The Mirage’s $1.6M progressive slots leads to waits, poor etiquette
The Mirage Las Vegas will shutter for good on July 17 and it has a ton of cash to giveaway before then.
Because of Nevada laws, the casino is going out with a massive bang and guaranteeing $1.6 million — the vast majority of which is available via progressive slots.
Unsurprisingly, this news brought out tons of people who want to get in on the action at the famed resort and casino — and even more people who want to watch. Wait times for slot machines have been astronomical, naturally, with some gamblers standing in line for more than two hours to get a seat. That’s in part due to the promotion and partly because the casino has already started shutting off rows and rows of slots.
Fortunately, the floor managers have found a perfectly snarky way to cut down on the long lines, by reminding them to play or leave orelse.
That right there is a casino with nothing to lose and not afraid prove it. Do I really think The Mirage will be able to deliver on these threats? No. Do I want to find out? Also, no.
Why is The Mirage closing?
After 35 years — and countless performances from Siegfried & Roy — The Mirage is saying goodbye to the Las Vegas Strip on July 17, 2024.
Soon the resort and casino will rebrand to the Hard Rock Las Vegas after MGM sold the property for just over $1 billion. The transformation will certainly change how The Strip looks.
Why is The Mirage giving away $1.6 million?
In short, because it has to comply with Nevada laws that dictate which money it can keep from the casino after closing for good. Funds from progressive slots must be doled out.
Nevada gaming regulators require the casino to pay out the money because the progressive lump sums are made up almost entirely of gamblers’ losses, except for an initial starting amount put up by the operator. Hard Rock has no other affiliated casinos in Nevada, so The Mirage’s progressive money must be returned to players before the property shuts down.
The progressive slot promo will feature $200,000 in guaranteed winnings on July 9, 10 and 11 before bumping up to $250,000 on the 12th and 13th. On July 16, $100,000 in cash prizes will be handed out. The promotions start at 3 p.m. each day and end at 7 p.m.
Since the money is being given away no matter what, the only way to really press your luck at The Mirage over the next few days is to see if they’ll follow through on their threats over slot machine etiquette.
