Labor Day Live-ish MGM Trip

Well here we are again. It was only the end of July when I had my last trip report at the Aria...

Around that time I was thinking that I might have to cancel this trip due to the fact that I just bought a condo, but I decided what-the-hell, who cancels a Vegas trip without there being some kind of emergency?!

So I flew out of DTW this afternoon flying Southwest. It was one of the new 737-800s. Very nice, and lots of leg room! I'm a tall guy and my knees didn't even touch.



Flight landed early around 5pm Vegas time. I'm used to flying out early morning so this landing at 5pm thing is a big change for me!

Shuttled it to the Luxor. There were only 4 people on the shuttle. I'm glad we didn't have to wait forever for it to fill up before it left. I'm staying at the Luxor tonight for free via MyVegas and moving over to the MGM tomorrow for the rest of my trip.

I have a standard pyramid room. Nothing special. Could be a lot worse.

So after I got settled in I was starving. Walked over to that Mexican place in the Mandalay Shoppes. Meh. Didn't do much for me. I greatly prefer Diablos or Gonzalez y Gonzalez. And their guacamole sucked. It was stuff you'd find in a cheap buffet.

Then I played Pai Gow for a couple hours here at the Luxor. Had one straight flush and one four of a kind. Left that table +$50.

Now I'm in bed about to pass out.

 

Tommorow, 7pm, MSS, you! Lol

 

Good luck!

 

Good luck!

 

Day 2:

Wake up, go grab my customary Cinnabon for breakfast in the Excalibur food court.



I actually had 2 of them. The cashier always gets horrified when I go up and order that 2nd Cinnabon. #diabetes

Then I went and played Pai Gow in the Luxor til it was time to check out. No memorable hands. Lost $85. I've gotta say: I like the casinos that have the house way where if they have two pairs under 6 they keep them together no matter what. Most MGM properties are this way, Luxor and Excalibur are not. They will split their small pairs. It bit me in the ass three times at Luxor.

So walked over to the MGM Grand with my luggage at 11:00. Checked in via the invited guests line quickly and painlessly.

Got up to my room and the blinds didn't work. They had someone come fix them while I was out. It's your standard MGM room:



Went down and redeemed $75 Freeplay from MyVegas. Used it on one of those Cherry Jubilee machines that everyone raves about. Only turned it into $25.

Walked over to NYNY for a burger at their Burger Bar place.



It was a damn good burger! I can be very picky, but I was impressed. The fries were good too.

After that I played Pai Gow at NYNY for an hour or two. Best hand was four aces. I feel like I get four aces quite often. Still haven't gotten that fifth one. Left after an hour or two, even.

Came back to my room to relax. Man is the MGM a clusterf**k this weekend. Actually all of Vegas is. People everywhere. It's annoying.

I actually miss the Aria, where I stayed last time. Those elevators to get to the room were always empty. Here you have to fight to get on/off and are usually crammed in with a bunch of drunks and ****** party kids.

Anyway, for dinner I wasn't that hungry so I just went to the Aria cafe for some nachos. They have great nachos. Unfortunately, they were not as big as they used to be and they were missing the guacamole that they used to come with.

Nachos last night:



And from a previous trip:



After that I went and played Pai Gow at the Monte Carlo. I bought in for $100 and that lasted for four hours. Time flies when you're playing Pai Gow! I lost the whole $100, but for four hours of play I have no complaints! I was there from 7-11. Best hand was a girl next to me got four aces with a pair of kings. I didn't have any memorable hands.

After that it was back to the room and time to chill/get ready for bed.

Total for the trip is -125, which was a pleasant surprise when I counted it cause I thought I was down more.

 

I really liked the burgers at Burger Bar at NYNY too. Those nachos looks great too! Glad the gambling is going well. Thanks for taking the time to report. It helps all of stuck at home wishing we were there.

 

Today:

Got a later start than usual. Normally I am out of bed around 7 and getting breakfast. Stayed in the room til 930ish and finally went down to the MGM buffet.

It was "brunch," which I don't like. I prefer just a straight up breakfast buffet. Mashed potatoes and chicken aren't my cup of tea at 9:30 am.

The buffet was average. The scrambled eggs were much drier than usual.

After that I came back to the room and took a nap. I guess that buffet took a lot out of me. lol

Then I monorailed it down to the Mirage. Played $10 Pai Gow poker for a while. Great session. Made $100.

Took that $100 over to TI for some blackjack. TI's low limit blackjack rules are still good. Played 2 and a half shoes. First one and a half were good. Was up like $70. Last one was bad bad. Got down to +$10 and ran for the hills.

Went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch/dinner around 3:30. Had the white chicken chili. It was quite good.

And then I devoured this monster:



Headed back to the MGM after that to relax.

Around 7:30 I went back down to the Mirage for more Pai Gow Poker. Bought in for $210 and played $25 a hand. Got there around 8 when they were just changing the cards. I was there for 3.5 hours. Around 11 when the pit boss came to change out the cards again I was like "holy crap, have I been here that long?" and she was like "Yeah almost four hours." It was a good table. I liked the dealer. I pretty much hovered around the even mark for most of the session. Left with +$90. Best hand was four jacks.

Then I headed back to the MGM and now I'm in bed about to go to sleep.

Total for the trip is now +78

 

Haha, we probably saw each other on the monorail..
We rode it down to MGM grand

 

That cheesecake looks awesome!

 

Today:

Woke up. Walked to the Aria for their breakfast buffet. It was the dreaded "holiday brunch." Aka nothing special but extra overpriced. It was good, but not worth $35.

After that and came back to the room for a food coma.

Then I went to NYNY and played Pai Gow for a couple hours. Good session. Had four 8s right off the bat. Ended up making $75.

After that back to the room again. Eventually when I was hungry again I walked over to Monte Carlo - was going to eat at the Pub but they didn't have their happy hour since it's a holiday. I wasn't even that hungry anyway so I just went to the food court and had Subway instead.

Then back over to NYNY for more Pai Gow. I ended up losing $100, but I made it last for a couple hours so it wasn't too bad.

Then once again I came to the room for a bit and relaxed.

Then it was downstairs to play $25 Pai Gow here at the MGM. I bought in for $210 and only made it last for 45 minutes. Dealer was on fire. I am not exaggerating when I say the dealer had two pairs at least 85% of the time. I kept getting KK +AQ and it would lose to the dealer's AA + QQ. It was just awful. The fact that I lasted 45 minutes is a minor miracle.

It seems like in my second to last day, I always shit the bed in the gambling department. I don't know why...

Anyway, tomorrow is my last day. I think I'll go play some at the Mirage cause that's where I've been doing best this trip.

Total for the trip is -134, which honestly isn't bad at all. Just got hit by the curse of the 2nd to last day.

 

It's crazy how that works sometimes. I usually suck on Day 1 the worst. Thank god my MO is not to go crazy on Day 1!

 

-134 isn't bad at all, hope you had a great time even if it wasn't the most financially lucrative one!

 

Curious. ..
Do they comp you your room? (Mailer?)
It seems like if all you do is play PGP, religiously, and stay under $500 loss per trip; you'd be killing them on room costs...

 

No not comped. Discounted rates. Usually $39 week nights and like $100 weekend nights.

MGM is usually the cheapest of all the Mlife properties for me to stay at. I think it's from back in the day when I'd cycle through a couple hundred on the Lion's Share every trip. A couple hundred would last forever on that thing.

 

I still have one more day... That number could go way up, way down, or somewhere in between.

 

Yesterday:

Woke up, went to the Mirage for their breakfast buffet. Good as always.



Played some Pai Gow there. I liked the dealer, she was kind of sassy in a good way. But I lost $60.

Then I walked around and blew a $20 on some video poker. I used to love video poker, I've kind of grown away from it.

Back to the MGM to rest. Was going to go to the pool, but I got too lazy. I'm not a big pool guy. When I go with my buddy and not solo he forces me to go to the pool every day. Meh.

Over to NYNY for some Pai Gow. First hand: A-2-3-4-5 of diamonds with a 10-7 on top. What a pretty hand! And the dealer had two little pair with an 8-6 on top so I won the hand as well as the fortune bet.

Unfortunately it was all downhill from there. I eventually gave the $50 I won from that straight flush back and left even.

Went to the Monte Carlo to play some more. The dealer, Rose, asked me if I was a local because she remembered me. Lol. She's a nice dealer. I was playing solo with her for quite a while. Eventually got hungry and left the table down $45.

Went to the Pub and had a burger. It was yummy.

Back to the casino to play some more with Rose. Eventually made back my money I had lost earlier with her and left.

Back to the room to relax.

Then I went downstairs to play some $25 Pai Gow at the MGM. It was just me and one other guy. It was a good session. Up and down, up and down. But always hovering around even. Other guy got felted and it was just me and the dealer for a while. She pointed out that I was the only one gambling in the entire pit at 9:30 at night. It was so dead here yesterday. Eventually left that table around even after an hour and a half or so.

Walked over to NYNY for some $10 Pai Gow. It was a friendly table. The dealer was one I didn't recognize. I have played with most of the Pai Gow dealers at NYNY so I recognize most of them. After I while I was getting tired and left the table down $40ish.

Back up to the room for bed.

This morning:

I won't divulge the gory details, but I got hit up by someone on one of those "adult dating apps" this morning right when I woke up. They were also staying in the MGM. So... That happened.

Good way to start the day!!

Then I went down and played some $10 Pai Gow. Only time this entire trip I've seen it $10 at the MGM. It was getting close to check out time so I had to eventually leave the table down $40.

Had McDonald's for breakfast. Wasn't hungry enough for a buffet.

Went to the mlife desk. Asked what they could take off my bill. I only had made like $9 in express comps. They took off $53 in food charges. I was fine with that.

So that's it. I think for the whole trip I'm down about -292. It's an acceptable loss.

Til next time in November!!

 

Down <300 is a win!!