Trip report (Mirage) 10/1-10/4
October 12th, 2015 at 10:35:36 AM
permalink
I made my reservation with my host for a $250K poker tourney at the Mirage. That last time I was in Vegas was in late June, and I lost a good amount $30K, so I did not have the best taste in my mouth.
DAY1
The first night (thurs) was strictly going to be a boys night as my brother and my buddy, S, decided to join me. We flew virgin America from LAX. I love virgin America. The flight was great and the airline gives you a drink from a limited choice of water, oj, beer, or wine because it is such a short flight (45mins). I am so glad that the drinks (to include alcohol) are complimentary for these legs. I actually spotted a flight attendance I recognized, so I said hi to her and she hooked us up with 2 more drinks. I couldn't finish all 3 wines during the flight, so I put the third one in my bag. Our flight was delayed due to traffic at the tarmac, and I was a bit weary that it was an omen of bad things to come. But after a couple mini bottles of wine, my brother and I were super excited about going to Vegas.
My host sent a limo to pick us up. As always, he made sure the driver brought a bucket of Stellas for us to drink on our way in. Our limo driver was great, and we talked about different shows we've watched and enjoyed. I like to not act like a snob in limos because I know the drivers deal with rich d-bags and celebrities who never tip. As I got dropped off at my home for the next 3 nights, I tipped him $40 for getting us safely and for remembering to bring beer.
Even at the VIP check in area, there was a long line. We must have waited 15 minutes before we saw a desk clerk. My host booked me my usual which is the two bedroom hospitality suite. I've stayed in better and worse, but I just love their hospitality suites.
My buddy S was hungry so he rushed over to Stack to grab a quick bite while my brother and I hit the high limit lounge. I took out my initial marker of $10K and I never looked back. I started betting $500 a hand, but when I had some winnings, I pressed it to $1000-$2000 a hand. I was winning 2-3 hands and losing one. I hit almost all my double down hands. I was able to pay back my marker within the first 15 mins of play. That has got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world...to be able to pay off your marker and then playing with the house's money. The mirage sometimes will reserve a table for me. While I play $500-$5000 a hand depending on how hot I am doing, they let my friends/associates/family play as little as $25 a hand. After some back and forth, I amassed about $20k of my own winnings and deposited the winnings. The night was going well and we were feeling great. We contemplated going to Fremont, but decided to visit the Monte Carlo for the hell of it. My brother likes to play lower limit...around $10-$25, so when I want to play with him, I sometimes have to sit at tables paying 6/5. I know I should never sit at those tables, but I actually enjoy my brother's company a lot so I reluctantly will sit through playing at those tables. At the MC, all the 3/2 tables were at the high limit lounge. My brother, S, and myself sat at a table right outside of steakhouse and played mindless drunken blackjack for 2 hours. At some point, I was starting to get bored so I upped my bet to the table max $1000. The dealer was in disbelief why I'd do that. I politely told her that I was getting bored and wanted some action. She yelled "table max!" The pit now was hawking my table. He politely came over and asks if I had a players card, I said yes and handed over my Noir card. He asked me why I didn't play rated before, so I told him that when I "mess" around playing $10s a hand, I don't like to bother. He was extremely nice and told me that he will rate me accordingly and would backtrack the hour I was playing. I'm sure he knew I was not a counter as no counter would dare to sit at a 6/5 and play $1000 a hand while constantly being Santa Claus and tipping $5 a hand. I was extremely luck, and after this session I was up $9000. The draw backs of playing at those tables is when I hit Blackjack on $1000 bets and get paid only $1200 instead of $1500. It stings. I colored up and walked over to the cage. The pit gents were nice enough to give a courtesy call to the cashier that I was coming and that my chips/winnings were authenticated right away. I hate it when I am cashing out large sum and they'd make me wait over 15 mins to just check. While I was cashing out, a MC host came to me and gave me his card. He said he knew I had a host at the Mirage, but to give him a call if I ever wanted to stay at the MC. He was a super nice guy, and I may just call him if I ever want to switch it up.
Our limo awaits, and we head back to the mirage. It's 3am now and our beds were calling. We hit the bed.
DAY 2
For some reason, I cannot sleep well in Vegas. I always end up sleeping 3-4 hours a night if I am lucky. It was mid morning and I peaked in to see if my brother was still sleeping and he instantly woke up to the sound of the cracking door. We exchanged each others' hangoverness and decided to go get some buffet. We walked to the bellagio. The crisp chill air in the morning actually helped our hangover. We hit the buffet right away and we felt instantly better. We walked back and I decided to practice a little poker before my tourney at 3pm. Bottomline, I SUCK when it comes to poker. The first place payed $125K in promo chips while the 2-10 placed winners got payed smaller prizes. The tourney had 90ish players ran two sessions to break up 90 players. I actually surprised myself and lasted more than an hour, but I got busted out with pocket 7s going all in on a short stack. Overall, it was enjoyable. After I busted out I went back to my room to nap for a bit. Again I hardly napped. The rest of my buddies to include my sister all eventually filed in to our hotel by night time. My friends and I had a reservation at Gallagher's in NYNY and my host booked me Zumanity tickets. This was my 5th time at Gallagher's and I always had their aged NY bone-in steak. I decided to venture out and try the cowboy ribeye this time. I was not impressed. I will stick with the NY aged next time. After a great dinner, we rushed to Zumanity. Because we were waiting 20mins to get drinks at the concession stand, we were 10 mins late. As always, my host hooked it up with great seats (2nd row from the stage). Zumanity was an amazing show!
After the show we all went back to the mirage to gamble some more. I played 1 on 1 against the dealer and over I had a positive session. I won another 30K before calling it quits. I decided to join my sister and brother at let it ride and dumb&fun games for the rest of the night. However, the alcohol got the best of me and I started dipping into the 50K i had won. It was a hard fought battle, but after a couple of hours of up and down swings I walked away with $74,500 profit. I decided I was very fortunate to hit some great runs at the end and I was too drunk to play more. I called it quits once more and went to bed at 3am again.
DAY3
I woke up at 9am after tossing and turning all night. By that time S was up as well. He and I decided to mess around a bit. We decided to go to the Excalibur as I have fond memories of that place as a kid. We had the buffet at their newly remodeled buffet. It was OK. We then went to the dungeon and played video games. We then decided to go to NY to ride the roller coaster. S really wanted to ride it and was talking about it all night, so I felt like we had to ride it. Roller coaster was awesome, but we got really dizzy as riding while hungover is not the smartest thing to do. After the roller coaster, we took the tram from Excalibur to Mandalay to see the shark reef. It was nice to walk away from the tables and do different things. Then we got back to the mirage and napped. That night we made a reservation at Japonais and watched Terry Fator afterwards. Again my host hooked it up again and got front row seats. The show was fun, but it wasn't for me. I liked how Terry gives tribute to military members in the end. That was classy. After the show I played a bit of BJ and broke even from the night before $74500. I went straight to the cashier and requested the sum to be wired. I was just BJed out for the trip.
LAST DAY
I woke up around 9am again feeling hungover. My flight was around 5pm, so we chilled at the hotel a bit and played some penny slots. I lost like $200 on various slots...no big deal. We then went to The Border Cafe it the Mandalay Bay and had some brunch. They had an awesome deal where for $35 you can get unlimited tapas. Too bad I was not that hungry, but the rest of my friends enjoyed it. We then headed back and packed our bags and checked out. Again my host was able to take care of all the charges to include 3 glasses of Louise XIII cognac I ordered in my drunken stupor. At $300 a glass, it was good but not that good. There is definitely a diminishing margin of return for alcohol quality and prices IMO. We got to the airport no prob....too bad Virgin Am did not have any more first class seats as I would have splurged and upgraded. Our flight was delayed 20 mins so we all sat at slot machines and played slots. For the first time, I hit a bonus on a penny slot game called (black or blue orchard...I can't fully recall). I made $300! Thank you Virgin for the delay. The plane ride was good, but it is always so tough when you land back at home. You live a high life in Vegas with limos and champagne for a weekend and you're back to reality waiting in a line to catch a cab. Oh wells, I feel fortunate to be able to do this every once in awhile.
DAY1
The first night (thurs) was strictly going to be a boys night as my brother and my buddy, S, decided to join me. We flew virgin America from LAX. I love virgin America. The flight was great and the airline gives you a drink from a limited choice of water, oj, beer, or wine because it is such a short flight (45mins). I am so glad that the drinks (to include alcohol) are complimentary for these legs. I actually spotted a flight attendance I recognized, so I said hi to her and she hooked us up with 2 more drinks. I couldn't finish all 3 wines during the flight, so I put the third one in my bag. Our flight was delayed due to traffic at the tarmac, and I was a bit weary that it was an omen of bad things to come. But after a couple mini bottles of wine, my brother and I were super excited about going to Vegas.
My host sent a limo to pick us up. As always, he made sure the driver brought a bucket of Stellas for us to drink on our way in. Our limo driver was great, and we talked about different shows we've watched and enjoyed. I like to not act like a snob in limos because I know the drivers deal with rich d-bags and celebrities who never tip. As I got dropped off at my home for the next 3 nights, I tipped him $40 for getting us safely and for remembering to bring beer.
Even at the VIP check in area, there was a long line. We must have waited 15 minutes before we saw a desk clerk. My host booked me my usual which is the two bedroom hospitality suite. I've stayed in better and worse, but I just love their hospitality suites.
My buddy S was hungry so he rushed over to Stack to grab a quick bite while my brother and I hit the high limit lounge. I took out my initial marker of $10K and I never looked back. I started betting $500 a hand, but when I had some winnings, I pressed it to $1000-$2000 a hand. I was winning 2-3 hands and losing one. I hit almost all my double down hands. I was able to pay back my marker within the first 15 mins of play. That has got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world...to be able to pay off your marker and then playing with the house's money. The mirage sometimes will reserve a table for me. While I play $500-$5000 a hand depending on how hot I am doing, they let my friends/associates/family play as little as $25 a hand. After some back and forth, I amassed about $20k of my own winnings and deposited the winnings. The night was going well and we were feeling great. We contemplated going to Fremont, but decided to visit the Monte Carlo for the hell of it. My brother likes to play lower limit...around $10-$25, so when I want to play with him, I sometimes have to sit at tables paying 6/5. I know I should never sit at those tables, but I actually enjoy my brother's company a lot so I reluctantly will sit through playing at those tables. At the MC, all the 3/2 tables were at the high limit lounge. My brother, S, and myself sat at a table right outside of steakhouse and played mindless drunken blackjack for 2 hours. At some point, I was starting to get bored so I upped my bet to the table max $1000. The dealer was in disbelief why I'd do that. I politely told her that I was getting bored and wanted some action. She yelled "table max!" The pit now was hawking my table. He politely came over and asks if I had a players card, I said yes and handed over my Noir card. He asked me why I didn't play rated before, so I told him that when I "mess" around playing $10s a hand, I don't like to bother. He was extremely nice and told me that he will rate me accordingly and would backtrack the hour I was playing. I'm sure he knew I was not a counter as no counter would dare to sit at a 6/5 and play $1000 a hand while constantly being Santa Claus and tipping $5 a hand. I was extremely luck, and after this session I was up $9000. The draw backs of playing at those tables is when I hit Blackjack on $1000 bets and get paid only $1200 instead of $1500. It stings. I colored up and walked over to the cage. The pit gents were nice enough to give a courtesy call to the cashier that I was coming and that my chips/winnings were authenticated right away. I hate it when I am cashing out large sum and they'd make me wait over 15 mins to just check. While I was cashing out, a MC host came to me and gave me his card. He said he knew I had a host at the Mirage, but to give him a call if I ever wanted to stay at the MC. He was a super nice guy, and I may just call him if I ever want to switch it up.
Our limo awaits, and we head back to the mirage. It's 3am now and our beds were calling. We hit the bed.
DAY 2
For some reason, I cannot sleep well in Vegas. I always end up sleeping 3-4 hours a night if I am lucky. It was mid morning and I peaked in to see if my brother was still sleeping and he instantly woke up to the sound of the cracking door. We exchanged each others' hangoverness and decided to go get some buffet. We walked to the bellagio. The crisp chill air in the morning actually helped our hangover. We hit the buffet right away and we felt instantly better. We walked back and I decided to practice a little poker before my tourney at 3pm. Bottomline, I SUCK when it comes to poker. The first place payed $125K in promo chips while the 2-10 placed winners got payed smaller prizes. The tourney had 90ish players ran two sessions to break up 90 players. I actually surprised myself and lasted more than an hour, but I got busted out with pocket 7s going all in on a short stack. Overall, it was enjoyable. After I busted out I went back to my room to nap for a bit. Again I hardly napped. The rest of my buddies to include my sister all eventually filed in to our hotel by night time. My friends and I had a reservation at Gallagher's in NYNY and my host booked me Zumanity tickets. This was my 5th time at Gallagher's and I always had their aged NY bone-in steak. I decided to venture out and try the cowboy ribeye this time. I was not impressed. I will stick with the NY aged next time. After a great dinner, we rushed to Zumanity. Because we were waiting 20mins to get drinks at the concession stand, we were 10 mins late. As always, my host hooked it up with great seats (2nd row from the stage). Zumanity was an amazing show!
After the show we all went back to the mirage to gamble some more. I played 1 on 1 against the dealer and over I had a positive session. I won another 30K before calling it quits. I decided to join my sister and brother at let it ride and dumb&fun games for the rest of the night. However, the alcohol got the best of me and I started dipping into the 50K i had won. It was a hard fought battle, but after a couple of hours of up and down swings I walked away with $74,500 profit. I decided I was very fortunate to hit some great runs at the end and I was too drunk to play more. I called it quits once more and went to bed at 3am again.
DAY3
I woke up at 9am after tossing and turning all night. By that time S was up as well. He and I decided to mess around a bit. We decided to go to the Excalibur as I have fond memories of that place as a kid. We had the buffet at their newly remodeled buffet. It was OK. We then went to the dungeon and played video games. We then decided to go to NY to ride the roller coaster. S really wanted to ride it and was talking about it all night, so I felt like we had to ride it. Roller coaster was awesome, but we got really dizzy as riding while hungover is not the smartest thing to do. After the roller coaster, we took the tram from Excalibur to Mandalay to see the shark reef. It was nice to walk away from the tables and do different things. Then we got back to the mirage and napped. That night we made a reservation at Japonais and watched Terry Fator afterwards. Again my host hooked it up again and got front row seats. The show was fun, but it wasn't for me. I liked how Terry gives tribute to military members in the end. That was classy. After the show I played a bit of BJ and broke even from the night before $74500. I went straight to the cashier and requested the sum to be wired. I was just BJed out for the trip.
LAST DAY
I woke up around 9am again feeling hungover. My flight was around 5pm, so we chilled at the hotel a bit and played some penny slots. I lost like $200 on various slots...no big deal. We then went to The Border Cafe it the Mandalay Bay and had some brunch. They had an awesome deal where for $35 you can get unlimited tapas. Too bad I was not that hungry, but the rest of my friends enjoyed it. We then headed back and packed our bags and checked out. Again my host was able to take care of all the charges to include 3 glasses of Louise XIII cognac I ordered in my drunken stupor. At $300 a glass, it was good but not that good. There is definitely a diminishing margin of return for alcohol quality and prices IMO. We got to the airport no prob....too bad Virgin Am did not have any more first class seats as I would have splurged and upgraded. Our flight was delayed 20 mins so we all sat at slot machines and played slots. For the first time, I hit a bonus on a penny slot game called (black or blue orchard...I can't fully recall). I made $300! Thank you Virgin for the delay. The plane ride was good, but it is always so tough when you land back at home. You live a high life in Vegas with limos and champagne for a weekend and you're back to reality waiting in a line to catch a cab. Oh wells, I feel fortunate to be able to do this every once in awhile.
October 12th, 2015 at 10:41:36 AM
permalink
Nice report!
Congrats on the win!
Congrats on the win!
October 12th, 2015 at 10:54:47 AM
permalink
Nice report. You make AceOfSpades look like a piker.
Someday I hope to have a +$74,000 trip.
Someday I hope to have a +$74,000 trip.
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
October 12th, 2015 at 10:59:29 AM
permalink
Thank you teddys. Would love to read about your winning trips it in the future!
October 12th, 2015 at 11:05:15 AM
permalink
Quote: tringlomaneNice report!
Congrats on the win!
Thank you. I'm a huge fan of your trip reports. You definitely post the best ones with pictures (lots of pics especially beer)! Next time, I will try to take some pictures and learn to add them.
October 12th, 2015 at 11:05:24 AM
permalink
I miss Ace's reports, as I'm sure many do =/.Quote: teddysNice report. You make AceOfSpades look like a piker.
Someday I hope to have a +$74,000 trip.
Nice report! Always fun to hear about what goes on in the high limit rooms and how playing X gets you Y in comps, etc, etc. Sounds amazing. I've been to Vegas more than a dozen times but I've never had a trip with a limo, pool side cabana, high priced steak houses, bottles of champagne, etc, etc. One day perhaps =).
Congrats on the win!
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
October 12th, 2015 at 11:15:01 AM
permalink
Quote: RomesI miss Ace's reports, as I'm sure many do =/.
Nice report! Always fun to hear about what goes on in the high limit rooms and how playing X gets you Y in comps, etc, etc. Sounds amazing. I've been to Vegas more than a dozen times but I've never had a trip with a limo, pool side cabana, high priced steak houses, bottles of champagne, etc, etc. One day perhaps =).
Congrats on the win!
Thank you Rome. I definitely enjoyed reading all thee articles of A-Z in counting. I am amazed by how much knowledge you have on the subject. I wish you the best too.
October 12th, 2015 at 12:16:33 PM
permalink
I get the no sleep in Vegas thing. Best I can do is three hours before waking up for a few minutes... Many times I go through the night waking up after every cycle.
Excalibur buffet was redone? Six... Seven years ago I went to their old one. I guess expectations of a "Vegas buffet" ruined it for me, but it was the worst eating experience of my life (maybe a small exaggeration there).
Excalibur buffet was redone? Six... Seven years ago I went to their old one. I guess expectations of a "Vegas buffet" ruined it for me, but it was the worst eating experience of my life (maybe a small exaggeration there).
Its - Possessive; It's - "It is" / "It has"; There - Location; Their - Possessive; They're - "They are"
October 12th, 2015 at 12:47:29 PM
permalink
Great report!
Would you ever consider staying at MC? They'd obviously put you up in a Hotel32 room.
Would you ever consider staying at MC? They'd obviously put you up in a Hotel32 room.
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
October 12th, 2015 at 1:36:07 PM
permalink
Great report. If you can win so much in one day, then you might consider gambling full time.
October 12th, 2015 at 3:07:12 PM
permalink
Quote: Dicenor33Great report. If you can win so much in one day, then you might consider gambling full time.
If he can marker 30k for 3 days then I would assume he would prefer his 200k a year job.
Op, I was at the mirage on 10/1. We went to siegfried and roy habitat. Siegfried was there walking around taking pictures and talking about various things. Thought you may be interested in that based on your name.
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
October 12th, 2015 at 5:06:55 PM
permalink
Quote: GWAEIf he can marker 30k for 3 days then I would assume he would prefer his 200k a year job.
Op, I was at the mirage on 10/1. We went to siegfried and roy habitat. Siegfried was there walking around taking pictures and talking about various things. Thought you may be interested in that based on your name.
GWAE, I love the habitat. The last time I was at the habitat, there was a bit of traffic, and I realized Siegfried was the cause for the traffic. He was there hanging out with the cats and talking to his trainers. He is a really good sport as he took the whole time taking pictures and signing autographs with everyone.
I also wouldn't want to gamble as a career. That is stressful and since I don't count, I am bound to lose in the long run. I just like my trips to Vegas every once in awhile.
October 12th, 2015 at 5:09:45 PM
permalink
Quote: ahiromuI get the no sleep in Vegas thing. Best I can do is three hours before waking up for a few minutes... Many times I go through the night waking up after every cycle.
Excalibur buffet was redone? Six... Seven years ago I went to their old one. I guess expectations of a "Vegas buffet" ruined it for me, but it was the worst eating experience of my life (maybe a small exaggeration there).
The excalibur buffet was redone to my surprise. The food was better than I had remembered going there several years ago. They have a very open lay out now instead of the 2 long single lines they used to have. I was disappointed that the drinks were self-serve. I feel like many MLIFE buffets are going that way. Even more now, I can't justify the 18% gratuity as we have to get our own drinks as well.
October 12th, 2015 at 5:13:12 PM
permalink
Quote: ams288Great report!
Would you ever consider staying at MC? They'd obviously put you up in a Hotel32 room.
I may, but when I go to Vegas, I usually go visit with 6-8 people and looks like the biggest room they have is 2K square foot but only 2 beds. Maybe if I go there with less people I may consider it. The rooms look super nice tho!
