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Too Many NEAR MISSES - Mirage 5/29 to 6/1

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by cjcjcj, Jun 1, 2019.

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  1. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    Just got back home from 3 nights at the Mirage. Usually try to do a semi-live report but we went with the in-laws to celebrate my wife's dad's 50th birthday. It was also their first trip to Vegas.

    A lot of NEAR MISSES occurred on this trip, between 2 "four to a royal" draws on VP, a 20-1 horse missing by a half length(and subsequent gimmick bets), craps Make Them All Bet missed by 1 number, and numerous others. More on this day by day to come.

    All in all, a great trip! Total gambling loss betweeen my and my wife was a meager minus -$254. My wife lost $300 on various slots and VP, I made a GRAND $46. I was down a total of $1,400 at one point so we did have a good comeback!

    Let's start with Wednesday 5/29:
    Flew Non-stop on Southwest, arriving LAS 1130pm. A bit of delay getting our baggage, but we had some good conversation with the limo driver from Mirage. Quick trip thru the tunnel and up the interstate to Mirage.
    VIP room closed but checked in at the priority line and got our rooms. Worked with a host to turn our 3 night comped marketing offer into 2 regular resort rooms comped, while keeping our $300 resort credit and $450 freeplay, plus the limo (more on this later...)

    Disappointing to find we were given both rooms with 2 queens, rather than a king in each. It was late we were tired so I didn't go back down to fight it, we just rolled with it. They were on the 21st floor close to the elevators with the strip/volcano view.

    We were at our rooms about 12:30AM( now Thursday), everyone got the Vegas air and were wound up so we walked across the street to Walgreens to get a few things and then me and FIL(father-in-law) played some .25/.50 cent VP down at the Sports bar. Drinks were great, strong, and fast. About my fourth hand, I had dealt 10/J/Q/A hearts 4 to a royal, needing the K! Man, I exclaimed, if I had hit that, what a great start! I think the progressive was 1,300. Unfortunately I drew a 10 of clubs for nada...

    Played a bit, I ended up down 60 on a $100 I put in and FIL lost $40. I had three Ketel w/ crans and he 2 captains and cokes so we got some good drink on.

    Up to the room and off to bed about 130!
     
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  2. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    THURSDAY MAY 30
    Woke up early about 7AM, stayed in the room a bit and relaxed. We were awaiting a Vons grocery delivery that we had ordered 2 days prior to the trip. I wrote about it here:

    https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/vons-grocery-delivery-to-the-strip-review.162648/

    After putting away our stuff and enjoying some Reyka and Cran, we went off to walk the strip and show the in-laws some of the sights. We walked from Mirage through Caesars and Bellagio, through Cosmo then across the street to walk back up the other way stopping at Cromwell and Margaritaville. They enjoyed taking in the sights and a few beers along the way.

    We got back to the Mirage and relaxed a bit in the room before deciding to head downtown. The girls were thinking of going to the pool while me and FIL went downtown to gamble, and they would meet us for dinner that I had scheduled at Andiamos that night. It was a bit cloudy so they joined us downtown and we first went to Golden Gate.

    We played VP at GG a bit. Another 4 to a royal! Damn...nothing except pair of Aces on the draw. Had several full houses, flushes, and straights to keep me going, but ended up down $40 after 3 or 4 beers. MIL first time playing VP did pretty good, hitting a premium quad on Bonus poker....but only at the 1 credit level :)

    I then went to play craps while they walked Fremont street. VERY choppy, nothing good, ended up down $500 there including after playing my $50 in promo chips at BJ. Mad there I went to exit but then got caught by a Simpsons slot where I hit a pretty good bonus of $200~. Blurry picture to follow.

    More to come....
     
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  3. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Simpsons bonus hit at GG[​IMG]
     
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  4. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    After GG I went up the street to meet them, I think they were close to Walgreens doing a leisurely walk. I stopped at Golden Nugget to play my freeplay. I think I had 120 and used it all on a 2-credit $5 double diamond machine, squat! I then played the Nugget's 2 $5 WoF machines and managed a couple good line hits and one SPIN for $500. Left the Nugget up $300 and met them upthe street at the D.
     
  5. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    hits at the Nugget[​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  6. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    We then stopped at the D it was about 4 oclock. We had early dinner reservations for 6 at Andiamos so decided to play a bit. I started with VP and didn't do a whole lot there. Played blackjack, was a choppy shoe but eventually had a run where I was playing 2 hands at $40 a piece, which resulted in both a double opportunity on one hand and a split on the other. I think it was a dealer showing 5 and I had a 10 doubled that for a lousy 12, and then the split was 8s which went into two small hands maybe a 14 and 15....the dealer thankfully busted saving all my hands! Colored up out of there ahead $400. Played some craps, was lousy PSO after PSO.

    Played some $5 WoF in the high limit area of the D. We were holding our own after a $300 spin, to which we then decided to switch machines(they have 2 $5 machines) and went on a dry spell. We stuck 1 more $100 in and on the 2nd spin hit a 7 x2 x2 for a $1,000 line hit! Woo, needed that!!
     
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  7. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    The D WoF hits[​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  8. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Dinner at Andiamos was GREAT! We were served by a lady who I think she said has been there 30 years...Sandy? Terrific steaks and the crab cake for appetizer was AWESOME.

    Had $200 in comps to use at the D as I usually just go there alone, so dinner for 4 after comps and monthly credit came out to $60 plus tip. Not bad!

    We then took a LYFT back to the strip, going to the Cosmopolitan as we would play there a bit then walk up the strip stop at the fountains then back to the Mirage.

    Played some VP at the Chandelier bar where I had a raspberry lemondrop martini, my wife a Tequila sunrise, and the in-laws a Captain and Coke and a martini. Great drinks! I had 5 drink tickets spit out while bouncing between 0.25 and $1 VP, we were sitting on the side that doesn't have Ultimate X which I wanted to play but I did OK playing Bonus poker. Lost $150 there.

    We then walked back up to the Mirage stopping at the fountains for a show which they thought was awesome (obviously).

    Everyone went back to the room except myself - I played my $450 FP and an additional $600 in Mirage HL, where I did terrible! Looks like I warmed up the machines for @Basil 's early success in his report!

    Off to bed, where I fell asleep within MINUTES and we slept until 9AM on Friday....
     
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  9. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    FRIDAY

    Woke up at 9AM to a nice Vegas morning. We relaxed a bit in room then went downstairs to breakfast. The line for Pantry was long(even the VIP line which we are platinum)....so we went to Cravings for breakfast/lunch. Mediocre and I was a bit worried going in - the first time I was there was great, second sub-par, third fine, and now this fourth trip wasn't very good. Definitely not worth $24 a person unless you are going to booze up on Bud Light.

    We then went to the racebook for a little bit. I like playing the ponies a bit and have been to several tracks around the country(Saratoga, Churchill, Keeneland, Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Arlington, etc) so I was going to play the middle card at Belmont and Churchill. I played a total of 8 races, we had the winner in 3, including a 7-1 at Woodbine that looked like he won for fun! Two other winners were 2-1 and even money. The last race we played was a competitive allowance at Churchill, there was a horse coming fresh off a 2 month layoff from Fairgrounds, and was an improving 3 year old. I figured he was fresh and coming in ready to go, as his figures showed, and he went off at 20-1 the longest shot in the field. He ran a game race, finishing 2nd by a half length to a 7-1 shot. Almost held on. Still, he paid $16.40 on a $2 bet to place...which we had $20 on. So cashed out a winner in the racebook.

    In total, we received 16 drink tickets with our bets. Used 5 and took 11 as souveniers lol.

    After the racebook, I played some slots. Nothing good on $25 and $100 WoF so after taking a $800 bath there in HL, I found a $5 WoF and hit some good ones! Pictures in next post.
     
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  10. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    $5 Wheel hits at Mirage
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  11. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Boy, did we do a lot!

    After the racebook, headed out with everyone to the pool where we enjoyed the nice sunny 85 degree Vegas weather and some drinks by the pool. Spent 3 hours there then did the Dolphin habitat where I got 4 free tickets from the Platinum experience letter.

    After that we walked down the strip enjoyed another fountain show and got some pizza from Sirricos at NYNY, one of my favorite places! After that we did a slow strip crawl, stopping to play at Aria and Cosmo. Aria had a few small line hits on the $10 WoF but ended up down $300 there. Then, off to Cosmo and played some $10 WoF, hit a $1,000 wheel spin on the fourth try! We tried a few on the $25 but got nothing so decided to leave the Cosmo up $500.
     
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  12. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Cosmo 1000 hit.[​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  13. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    We saddled on back to Mirage from Cosmo, feeling very tired from another full day! Before heading up to the room, the inlaws played VP a bit(I got them hooked LOL) and we played some slots. Started with Flintstones where we put $200 in got down to as low as $40 and then hit a nice bonus to get up to $240. LOVE the Yabba dabba do bonuses... Cashed out there, headed over to Buffalo Grand where our first spin resulted in a bonus giving us 40 free games after all said and done. Hit 3 more bonuses there in the next 20 minutes and cashed out $700!

    WOO! Now UP on the trip! We decided to head up to the room, stopping by WoF, running $300 through for Nada.
     
  14. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Flintstones bonus, phone died so we couldn't take a pic of the Buffalo![​IMG]
     
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  15. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Did a cash count back in the room. After tips and cash incidentals, I made a grand total of $46. My wife lost $300, so combined -$254. Not bad! Our food charges all fell in the $300 RC so no room charges. Not a bad trip where we can go leisurely and come back with a very marginal loss.

    Went to sleep around 11 oclock in time to get up for our 430AM limo to the airport. Flight left ontime and we were back home 4 hours later.
     
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  16. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Overall a great trip!

    Let's talk the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY.

    THE GOOD
    Weather was perfect!
    In-laws enjoyed their first trip to Vegas and still came back with half of what they brought to play with. I'm glad they were able to relax and unwind a bit.
    Drink service downtown FANTASTIC. We never had an empty glass.
    Andiamo's was PHENOMENAL! Definitely would go there again.
    Drink tickets very liberal at Mirage for horse bets.

    THE BAD
    Too many near misses! I didn't even write about the Make-Them-All craps bet needing an 11 which I 7ed-out before getting. I totaled all the near misses, had half of them come in, we would be sitting up $1,500-2k...but then again, that's why we Vegas! The 20-1 shot to win would have been sweet too, but the place money was still good.
    The Vue Bar at the D can only comp SKYY vodka? I never been there but I feel I have gotten Ketel One downstairs or on the floor before. Went with beer instead.

    THE UGLY
    Drink service on the floor at Mirage was NON-EXISTENT. The Sports bar was great while playing VP but there was NO ONE around while playing slots, even in HL. We were only at the Aria a few minutes sitting and were offered right away. Same thing at Cosmo. We were passed ONCE by a surly CW who muttered "Cocktails" in a quick breeze by us giving us no chance to get her attention.
    Last, My host sent me an email on our last night about 5 hours before leaving that basically said I didn't play enough and wouldn't be welcomed back. I replied to them basically saying it's a good thing to be overcomped(on my end...LOL) and my comments about the queen beds, bad buffet, and non-existent cocktail service that are probably results of MGM 2020... Had we been served more drinks I guarantee we would have played more (for better or worse). In any event, that left a bad taste in my mouth. We stayed solely on a marketing offer, yes they threw in a limo, but there was never a conversation about I need you to play $XX...so likely we won't be returning to the Mirage unless it's just on a marketing offer we book ourselves. I get the same offers from MB, Bellagio, and NYNY(with more F&B) so we have plenty of places to stay.


    OVERALL, GREAT trip! Can't wait to return!!!
     
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  17. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    Some last pics...Beautiful Bellagio, the dolphin habitat at Mirage and our view from 21st floor.[​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  18. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Nice report! You might have had a lot of near misses, but good amount of slot hits too!

    Im sorta curious how low your coin-in at Mirage was to get that host email if you're willing to share. And yeah it was mostly a marketing offer, but sounds like the host did pull you the extra room... that's probably another $450 or so of comp. I would guess the host would hope for $5000 theo ($50k coin-in slots or $150k coin-in VP) out of you to cover it all.
     
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  19. cjcjcj

    cjcjcj VIP Whale

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    It was about 14K coin-in and small time at the tables. Yes, it was low, and I knew that. We didn't discuss any requirements or "expectations" beforehand, as they just turned the marketing offer of a suite into 2 regular rooms. I was not going to ask for anything else. oh well! Overcomped is a great place to be.
     
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  20. Basil

    Basil VIP Whale

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    Sorry it didn't work out, but appreciate the warm up :)
     
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