Warning! This might be boring, tl;dr.

Over 10 years ago I wrote a Trip Report that I couldn’t wait to share with 2+2. During that visit I played NL cash games and tournaments during the day, with a reasonable amount of success. In the evenings, my wife and I proceeded to spend every dollar I won on dinners, clubs, cocktails and shows. It was so much fun.

Fast forward to this Vegas vacation. It was still just my wife and me but the focus of our stay changed. This time it was in celebration of my wife’s 40th birthday. There wouldn’t be any poker and only a little gambling. Partly because I don’t play poker anymore but mostly because we were there to celebrate her milestone day.

I took a lot of advice from this forum. The suggestion to stay at Encore was probably the best of the bunch. We’ve always stayed at middle of the road hotels (i.e. Mirage, Flamingo, Rio, etc) so this was our first experience at an opulent resort. It was a home run!



Truth be told, the Encore is outside of our budget. However, it will be very difficult to go back to anything less than high end resorts now. Staying there was memorable and helped to make our stay special.

Night One

We checked in seamlessly and made it to our room by 8:00 pm local time. We had tickets for the 9:30 pm performance of Love so we had the perfect amount of time to freshen up and get to the Mirage.

We grabbed an Uber and got to the show with 10 minutes to spare. I ordered a large Strawberry Fields concoction and Bobbi had a large wine both served in plastic tumblers. $65. (Drinks = D)



We are from upstate NY so we expected the time change to be a challenge with such a late show but it wasn’t. We enjoyed every minute of the production. Incredibly gifted dancers and performers bouncing around to Beatles songs had us captivated from the beginning. (Love = A)

Night Two

We woke up bright and early and summoned Alexa to open up the curtains. A beautiful view of the strip through a wall made up of floor to ceiling windows... incredible.



We changed into bathing suits and headed to the pool. We were greeted with two sets of towels and bottled waters. Our vacation was now in full swing as we relaxed poolside for several hours.

We snuck in workouts and then took a walk to the Fashion Show Mall.

Lunch was a free 16” inch pizza from Grimaldi’s. I had a Botanist and tonic and Bobbi a white wine. $30 incl tip. (B)

The walk back to Encore was entertaining. The Sunday Beach Club at Encore was jumping. Scantily clad girls getting sloppy and dudes walking crooked in and around our hotel made for great people watching.

I had an hour or two to kill before Bobbi had an appointment at a dry bar (hair) so I planned to gamble a little.

All the tables at Encore appeared to be $25 so I head over to the closest place that would have lower table minimums, Treasure Island. Walking through TI reaffirms why I love Encore. Everything is different, from the vibe and the clientele to the smell and the decor.

I found a $10 roulette wheel and
Play a bunch of numbers for about $3-$5 each hoping to get a little lucky. 5-6 spins later and I was out $100.

Immediately following I head over to a $10 BJ table. The guy to my left was loud and obnoxious. He was one of those “this dealer hates me”, “she only smiles when she wins” type of guy. But he was spot on with some of his rants. The cards were pretty brutal and that clown got his ass handed to him. I battle to only lose $45 as my wife texts that she’s heading to her Dry Bar appt. I gladly go meet her to get away from the degenerates at Ti. This little 1 hour stop reminded me why poker is the much better option of gambling.
(-$145)

Nobu

We have reservations for 7:30. We are both excited for dinner. This is our dining splurge and we’ve heard good things.



Drinks (A)
Spicy Açaí Martini
Cucumber Martini



Food
Black Cod Miso
Creamy Spicy Crab - hot dish
Salmon Belly sashimi
Yellow Tail sashimi
Shrimp Tempura



The Salmom belly pieces were delicious. Although good we were expecting more from the black cod in light of the hype.



($190) (B+)

It is deja vu all over again.

You are right about staying at a really nice place making it hard to go back to the ordinary.

Should I delete this? The other thread is so old that I’m not sure it’s apparent there is an actual TR?

I hadn't read your original post in your original thread until today when I read it and a few more.

In your original post, you talked about playing poker during the trip, but you ended playing no poker. Why not?

Also, you wondered if going to Vegas instead of NYC was the right choice. Well, given you didn't play poker, NYC might have been the better choice in hindsight.

Nice pics...good looking couple.

If you are working out while you’re in Vegas, you are doing it wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This couldn't be farther from the truth. I worked out at SoulCycle last trip for three classes and it kick started each day.

Sweat out the alcohol and get the system ready for even more of it.