Ah sweet Vegas! Good thing is, if you win, with the exchange, you will do very well.
Cool to see: if you visit Bellagio, the Conservatory always has a cool theme, being in Feb, should be Valentines obv, with the gf - Score! If not, it would probably be a Chinese New Year display. There is also a nice one in the Venetian, walking towards the Palazzo, but Bellagio does it best. Also should do it once just to see the Willy Wonka chocolate fountain which is in one of the shops there.
Best show in Vegas right now is Absinthe. Definitely go see this instead of Cris Angel (which has terrible reviews) or David Copperfield (way overpriced). It is open seating so if you get there say an hour early, you can sit right up next to the stage.
A car for the week is the way to go. Walking the strip is for Newbs. The casinos are so big, they seem close but even if the casino is right next door or across the street you are looking at least a 10 min walk. Walking Mirage to Ballys is easily 45 min. Driving, less than five. Every street intersection you cross, you have to ride an escalator up, walk across the bridge then ride the escalator back down, the first couple times is fun, especially because as Comp says, you can get some great views of the strip but after 5-6 times it quickly gets annoying and tiresome, especially if the escalators are broken, which they frequently are. If you have a Costco card, go to costcotravel.com for the best car rental deals. You don't pay until you pick up the car, so you can book and then cancel if a better deal comes along later. The bus is for chumps too, to ride the full strip one way can take two hours.
Cheapest craps on the strip would be at Casino Royale, almost direct across from Mirage. Also if you are driving to the Venetian, the parking garage is stupid far from the poker room. Just walk it from Mirage. But the minimums have been going up, you might get lucky and find $3, but it is probably $5. However, if you just want to get drunk and try it for a bit, at the back of Casino Royale, there is a bubble craps machine which was $1 min last time I played there. If you have a car, Palace Station, might be $3 min. BUT, if you are going to see Hoover Dam, the Railroad Pass and Hacienda casinos, which you will pass, will probably still be $1 min, with some $.25 roulette too. If not, $3 for sure. It will be shitty 2x odds but WTF, you get to shoot real craps for cheap.
BTW, if you go to Hoover Dam, you must leave early because the good tour, which takes you deep inside the dam, sells out very fast. Like plan to be there at least 30 min before the first tour starts, if not sooner. The good thing is, you can hit up the cheap craps on the way back. Also BTW, driving across the new bridge into Arizona, you won't see anything because they put up high barriers to prevent gawkers from slowing down to take pictures, so don't bother. Just go straight to the dam. Also if you rent a car, another bucket list thing to do out that way is Papillon helo rides to the Grand Canyon. You can usually find a deal on Travelzoo.
Papillon Helicopter Tours - Grand Canyon Deals
Other car rental things to do are the Valley of Fire and Pinball Hall of Fame. The first if you really like scenery, but it is a good hour each way just to get there and the opposite direction from Hoover Dam so if you do both, it eats up most of two days. The Pinball Hall of Fame is about 10 min from the strip and worth it if you like vintage pinball machines and 80's video games.
The problem with poker tourneys like say the DSE at Venetian, is you don't know if you are going to last an hour or 10 hours, so it blows a whole day because you can't plan anything else and unless the gf is going to hang around all day and watch you, you have to go track her down when you are finished. I like the $1500 guarantee at Planet Hollywood, because at most you will find one or two locals and the rest horrible tourists, it runs several times a day and will be done in 4 hours at the most. Last time we went, the three of us cashed in this tourney multiple times.
BTW if your gf does not play, casinos will let her pull up a chair behind you and watch and they will bring her free drinks as long as you are playing.
Food:
Do NOT miss the BBQ at Ellis Island (note you want the BBQ beside the sports book, not the main restaurant). It is one block behind Ballys, off the strip, easily walkable. It is also a brew pub so you can drink your way through their menu as well. Even if you are not gambling, the 16 oz drafts are $1. Craps there is $5. You will need a players card though to get the reduced food prices. You get the players card and then swipe it at a kiosk to print out your coupon for the BBQ.
Beer? BBQ? WinWin!
Another good food stop is Hash House a Go Go in the Linq casino. Definitely worth it for breakfast especially.
Chicken and Waffles FTW!
Steakhouses are not going to be cheap. I've heard good things about Binions and Circus Circus as far as reasonable/value. Better off going for burgers. I would recommend Le Burger, inside the concourse between Ballys and Paris and Burgr (Gordon Ramsay) inside Planet Hollywood. Either will give you a discount with your Total Rewards card and also take any comps you have earned (even if it is just $1).
Mixed games, you won't find anything. Poker is dying quickly. Vegas is 95% NLHE. Best you would do is the 4/8 O8 game in Venetian. If you have a car, you will find O8 at the Orleans as well, but it is stuffed with grumbly locals and not that much fun. Even the Venetian is all old locals in that game but occasionally you can find some drunk young kid who wants to try the game (I guess that role would be filled by you). I've played the HORSE tourney at the Orleans a couple times, cashed once. I also played the HORSE in the DSE at the Venetian. The DSE tourney was a tough game with people who knew what they were doing. I felt like the newb and I play HORSE a fair bit.
Finally last piece of advice, make a list of what you think you will do in Vegas, and then tear the list in half. You might get there.
Have fun.
Yes that is an entire fried chicken on top of four waffles. Their eggs Benny is unbelieveable too.
