Mirage to be sold to another operator, will no longer be MLife property

[Dan Druff]

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-...ll-the-mirage/




As is common with many casinos nowadays, the land and buildings of the Mirage are already owned by another company, and leased back to MGM, who continues to operate Mirage.

However, now they have announced they are in the early stages to sell operations, meaning it will no longer be an MGM property.

If you recall, Treasure Island, which is next door, was also once part of MGM, but was sold away to an independent owner.

Mirage, which opened in 1989, was the very first strip megaresort, and was the catalyst to the quick evolution of the strip in the '90s to become the new center for Vegas tourism. Prior to the '90s, downtown was considered the center of action in LV, and the strip was secondary. North strip properties like Las Vegas Hilton, Sahara, and Riviera were also more relevant at the time.

Mirage was originally built by Steve Wynn, and later sold to MGM. It was built on the site of the now-forgotten The Castaways hotel, which operated from 1963-1987, but was never considered a major player in Vegas.

[Dan Druff]

I should also mention that Mirage was a big deal in the 1990s Vegas poker scene, and a lot of the middle-stakes and high limit action took place there. This is why the room was featured in the now-beloved poker movie "Rounders", which was released in 1998 and preceded the poker boom by 5 years.

Mirage's poker room declined in the 2000s, as the action slowly moved over to Bellagio, which was always under the same ownership as Mirage. The poker room recently closed permanently, but had been a non-factor for a long time.

[redietz]

While The Castaways was never considered a major casino, it did sponsor the first big deal NFL handicapping competition in Las Vegas. I was in there every week, more for the ambiance than anything else. You had to pick every game on the board ATS. I wrote a little about it:

https://theskepticalgambler.blogspot...castaways.html

A couple of notes on the Mirage. When they opened, they became the highest volume sports book in LV. They had some interesting relationships with businesses immediately behind the back of the property, including a spiffy motel-type place that did not cater to tourists. And an Italian restaurant that also did not cater to tourists. Sometimes the Mirage abided by the "black book." Sometimes not so much.

[The Boz]

While The Castaways was never considered a major casino, it did sponsor the first big deal NFL handicapping competition in Las Vegas. I was in there every week, more for the ambiance than anything else. You had to pick every game on the board ATS. I wrote a little about it:

https://theskepticalgambler.blogspot...castaways.html

A couple of notes on the Mirage. When they opened, they became the highest volume sports book in LV. They had some interesting relationships with businesses immediately behind the back of the property, including a spiffy motel-type place that did not cater to tourists. And an Italian restaurant that also did not cater to tourists. Sometimes the Mirage abided by the "black book." Sometimes not so much.

Thanks for the link to the Castaways, was one of the places I heard about in the 80’s but never visited. The Mirage was one of the first places I visited on my original Vegas trip so long ago. They really pushed the boxing right from the start with heavyweight fights with Tyson, Holyfield and others. They always showed the volcano on the telecasts and made it seem like a must see attraction. I was less than impressed my first in person viewing of the eruption. I do remember a later underwhelming jump by Robbie Knievel over it.

The volcano along with the pirate show later quickly became attractive to pickpockets proving as always, no good deed goes unpunished. Now the volcano seems to be home to ducks the few times I even walk down that far anymore. And the pirate show is long gone, along with that period when Vegas became “family friendly”.

[mickeycrimm]

I remember when the Mirage had so much poker action the hired help abused players on the waiting lists. When you got on lists you had to be standing right there paying attention because when they started calling names for a seat there was no grace period. They called one name after another very quickly until someone showed up. If you were sitting to far away you were shit out of luck when you got there and had to get back on the list.

When Ballagio opened they staggered the games between the two places. Mirage had the 10/20 and 20/40 and Bellagio had the 15/30 and 30/60.

There was a lot of debate in those days about 3 chip and 5 chip blind games. 10/20 has 5/10 blinds so three chips. 15/30 has 10/15 blinds so five chips. There were those that did not like spreading five chip blind games because it chewed bad players up to quickly.

[redietz]

The thing about that old Castaways contest -- the entry fee was 1K, which in today's money is close to 5K. People really did jam the front of the casino each week when the picks were displayed on one of the old white boards under glass for everyone to see in the lobby.

[kewlJ]

As is common with many casinos nowadays, the land and buildings of the Mirage are already owned by another company, and leased back to MGM, who continues to operate Mirage.

However, now they have announced they are in the early stages to sell operations, meaning it will no longer be an MGM property.

As a blackjack AP, I view this as good news without even knowing who might be buying. Similarly Ceasars announced yesterday that it was moving up it's timeline to sell a strip property from what had been announced as 2022 to now "early 2022".

I don't follow these things all that closely and am often confused by the selling of the land and buildings but still operating the property type deal that Dan Druff mentioned that has been happening of late. But I assume Ceasars is talking about the Bally's property which has been speculated being sold for a while.

At any rate, like I said, breaking up these monopolies, MGM and Ceasars on the strip, without even knowing who might be coming in seems like a positive development to me. New "blood" may turn out to be no more desirable, but still. Can't be any worse from blackjack perspective.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...cid=uxbndlbing

[regnis]

Now I have to go look for my Castaways shirt. Won’t be as easy to find as the Sport of kings jacket.

Fond memories of mirage as well. It was one of my primary places for horses. That and Barbary.

[redietz]

Now I have to go look for my Castaways shirt. Won’t be as easy to find as the Sport of kings jacket.

Fond memories of mirage as well. It was one of my primary places for horses. That and Barbary.

I have an old Castaways sweater, I think from the contest. It's a mustard color sweater, but somehow I got a stain on it. Damned shame.

[accountinquestion]

Now I have to go look for my Castaways shirt. Won’t be as easy to find as the Sport of kings jacket.

Fond memories of mirage as well. It was one of my primary places for horses. That and Barbary.

I lived full time in Vegas for 1/2 a year many years ago. Was towards the end of the 2040 days at Mirage. That was the high-limit game there, got to sit in the elevated section. They also had stud games with metal coins. (quarters? half dollars?) In the dead of the night they'd bring in pastries. I drank a lot. The 2040 game seemed a bit better as there weren't as many serious pros sitting around. Nice clean bathrooms. Played lhe with the woman who managed the poker room at one point. She was pretty cool but don't recall much else. Heard stories of people sleeping in the foliage when they went bust. Once had a guy flashing me his hand then he started putting his hand right in front of my face to tilt the rest of the table after they were complaining. Limit poker is great for misbehaving and playing bad.

[redietz]

I remember hosting some of my friends in LV, and they wanted to play seven stud. Well, the Mirage was one of the few places to have a seven stud game late night mid-week. We went there, and the table was full of old Chicago and New York guys. Very entertaining.

[JSTAT]

I should also mention that Mirage was a big deal in the 1990s Vegas poker scene, and a lot of the middle-stakes and high limit action took place there. This is why the room was featured in the now-beloved poker movie "Rounders", which was released in 1998 and preceded the poker boom by 5 years.

Mirage's poker room declined in the 2000s, as the action slowly moved over to Bellagio, which was always under the same ownership as Mirage. The poker room recently closed permanently, but had been a non-factor for a long time.

The Mirage exploded to a place that tolerated blackjack card counting and advantage play(AP). The six deck game rules were, late surrender(lsr), re-split aces(rsa), stand on soft 17(s17) and more such as double deck. They took losses well with no heat. Fun times. Thanks for the time machine Druff!

[The Boz]

Since I’m a bored retired bum with nothing to do today this thread and the nostalgia of the old hotels got me thinking. I pulled up one of the old Travel Channel Vegas shows from the early 2000’s that are available for free on Amazon Prime. They were mostly fluff shows about basic stuff for tourists on saving a few bucks and such. The strip images are from the 90’s in some cases which is when my Vegas history starts.

They also featured the usual suspects like Curtis, Munchkin, Dancer and Jean Scott. Also a much younger guy we all know. I thought one of the funnier things was advising people to save money by staying off strip and pictures these places which were NOT the type place the average tourist should be staying.

[Mission146]

That's actually kind of funny, but I seriously doubt Wizard was responsible for the video footage of the places. My tendency is to think that he was referring to staying at Downtown or certain other Off-Strip large casinos, not Siegel Slots and Suites, or anything along those lines.

[monet]

That's actually kind of funny, but I seriously doubt Wizard was responsible for the video footage of the places. My tendency is to think that he was referring to staying at Downtown or certain other Off-Strip large casinos, not Siegel Slots and Suites, or anything along those lines.

That's right!
Official VCT Defender of Michael Shackleford has spoken.
Can't wait till Round One!

[The Boz]

That's actually kind of funny, but I seriously doubt Wizard was responsible for the video footage of the places. My tendency is to think that he was referring to staying at Downtown or certain other Off-Strip large casinos, not Siegel Slots and Suites, or anything along those lines.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, Wiz was on the show talking about getting the most for your gambling budget. He didn’t contribute to the lodging part. The show is on saving money overall with different segments.

I just thought the picture of him was something to add.

[The Boz]

Off topic but I found this one funny. Back when Rick wasn’t as famous and had hair.

For anyone interested the show is Las Vegas Revealed Episode 2 “Ways to Win” on Amazon Prime

[redietz]

Since I’m a bored retired bum with nothing to do today this thread and the nostalgia of the old hotels got me thinking. I pulled up one of the old Travel Channel Vegas shows from the early 2000’s that are available for free on Amazon Prime. They were mostly fluff shows about basic stuff for tourists on saving a few bucks and such. The strip images are from the 90’s in some cases which is when my Vegas history starts.

They also featured the usual suspects like Curtis, Munchkin, Dancer and Jean Scott. Also a much younger guy we all know. I thought one of the funnier things was advising people to save money by staying off strip and pictures these places which were NOT the type place the average tourist should be staying.

There's the Western!!

Anybody who recommended the Western as a place to stay should have been arrested for something.

The closest thing to the Western in terms of ambiance was The Aztec (next to the Stratosphere). I inquired about a room once on a busy weekend, and they walked me back to show me what was available. There was a passed out dude right in front of the room. Here was the great thing -- the door was off the hinges. That's right -- no door with the passed out dude as a doorstop. I had to pass on their generous offer. I said, "I really do need a door."

[MisterV]

I heard that the nearby (now long gone) Ogden House was a real "gem."

[The Boz]

https://time.com/34565/the-last-nights-at-the-western/

https://vimeo.com/35557956?utm_campa...8f0ac90a82b820

A story and video on the end of the Western. Never stayed there but visited a few times when that part of Fremont wasn’t quite as welcoming. Hardwood floors and old machines that frequently needed handpays for $20. Met a pimp there who was almost a parody of Huggy Bear from Starsky & Hutch. And he didn’t look out of place there. Remember stuff like paper towels and 6 packs of Pepsi being rewards at the desk. The cafe didn’t look like somewhere most would want to eat either. Bought a couple $1 beers and left a $3 tip and thought the bartender was going to cry.

So glad I got there a few times before it closed.