Just returned from slot tournament vacation at the Mirage Hotel. I was invited by the Mirage for their "Surf, Sand and Slots" slot tournament. The total prize package was $50,000 with $10,000 going to the first place finisher.
The play took place with two fifteen minute rounds on Tuesday. The final third round was Wednesday. I had to be awake early as two of my rounds started at 9am. The tournament took place in the Bermuda room which is close to the theater for the Terry Fator show. The room was decorated in a Hawaiian beach theme with 60's beach and surfing music playing.
Everyone seemed to be having a fun time and the emcee did a good job keeping everyone hanging loose. Dude!! Maybe the free bar helped out with that! They also awarded free slot play and gift points before each round by drawing numbers. No luck for me with the number drawing.
My luck was better with the slot tournament. I had a good start my first session getting over 19,000 points. That was tops for that session. My next round i had over 14,000 points. My final round over 16,000 points. I thought that was a good total. I was near the top in all three rounds. But not good enough to finish number one. The winner came in with over 54,000 points, I finished with a little over 50,400. Not bad, and good enough for fifth place and $1,000. Now the money awarded was in Freeplay, not cash. Good if you can turn that Freeplay into real money on the slot machines.
The tournament was fun, especially when you have a good win. My hotel room was comped for the three nights of the tournament. So it was a very fun three days. If you get the chance, try out a slot tournament. Several different hotels still offer them. The LV Hilton and the Tropicana seem to offer the most frequent on the strip.
Not too much luck with the slots on this trip. Two trips in a row now with no luck on the dollar slots. I did have a little luck on the nickel and penny slots. I actually won the minor jackpot on the "Outback Jack" slot at the Palazzo casino. A whopping $76.00 jackpot. A card randomly pops up after a spin and you have 12 tiles to pick from. Four tiles for Jack, four for a shark, and four for the green gator. I picked four tiles for the shark and the minor jackpot, Pick Jack you win the major, and pick the gator and you win nothing.
I had some good wins on the Dean Martin Money Burst slot. The Hot Hot Respin slots also had a few lucky rounds. But nothing too big. The Venetian casino seemed loaded with new slot machines. And people. All the casinos were crowded and busy.
I have some Freeplay to use on my next trip out. Just need to pick the right slot machine and get that big win! Guess that's what we all say. Have fun and stick to your budget.
