This will be an issue-based report beginning with poker (your welcome)!

Poker: I did not plan on giving O'Shea's as much action as I did, but sometimes the best laid plans don't work out. This casino has several daily $45 tournaments that are well run. On our first night, I played the 9pm tourney and chopped 4-ways for $260.00. Not bad for me. The next day, I played $1-2 NL and doubled my $100 buy-in after playing for about 3 hours, which was another good result for me. The following day, I lost my $100 buy-in playing $1-5 Limit. It was my first time playing this game and realized those $1 blinds can chip away at your chip stack very easily. The only other poker session for me was at the $65 TI tourney on Thursday at 11am. It had about 41 players and was very well-run. My wife played this tourney with me and was quite impressed with the room. We both made the final table and I busted out in 8th, and she cashed in 6th place. Good for her first ever Vegas tourney! In summary, I suppose my poker profit was a measly $150. Except for the laughable $1-5 session, I believe I played most hands correctly and did not take one bad beat.

Ok, on to the "fluff."

Flamingo Go room: I was really looking forward to staying in the new Go room. It was well above average, but not without its quirks. First, don't forget your USB cable if you plan to use to iPOD docking station. My docking station at work requires that you only place the iPOD onto the docking station, not so with the Go room. Next, if you value privacy in the bathroom, you may be surprised that the sliding bathroom door does not close all the way, nor is there a vent in the bathroom. Also, there is one light switch that controls the lights over the bed, the funky lights in the bathroom, and a light in the closet. It's all or nothing, baby. There is a TV in the bathroom mirror that tried once, but never really utilized. Otherwise, it is a very nice room.

Flamingo pool: Awesome! We wasted no time in getting to the pool on our first day. This pool gets crowded very early and stays crowded all day. The fruity drinks will run about $10 each, but they are delicious. Live a little, charge it to your room! Grab a fruit plate from the poolside cafe, and you will be set for a good afternoon.

Gambling: I played several sessions of blackjack and had mostly break-even sessions at IP, Bill's, Flamingo poolside, and O'shea's. Losing sessions were had at Harrah's, Mirage, Golden Nugget poolside, and Freemont. Video poker proved to be a worthless endeavor losing my first ever $20 coin-in at Flamingo AND having to pay for a drink! Slots were mostly a drain on my bankroll except for the last pull at the airport, where I won $150 on Blazing 7s. Woo-hoo! No craps, sportsbook, or other carnival games. If not for the losing BJ sessions, I would have had a break-even trip.

Food: Nothing special. We had the Flamingo buffet for lunch and breakfast. It satisfied us. On Wednesday, we ate dinner downtown with 2 other couples. We had not seen them much on our trip and decided to go along with their dinner plans, but we found out too late they wanted to eat at Tony Roma's in Freemont. It was horrendous. 'Nuff said. It amounted to a $25 cab ride each way to eat at a restaurant we could find anywhere. Not fun. On Thursday, we ate at an Italian cafe in Venetian before the Wayne Brady show. The food was average, but the show rocked! I had plans to eat at the Range and other notable eateries, but I could not drag my wife from the tables! :)

Transportation: We flew SWA and had no complaints. The lines for taxis from the airport was non-existent. In fact, we never waited a moment for any of the four cab rides. We made it through security at McCarran in about 10 minutes! Yes, 10 minutes on Friday morning. We used the skycap at McCarran and I did not forget to tip!

Overall, it was a memorable vacation. We can't wait to return!