We just returned home from a nice long (for us) trip to Las Vegas last week. We were toying with the idea of going in January when I found an offer for 4 nights and an invitational poker tournament. We decided to parlay that with a couple more nights and make a week of it.
The first 3 nights I was solo. My wife joined me on Wednesday and we spent the rest of the week together. I was trying to treat the first few days like a poker trip. I was planning to play in the little freeroll and then hit the cash tables pretty hard.
First of all, the invitational tournament was kind of a joke. I think next time I would probably just skip it. I ended up spending a lot of time on it for little to no benefit. There were lots of people, short stacks and fast blind levels. Mostly just sliding by the 3rd level. But there were plenty of bad players. Unfortunately its not the kind of tournament that really gives any benefit to a skillful player (not that I am necessarilly). It was enjoyable though I guess and free so I can't complain.
Secondly, my poker days were slowed a bit by the lack of action. It was really difficult to find a game until late afternoon. Then the action dried up again fairly early at night so it only left a small window for peak playing. I ended up ahead but not really very much. I would've done better if it hadn't been for a couple of huge pots I lost after getting in way ahead. But that's the perils of 1-2 NL in Vegas. I wouldn't expect any less.
The rest of my solo time was pretty unremarkable and I'm not sure I really made the best of it.
I/we stayed at Bally's where we have stayed the past 4 times or so. There was some confussion in the check in process and I ended up accepting a free suite upgrade for the first night. I really liked the suite and hated for my wife not to get to enjoy it so I ended up accepting a $50 upgrade for the remaining 6 nights. We really enjoyed the room but it defeated the purpose of our previously comped trip.
Once my wife arrived we stayed pretty busy. I felt like the slots were tighter than ever and we never really got much time out of our slot donations. We had some fun playing at GN downtown but our previously favorite 'pinball' machines around town and especially at 4Qs didn't pay at all. We did a little better at table games due to my wife hitting a straight flush on the TCP table at Bally's. As a poker player I try not to spend money on games where I'm guaranteed to lose but when we're together its just fun to spend a few buyins here and there to try and get lucky.
We had many good meals. Our favorite spot in town is Mesa Grill and we had sworn to skip it this time in favor of someplace new but we ended up there anyway. We both really enjoyed our meals and will probably continue to go on every visit. I highly recommend the New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin! We also returned to WP's bar and grill at MGM this time. We hadn't been there in a couple of years and had really enjoyed it last time. Once again it was very good and did not disappoint. Puck's pizza is always wonderful.
We made a point of eating atop Binion's at their steakhouse so that we could use the MRB 25% off coupon. We had never been there before and I was holding out hope that it would become a favorite. But alas, it was very mediocre and I doubt we'll return. Binion's is perplexing to me. I want to like it. I know I like the idea of it and it's history but it always falls short in the flesh. Unfortunatley we've only been going to Vegas for 6 or 7 years so we missed a lot of the hay day. I hate to see them on such hard times and I hold out hope for a brighter future downtown. We love 4Qs as well and always spend time gambling in their casino. Downtown will always hold a special place to us.
We saw the Viva Elvis show as well this time. I loved it. I'm a huge Elvis fan and have been anticipating the show since it opened but especially in the past couple of months since the soundtrack CD came out. I love the updated settings of his music. The new version of Suspicious Minds is one of the coolest songs I've ever heard. It was also our first time inside Aria and we both thought it was well done although we didn't win anything in their casino either.
The last night we went to the new BG comedy club at Trop. It was good. All 3 comics were funny. We haven't always found that to be the case. But the Trop was totally dead on a Saturday night. Some of their renovations look pretty interesting and it'll be something to see what comes of them in the next couple of years.
Overall it was a wonderful stay in our favorite city. It was also my longest stay at 7 nights. Typically we go for 4 nights since that's about all the babysitting we can arrange.
Meals were good. Poker was a bit of a let down and the shows were great. We'll be back...
The first 3 nights I was solo. My wife joined me on Wednesday and we spent the rest of the week together. I was trying to treat the first few days like a poker trip. I was planning to play in the little freeroll and then hit the cash tables pretty hard.
First of all, the invitational tournament was kind of a joke. I think next time I would probably just skip it. I ended up spending a lot of time on it for little to no benefit. There were lots of people, short stacks and fast blind levels. Mostly just sliding by the 3rd level. But there were plenty of bad players. Unfortunately its not the kind of tournament that really gives any benefit to a skillful player (not that I am necessarilly). It was enjoyable though I guess and free so I can't complain.
Secondly, my poker days were slowed a bit by the lack of action. It was really difficult to find a game until late afternoon. Then the action dried up again fairly early at night so it only left a small window for peak playing. I ended up ahead but not really very much. I would've done better if it hadn't been for a couple of huge pots I lost after getting in way ahead. But that's the perils of 1-2 NL in Vegas. I wouldn't expect any less.
The rest of my solo time was pretty unremarkable and I'm not sure I really made the best of it.
I/we stayed at Bally's where we have stayed the past 4 times or so. There was some confussion in the check in process and I ended up accepting a free suite upgrade for the first night. I really liked the suite and hated for my wife not to get to enjoy it so I ended up accepting a $50 upgrade for the remaining 6 nights. We really enjoyed the room but it defeated the purpose of our previously comped trip.
Once my wife arrived we stayed pretty busy. I felt like the slots were tighter than ever and we never really got much time out of our slot donations. We had some fun playing at GN downtown but our previously favorite 'pinball' machines around town and especially at 4Qs didn't pay at all. We did a little better at table games due to my wife hitting a straight flush on the TCP table at Bally's. As a poker player I try not to spend money on games where I'm guaranteed to lose but when we're together its just fun to spend a few buyins here and there to try and get lucky.
We had many good meals. Our favorite spot in town is Mesa Grill and we had sworn to skip it this time in favor of someplace new but we ended up there anyway. We both really enjoyed our meals and will probably continue to go on every visit. I highly recommend the New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin! We also returned to WP's bar and grill at MGM this time. We hadn't been there in a couple of years and had really enjoyed it last time. Once again it was very good and did not disappoint. Puck's pizza is always wonderful.
We made a point of eating atop Binion's at their steakhouse so that we could use the MRB 25% off coupon. We had never been there before and I was holding out hope that it would become a favorite. But alas, it was very mediocre and I doubt we'll return. Binion's is perplexing to me. I want to like it. I know I like the idea of it and it's history but it always falls short in the flesh. Unfortunatley we've only been going to Vegas for 6 or 7 years so we missed a lot of the hay day. I hate to see them on such hard times and I hold out hope for a brighter future downtown. We love 4Qs as well and always spend time gambling in their casino. Downtown will always hold a special place to us.
We saw the Viva Elvis show as well this time. I loved it. I'm a huge Elvis fan and have been anticipating the show since it opened but especially in the past couple of months since the soundtrack CD came out. I love the updated settings of his music. The new version of Suspicious Minds is one of the coolest songs I've ever heard. It was also our first time inside Aria and we both thought it was well done although we didn't win anything in their casino either.
The last night we went to the new BG comedy club at Trop. It was good. All 3 comics were funny. We haven't always found that to be the case. But the Trop was totally dead on a Saturday night. Some of their renovations look pretty interesting and it'll be something to see what comes of them in the next couple of years.
Overall it was a wonderful stay in our favorite city. It was also my longest stay at 7 nights. Typically we go for 4 nights since that's about all the babysitting we can arrange.
Meals were good. Poker was a bit of a let down and the shows were great. We'll be back...
