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Mirage Aug 9 - 14 10th Trip....Low Rollers and My Vegas redemptions

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Raptor, Aug 17, 2015.

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  1. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    This was trip #10 to Vegas and the first trip in nearly 2 years. To say we were excited was an understatement. We live in Ontario Canada so we flew out of Detroit since it's so much cheaper than flying out of Canada. We flew Spirit Air for the first time and it wasn't too bad. It was so much cheaper than Southwest so we had to give it a try. Decent but bumpy flight arrived in Vegas on time at 7am. Took the showtime shuttle to The Mirage... talked to the front desk briefly (didn't think we would be able to check in that early and we were right). Not a big deal though, checked our bags and headed to the new Denny's. We got a seat on the patio with a little bit of prying. We found out as the trip went on that they really don't like having people sit outside.... always saying there is no server out there. It was pretty nice to sit outside and eat breakfast though, we love the healthy options and the prices for breakfast at Denny's. After breakfast we took a walk down the strip then we checked out tix4tonight to see what the show options were. We didn't see a show the first day as we figured with the time change/early morning we would be going to sleep a bit earlier. Went to the m&m store got some gifts for the kids then headed back to PH. Earl of Sandwich and us hadn't crossed paths for a long time so we ate lunch there...delicious! I had the bbq chicken sandwich and the wife had a greek salad.

    We made our way back to The Mirage and went to check in. We got a very nice guy who seemed like he was trying to do what he could to get us a good room. We booked a standard King room and I asked if there was any complimentary strip view upgrades with my hand in my wallet. he said there would be but the wait would be about 3 hours, we decided we would prefer a room right away but he still got us a corner room with a panoramic view. 2 windows so we had a few decent views, one of the mountains and another of The Wynn TI Pallazo etc. We were quite happy with the room, and yes I did give him a small tip because he was doing his best it seemed to us. We had a little rest then headed down to the pool. The water was so cold, we didn't spend a lot of time in the pool but enjoyed being down there. I should mention that between the 2 of us we had 6 my vegas rewards....2 free nights at The Mirage, 2 Bellagio lunch buffets and 2 Monte Carlo buffets. For dinner our first night we had California Pizza Kitchen. We shared a 5 cheese pizza and a bbq chicken salad. Very good food and good thing we tried it that night because they closed it for renovations the next day. No gambling the first night, we went for a walk down the strip that night, got some water etc for the room and then called it a night by 11pm. day 1 in the books....soooooo happy to be waking up in Vegas the next morning!!!!!!
     
  2. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Day 2: We had a good sleep but woke up at 6:30 which was like 9:30 for us so we were ok with it. Went to Denny's had to really pry to get a seat outside but after we went out about 5 tables of people followed haha. Had a great breakfast, pecan pancakes egg whites and turkey bacon. That is our favourite there. Went for a morning stroll down the strip and played some roulette at Bellagio. Now we like the video roulette, $1 minimum machines. We don't bet a lot but it is fun for us. Drink service at The Bellagio was excellent all trip. Went to Aria one day and it was terrible. We tipped our usual $2 per round and they always came back in good time. We were turning drinks down at some points in the trip, very efficient at The Bellagio and our new favourite place to play for sure. Rye and gingerale for me and pina coloda's for the Wife. Most of the servers had lots of waters too which is always nice. We headed to tix4tonight and bought tickets for Las Vegas Live comedy at PH. Spent some time at the Mirage Pool, had some lunch at Denny's again, a little nap and then headed down the strip.We had a 2 for 1 coupon for blondies close to the show in the miracle mile mall, have eaten there several times and the food was very good again. We enjoyed the comedy show, Edwin San Juan was hilarious! Another walk down the strip, a little bit more roulette and we were in bed by midnight...I know, lame for Vegas but we are morning people. Day 3: Absinthe.....oh boy......
     
  3. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Really enjoying your TR so far! Thanks for sharing!
     
  4. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Day 3: Same routine in the morning, Denny's breakfast then a little stroll down the strip. Played quite a bit at The Bellagio, mostly roulette but a little bit of blackjack. We were up a little bit so far so we left feeling pretty good. Great drinks again and of course great service. Went to tix4tonight and got our Absinthe tickets. Let me tell you, if you haven't seen it... it is quite the show! The girl at tix4tonight said it is "raunchy" but hey we are in Vegas so let's do it we said. Headed over to get our tickets, then went to The Bellagio to get our Buffet tickets through my vegas. Played more roulette and then headed to the buffet. Great buffet with amazing selections. We were very impressed. Loved the price too...free! Back to The Mirage for some pool time, ate a light dinner at The Flamingo food court...pizza and salad then over to see Absinthe at Caesar's. For the price we were very disappointed with the old crappy chairs we got to sit in. I guess it's part of the theme but come on....those chairs need to be a lot better. The show was great, very foul and very raunchy indeed but we loved it. It was so funny and the acrobatics were amazing. We would recommend it if the chairs were better....our asses were very sore after that. Maybe that's their plan if you know what I mean! Spent the rest of the night at The Bellagio and had a few too many to drink I'm sure. At this point we were about even but not if you count all of those drinks! I think we got back to the room after midnight and slept until....well probably 6:30 again! Oh how we loved the view of the Wynn and TI laying in bed. Left the curtains open all night which probably didn't help the not sleeping in but we never do anyways.
     
  5. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Thanks! Writing the reports is always a great way to remember and re live the trip.
     
  6. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Day 4: You guessed it, breakfast at Denny's and of course we have been using our 20 percent off coupon every morning and the lunch as well. The bill would usually come to about $14 after the discount, just can't beat that. This day was very hot as were the rest of them but the heat really got to us early (maybe something to do with the drinking the night before?) so we headed for The Bellagio. We played a lot of roulette and drank quite a bit. We kept exact track of our wins and losses and we were down about $40 at this point. had such a great time though and the waitresses were so great to us as usual. This was the furthest we had been down so we chased it a little bit and pulled to within $5 down and stopped for awhile. No pool today we just didn't feel like it. Had lunch at the flamingo again and made our way to Monte Carlo for our my vegas buffet. Played a bit there then went for dinner. It was a decent buffet with good choices, not as good as The Bellagio obviously but we enjoyed it and of course again the price of free was perfect! We went to Harrah's improv which was pretty decent (tix4tonight good prices). Scott Record was really good. More Bellagio roulette afterwards and we ended up about $35 down for the trip....not too bad with one day to go. In bed closer to 1am but this was a very fun day of enjoying the Las vegas a/c indoors! Day 5 coming...last day booooo. Mat Franco and The Mirage Buffet!
     
  7. jh46

    jh46 Low-Roller

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    Enjoying your TR so far, thanks for posting! How much were the Absynthe tickets at tix4tonight?
     
  8. Char1

    Char1 VIP Whale

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    Good TR, nice read.

    Good luck!

    Cheers
     
  9. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    The tickets were still $94 each but the box office wanted over $120 I believe. Still glad we went but the chairs were really bad. A few lucky people got nicer chairs, I'd ask for those.
     
  10. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Day 5: Last full day. I know what you're thinking.....woke up at 6:30 and went to Denny's but nope we changed it up this day. We actually woke up at 6:45 then went to Denny's! We've always had good service and consistent food at the old Denny's but this trip both were quite inconsistent. Not bad enough not to go though, just less tips when it wasn't great.*

    This day we went for a walk down the strip, yep back to Bellagio and we got it back to down $27! Drinks and a few more drinks we left for tix4tonight and got our Mat Franco tickets. Originally we were going to see David Copperfield but we heard good things about Mat plus the Linq is much closer than The Mirage and we walk everywhere in Vegas...no taxis or buses. Plus the tickets were $38 vs over $100 so easy choice for us.*

    Went over to The Linq and got our tickets, not bad seats about middle of the theatre. Spent some more time at the Bellagio and missed lunch oops but we were pretty full on the drinks! We decided to do an early dinner so we got tix4tonight Mirage Buffet for $11.99 each plus a few bucks for the fees. We went just before 3pm and got all of the dinner food for that price which would have been $35 regular price. Felt pretty good about that deal and the food was great. I loved the bbq ribs (best buffet ribs I've ever had) and the crab was delicious too. Glad we gave that a try because we will do that a few times next trip I'm sure.*

    We went for a quick nap and then to Mat Franco. We loved his show, he's so good. We aren't huge into magic even but he put on a great show. The seats were all brand new in the newly renovated Linq theatre and we're very comfy.....unlike Absinthe!! After the show we walked a bit and then of course back to Bellagio. We had a lot of fun and had a few scary moments (for us). I will write the rest of this night soon. Thanks for reading, the best is yet to come!‎
     
  11. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Day 5 continued: so I'll explain a little bit about our gambling methods. The Wife hates to lose and can't handle being too much in the red understandably. I am a bit more relaxed as I view the losses as entertainment. I follow her rules somewhat because she's a pretty great sport and well she's really hot so I'm lucky to have her! ‎

    We only play 2:1 odds so only black red high low even odd. I know that's lame for some but it's comfortable for us and we aren't looking for the big win. We just want to be part of it with little risk. So we sit at side by side machines and usually have a lot of fun. She's so funny because she gets right into it as if we are betting huge but she's usually betting $1 haha. I will bet a bit more with the odd $5 $10 bet if I have a good feeling.*

    So Thurs night we each put in $20 as usual and we played a long time but we ended up chasing and lost our $40. A few days prior I had been down $50 and ended up making one bet for $50 and winning. She cashed that ticket like we just got our house back! So we are on our last night and it's looking like we are going to be down. I had been up and down and bet a few $10 and $20 bets that I lost. We put in one more $20 and had it up to $38 then we lost it back down to $20. She is stressing now and it's kind of funny kind of not. I'm telling her hey its ok look at all of the free drinks we have had and we really aren't down that much. She decided to bet the $20 on red and lost it. Totally not like her at all but it was fun.*

    So I said ok now we are down $67 for the trip. If the math doesn't add up I apologize but we were definitely down $67. I said let's bet red for $50 and we will either be a lot more down or a lot closer to even. Black had come up 7 straight times so I had a good feeling...or maybe not! So she agrees, we hit spin....she almost hyper ventilates I'm laughing and 30 Red it is! She grabbed that ticket cashed it in and we left down $17 for the trip which is in no way a bad thing in my mind because I'd call that a winning trip considering how many drinks we had. Yes I'm a big justifier haha.*

    That was our last bet of the trip, she thought for sure I would try to get the $17 back the next day but I was happy leaving on a good note...she's happy I'm happy! Kudos to the Bellagio drink girls. We had one single semi grumpy girl who we only saw for one round and never saw her again. Other than that they were all so very nice and really seemed to be genuinely thankful for the tips. That's all it takes for me, just show me that you are thankful and I'll keep it coming....as long as you keep the drinks coming of course :) I did play a little bit of blackjack at the $5 video machines and ended up plus about $15 in total. Not too many hands though. ‎

    We were feeling pretty good, walked back to The Mirage layed in bed enjoying our view and drifted off but we're rudely awakened by our alarm clock for 5:30 am. Denny's for one last breakfast, best food and service of the trip at Denny's so that was nice. One more walk down the strip, we love the morning strip strolls. Checked out and on the shuttle at 8:45 to the airport booooo. Resisted any temptations to play slots at the airport...this was my first trip staying away from the slots and I was fine with that. Flight was good back to Detroit, waited 1.5 hours at the border...soooo busy bad timing as we've never had a wait like that. Arrived home around midnight and slept great but missed the view!

    We will probably go back again next summer but until then we have lots of great memories and pictures to tide us over. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed re living it, take care my Vegas friends and enjoy your upcoming trips!‎
     
  12. JerryD

    JerryD Low-Roller

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    Great report! Thanks for sharing, enjoyed the read. And I didn't know Tix4tonite had buffet passes. Will have to check that out.
     
  13. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    It can be a great deal, you pay $2 per ticket and they have a bunch of options for buffets and dinners. Some are 20 percent off and they go up to at least 50 percent off. Some are much better deals than others but there are some excellent deals.
     
  14. B S

    B S MIA

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    Thanks for great TR! Not going to lie, you got me on that 6:30/6:45 Denny's comment.

    If you are willing to share what were your total expenses for the trip? You said you kept great details so I am curious how cheap you made Vegas.
     
  15. haswhit

    haswhit Low-Roller

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    Enjoyed your trip report! Thanks for sharing. We are staying at the Mirage for two nights comped myvegas rewards on our trip in September. Have never stayed at Mirage before but looking forward to it. ;-)
     
  16. Sissyboy_Deuce

    Sissyboy_Deuce Poker Fan

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    Great report, thanks for posting. How long was the Absinthe show? Been wanting to see that, but would probably have to split from the group as our group doesn't really go to any shows.
     
  17. himmelsin9

    himmelsin9 Tourist

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    Awe man!!! The wife and I are staying at the Bellagio, for the first time, next week!! I'm already losing sleep over it!!!! Can't wait.
     
  18. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

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    Very enjoyable! I chuckled at Denny's every morning since we avoid the one in our town (I had so looked forward to it opening) as the service is slow and food is wrong half the time lol. However, I understand focusing on something that is 'comfortable' for you, while others may think you are a bit nuts. I have a tendency when we head south to seek out Waffle House & Steak 'n Shake. Hubby calls it 'awful house' to get me irritated lol, but he always cleans his plate off. I'd probably eat at it every morning we didn't have a hotel continental breakfast if I thought I could get away with it!
     
  19. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    The show was about 1 hour 15 minutes.
     
  20. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    It still wasn't crazy cheap but we saved where we could. Plus with the Canadian dollar being pretty bad right now the exchange rate was at a 10 year low for us. All prices in us dollars:

    Flights $575
    Pre flight hotel/parking $85
    Shuttle $30
    Mirage 3 nights plus 5 nights resort fee $410
    Absinthe $200
    Las Vegas live $45
    Harrah's improv $50
    Mat Franco $85
    Breakfast $102
    Lunch $110
    Dinner $140
    M&M store $26
    Misc $50
    Comps 2 nights 2 buffets each
    So still about $1908 for the 2 of us but well worth it. We know we could do it cheaper but we work hard so we don't mind spending that. Including round trip 4 hour flights we feel like it's a decent price especially with 4 shows. We had a few free nights at the Cosmo but passed up on it because we don't like switching hotels mid trip. Thanks for reading and enjoy your trip in March!
     
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