Mirage and myVEGAS (and T.I. as a backup) - Part Two

Reposted from the classic 2013 Victory Trip.

Mar 1, 2013 - We schlepped our stuff down to valet, got the rental Hyunkia Canula, loaded it up, and headed across the strip to T.I. We checked in and did an accounting.

Mrs. F was up an astonishing $745 on the day and I was down $200. We were up $3,190 on the trip at mid-day.

I got $50 free play with my T.I. offer and spun the wheel thingy for another $30. Good start. We set in to play a bit as it was still well before check in time at the Mirage. They have lots of full pay 50 cent Bonus Poker at T.I. so it was time to play.

And what did the Quad Queen do but hit some quads! Deuces for $200 on dollars. Aces for $200 on 50 cents. Queens, and Jacks!

I decided to shake it up and try blackjack yet again. I've had zero luck with it this trip.

I actually got up $150 and the disaster happened. I had a $15 bet out and split sixes. Dealt another six.

So I had $45 out all of a sudden and lost the hand. Then I lost a bunch more in a row and barely got out alive with a profit of only $15. Should have been a lot more if I'd won those splits. Gambling.

I was down on the day about $280 - not insurmountable, but I really didn't want to have a repeat of the ball-shrinking gut-wrenching cry-in-the-bathroom-fest of the previous day. And the Quattro Contessa was up (gulp) $1,155. Yes, over a grand. Holy crap.

We hiked over to Mirage and yes, we were able to check in. Our suite number was prophetic - E011. As in Sammy Davis Jr. in the original Ocean's Eleven.

We got directions to the private elevators you take to the top floors. They are activated by a key. We found them and got in the elevators with a party of folks from India. We all struggled with the key thing and finally got floor 'E' lit up.

"E - for Excess," I said, smiling.

They got their floor lit up and the elevator started moving.

"D - for disappointment," he said with that sideways back and forth of the head.

"Ah - you've gambled before!"

Well.

The myVEGAS procured suite was magnificent. Top floor of the Mirage, facing T.I. In fact, we'd arranged the T.I. room assignment so that we would be facing the Mirage. Just under the AGE in MIRAGE.

Did I mention that Mrs. Flusher decided she wanted the suite to herself? Yes, its true. We decided to have dueling rooms. So it was only her luggage that we brought up. We had visitation rights though...

"I don't need to be in your stupid suite to have fun," I said. "I can have fun all on my own at T.I. in my double room!"

"Do you have a bidet? No? I do."

"That's not a bidet, it's a drinking fountain."

We went back to T.I. to eat at the coffee shop and play keno (nothing). We hit Walgreen's for supplies and then settled in to the 50 cent BP again. And it went south for me. We bid each other goodnight and Mrs. F headed off to her fancy suite, while I played on and drank on. (We were still chipping away at the vat of Lee's Discount Liquor liquor.)

As I was saying, it went way far south. Way past the shrinking balls south. I lost $220 in an hour. Then I tried blackjack again and lost another $100. I lost eight hands IN A ROW of $10 minimum blackjack.

I was feeling pretty low. We got on the phone, me in my T.I. room and Mrs. F. in her bad-ass free myVEGAS suite. She waved a bright LED light in the window and I could see where she was.

I had a few more drinks. I was down my entire stake of $640. Playing more would only make it worse. She had won again, so covered my loss. Yes, playing more would only make it worse.

You regular readers of L.V. the R.F.W. know what's coming, right?...

Yes, I pulled another hundred out of admin, and headed down to the bar, home of short pay, high volatility, and on rare, rare, occasion, high payback video poker. The same bar where I'd had my ass kicked day after day last fall, only to win it all back when I hit a low quad with kicker on Super Triple Double Single Quadruple Wanker Fucker Dumbass Bonus Poker - for $500, when I met up with Blue Skadoo for dinner, long after checking out of T.I.

That bar.

I shoved that hundy into the machine, second from the end on the elevator side of the bar, and got busy.

I played along, down a little, not so terrible long, when I was dealt 3 Aces. Now, 4 Aces is 800 credits, but 4 Aces with Kicker is 4000 credits. And that is what I was playing for. Twos, Threes and Fours with kicker is a cool 2000 credits - that's $500 in quarter-land.

So I held my three Aces and... holy crap!

The bartender wandered over and said, "You know, locals say, when the Aces come, the other good hands follow."

I found this incredibly helpful.

I played on. I had $280 some odd dollars in the machine. So then I decided, well, if I want to get another - which I did - I'll change machines - which I did. To the end one I'd won on in the last chance Lazarus move last fall.

I played down, approaching $200. I thought, well, I'd better cash out when I got to $200. Just another hand came up, held a pair of fours and Holy Canula, I'd nailed Fours with Kicker for a sweet $500!!!

And just like that, in 15 minutes, my entire day was saved. I played a few more hands and cashed that shit out. Oh yes I did.

In the light of the Mirage sign, under which Mrs. Flusher lay in her smart-ass suite, I counted up.

The Stats

I was actually up $60 on the day, up $1,865 on the trip.

And the Quad Queen was up $1,005 on the day, up $1,845 on the trip.

Combined, we were up $3,710. And tomorrow was another day in Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.