05-15-05 : Damn I cannot wait to go back and
I am sitting on the plane waiting to depart still. Mandalay Bay was amazing. Had some issues (of course) but they were taken care of immediately with a nice comp. We hit just about everything including the Stratosphere last night where Ms Snky went on the roller coaster, the big shot and the insanity - which hangs you over the edge and spins around - and the last one that slings you over the edge. We did a gondola ride at the Venetian, plenty of time at the wave pool at Mandalay (hotties a plenty!) And went to the shark reef today. Fremont St was fun but my favorite was the fountains at Bellagio - it was the only thing I truly wanted to see. We hit Luxor, Xcalibur, NYNY, Ti, Harrah's, Flamingo, Sahara, Wynn's, MGM and I am sure I am missing a few. Gambling....well some of you know I was getting my ass handed to me. Nothing crazy, but hitting my limits each night. By Thurs night (well Fri am actually) I was already down over $1k - not a good start. Then we played some 3card poker and things started to change a bit. A few flushes here/there, but went on a streak at NYNY and three 5s and then three Ks - 3 of a kind pays 30 to 1. Not bad when the pair plus was $10. So things started looking up until we did some night gambling again. And again I was killed. Lost $400 back playing at night, most at 3 card where I couldn't catch a break. I'd pull a pr, dealer would get a higher pair and it was break even then. I pulled a straight, dealer pulled a straight flush. But the damage was already done. So then on the way to the Stratosphere we are walking through the Sahara and there's a wide open 3card table so we sit down. $5 so it is very relaxed. Until I hit a straight flush. 8, 9, 10 of clubs. 40 to 1. I wish I bet more. But again the night was horrible and I gave it back again. More 3card where I was getting killed. Two new players sat down at the table and we hoped they would change my luck. They definitely made better cards come out, only they sat at the middle of the table and took my cards. BAM first hand the woman gets a straight. BAM second hand she gets a flush. I was still getting junk and had enough. Well today after checkout I was screwing around. Some video poker where I made $70, then some slots where I made another $8.50. Whooopppeeeee. Well then while looking for another video poker game, I decided to play Ms Little Green Men - a $0.25 slot. See there's this game called Money Mad Martians that we call Money Grubbin' Martians because they always kill us, it is a running joke among us. Well I had joked we need to play the ladies version so I sat down and put in my $28.50 ticket. After a few spins I am looking up at 3 jackpot symbols but it didn't register at first - and then I realized I not only had a few bars going diagonal the other way but that I got the machine jackpot! $1252.50. Not bad at all and put me up $250 for the trip. Oh get this - at NYNY some guy was playing a slot by the tables when we were there. He cheaped out and only played $1 instead of $3. Well he hit the jackpot. And got $81 instead of $1.9 MILLION! You know he is hating himself right now. On to food....everything I read raved about the Bellagio buffet so we went there for dinner one night. It sucked. Even better it sent 3 people running to the restrooms for the rest of the night. Thankfully I wasn't one of them. So on the advice of a few friends and some reviews we tried the Aladdin Saturday for brunch. Better, but not great ( and the staff both in the lobby and the buffet are extremely rude ). So today we had the champagne brunch at Mandalay Bay with our comps and it was amazing. Mimosa's, excellent food, and a great dessert selection. Not as vast of a selection as Aladdin, but better items. So in all a great relaxing vacation ( although we didn't sleep much and were drunk most of the time so I don't know how I can say it was relaxing :) ) and hopefully we will be back soon with some comp'ed rooms. Although I don't see Mandalay comp'ing much as unless you are dropping a few thousand a day they could care less about you. www.cheapovegas.com has a pretty accurate review of most of the resorts including Mandalay. For those watching for typos, I typed this on my Blackberry so it is exempt :) |
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