Mirage Pool
Thursday began with a trip to the pool. Unlike the Bellagio, the Mirage pool was absolutely awesome – it was packed to the rafters, it had a fun, laid-back atmosphere, and the females there were both over 10 and under 40. I saw a few college kids with a cabana trying to look suave for the girls, but they all had Bud Lights in their hand which is a pretty funny sight coming from Australia (no one drinks light beer here). I did give them credit for their cabana’s location though and decided to book one myself for Sunday – I assumed I’d be out of the tournament by then.
Here are some photos of the pool. One was taken by a crazy hot girl so if by any chance you remember taking the first picture below, send me an e-mail!
Cabana Shopping
After our swim we went back to our rooms to get ready for our helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. Whilst everyone was showering I tried to book the cabana but found out that they were booked out for the entire weekend. Lame! So I gave the MGM Grand a call since I had heard good things about their Wet Republic Sunday pool party. Fortunately they had cabanas free and I decided to splash out and order the $1500 minimum spend one – it was the day of my 22nd birthday after all! We also tried to book a table at XS for Saturday night. Unfortunately that was also booked out so I decided to draw up a list of clubs that I wanted to go to. Pete, my self-appointed agent, said he’d call them up the next day.
Grand Canyon!
After a room service brunch (I had the Japanese breakfast) we all met up in the lobby and waited for our limo to pick us up. We ended up sharing it with two other Australians who were staying at Paris and listened on as our chauffeur described the impending experience as better than anything we could possibly imagine – jeez, don’t raise our expectations much!
This was my first time in a helicopter so I was pretty excited. I shot-gunned the front seat and revelled in the sound of my own voice as I talked on the in-flight microphone. The flight itself lasts about 40 minutes and they record the trip for you (including your reactions and conversation) so that you can watch it back later.
When you begin your ascent over the final mountain before the Grand Canyon appears they play the soundtrack from Indiana Jones. With the spirit of adventure inside you, you then land inside the Grand Canyon to take some more photos and have a champagne picnic.
On the way back you fly right over the Strip and get to see all the hotels (and their pools!) from above.
New York New York
Once we returned to the Mirage we got changed and started walking towards New York New York.
This plan was quickly abandoned however as it was too hot and we were too tired. Taxis from Caesar’s next door were in order.
The inside of New York New York is surprisingly dark and dingy; I’ve never actually been to New York but I expect that, with the odd ‘32nd street’ street sign, the odd 10 metre tall painting of the Chrysler Building on the wall, and the odd diner specialising in burger and chips, it’s meant to be reminiscent of being in the Big Apple.
We started with the rollercoaster which, unlike the one at Sahara, is big and complete with loops and corkscrews. I had a pretty scary moment where I realised that my hands would probably be cut off if I didn’t put them back down ASAP after a big descent – where were the warnings damn it!
We then went downstairs to the food area and got burgers and chips for dinner. I ordered last and had to wait a good 20 minutes longer than anyone else – I wasn’t very impressed at all as everyone else was eating ice cream by the time I got mine! So much for fast food!
Bellagio Fountains
After dinner we made our way back to the Mirage, with the intention of stopping by at the Bellagio to watch the fountain shows. It’s funny; we never actually bothered to watch the fountains while we were staying at the Bellagio, so now we had to plan a trip back there just for it!
We ended up watching two displays and they were both pretty decent. I preferred “All That Jazz” since the music and fountains actually worked well together.
Rhumbar
After a big day out, the only logical way to end the night was to unwind with a few cocktails back at Rhumbar at the Mirage. Highlight of the night had to be seeing this old guy who was at least 60 fully getting into it with this woman in the corner (she looked about 30). Ah, only in Vegas...
Oh, the cocktails were cool too!
Dumb Blackjack DealerBack at the Mirage, Fraser and I decided to log some blackjack hands before going to sleep. We had this female dealer who, upon finding out that I was here for the WSOP Main Event, asked whether I’d qualified online. I told her that in fact I had just bought straight in and she was shocked. Not shocked that I could afford it though, but shocked that I was silly enough to do so!
“If you’re not good enough to qualify, you won’t be good enough to play the real thing here.”
Um...ok.
I tried to explain how this wasn’t true and how in fact I didn’t even try to qualify but she just looked at me with this “poor kid, just doesn’t know what he’s doing” expression. Oh well.
After a small loss I went to bed, ready to make some waves in the Main Event the next day!
2 comments:
Man. Some people have all the luck...while you're in Vegas living it up I have to get by with Pokerface on Facebook. It's a distant second but I guess it's okay. Ain't no Caesar's Palace, of course.
A nice rundown of the sights in Vegas, I just got back myself. Did you stay for Halloween? That was quite the scene as well. I played at Bellagio almost the whole time, your post makes me feel like I missed out on everything else.
www.buttheyweresuited.blogspot.com
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