It was a spur of the moment trip. We arrived on 4/21/10 and stayed at a Hilton Vacation resort next to Circus Circus which was a bit off the strip.

To start with we arrived two hours late after the caterers had released the emergency slide on the plane in LA and it took that long to get it fixed. It was 48 degrees when we landed another tip off that this was not going to go well. Against my better judgement we opted against a car rental and instead purchase passes for the Duce, The trip up the strip to the Bellagio was a nightmare but after stuffing ourselves at the buffet and purchasing tickets for "O" for friday night we set off to play some poker.

Using the information from this site my wife and I walked over to the Imperial Palace. The only game running whne we got there was a 2-4 limit. We registered for 1/2 and sat down at the 2-4 game. I was totally unpreparied for the play in Vegas. It seemed to me that you could see every flop for $2.00 and unfortunatily this was my down fall. I fell into the trap and played way too many hands....
We left the IP about 50.00 down and started walking to the bus stop. Passing Harrahs we decided to play some more since we have a Harrahs in our town. It was run about like every Harrahs and we made up in a few hours what we lost.
Leaving Harrahs we started walking to the bus stop in front of the Venetian only to watch the bus pull away while we were still a block away. At the bus stop we found that the busses run every half hour after 1:00am and it was 1:10. We took a cab back to the hotel. It was 40 degrees and a cold wind was blowing. By this timer I was positive that there was no way we were going to win any money on this trip!
Let me digress. Cab from the airport 40.00, buss pass 14.00 and cab from Venetian 11.00 for a total of 65.00. The next morning when we woke up it was pouring down rain so I rented a car from Advantage for the remaining two days for 60.31.

Ok room summaries.
IP a bit leezy and worn.
Harrahs is a good room and well run but it should be they own about every Casino in Vegas and we have a Harrahs in my home town so I was familar with there operation
MGM was very well run and very friendly (not to my bankroll)
Southpoint (our friends had stayed there before and wanted to go back there for the video poker)
Golden Nugget well run and crowded
Circus Circus was next door to our hotel and it was showing its age. It was built in the 50's and I remember going ther in the early 60's when it was accross from the Thunderbird and just down from the Sands. (A little tip to give away my age.)

I think that the lose play really hurt my game since I am usually a tight aggressive played but I fell into the trap of chasing flushes and straights and as I said played too many hands. I won a little money but not enought to keep and real track of.

I dont think that the players in Vegas are any different from those you find anywhere else. Too many cities now have leagl poker and it is played online and there are thousands of home games and poker pubs all over the USA.

To sum it up I think I would have done better if the play had been a little less "soft"". I am used to seeing raises before the flop and I guess I "limped in" too many times. I play poker at the local Casinos (we have 5 to chose from now) and usually cash out 50.00 to 200.00 every time I play and if I lose its never more than 40.00 to 50.00.

I will add two stories.
Southpoint and after about an hopur of play I am 125.00 ahead when I get AA in late poisition. There are three limpers so I raise the pot to $15.00 (it was the first good hand I had seen in that hour. The kid next to me calls. The flop comes 3, 7, J rainbow and I raise to 25.00. The kid calls. the turn is a 2 (no flush) I make it 50.00 and the kid calls. The river is a 5 and I bet 50.00 again. The kid calls and turns over a 3-5 for two pair. I left the table with my original buy in.
Circus Circus 2:00 am One drunk, One fish, One stranded Swede and my wife and I. If we could have gotten any cards we would have made the entire trip at that table. The guy on my left kept showing me his cards even when I was in the hand (he kept forgetting) the Swede was playing anything as was the drunk. I only got one hand that I could play. I got KK and raised to 15.00 and everyone called. The guy on my left forgot again and showed me his 7-9 os. The flop was K, J 9 which was a perfect flop since it gave the guy on my left a pair. I bet 35.oo and he called as did the other two. I forget the turn and the river but I went all in for 50.00 and the all called. The drunk was playing 10-7os, the swede thought he had three jacks but he really had KJ and the guy on my left showed down his 9's. They commented for about 10 minutes about what a great player I was and when my wife won 5 hands later with QQ they did the same to her. If only we could have gotten some cards but it was scary to try to bluff because they called every hand to the river no matter the bet.

It was a good trip all and all Vegas is Vegas. The food was good, O was great and the weather improved on friday.
I enjoy playing poker and do likw winning more than losing.
I have played in Bellagio, Flamingo, Ceasars, Binions, TI, and Paris previous and I think I would play Harrahs, MGM, Golden Nugget again and would like to add Venetian. I would also play Circus Circus after midnight.
My only regret was we did not get to Central City but with only 2 real days there is only so much you can do.
Rember the only thing that stays in Vegas is your money.