rarensu39 said:
hey guys, this is going to be my first trip to Mandalay Bay's TheHotel
can any of you me details about their blackjack games? if its not great there, are there any other that you would recommend? (preferrable low limit tables 5-25)
THEhotel doesn't have its own tables, so the closest ones will be Mandalay Bay. Mandalay Bay / THEhotel are both MGM properties and pretty much have the same games as all other MGM properties in Vegas. There's a 6D, H17, LS, DAS, DOA, RSall shoe game and a few scattered DD games (which I'm not familiar with).
In the vicinity of Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur have the lowest limit shoe games, but they also have the worst penetration. MGM Grand and NYNY have games comparable to Mandalay Bay, but I don't know about the limits as they seem to have changed recently. Tropicana probably has the best shoe game in the vicinity because they have S17 rather than H17 and low limits. If you're willing to venture even further, Monte Carlo has a good game too.
rarensu39 said:
i'm interested in taking the group to a show, club or nice place to eat.
Restaurants: Most of the places I'll list are $30-$50/entree. I'm not sure if that's your price range, but I think you meant nice place for a birthday, so I figure you're looking a little more upscale than a $5 bettor would normally look.
I went to Mixx (@THEhotel) last year, and it was a good (but not spectacular) meal at a good (not cheap, but not horrendously expensive) price. You can roll over into the lounge after dinner (I believe there's a cover charge otherwise).
I've been to Aureole (@Mandalay Bay) in the past and was impressed. The meal was very good at a good price. If you're a wine connoisseur, you'll love the wine tower.
Nob Hill (@MGM) is another nice place to eat. It was comparable to Aureole, minus the wine tower.
My favorite restaurant used to be the Prime Steakhouse (@Bellagio), but that fell out of favor recently due to them dropping some of my favorite items from the menu. Still, worth considering if you want to make the trip from Mandalay.
Bars:
My favorite, hands down, is the Shadowbar (@Caesars). Unlike a lot of other places, it's not pretentious nor do you feel grossly out of place if you don't have model quality looks.
The center bar at Hard Rock Cafe is another cool place to be in terms of hanging out. The crowd is younger than at Shadowbar, and (in my opinion) the bar is set how a casino bar should be - in the middle of the floor so you're surrounded by action. It makes the casino floor really loud, though.
Ghostbar (@Palms) was really hot when I went there, but I just felt out of place because I don't really fit in with the LA hipster crowd. 99% of the women there were out of my league, so if that's the kind of place you want to be, go for it. It's an experience.
Clubs:
Clubs in Vegas get hot and cold pretty quickly. My opinion is that they're more or less the same, just find out which one is the hottest at the moment and be prepared to pay (on top of the cover) your way in unless you've got either (a) a group of >90% women and they're not ugly, or (b) a group of >50% women and they're attractive. Bribing the bouncer or buying table service are the easiest ways to pay your way in - table service is far more expensive, but you'll have an endless stream of slutty chicks coming by for free drinks (whether that's a plus or minus is up to you).
Note that any "VIP" passes you get for clubs are worthless. All it does is get you onto a separate line, but since it's the bouncers' discretions which line to advance and who to cut in front of who, it's absolutely worthless.
Shows:
They're all average-quality shows for absurd prices, in my opinion. You can watch the same shows in any big city for half the price.
