March 8-12... Las Vegas with Mom

Took my Mom to Las Vegas for her _0th birthday present! We were planning 3 nights at the Mirage, but thanks to a cancelled flight by Delta, we arrived a day earlier...it was a great trip!

Lodging - spent Sat (3/8) at Cosmo on Marriott Rewards points (40,000). As a platinum, check in and out was a breeze...the Autograph lounge is where it's done and there was no line at all! Spent Sun - Wed (3/9-12) at the Mirage....Gold mLife check in. Early check in and no upgrades available at the time. No problem....5th floor King room for each of us was fine. Not as nice or spacious as the queen double at Cosmo (with the balcony on the 42d floor), but we didn't spend a lot of time in the room. FYI, the bathrooms in these Mirage rooms are small.

Shows - we saw two shows...LOVE and ONE. IMO, LOVE is far better. The MJ show was more "concert-like". If you like Michael Jackson, go. If you don't, spend your $$$$ on something else.

Food - one buffet...the Wicked Spoon @ Cosmo. It was really good. Not a big buffet fan (only had been to the Aria buffet a few years ago), but I was pleasantly surprised by the food quality and variety. The only other real standout meal was Hash House a GoGo at the Quad...YUMMY!!!! I had the meatloaf scramble; Mom the chicken and waffles. Both were awesome!

Gambling - the best and worst of times. I love table games...a fun table is everything! Mom just wanted to watch and play a few things. I had two goals: play in a poker room and try craps. My poker room experience was awful. I've played at local casinos and had fun. My three games in Las Vegas (1 at Aria, 2 at Mirage) were not fun. Playing with guys who thought they were on the WPT. Too bad and an expensive lesson learned for me!

Craps was a far better experience...I hit a 5pt $5 Fire Bet at Caesars at a $10 table....$1250. Plus, with my roll, I ended up over $1500, after copious tips. Very fun! Stuck to the $10 Mirage tables or $3 Casino Royale table late at night...that was FUN!

Finally, my new fun game was High Card Flush. A great game for Mom and me to play for long times. She hit a few 4 and 5 card straight flushes. I hit a 7 card flush! Very fun!

On a sad note, with Mom in tow, I played a bunch of games new to me...a 3 hand pai gow game at Paris was fun. Two new black jack games at the Palazzo were not. These games and the poker room is where I gave back my winnings.

Final thoughts - no amount of money can replace the fun and experience Mom and I had! I need to learn to pay down my bill with my winnings as I win, as opposed to waiting til the end. The $$$$ is never there!

What a great four days!

 

You'll never regret that time with your Mom. So glad I had the opportunity with mine.

Glad you had a good time - sorry you didn't come home with your winnings. Enjoy the memories!

 

thanks for the trip report. Too bad the poker room was so bad to u.

When I play poker in vegas I only hit the 2-4 limit tables..... no chance to get busted out for too much and most people are usually friendly and having a good time... every now and then u get some people that have a chip on their shoulder or a local who is miserable and just trying to grind a few bucks out of drunk tourists. I just hit the poker room to get some drinks and kill some time. If I win a couple bucks, great..... if I lose its only a small buy in.

 

Nice trip report and so glad you enjoyed the time with your Mom.