Las Vegas experience… the home of gambling and paradise for all players who want to get money in a short period of time. The worst thing is that many of them achieve that. Our case was different, as Las Vegas was a stop-off point on our world trip. If it wasn’t for the good hotel that we booked, we would probably have stayed for a shorter period of time. Instead we stayed one day longer than we expected.

About one month before our visit to Las Vegas we found a very good deal for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and decided “let´s book it and plan our trip through the west based on spending those days in Las Vegas”.

Our first night was coincidentally spent in a hotel right in front of the Hard Rock Hotel, the Alexis Resort. It is a much quieter place and is ideal for families. On the other hand, the Hard Rock is more for gamblers and adults, and although it isn’t that kids are not allowed, there are several restrictions on them in the hotel. That is understandable as we do not want Noah or any other kid to become addicted to gambling 🙂 . Despite the gambling and party atmosphere, Vegas is also a nice place to visit as the majority of the hotels (especially the big ones) have at least one nice attraction, either paid or free. All the lights and the imposing buildings are also totally worth a few shots with a nice camera, so our trip was focused towards that.

Unfortunately on one of the days we had to take Noah to the doctor as he had been coughing a lot for almost a week. Thankfully we have good travel insurance that is intended specifically for families taking a world trip. We will cover travel insurance for families in a separate article, but the important thing for us was that the insurance was very efficient and took care of everything for us (they contacted a good doctor and handled all the paperwork and payment directly, so we did not have to pay a dime for the doctor’s fees).

Las Vegas experience and my nights gambling…

This is a family trip, but I could not miss the opportunity to play a little bit even though I know nothing about cards and have never even played on one of those machines (believe it or not). Of course I had played roulette and some other of the games, but only as videogames.

On the first night I waited for Noah to fall asleep and then I went downstairs. My strategy was simple: be patient and spend some time watching others play until I feel comfortable and decide what my first target will be. Of course I am not stupid and did not take that much cash with me on purpose. I did not want to become addicted and lose all our money by gambling it away on a single night, so if I lost everything I would simply go upstairs and sleep – Ruth would not allow me to get more money! I was lucky though and I quadrupled my bet (P.S. I bet only $2 and got $8 🙂 🙂 ). I know I cannot consider this real gambling, but as I said my strategy was to be patient, analyze the opposition (the croupier and the silly drunks who were playing and losing) and then when I felt comfortable enough have a real bet.

My second night was much more profitable. I made about $200 on roulette, blackjack (even though I still don´t know how to play) and 2 other machines that I cannot even remember the names of.

My third night was even more profitable, as my profit was about $300 – beginner’s luck maybe. Perhaps I was feeling too comfortable and I tried to gamble $20 more in the morning before we left. At first I made about $40, but then I lost everything and that was it for my Las Vegas gambling experience.

Las Vegas is much more than just that, as there are a lot of parties (some of them are obviously not suitable for children), shops, restaurants and bars (lots of them everywhere you go) and more importantly heat and lots of it.

Our Las Vegas experience was great, my short (and profitable) career in Vegas was awesome, but now we are really looking forward to the rest of our journey through the National Parks in western USA.

Next stop … San Diego!

PS: don’t miss the post about our visit to the hotels in Las Vegas