Spacious, airy, new poker room – 23 poker tables, with starting games at 2-4 limit hold em (great for beginning players). The only downside were the tables themselves – they put a marble inlay in between the leather and the felt, making it hard to see your hole cards up close. Great place for sharks and fish alike. Here fishy, fishy.

Comps: 1USD per hour food comp, good at most MGM restaurants (i.e. if you play 10 hours, you get a 10USD coupon to use, say, at the Grand Buffet). 40USD off per room per day if four (or more) hours are played.

Fantastic lazy river with meandering path and waterfalls/features cleverly spaced throughout. Innertube costs 18USD to rent for a day, but you can do without.

The Lazy River became a pick-up scene in the late morning/early afternoon (we went on the weekend). If you’re interested in using (playing/swimming) the Lazy River, it’s probably better to go earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon.

Spacious, airy, new poker room – 23 poker tables, with starting games at 2-4 limit hold em (great for beginning players). The only downside were the tables themselves – they put a marble inlay in between the leather and the felt, making it hard to see your hole cards up close. Great place for sharks and fish alike. Here fishy, fishy.

Comps: 1USD per hour food comp, good at most MGM restaurants (i.e. if you play 10 hours, you get a 10USD coupon to use, say, at the Grand Buffet). 40USD off per room per day if four (or more) hours are played.

This place is worthy of it’s AAA Five Diamond rating. It’s hard to be five diamond when you are a destination hotel (when the hotel itself is a destination – see “Rounders”), but Bellagio does it, elegantly, simply, and beautifully. The entire Conservatory is a Kodak picture moment; the lobby is stunning for its use of natural light. Something I especially appreciated: hotel staff are posted at the elevators to check your card key and ensure that only guests and their friends enter the towers.

Sundays/weekdays are much cheaper than Fridays/Saturdays. Must see at Bellagio: the Fountain Show at night. Yes, it cheesy when you think about it – but it gets you every time.

Beautiful church (the inside is refreshing and surprising compared to the outside). The Sunday we visited, they had a visiting priest from Africa who spoke of his expereinces with the devastating AIDS crisis there.

Good place to get perspective after several days on the surreal Strip.

My first Cirque de Soleil show, I didn’t know quite what to expect. It was magnificent. All aspects of the stage were used to full effect – a water based show, the depth of the water on stage changed from a depth suitable for diving to wading to disappearing all together.

If you sit in the front rows. you will get wet, guaranteed. Comps may get you a better seat.

Beautiful pool area – 2 large pools, multiple smaller ones, some with fountains. More people lounge than actually swim/play – but that’s a benefit for those who actually want to splash in the water. Remember the sunscreen; although if you forget, there are umbrellas rooted to the ground every couple of chaise-lounges or so.

Decidedly, but charmingly, old-school (no fancy electronics here – they take your name down with pencil and paper). Simply THE place to play poker in Vegas – we saw Jennifer Harmon, David Williams, Allan Cunningham, Minh Ly, Todd Brunson and David Levi, to name a few. They even reserve a room within the poker room for the “Big Game.” Multiple tables playing at all times of the day – there’s never a want for action here.

Ask about comps. What we got: daily line passes (to bypass the lines at all Bellagio restaurants, including the Buffet), $30 worth of food comps, $50 discount/per room/per night, and stellar seats at “O.”

Okay, I know Circus Circus is a hotel, but we went for the carnival-esque circus games….a little jaunt down memory lane. It turned out to be a sad, sad jaunt. Circus Circus is nothing like the hubbub of excitement I remember it being when I was a kid. Now run down to the extreme (there was a pool of water(?) covering 75% of the floor of a parking lot elevator – we opted for the stairs), rumor has it that the place might be sold. Take my advice and play games at the Excalibur – either that, or rescue as many stuffed animals as you can. No Admission.

Circus Circus Hotel Casino

Circus Circus Midway arcade and games area has over 200 different electronic and carnival style games. The center of the area holds a circus stage where onlookers watch in awe as performers do high-wire acts, flying trapezes, and numerous other stunts. It is true that the place is run-down and does not carry the same aura as it used to.

Okay, so other than a neat architectural exterior, this is your standard above-average American mall (yes, you have one in your hometown – with some of the same stores, even). But when you tire of LV prices, and just want to do some honest-to-goodness shopping at down-home prices, this is the place to go. Yes, the shops at Via Bellagio are nice….to look at at.

Yes it’s new. But the Poker Room at the Bellagio it’s not – actually, it’s not so much a room as a nicely cordoned off area. The tables are nice, the location, right off the entrance way, is not that. When I visited at noon, there were barely four tables going – making it difficult if you want to get comps. You have to play 8 hours/day to even get on the comps radar screen.