Mirage 10/18 - 10/21

My first trip report! Thought I'd give an update on my adventures and the state of 3:2 blackjack.

Day 1:

Well I decided I didn't really need sleep the night before I left and hung out at the neighbors bonfire until midnight. And that was after going to be early for the prior three nights so I would hit Vegas rested. There went that plan. My next brilliant plan was to wake up at 4am to see if I could standby on the 7am flight from MSP which gets me to Vegas just in time to bet on the Sunday morning football games. Got on the flight for a $50 upcharge but at least they put me in economy comfort which came with free drinks. Too bad the flight attendant disappeared for 2 hours during the flight. I think ladies across the aisle scared her off when they cleaned the cart out of vodka.

Flight was uneventful and I decided to save some gambling cash by taking one of the $10 shuttles instead of paying for the cab. I loathe the shuttles due to a bad experience where I waited 40 minutes once to leave the airport. This shuttle timing was perfect it departed within five minutes of me getting on.

Room check-in was smooth with minimal wait. Of course it wasn't ready at 9am on a Sunday. Placed bets (won on my "big" bet game, go Vikes) and played blackjack until my stomach couldn't take it anymore. Hit Sushi Samba across the street at Venetian. I go there almost every trip but I think they changed the menu and reduced their specialty role selection. Might not go back again. After lunch more BJ until my room was ready and I was ready for a nap.

Nap didn't go so well. I thought I heard water dripping when I was sleeping and ... I was right. Toilet seat and floor covered in water dripping from the ceiling fan. This may be the Mirage's method of preventing you from not gambling. Maintenance was called. The maintenance guy said the wall needed to be torn out and asked if I wanted a new room. I decided against water torture on this trip and I was transferred down a floor to a non-strip view. Now I couldn't get back to sleep so more BJ!!

There were a few 3:2 tables away from the main BJ pits back by the high limit room. The rest looked like a lot of 6:5 junk. One of the tables used to be stand on 17 but now is only hit 17.

Dinner was at BLT burger which never disappoints. Had the Tex-Mex burger without fries (wife would be proud) and opted for the spiked All Nighter milkshake (back to disappointing the wife).

More BJ and football until my dad called and said his flight got in but the cab line was over an hour wait. 20 minutes later he's in the hotel. Turns out they opened another cab line and he was in the right spot and the right time.

Rest of the night was more BJ and we made our way over to Five50 Pizza for the late night counter.

Day 2 to come.

 

Day 2 - What am I going to do with this giant beer?

After waking up going on 4 hours of sleep each of the past 2 nights I was in full Vegas mode. Counteracted my future eating drinking with my own Vegas cocktail of Advil, Prilosec, and Imodium. They should serve these until noon at the bar.

Mimosas at the sports bar at 7am? Yes please! Headed over to Ellis Island for the steak special (my dad loves this place). We planned a big breakfast since we were hitting the Aria buffet for dinner. Excellent value and good steak (comes with a microbrew beer) but the walk is long. Stuck around and played BJ for a few minutes while the steak was digesting. Turns out if you hit the blackjack of the day (suited diamonds in my case) you win a growler of beer. Now I have to lug a jug of beer down the strip. Ended up dumping it out before I went home and kept the bottle. I had a bad experience once where I checked a bottle of liquor in my luggage and it broke. I had the only leaking suitcase in the airport that day.

First craps session at Bellagio, they actually put Captain Morgan in their drinks. Back to room to drop off the beer and more gambling until dinner at the Aria buffet. Went here because it seemed like a good deal from myvegas. Good selection of mussels and some seafood but overall I was fairly unimpressed. After much debate over taking a bus vs. a cab we headed downtown (in a cab). I won the debate.

Downtown was a blur. Quick freeplay hit and run at 4Queens. Then a long BJ session at Golden Gate. I really love that casino for the atmosphere (quite the contrast to the Mirage). Dad wanted to go to the Plaza because it was cool 25 years ago. It just felt dirty and the vodka redbull substitute drink was undrinkable. Back to the GG where I won some of my money back. Cab ride back to the Mirage for another BJ session before bed.

 

Great start! Looking forward to the rest. Thanks for reporting!

 

Great start to the trip. I still need to make it to Ellis.

 

Day 3 - what did I drink?

Oh yeah, now I remember lots of grey goose red bulls to counteract the lack of sleep. Popped one of my patented vegas cocktails before heading down to get a bagel at Carnegie Deli. Ate it at the sports bar while drinking mimosas. I never see anybody eating at the video poker bars. Is it frowned upon?

Today's "plan" was to do a strip crawl starting at Casino Royale so I could sign up for their freeplay rebate. Seemed like a waste time at the end of it all but dad managed to get some white castle breakfast in him. Hit about 3 more casinos before we scrapped the strip crawl on account of the vodka red bulls from the night before. Had an interesting Bellagio craps session. This guy had an old notebook in him and would refer to it after each of his rolls and bet accordingly. It literally took 5 minutes in between each of his rolls. Nobody said anything because he had thousands out there at a time. When he wasn't the shooter he would just bet pass line and hardways. We left before he got the dice a second time. Didn't have the patience to watch the circus again.

Lunch was back at Five50 again. Played some BJ at Aria (can only play during the day because the minimums on 3:2 are $50+ at night), super cool pit boss and dealer. After lunch met up with a friend and played some VP at NYNY, cool bartender let my non-gambler buddy slide on max bet. Headed over to Excalibur to teach him some craps. Its a good place to learn. Dinner was at Tender at the Luxor thanks to myvegas. Good but probably not worth full price, service was very slow. After dinner went back to Excalibur for some low limit BJ. Played with one of the worst players ever. Sure, why not stay on soft 15 against a 6. Of course a 5 came up and everybody lost. Next was the Pleasure Pit at Planet Hollywood. It was nice to see a party pit that still had some 3:2. But I got bait and switched. Sat down with a good looking dealer and 10 minutes later the dealer shift gave me a dude that looked like the Rock's brother on steroids. At least he gave me back some of the money the hottie took. To cap off the night headed back to the Mirage for one last BJ session that was my best session of the trip. Too bad I decreased my bet.

Day 4 - Back to Ellis Island

Woke up and decided to get another steak (3rd of the trip). This time we opted for the steak and eggs. Not as good as the regular special that is available 24 hours but still good. No gambling just back to the hotel to beg the on duty host to take something off the food bill. No luck there. Evidently your average bet needs to be able to feed a small village to get something other than a couple comp nights. Cab ride to the airport was interesting. My frugal not cheap dad decided we should split a cab with a stranger in line to save some money. Which was fine because the cabbie didn't stop talking anyway.

Wireless connectivity at the airport was spotty so I got frustrated and decided there is only one thing to do. Stick $10 in a VP machine. Of course I got my only quad of the trip and it was a premium on DDB. Also, had good luck on the plan with the only open seat on the plane next to me with a good looking young girl on the opposite side of said open seat.

Thanks for reading everyone. Cut me some slack on the lack of shenanigans and writing since it was my first trip report.

 

You never been??? You need to go!!!!

Nice report! And you're right, not too many ppl eat at the bar, but I will at South Point and M Resort in a pinch, why pay for my beer? Lol

 

I probably wouldn't have eaten a full meal or if it was packed but it was just me and one grumpy bartender.

 

i've eaten at the Sports Bar at Mirage. It is a little uncomfortable, but I was watching a game and playing VP, so WTF!

 

Nice report, thanks for posting! Agree....on Ellis Island, Everyone should go there at least once....the food is cheap & good and you can have a free, locals/low roller experience!

 

How frustrating, so he went from getting hard 20 (A,4,5) to giving the dealer 21? I would normally always hit on a soft hand unless it's 18+ and the dealer is showing 8 or lower, it's a free card!

Enjoyed your TR, thanks!

 

It is one of those things I need to carve out time to... I think I will in jan...

 

I enjoyed reading it!!!! thanks for sharing! good times to spend in Vegas with your Dad!

 

Great job popping your trip report cherry. Mimosas at 7 a.m. at the Palms Sportsbar have become a tradition for me, even when I'm not stayng there. Nice pre breakfast buzz.

 

I eat at video poker bars on solo trips.