BigHoss

My first Vegas trip was in May 1993 when I came to town to see the Grateful Dead play three shows out at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl. Sting opened, which was good but as weird as the rest of the week.
We'd roll out Tropicana close to noon every day to get ready for Sting's afternoon set. The Dead would wind down around sunset and most of those Deadheads would wind up back on the Strip. I saw my first Cirque du Soleil performance at the then-new Mirage on one of those nights. Let's just say it was strange.
Anyway, one of the guys I went with got a bunch of half-price room coupons from his sister. So we wound up in an odd progression of three hotels during our five-night trip.
Our first two nights were at the fresh-faced and non-smoky Excalibur. It was so new it was clean. And the renaissance fair vibe was in full swing. All I really remember about it was that we sat in our room for about an hour and watched workers install glass panels on Luxor, which only had glass up to the level of our Excalibur room at the time.
Then we spent one night at Circus-Circus. I remember playing nickel slots, drinking lots of draft beer and fully realizing my clown-o-phobia there. I have never gone back, probably never will.
The final nights were spent at the Las Vegas Hilton, which at that time was duking it out with Caesars and Mirage for the title of the nicest place in town. I was in awe of the gigantic screens in the sports book, the Elvis apparel hanging in the lobby and the cocktail waitresses at the pool. On more than one occasion, I wondered, "Why didn't we stay here the whole time?" We went home and I pretty much never thought about Vegas again.
Fast forward thirteen years. My wife and I decided it would be fun to travel somewhere with friends to celebrate my 40th birthday. A couple of good friends always raved about the great fun they had in Vegas.
We stayed a week at Treasure Island right after the de-piratization. It was great, all of the things we love: good food, relaxing by the pool, free booze. My wife took to the slots and I timidly approached the rail of the craps table.
The next year, our vacation choice of Vegas was a given and it has been ever since. We have made trips at least annually and have stayed at MGM Grand, Mirage and Wynn. We thought Mirage was "our place" until we stayed at Wynn.
Since then, we have stayed at Encore, Main Street Station, M Resort, the new new Tropicana, Planet Hollywood, Aria, The D, Bellagio and Downtown Grand. Every time, there is something new to love.

Living:
Going:
Staying:
Playing:	Craps

Ratings & Reviews

M Resort

Worth every bit of the slight hassle it is to get there! The dining is great. The gambling choices are good. The employees are friendly. The pool and spa are fantastic with such affordable options that you may find yourself leaving your cabana to go get a massage before returning to your cabana to wind down from your exhausting day (< speaking from experience). Stay at M for a couple of days on your next trip. It's like a little vacation while you're on vacation.

Main Street Station

I love this place. The rooms are nothing to write home about unless you really love shoulder-height showerheads in antiquated bathrooms. However, the gambling is great -- friendly dealers, quick cocktail waitresses, great VP options. The Boar's Head Bar serves up the beer made onsite at Triple Seven, which is also a great place to eat. Really, I should just stay here every time because I spend a lot of time here.

Mirage

I love the Mirage. I love the pool. I love BLT Burger and Rhumbar and the sportsbook and a gigantic pastrami sandwich from Carnegie Deli. The gambling? Eh, not so much. I still love staying here.

Encore

The room is hard to beat. The XS pool is hard to beat. Wasuzu is hard to beat. If I could just find a cocktail waitress.

Wynn Las Vegas

I saw a turd in the pool here once. Then they built a beach club next door. Hiyooo! Seriously though, the rooms, restaurants, bars and service are great if you can afford them. I could a few times back in the days of the Great Recession when there was a period of lowered room rates before bottle service saved the day.

Treasure Island

I always end up staying here about once a year because of the location and great rates. The rooms are good and we almost always get an upgrade -- this year to a Petite Suite. I love the Pho restaurant, the pool and the sportsbook. I like the center bar, too, even though the VP isn't great. Senor Frog's and Gilley's can be kind of annoying.

Gold Coast

Say what you will about the old Gold Coast. But it's tough to find a more fun mid-day mid-week craps game and above-average VP. In general, it's an older, more sedate crowd with an older, more sedate staff. But if you need a fun casino afternoon away from the big places, it's a good choice.

Binions

It's so much fun to gamble at Binion's, you barely notice you're playing 6:5 blackjack. Seriously, find a hopping craps game here and hang on for a great time. Great cocktail service, great coffee shop and sports bar.

Palms

After you get drunk at Gold Coast while playing craps on a weekday, you should walk across the street and drink some more at the Plams. I've not eaten or stayed here, but the VP is still good. It still had full-pay Deuces in July 2013. Friendly, relatively quick cocktail staff.

Ten Things

1:	Gravy
2:	Escalades
3:	Brunch
4:	Bouchon
5:	Miatas
6:	Tony Hsieh
7:	Winning Trippies like a boss
8:	Being noticeably absent on Twitter for years
9:	Complaining about that one asshole bartender at Aria
10:	Inside jokes made public and repeated for years !!!!!!

My Posse

vespajet mikee chuckmonster blackjacker1979 misnomer dave702 jucifers middleclassbuzz denvergambler johnd rockchickx51 fivehundy mac78130 level42 kickedboar591

ShoutOuts

Let them eat cake!

Shouted on Tuesday, 29th April 2014 by mac78130

You are a lunatic.

Shouted on Thursday, 9th May 2013 by Chuckmonster

*fap fap fap*

Shouted on Tuesday, 18th October 2011 by JohnD

It's always fun to hear what Hoss has to say on the boards. Wouldn't be the same community without him.

Shouted on Tuesday, 11th October 2011 by DenverGambler

Not sure, but we're pals now!

Shouted on Monday, 29th August 2011 by middleclassbuzz

Hello!!

Shouted on Thursday, 14th July 2011 by coolchrissy

Big Hoss... It's always fun, reading your posts. Thanks for the wit and wisdom.

Shouted on Friday, 19th November 2010 by jucifers

Thanks, Brother Hoss, and CONGRATS!!!!

Shouted on Monday, 9th August 2010 by Misnomer

Thanks, BigHoss. My sloth knows no boundaries. I like, Kevin Spacey-tie-me-to-a-bed-and-wait-for-Morgan Freeman-and-Brad Pitt-to-find-me kinda lazy.