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Mirage 8/17-8/21. First TR with plenty of pictures

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by theghost, Aug 25, 2014.

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  1. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    My Trip Report

    Hey all this will be my first TR. Been on the board for a while but have never committed to sharing a Vegas adventure......so here we go. I will try and keep the writing to a minimum and provide more pictures to chronicle the festivities. This was meant to be a live report but due to some phone and Tapatalk issues it is coming after the fact :(


    Key players are myself and the wife four days of fun.
    Gambling budget of 4k to start and reserves as necessary. I love to play poker(mainly 2-5 or 5-10 NL but occasionally some mixed games if they run) like to hit the roulette wheel and BJ tables for action. May try some VP this trip but no promises. My wife's pool hobby gives me time during the day to gamble, so let's hope for lots of sunshine.

    Ok game time.....we took the 7 am out of BWI.....2 bloody marys and couple beers and touch down right on time at 9:10am local [emoji3]. Feeling great and walk out to find Edward from Presidential limo. Wife is confused when she sees a man in a black suit holding a sign with our name on it.......in the end she was very surprised and excited. Bottle of champagne and the red rose we're icing on the cake!

    Head to mirage and drop the bags at the bell desk until the room was ready....First stop blackjack switch, we played for a good hour or so went up and down ended about even. Downed several beers with my wife who just had her very first experience playing BJ. Did I mention it was now only 11 am? Ah whatever we are in Vegas right.
    Moved over to a few slots and dumped a few hundred. Nothing......then got text for room, so we head up to drop our stuff, get situated and head for the pool. Spend the next 5 or so hours at the pool and decide to get showered for dinner at the Rio seafood buffet. Cab it over to rio and get to dinner and sit down and realize oh shit lost my phone! Panic sets in and I'm furious at myself!
    Long story short I call my phone and a Good Samaritan picked it up and is at bellagio......great head to bellagio ASAP luckily meet up with said Samaritan and recover phone. Nights back on track, we have some more drinks and wander around for a bit. We watch the fountains which imho never gets old.
    Back to home base so wife can crash and I decide that since I have been up about 24hrs now that this would be the opportune time to hit the poker table. You know this story doesn't end well, but somehow without much recollection of any key hands I seemed to snap this picture from a 1-2 NL game that was the only game running. Looks like I broke even or even possibly won a few dollars.......thus ends day one. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408987870.814675.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408987901.452438.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1408989613.423840.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2014
  2. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Good start! Hopefully you squeezed in a mix game! Wish more people played... :(
     
  3. sindustry

    sindustry VIP Whale

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    Unfortunately, you won't find a poker game at your desired blinds, at Mirage. Your best bet is to hop across the street to Venetian.
     
  4. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Good start! Looking forward to more
     
  5. normcarver

    normcarver Tourist

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    Looking forward to the rest
     
  6. Sissyboy_Deuce

    Sissyboy_Deuce Poker Fan

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    Hey Ghost, sounds great so far. Hope the poker went well for you!
     
  7. golfnut

    golfnut Low-Roller

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    Off to a great start. Thanks for taking the time to post your trip.
     
  8. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    Monday 8/18

    After a long first day/night in vegas I was actually kinda surprised that we made it out of bed at 8 am! Felt pretty good too, which I am sure in part is the fact we are still running on that first adrenaline rush you get upon arrival here.

    We need food as we are both famished. The wife asks for choices so I oblige and she picks Paris buffet. I've never eaten here but I was very happy with the breakfast selections. The crepe area was great and she managed a picture of one of the dishes that she had. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081287.620720.jpg

    After breakfast we decided to visit a few areas we had not seen before. First up Cromwell, all I can say is nice joint! it was 10 AM on a Monday so I cant speak for vibe etc because it was vacant lol. We moved on down the strip and I snapped a a picture of the High Roller (which we will partake in later)
    My wife then hits me out of no where with "Lions Share machine"? I'm thinking who are you? and thank goodness I married you :) I don't need much convincing as I'm always up for an adventure of some sort. Snapped a couple pictures and put a couple hundred through to no avail and moved on. ( I think I posted this picture in another topic and may have had some days out of whack. I got back to play this machine again on Thursday but apparently didn't take a picture for that day :( )
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    Ok we are both starting to feel the effects from the night before....and that means the pool area is calling. Chilled there for the rest of the afternoon, and after a short nap it was time for an Iced chi chi. Trust me you should try one or several as they are a perfect pool cocktail! After 4 of those between us we realized it was almost time for dinner and Social Director (my wife for those having trouble following) wanted Bacchanal which she has yet to have the privilege of experiencing. She did not know what she was in for........and ok I get it, its a buffet but damn its good. I think they put some kind of vegas feel good medicine in those little waygu sliders to btw :) After this fiasco and my waistline begging for mercy we come up with the great idea to go downtown and "Walk it off" ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081460.118570.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081473.248270.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081482.093993.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081490.713950.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081507.005498.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081522.238123.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081533.243653.jpg

    Downtown consisted of said walking and then rumblings of im tired were heard, to which the reply was "lets get some more drinks" it seems like a grey goose and red bull kinda night (although it was still daylight out hmmmm) Checked out container park, the slotzilla, and took her on a mini tour of old school vegas Like the El Cortez and California etc. to which she was not pleased........uh oh better redeem myself hmmmm ok off to 777 brew pub for drinks. We get there and I was thankful she liked it!! Fun atmosphere and great service. Beer was good to.
    My wife gets easily intimidated by BJ due to a bad experience during her first time playing.....you know one of those jokers at a $5 table yelling at her because she hit when he thought she shouldn't :( man i wish I could have been there for that.........anyhow......this trip I was determined to get my wife to try something other than slots. VP at Downtown grand it is, drinks and a new game. Plus I don't think she realized I had an ulterior motive to watch the browns and redskins game :)
    Now at this point in a typical trip i am dying to log hours in the poker room, at the BJ or roulette tables but somehow this was different...... I think we played for over 2.5 hours on only a few hundred bucks and we were having a blast, drinks were flowing and all was well (please note we always have a very fun time together on vacation but im sure most of you understand the feeling of the action calling!!)
    What's next, ok Sigma derby at the D. Get over there and check out Andiamo for future reference and then notice the sigma derby table is full. We look at each other and both understand we are going to MGM to play some sigma derby dammit. As you can probably tell form the pictures we cover a lot of ground and don't mind bouncing all over town if need be :)This is where the night ends, well at least what will get shared hear. Tuesday coming up shortly ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081549.826961.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409081557.708614.jpg
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Is there ever a seat open on that Sigma Derby at the D? I tend to read more TRs where it was "full". :evillaugh
     
  10. pphold

    pphold pp Park Place Degenerate

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    I've always seen a seat at Sigma Derby at THE D and at MGM. I've played my share of it. It is fun but my ADD is keeping me from playing it long.

    Tringlomane See you next week in VEGAS.
     
  11. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    Haven't forgot about this thread....., a few pictures after finally getting in some action on Tuesday. Be back soon with details


    On the agenda for Tuesday was


    Aria for lunch at the buffet, which is always decent....not a huge buffet guy but it gets the job done

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    A couple of pictures of the teardown of harmon tower. Is it just me or does construction and deconstruction happen very quickly here? Guess empty space on the strip makes no $$

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    Kind of spent the rest of the day roaming and letting the night before wear off at the pool again. Chilled there for the majority of the afternoon and finally around 5pm decided we should do something as we were actually on vacation

    Made it to one of my favorites...Mesa grill. Delicious as always. We had the grilled chicken in a roasted pepper sauce and lobster tacos along with the Quesadilla

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    Then our first show of the trip is Terry Fator. I always enjoy this guy and really appreciate his talent. If you haven't seen him go check it out as he is really good.......Sorry about the blurry pics but its the best I could on the phone

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    After the show it was high roller time. See I told you guys we can cover a lot of ground :) It was better than I expected actually but we had been drinking for a good while so that makes everything better I guess? Overall I liked the high roller....ONCE.....not sure I would really make a point to go again but the Linq area was nice and the wife and I had a few beers at the out door bars and just people watched

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    Some drum street performance thing that seemed to be worthy of a photo at the time......must have been a good place to drink our cocktails from the above mentioned bars

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409259019.147670.jpg


    Ok babe I have had an awesome few days chilling and drinking with you but im ready for some ACTION. im seriously trying to put my best face on until this point and honestly im not going to make it another night without hitting the tables/pit or something. Off to Mirage, we go and find the blackjack game she liked from the other day (blackjack switch) fun game and she seemed to enjoy it so that's a win......had some more cocktails and made really no progress (which I am guessing from the fact I took no pictures at that table)
    Over to the slots we go to drink and people watch. She tells me she has to use the restroom after we have both put a couple hundred into these machines.....she walks away and guess what 10 seconds later this happens!! My first slot hand pay

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409253517.527101.jpg

    I am not much of a slot player at all but when the machine locks up what do you do? You cant sit and just wait so I started to play the top dollar next to it as well. Did well and made another few hundred until I got paid for the first machine. Now don't get me wrong this no where near Royal Flusher's double jackpot type pictures but hey ill take it. Besides this is cash for the roulette table :)


    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409253528.117828.jpg


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    Now the wife comes back and all sorts of well wishers have gathered which to her probably looked like a crowd, she makes her way over and asks what is going on? I said hon its been a good day......her eyes lit up when she saw the machine and finally put the puzzle together as to what was happening!! Who said slots with the wife cant be fun? We get paid and find a few more machines to hit before she calls it a night. We agree to let her take some cash to the safe to lock up the win and I get some "folding money" as she calls it. Good night dear...... and I race over to the Single zero roulette wheel on the floor!
    I buy in for $300 and decide its worth taking 3 100 dollar spins(spread out over 10 numbers each) to try and hit something or call it a day and move on.
    My betting style is to try and get some "house money" from a few hits early then press and try and go big.
    Ok I get $100 on the table and cover a handful of numbers and decide for the fellow VMBer's and the influence of BJ and Natedog trip reports.......I just have to bet 17,20 and shit lets put some on the split to.....it looks prettier that way :) First spin 17 hits SWEET.

    I try and take a picture and the dealer and pit boss were all over me! NO PICTURES, i was kind of surprised at how serious they were wbout that stuff (don't they know we need pictures for trip reports on VMB?) anyway $525 comes back to me and I let the bets from the previous spin ride. So now I have $725 in front of me and I think to myself.......be smart, be smart... put 3 blacks in the pocket and use the rest as ammo.
    Fire up about 350 on the next spin and nothing :( Got the last 275 and covered the usuals and why not put $20 on green just for the heck of it?
    Boom hits green.....700 comes my way. Played for a total of about 2 hours and after those first good hits had nothing to really speak of.
    All told I think I made the $900 in my pocket as profit and headed to the poker room.

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409253559.886765.jpg

    Not sure of all the details in the poker game(it started getting blurry during the roulette session) but I think I faired well and added a few pieces of paper to this last picture


    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409253570.554546.jpg



    Next up Wednesday which includes Venetian-Pallazzo/Bellagio and Absinthe
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2014
  12. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Awesome hits!

    I am the same as you in trying to get up early and use the "house money" to build a nice roll so I don't have to dip into my stash
     
  13. pphold

    pphold pp Park Place Degenerate

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    Very good hit. on both Slots and the tables. Good for you keep the pics and wins coming.
     
  14. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    Ok time to finish this one off! I got a little too wordy in the first part of this report so I will try and cut some of that out and let the pictures do the talking......Final 2 days are in this last installment

    Up early Wednesday for the final strip walk. We basically wandered around for most of the morning looking at whatever caught our eye.
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    I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed these but I have wanted to get one since my first trip to Vegas! One day, one day :)
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    Off to breakfast, delicious as always, then onward with the walk north
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    Made it to get a shave form my man Wayne, GUYS if you have never had a straight razor shave then put it on your list for next trip, its fantastic and worth the $$
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    Picked up Absinthe tickets
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    Then walking through Bellagio I saw a first for me. The entire slot floor at Bellagio went dead. I mean like dark dead with nothing no power nothing. EVERY slot in sight went into boot mode after power was restored and people had that "what just happened" look on their face. Never seen this in any casino on the strip before
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    Got some R&R by the pool for the last time
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    Made it to Hyde for some pre show drinks and to watch the fountains
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    Absinthe. don't want to spoil it for anyone but go see it. It does not dissapoint
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    Good night Vegas
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    Up early the next morning and Presidential was there for pickup. Quick stop at In and Out burger and off to McCarron we went for the uneventful flight back to BWI.

    We brought home about $3800 more than we took so all in all this was a fantastic (ie winning) trip. Hope the streak will continue and that you guys enjoyed. I am looking forward to the next trip and will hopefully get better at the report side of things so we can enjoy the ride together.

    Ghost
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2014
  15. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    Love that last post with the pics, just beautiful!
     
  16. chonglosaxon

    chonglosaxon MIA

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    Looks like Danny Ocean went after the Bellagio again with the power outage. Nice report and great win.
     
  17. TimLion

    TimLion High-Roller

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    Is it me, or do those booting slot machines look like the Matrix?

    Weird...

    Santé,
    TL
     
  18. V.C.

    V.C. Tourist

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    Those pictures of the Bellagio fountains are beautiful, I've never seen pictures like those before!!! I really enjoyed reading your trip report, thank you for posting. :thumbsup:
     
  19. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    Thanks guys! And yes the slot floor hiccup at Bellagio was very odd looking all the banners above the machines were dark and it was kind of a creepy silence in the place

    Thanks V.C. if you can time it right Hyde is a great place to grab a drink and see the fountains from a different perspective....the rainbow was a bonus that day :)

    - - - Updated - - -

    Thanks guys! And yes the slot floor hiccup at Bellagio was very odd looking all the banners above the machines were dark and it was kind of a creepy silence in the place

    Thanks V.C. if you can time it right Hyde is a great place to grab a drink and see the fountains from a different perspective....the rainbow was a bonus that day :)
     
  20. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Nice report - thanks!

    And amen on the straight razor shave...I have mine booked for about four hours after I land in a couple weeks
     
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