Arrgh!!!!!!

You big tease!!!

Can't wait

Heid
xx

Okay, apologies if this turns out to be a bit long, I'll be quite detailed in places.

First of all, the really surprising thing was how quiet Vegas was, even over Labor day weekend it was unbelievably quiet? Not a bad thing for holidaymakers there but surprising all the same.
Day 1: TUESDAY -
The Delta flight was comfortable. We flew into Atlanta and had a smooth changeover before the 4 hour onward flight to Vegas. Only problems with the transatlantic flight was the awful food - Airline food seems to be almost inedible whichever airline you fly with these days....and there were no seatback TV's so no choice for entertainment, just whatever was on the main screen. We arrived in Vegas on Tuesday afternoon around 5pm and caught a cab to the Mirage. Check in took all of a minute and we got the upgraded room as they had promised in their email (because it is our anniversary this year and I emailed them to let them know). Room was a decent size, overlooked the Volcano, bathroom was small, overall nothing special and not the best I have stayed in, in Vegas but the hotel itself is very nice indeed and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
We unpacked quickly, went downstairs for a quick look around, dropped a few dollars into the slots had a couple of Corona's and then turned in after a very long day!
Day 2: WEDNESDAY -
Got up around 9am and went down to the pool area, it's a lovely pool, lots of vegetation, waterfalls etc. Sunbeds are VERY close together, looks like they pack as many in as possible and even though it was only 9am, most were taken already. We found some, put our gear on there and headed off for a Starbucks which was well needed! Back to the pool for a bit of sunbathing, it was damn hot and by midday we had had enough. The temp. was topping 100 degrees and certainly wasn't for sunbathing in. We headed inside and decided to go walkabout to a couple of casino's. We went over to the Imperial Palace so I could pick up some info on what poker tourneys they ran. They had a $50 buy-in No limit hold 'em tourney with a $5 add on and one $25 re-buy scheduled for 1pm on the Thursday, then they had a $50+5 buy in freezeout tourney at 1pm on Friday and the same on Saturday. I decided I would make these my first ever live tournaments!! We also popped along to Aladdin so I could have a look at their scedule - Sundays is 'Sit n' go' day when they hold sit n go single table tourneys all day so I made a mental note of those too. We picked up some lunch in Denny's next to Casino Royale - typical diner fare but good food and cheap. The afternoon was spent wandering around a few different casino's playing some slots and VP, not much luck on any of them - typical!! Back to the room for a quick nap then got ready to go out. Hadn't planned a meal anywhere in particular but kind of ended up at the Commanders Palace in the Aladdin almost by accident. This has an excellent reputation and certainly lived up to it, the food was lovely and they had a special New Orleans benefit night on which was good to see. (The owner lives and had another restaurant in N.O.) After the meal we went back to the Imperial Palace where we played a bit of three card and Pai Gow poker. I lost on Three card, just couldn't get a hand but won just over a hundred dollars at Pai Gow, it's a great game because you don't lose your money too quick even if you aren't winning!
Day 3: THURSDAY - I won't bore you with too many details. Basically an early Starbucks followed by a couple of hours sunbathing. Then we nipped over to the I.P. and I registered for my debut poker tourney. We pottered around, on the slots and VP until 12:30ish, grabbed a quick burger for lunch in the Burger Palace in the Imperial Palace (excellent burgers)! Then I headed for the poker section and sat down, rather nervous. You started with 1300 chips and the rebuy got you another 1000. The blinds started 25-50 and went up every 15 minutes which is VERY fast. There were around 68 entrants in total. I played real tight to begin with, sounding out the other players on my table and soon realised that there were other first timers and some who obviously had very little idea on how to play!! I kept it steady and tight as players started dropping around me. I got a couple of hands and played them well and managed to build my stack up. we whittled the players down and I made the final table. I got all in with a pair of sevens and came up against pocket aces!! I thought I was out but I hit a 7 on the river to get trips and doubled up. We got down to the last 5 people and one of the guys suggested chopping the pot (sharing the prize money). Part of me actually wanted to try to win the tourney but I was delighted to have reached the final table and we all walked away with $364 each so a nice little profit. I was buzzing!! It was around 4:45pm by this time so we headed back to the hotel, had a quick go on some more slots (didn't win again) then got changed for the evening, we had some 'O' tickets to pick up from the box office for that night! I know Heidi has sung it's praises for some time now and I realise how it got it's name......because we sat there constantly saying 'O my god' at what they were doing!! It is a phenominal show and even though our tickets cost $150 each, it was worth every penny, if you do one thing in Vegas, see this show!! Afterwards we tried to get into the Pussycat Dolls lounge in Caesers but didn't have any ID on us and they wouldn't let us in. NOTE: To get into ANY popular bar or club you must have ID out there, even if you look 50+ as onw woman did, they still asked for ID and refused entry if you didn't have it! Back to the IP for a bit of Pai Gow and slots (lost again) before turning in for the night - rather drunk because we hadn't eaten that evening
Day 4: FRIDAY - Got up early and bagged a couple of good sunloungers. Sunbathed until 10:45am and then headed over to IP to register for todays Freezeout poker tourney (freezeout means there are no re-buys, once your chips are gone, you are out). We headed to Starbucks for our morning coffee and grabbed a bite to eat before hitting the slots again. Still no luck. I sat down for the Poker tourney feeling quietly confident and not nervous at all. I recognised a few faces from the previous day. Todays tourney was busier, around 90 entrants. I played the same as before, real tight early on and got more aggresive as the blinds went up, making big raises on any decent hand I had. I got down to the final table again and it took ages to lose anyone, we finally lost a couple of people so there were 8 players left and at this stage we agreed to chop the last couple of places payouts, this meant that everyone left got at leat $77 so you had made a small profit no matter what. I was down to my last 4500 chips and the blinds were almost round to me - 3000/1500 so I knew I had to make a move real soon. To my delight I looked at my hand and I had pocket Kings, the second best hand before the flop. I raised all in and to my surprise....and dismay, I got three callers which meant I could be in trouble. As everyone turned their hands over, I had a piar of kings, there was a pair of Jacks, Ace/Queen and Ace King. Thankfully no aces came with the community cards and I won the hand making me second in chips on the table! We got down to four people and we all agreed to chop the prize money again, we all took $586 each so a very nice profit once again and boy was I a happy chappy!! We celebrated with a couple of cocktails in the IP whilst playing Roulette (lost again) before heading back to the Mirage as we had a table booked at Hugo's Cellar, in the Four Queens, downtown, at 8:30. I'd read some good reviews on this place and boy did it not disappoint. We had the 'hot rock speciality' to start, they come to your table with a slab of granite heated to boiling point (you know what I mean) and you 'cooked' your own shrimp, tenderloin steak tips, chicken pieces and swordfish on the granite, it was delicious!! The mains were just as good and the service was impeccable. This restaurant is a jewel and just because it is downtown, is probably not known by a lot of people. Do yourselves a favour and go there, it's fantastic!! We stayed downtown for a few hours, having a gamble in several of the casino's down there before heading back to the Mirage. A great night!
Day 5: - SATURDAY - It got a bit cooler, rather than 100 degrees plus it was in the low 90's which was quite a relief! Even though it was the start of the weekend it remained very quiet. I played in the 1pm poker tourney at the IP again. 80 entrants and this time my luck didn't hold out, I was all in with A9 suited against a pair of pocket queens....I got lucky and hit an ace on the flop but despite only having two 'outs in the entire deck, he hit a queen on the turn to knock me out in 19th place, I was still happy with the way I played. We had a quiet dinner that evening followed by a few beers and cocktails in the micro brewery in the Monte Carlo, and some 357 poker and Pai Gow. I won on 357 and lost on Pai Gow, then we spent another small fortune on the slots and lost! Got back to the Mirage around 3:30am.
Day 6: - SUNDAY Had a nice lie in until about 10:30am. Got up and went for a Starbucks, hit the slots and won $396 on a $ machine whilst I was waiting for the missus in the toilet!! About time I had some luck on the slots!! We popped along to the Aladdin and I sat down in one of their sit and go tourneys, $50+5 entry. Got knocked out in 7th place after getting no cards at all. Decided to play Pai Gow for a couple of hours after that. Back to the hotel around 5pm to get ready for the evening. I had booked a table at 'Alize' in the Palms hotel. Supposedly one of the top restaurants in Vegas? Wow, quite simply, I had the best steak I have ever had, it was totally amazing and quite frankly I don't see how it can ever be beaten. The whole meal was stunning and the service was second to none, I can see why this was rated so highly. Because of my poker winnings I splashed out $275 on a bottle of champagne as well so it was expensive but we always book one 'posh' meal when we go away in a really nice restaurant and although we had already been lucky enough to eat in the Commanders Palace and Hugo's Cellar, this topped the lot. Stunning. Oh, and it's on the 55th floor of the Palms with views right over Vegas. I told them about our anniversary and they reserved a window table for us, wow, what a view, it certainly rivals the 'Top of the World' view from the Stratosphere.
Day 7 - MONDAY Our last day. We popped over to the Flamingo, where Budget have a car hire desk and rented a Mustang convertible for the day. We drove down to the Premium Outlet shops then to the other main outlet by the airport and did some shopping, got quite a few bargains! Then we headed out to Green Valley Ranch because we'd never been there. Did a fair few $ on the slots and played some Pai Gow and Roulette (lost again). From there, as the sun was going down we drove over to Lake Mead and took in the scenery as the sun disappeared over the mountains, wow, what an end to a fantastic holiday. We had the car until morning so drove it to the airport and dropped it off there, saving on a cab fare. The flight home was comfortable, with slightly better food even!! All in all another great Vegas holiday, some fabulous restaurants and I lost my poker cherry Roll on next year, because I think I may be going twice next year!!

TC

Fantastic TR Tony!!

You had a fantastic time by the sounds of it! I am so pleased you enjoyed O! It's not something you can explain, you just have to tell people to go and see it<g>.

I haven't been to Alize, but I have been to their original location, Andre's which is on 6th street downtown, and both times I have been the food has been outstanding.

Mr Poker player!! You are really going to have to get yourself down to the Gutshot! It's such a bick kick playing live, and once you have done it, you never look back - I really prefer playing live to online. You did fantastic, well done!

Heid
xx

Thanks Heid I certainly enjoyed playing poker live and will seriously think about going somewhere in the UK for a game.

Great trip report! I really enjoyed reading it, thanks for sharing.

luci

That was a great wheeze, enjoyed reading through that, I was right there with you on the tables routing you on to win

Sounds as though you had a blast

Great report,i take it you like poker then! anyway vegas sounds great and can't wait until next june when we go,cheers Mark

thanks all

Yup, I love poker now, started playing online about 2 years ago and play on and off online now, but am craving more of the 'live' game since Vegas

Teecee,

Good report. I'm just back this morning, so I'll post some of my info later!

Glad you had fun. The weather fair cooled off last weekend didn't it!?

Lesley,

It certainly did.....and wasn't it a relief!! It was pretty pleasant walking around over the last few days

We sat at the pool on wednesday morning for 2 hours, then headed to the shops. Walked up to TI (via flamingo buffet) then got bus to Boulevard Mall, then after going to Best Buy went back on bus up to sahara on maryland parkway, then got off there, and walked to the Sahara hotel. Took taxi to outlets, then took taxi back to Sahara to try monorail.

We ended up getting a little bit burnt, but it was fairly pleasant to walk in. Just the usual thirst!

Just got back, will post my trip rep when my jet lag goes

poker room addict here too