Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure to go on a weekend excursion to Las Vegas, NV. I was there for a conference with my firm, so I couldn’t spend the whole weekend going crazy, but I did have an amazing time!

The Hotel: The Cosmopolitan

The hotel that was hosting the event was the Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas. I was completely blown away from the moment my taxi rolled onto the property. The level of glitz and glam is on par for what one would expect for Las Vegas high rollers.

My boss paid for a fancy dinner for all of us on the first night, which was really delicious and awesome. Sorry my dinner photos aren’t great but whatever!

We walked down the strip (drunkenly) to an after-party and I snapped a few night time shots. I kind of prefer the strip at night all lit up!

The Conference: T4AC

The conference was hosted in the Cosmopolitan hotel, so we didn’t have to crawl too far out of bed the next morning to get to registration. But my question is… why do they schedule these things to start so early in Las Vegas? Especially since the conference organizers also organized the cocktail parties… they know full well what we were doing the night before. Why do we have to get up so early the next day? I fully intend to leave feedback recommending a 10am-6pm conference with 9am breakfast and registration instead of 8am. I mean, come on!! This is a vacation, people!

The conference itself was pretty cool. There were some famous traders attending that I normally only see on TV or on Twitter. Then I saw some of them at the pool afterward. There are some things you can’t unsee… 🤣

The Casinos!!

The second day of the conference ended early in the day so I went on a last minute exploring and gambling excursion to the other end of the strip. Here are some of my travel photos!

I was proud of myself! Not only did I know to walk away with a $70 payout from a slot machine, but I also was brave enough to join in some blackjack tables and play with real people. That was something that had always intimidated me before, but I must say that playing at card tables is the fastest way to get noticed for free drinks. We stayed at the blackjack table until we had a reasonable pile of chips and a beer in hand. I think it was a great success!

If I play my cards right (pun intended) we will return for this trader conference every year. And it’s always in Vegas! Wahoo!!