Welcome back! As for food, depends on what you like and what your budget is. I'm not familiar with the first 2 places you named, but Ellis Island still has the specials, and they are good. Hash House has good food in huge portions - and the one at the Linq is far better than the one at Rio, in my humble opinion.

Downtown (Freemont) is full of great food deals - and if you haven't seen the light show then I would say you're in for a treat. Evenings, after dark, are the best times to go there.

Lee

The Steak and Egg special at Ellis Island is great. We have a similiar deal here (not in Vegas)and the steaks are nowhere near as good as Ellis Island. I also had steak and eggs downtown Vegas and the price was twice as much as Ellis Island and the quality was way lower. Sometimes Ellis Island steak may not be cooked correctly but I'd say it's good at least 4 out of 5 times and that's not bad considering the price.

I'm not super high on Hash House but it's a place I'd return to and the portions are massive.

The linq is a good cheap place to stay. I'd recommend it over the Flamingo unless the pool is of high importance to you.

Outside seating at SW at the Wynn is kinda nice like that.

Lotus is still very good, but Chada is the better Thai restaurant. Never heard of Namaste. Spend some time in the fine and casual dining threads.

Yes on the car.

Thanks for the replies.

My rough plan right now is to arrive on a Sat afternoon and just stay on the local strip and maybe find a small tourny to play while the wife wanders around the forum shops and stuff.

Sunday we'll rent a car and head for a circle tour of Hoover dam and valley of fire state park then head back into town in the evening and go out to dinner at Chada or Lotus or Mon Ami Gabi or somewhere else ...wife hasnt decided what sort of food she wants yet lol.

Monday prob wake up and do hash house or ellis island for breakfast and then drive down to Town Square or something for a few hours get lunch at Yard House or something then drop off Rental car and get a cab downtown for the night so we can drink. And I gotta get me one of them oxtail soups at Market Cafe.

Tuesday prob just wander around again maybe play another daily tourny and find somewhere to eat on the strip then goto Love or Mystere in evening.

Wednesday heading home.

Any suggestions for other things to do I'm all ears.

when you go to Town Square, if you like BBQ, check out Pot Liquor CAS...for lunch

http://potliquorcas.com/

Is there a specific weekend that a big boxing event will be held next May? Looking at previous years the 7th May 2016 is what I would assume if I had to guess. How likely is there to be an event on this date?

Well since May is the fifth month you multiply that by the date and divide it into the year. so....

2016/(5x7)=57.6% chance of a big event on this date. I say book now for the best rates.

Not sure I understand the point of your post. Do you want to avoid the boxing event if there is one or do you want to be there for it? You could always book each week in May now and book them seperately through the casino website. That way you can get the rate before a possible increase due to a boxing event.

I'm on my fifth beer sir!

But seriously think about the question you asked. How can anyone possibly know the answer to it? Give me a hint into your thinking?

I want to be there for the fight.

I just thought that there may have been a specific weekend (1st Saturday of May) that MGM was contracted for a fight weekend to be scheduled.

If not then sure, I suppose I could just book 3/4 weekends in May before the prices rise.

I appreciate that it's kind of a impossible question to answer at this moment in time, however judging by previous years

2010 - 1st May
2012 - 5th May
2013 - 4th May
2014 - 3rd May
2015 - 2nd May

I just assumed that there may have been some sort of designated weekend that there would be a fight weekend.

Promoters try to build boxing events around Cinco de Mayo.

Floyd officially retired, otherwise it would be safe to assume his next fight would have been on Saturday, May 6, 2016.

Of course, boxing retirements are rarely permanent, so he might come back in time to schedule a fight for then.

By the way, to complete your list, on May 7, 2011 Pacquaio (Floyd's 2015 opponent) fought Mosley (Floyd's 2010 opponent).

So yeah, May 6th is your day & there's likely to be a boxing event. Who knows how large, though?

One potential complicating factor is that the new MGM-AEG Arena is scheduled to open Saturday, April 30, 2016, but I don't know what they have planned.

I know they're hosting UFC 200 in July 2016. You would think they'd like to host a big boxing event the week after opening...

Before you play any tournament in the US, make sure you ask about its 30% withholding tax policy. I won a Mirage small tourney before and got taxed 30% on my GROSS winnings.

Any casino that i might be able to find a seat at to watch nfl games.

Nearly every casino has a sports book and you will readily be able to park yourself in front of numerous big screen TVs and drink and bet and eat deli food without any difficulty whatsoever unless it's the Super Bowl.

What is the cheapest reasonably safe place to stay in Vegas nowadays? The least expensive I could find this week (weeknights, including resort fees where applicable) on Orbitz was about $45 per night for Palace Station. Was really hoping for something less expensive than that.

Is there anyplace I'm missing, maybe somewhere that doesn't show up on the online search sites? It wouldn't need to be on the strip, I'd be fine with 10 miles away, Henderson or somewhere.

If you gambled more, you would get free rooms.

I'm a poker player, not a gambler.

Actually, even the gamblers these days have to pay $25 plus tax for their "free" rooms.

Lol

nuh uh

Come on, $45 is too much? I guess there's always Laughlin.

"poker player" often equals "life nit"

Nope, not with Total Rewards Diamond status.