Luxor

I stayed at Luxor Las Vegas since Palms' rates were incredibly high for some unknown reason. This was my first stay at any MGM Mirage property. And some day, if I ever have the time to actually play (yeah, right), I'll join their grand unified player's club. MGM Mirage owns a majority of the casinos on the west side of The Strip, from Mandalay Bay to Circus Circus, plus the MGM Grand on the east side of The Strip. And the player's club tracks your play at all those properties.





Unfortunately, Luxor's Egyptian theme doesn't carry through from its exterior to its interior. I don't recall any of the restaurants or bars having anything but generic hip and trendy modern names. Aurora, Tender Steak & Seafood, T & T (Tequila and Tacos), Backstage Deli, Cathouse, Flight, Liquidity. So there's this shell of a pyramid with the obelisk and Anubis statues outside, but inside it's like Newport Beach with a casino. The nightclub is even named LAX.

And one more little nitpick. I'm sure Carrot Top draws crowds to Luxor for his shows. But I can't imagine a worse spokesperson for the hotel and casino. The in-room videos were just way too creepy, with Carrot Top getting married to a male cop and other weirdly awkward scenarios. Handled differently (as in with a different celeb and director) it all could have been extremely funny. Problem easily solved by turning the TV off.


Bellagio

The poker media was in full force at Bellagio for the WPT Season VIII Championship. I managed to get a few pix of the Poker Road and World Poker Tour crews as they did live updates, wrote stories, and recorded podcasts.


























This trip, I spent 99% of my time on MGM Mirage properties (Luxor and Bellagio.) Next trip will be split between the Rio for the WSOP $50K Players' Championship and the Palms where I'll be staying. I can't wait!


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