Bolding mine. For purposes of completeness - you should know that there is a rollercoaster on top of the New York New York. Definitely overpriced and touristy, but hey - you’re going on vacation, right? Link.
You can walk up and down the Strip. There are also shuttles and a Monorail. Thus, I’d saty at a Strip Hotel near a Monorail station.
It gets cold at nite even during the summer.
Food: there are scads of great buffets, food bargains and also very pricy restaurants. You are best to figure most of you meals at bargain or buffets ($5-$20), allowing for an occassional meal at $50+ per person.
That’s a bit of an overstatement. The average nighttime low during July and August is 77-78°, and the record low in July is 60°. Not cold unless you are from the tropics.
The dates for the WSOP were just released, it runs all of June and the first part of July(June 1-July 17). This is significantly earlier than last year. All events are held at the Rio, except the final 2-3 days of the main event which are held at Binions (tradition).
There is also a “poker lifestyle” show at the Rio which typically runs the week before and the first weekend of the main event. All the major websites have a huge booth, with the accompanying booth babes. Many other poker products are there as well (chip and card sellers, table makers, etc). You can catch some pros or other celebrities making appearances from time to time and get autographs. Most of the poker sites also have a lounge/bar area where you can get food and drinks(they have private VIP areas for the players, so you most likely won’t bump into anyone here). You WILL run into famous people just by hanging out long enough, as everyone has to go to the same 2-3 stores to get water, redbull, snacks, etc if the tourney is on a break. When you walk into the Rio (if you use the front enterence) just keep walking straight and you will walk through the casino and pass the sports bar on the left, then look for the signs that point down the correct hallway. It’s probably a 10 minute walk or so to the convention area where the games are. If you come through the parking garage entrance, you have to walk through the Carnivale parade area, go down to the first floor, and hang to the right until you pass the high stakes private room, then look for the signs.
It is free to get in. Chances are that you will be able to stand 3-4 feet away from a table with someone famous playing. There is a roped off spectator area around all the tables. You may take pictures, but not use flash. The room is very well lit. It is also very hot when the tourneys are starting (uncomfortably so) if it is packed with spectators. You will be asked to leave the tourney area 15 minutes before each break, so that the players can get out and get to the bathrooms or get food and not have to fight a bigger crowd than it already is. If you hang around out in the hall, you will have another shot to see the pros or celebrities, but don’t stop them, if you MUST talk to get an autograph walk with them. It’s no fun to fight a crowd of thousands for a few bathroom stalls or to get in line for food first, so no one will want to stop.
There is also a convention center entrance around back closer to the tourney room, but I’ve never used it so I’m not sure exactly where it is in relation to the parking garage or front entrance. If you are a male, you probably want to walk through the casino anyway and see all the Rio dancers on stages/poles/etc so the longer trip is really worth it.
excuse all the spelling and grammatical errors, I’m trying to type this as I play.
also–I sometimes wore a long sleeve tshirt during the day and was really comfortable, even though it was 100+ degrees. There is absolutely no humidity at all. I flew back to FL with one on, and didn’t even make it to my car here before yanking it off because I was sweating so profusely.
IF you spend time outside (appreciable amounts of it, anyway), simply remember to drink lots of fluids. You won’t be used to the rate you sweat them out, because you won’t be feeling any sweat on you unless you do something fairly energetic. And it’s just fine outside; though you might want to watch out for over-exposure to the sun, especially pool-side. Use sunblock. 
I grew up in the desert, and still miss it. 
That is great - thanks!
I am happy to stand watching a table for a while, but are there no commentary areas, or similar?
How easy is it to follow the play behind the ropes?
There is a main featured ESPN table A, which is centered along one of the far walls of the main convention room. It will have a very dark backdrop and stage lighting around it. I don’t know what it takes to get a seat up there. You can’t get too close to that table, it’s the one with the cameras built in. There is no commentary, all the commentary is added later on. There is a stage set up in the middle of the room on bubble day. The room is divided into 4 smaller areas with a walkway/observation area forming a cross through the room. The stage on bubble day is right in the middle of the room in the cross, so on those days of the tourneys you won’t be able to get in that area.
Following the action would be like watching on TV with no commentators, no graphics, and no idea what the hole cards are. It would be a good exercise for a beginning player to go and “play along” in your head, and try to put people on hands by watching them and their betting patterns, and seeing how often you are right. If the hand is not shown down though, you will never ever know what anyone had.
It is probably worth it also if you can find a solid enough table (which may be tough on the early days of the big tourneys) to watch it and see how REAL poker is played by aggressive players. In home games, or small local tourneys, or alot of online play, you will see hands with 6 limpers preflop, and 3 people that call a flop bet, etc. My day 2 table last year had Carlos Mortenson, Micheal Greco, 2 of the 5 biggest stacks in the tourney, and no one with under 80K chips (when the average was 30-50K) except for me (I was the small stack the whole time). There was 1 free walk to the BB in 15 hours of poker on that table, and I would guess that maybe 5% of the decisions were calls…you either folded or raised or reraised, period. We were two tables in from the aisle though, so you really couldnt have seen much(we did have Ferguson, Vos, and Matusow coming over to watch from time to time, and had ESPN on our table the whole day too).
Most of the players are very accessible when they aren’t playing (and some are even when they are playing), and it’s hard to walk down a hallway and not see someone posing for pictures or signing autographs…just dont ask when the field is leaving for a break or for dinner.
And avoid Hellmuth for about 30 mins after he gets knocked out.
A few of us went out for the WSOP last year. The convention center where they hold the tournament is very crowded. I didn’t go over there on a day that actual play was happening, but Yeticus Rex did. He said he had quite a bit of trouble getting in to see the action (we went as support for doper Aholibah, who played last year). He had to tell the guy at the door that he was her brother to get in, and then it was just for a short while.
There are many more spectators than there is room for spectators, but there is quite a bit to see/do other than watch the actual play.
I’d try to hit the top of the Stratosphere at night, quite a view of the stip from up there. It’s a “touristy” thing to do, but I still like to do it. And there’s a bar up there, so that’s all the reason I need.
Go downtown at night. It’s the seedier part of Vegas, but it has a quaint charm to it. The Golden Nugget is the nicest casino downtown, and the Fremont Street Experience is pretty cool (again, touristy stuff, but it is worth seeing if you don’t get out that way very often). They run a show an hour, on the hour, and rotate through about 6 different ones. So even 1 1/2 hours downtown and you can see downtown and catch 2 shows.
I think everybody else has covered most of the other bases.
Vegas is something else, a monument to decadence, excess, and one-upmanship.
Glee, I don’t think we’ve ever interacted here on the boards, but if you happen to be in Vegas between July 22 and 26, I’ll be there and will buy you a beer.
Themonorail is the way to go up and down the Strip. You can access everything on the east side from the Sahara at the north end to the MGM Grand at the south.
I second or third the Monorail suggestion. Stay at one of the connected hotels. It is fast, clean and frequent, if a little pricey. The cab drivers are insane.
Rollercoasters- Besides NY NY, there is one on top of the stratosphere along with some other thrill rides, and a great coaster at the Sahara.
Here is more info:
Also, a few miles out of town at the Nevada border in Primm is a very nice coaster, although how you would get there without a car is problematic.
Although if you really like coasters, you should take a couple of days and visit here. It is the roller coaster capital of the world
I second or third the Monorail suggestion. Stay at one of the connected hotels. It is fast, clean and frequent, if a little pricey. The cab drivers are insane.
Rollercoasters- Besides NY NY, there is one on top of the stratosphere along with some other thrill rides, and a great coaster at the Sahara.
Here is more info:
Also, a few miles out of town at the Nevada border in Primm is a very nice coaster, although how you would get there without a car is problematic.
Although if you really like coasters, you should take a couple of days and visit here. It is the roller coaster capital of the world.
Anecdote: I was in a Vegas cab going from casino to casino when the police pulled my cab over and ticketed the guy for reckless driving. First words from the policeman when he walked up to the cab?
“I thought I told you to drive more carefully this morning.”
Yep. The cabbie had been pulled over THAT MORNING and let off with a warning. :eek:
I can top any bad cab story. I got busted for the demon weed at Honolulu airport. The cops had to take me down to the station for booking and the $100 bail. They remarked about how they admired how in California (where I am from) that all they would have had to do was confiscate and write a ticket, and how it was all a big waste of time.
To undigress, they offered me a ride back to the airport as they were going there anyway. To qoute the nice officer: “You’ve already lost your weed and $100, but the real crooks in this town are the cab drivers, and we’d hate to see you lose any more.”
Fortunately the airline booked us on a later flight (“we see this all the time”) and they never searched my galpal who waited in the boarding area, so our Maui leg was nice and mellow. Never keep all your buds in one basket. 
I stayed at the Flamingo just last week and was shocked at how nice it was for such a good price. On the same trip, my parents stayed at Treasure Island and their room was inferior in every way - and WAY more expensive.
Shop for room deals, oh yes indeedy. Places like the Mirage, IT, Caesar’s Palace, and the Venetian are nice but I am unconvinced that they’re worth the money. The Flamingo was worth it. (Get an upgraded room.)
Wear very comfortable shoes. You will be walking a lot.
Jolly nice of you! 
(Actually I don’t drink, but will happily glug diet coke. :eek: )
The dates depend on when my sister and I can get time off. (I want to watch the World Poker, but it’s looking like August is much better for her.)
I’ll send you an e-mail.
Hello glee!
Sorry I am late to this party, but I have been busy finishing my courses at UNLV in Internet Design and Technology, as well as starting to teach at another college - so I have been lax in my SDMB surfing of late. That is also what is holding up my new design update of my website. (Thanks for emailing me and linking to this thread!).
Pretty much all of your questions have been answered quite well by Dopers who know Vegas. All I can add is that summer is my favorite time of year here - I love the heat and, yes, it is a dry heat. That said, you will be surprised to find out the hottest time of day is actually mid to late afternoon, not at noon as one would expect. Remember that if you decide to walk The Strip, or hang out by the pool. The heat builds up as the day goes on, and by about 3:00 PM, it does get a tad toasty.
I personally think the Grand Canyon is really interesting for about five minutes, and it is quite a schlep to get there - the helicopter rides are pricey and, I don’t mean to scare you, but there have been some serious, deadly, accidents over the past few years. But if you want, you can take a bus (all sorts of ads in the local free magazines) and if you are daring, drive down, spend a night at a nice hotel and then take a steam engine to get there: www.thetrain.com which would make the trip more interesting. Also, they are building a new over-hang at the Grand Canyon, with a plexi-glass floor, so you can go out and stand and look straight down and test your tolerance for vertigo and toss your lunch at the same time. That is supposed to be finished sometime in the late spring or early summer - I will let you know when I hear more.
When it gets closer to your travel date, start another thread or send me an email - would love to meet up, and lots of people have been hinting around that it is just about time for another Las Vegas Dopefest…and having subjects of the Queen arrive in town sounds like as good a reason as any to formulate plans!
P.S. Good that you don’t drink alcohol - we always need someone sober to help tally up that bar bill at the end of the evening - so bring your abacus.
One of my favorite Vegas cab stories:
We were coming from downtown to the Strip, several of us in the cab so I was in the front seat. I told the cabbie I’d tip him $1 for every other cab he passed. Man, he hit passing gear and had that thing floored, passing everything in sight at mach 12. He wasn’t one bit worried about police.
And I don’t smoke, but I seem to remember something about the cabbies and maybe the passengers not being able to smoke in the cab. I think that was the only thing that scared them, having a cop seeing them (or maybe the passengers as well) smoking.