying to run the table got sucked out on by a German guy that didn't care. The German dude was raising with crappy cards and rivering him. Ex: 97 vs 88. German guy takes the hand down with a 865xx board. HAHA. Then the German guy and Indian guy go down to the river with a board that shows four spades. The German guy holds up his cards and shows the Ace of spades. Dealer and table says he must show both and he shows his other card too (while still holding up his cards). Then he throws his A of spades on the table and the other card in the muck. Clearly he had the winning hand, but Indian guy calls the floor. I thought this was BS and voiced my opinion to him. Floor ruled for the German guy. What do ya'll think? Indian guy got what he deserved and lost it all a few hands later. Unfortunately I lost for the first time ever at MGM and left down $170 to play in the Mirage 7:00pm tourney.

Tourney only had 2 tables. I played pretty bad and went out in like 13th or 14th after picking a couple bad places to bluff. I was pretty disappointed and strolled over to the video BJ machine in Caesars. What do you know. In 3-4 hours, I turned my $150 buy in into $400, and won all my money back.

Day 1: Dead Even.

Day two started at 4:30am Vegas time with my first trip to the Venetian. Why haven't I played here before???!!! How have I read the room reviews and trip reports and ignored them??? Gorgeous room. I started off with Red Bull, Earl Grey tea with honey, cappuccino, and several Fiji waters. Wow. Bought in $200, turned it into $300 and then lost a couple hands and over bet 4 diamonds on the board representing a flush, and was called by this dealer from red rock (i think) saying I overbet it while he showed the 2 of diamonds. Great call! I bought in another $100 and played pretty solidly. KK held up once, and I sucked out on someone with 99 with a flop of A7x. I only called because he was short stacked and turned a 9. This older lady in seat one was raising preflop with low pockets and any kicker with an A. I caller her with A7 suited and board showed Q732. There was over $200 in the pot and I called a river bet and spiked a 7. Thank god that put a third heart on the board or I would have raised her $100 bet. She showed QQ and I cried a little. This drunk guy (still smelled like vomit from partying all night) sits between us and the older lady. Everyone drools at him after he loses his initial buy in and calls his bank so he can withdraw more. I take $40-50 off him and someone else puts him out of his misery after hitting a flush vs drunk guy's top pair. I cash out with 4 stacks of hundreds and 2 hundred dollar bills. Total for trip: Up $300. Woot! Stop reading now if you want to read about poker because that is the end of poker for this trip. I play some blackjack at TI while waiting for my mom and sister's cab an won a tad more.

They arrive and we go to the Bellagio buffet. They don't have much seafood (mom doesn't eat meat) so we go to Paris buffet for lunch. I must say, I was VERY impressed. Prime rib, roast beef, leg of lamb, grilled chicken, quiches, and several seafood dishes, and a crepe station. Mmmmmm. It was only like $20 a person. We stroll around some more, and go back to our rooms and get a quick nap. Upon waking up, we get dressed to go to Beatles Love. It was amazing. Not as many circus tricks/flips as Mystere, but still a spectacular and well produced show. My mom's exact words were "wow, this is definitely money well spent, because I would have never dreamed of seeing anything so spectacular in my life". I was very happy with her reaction. We then ate at Ellis Island for their $6.99 steak special (I am obsessed with this place). After my mom went to sleep, my sister and I strolled back to the Caesars blackjack machine, and I won another $50 while we had a couple of drinks.

The next day I rented a car and we drove to Hoover dam. When we got back, my mom and I went back to the blackjack machine and my sister napped. My mom watched me play for an hour or so and I won $40. On the way out through the forum shops, I walked in field of dreams and saw not only Pete Rose, but Smokin' Joe Frasier. I almost spent the $250 to buy a glove at Field of Dreams for Frasier to sign, but just couldn't pull the trigger. We walked back to TI and woke my sister up and stopped by so my sister could try In-N-Out (her first time) and she said it was "nothing special" (sorry if that offends anyone), but here in Austin, we have a place called P Terry's that is very similar. After buying 1 burger at In-N-Out, we went over to Ellis Island again, and then returned the rental. We got dressed to watch Lance Burton at Monte Carlo, and I got us front row seats. Lance even shook my hand during the show and asked me where I was from and asked if the girl next to me was my wife. I said no, it's my mom, and he shook her hand and said "mom's a hottie". HAHA! The show was pretty amazing. Even in the front row, I couldn't see how any of his tricks are done. I have seen Penn and Teller, and both are really good. Lance Burton seems to be much more kid-friendly as he called a few kids on stage to join him for his tricks. Overall, great show, and again, left my mom speechless. Watched the Bellagio fountains on the way back to Caesars machine, where I gave some of my winnings back and lost $200. My mom actually played and lost $40, but still a great time. The next day, woke up, lost another $180 or so at BJ, ate at Venetian's food court, and left for the airport.

Overall I think I made like $100, but even if I lost money, I wouldn't trade this trip for any of my other trips to Vegas. Such a memorable weekend for us!