After enduring the storm of the century in Las Vegas, I decided to venture out and test the waters of the Strip on a Friday night. Cluttered in cars and people, I eventually found parking in one of my target casinos, the Mirage. Luckily, for me, the other casino that I was going to review (TI or Treasure Island) is situated next door to the Mirage.

The exotic paradise that awaits the patrons of the Mirage is a welcome relief from the stifling heat of the parking garage. The Mirage Atrium is a definite attraction you should experience; it has a lush indoor rain forest, with sixty-foot tall palm trees, waterfalls, and lagoons that meander through a forest of tropical flowers, birds of paradise, and orchid's galore.

Home to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, the Mirage offers a variety of entertainment venues for all ages; music, comedy, and of course shopping.

There are quite a few fine and casual dining choices: Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Brazilian steakhouse to name a few. You will be hard-pressed to find a McDonald's, although BLT Burger should be able to handle your burger cravings (if a ten-dollar plus burger is your thing).

The casino has over 2000 slot machines, a 30-table poker room, and it offers the usual array of games. Like most of the larger resorts, Mirage offers only a hand full of playable blackjack games. The majority of tables are six-deck games with H17 (hit soft seventeen), DAS (double after split), RSA (re-split Aces), and late surrender. The table limits are $5-$5000 and $25-$5000, the $5 tables all use CSM’s (continuous shuffle machines) and so are worthless to the counter. The $25 games have a house advantage of 0.46% and the penetration leaves about a deck and a half unplayed. There are two tables of S17, DAS, RSA, six deckers with $25-$5000 table limits with a house edge of 0.34%, and penetration the same as above.

As for double deck, there are eight tables. Two tables are S17, DAS with $50-$10000 table limits, and six tables are H17, DAS with $25-$10000 table limits. Both games have about 60% penetration and the house advantage is 0.34% for the S17 game and 0.40% for the H17 game.

Rounding out the blackjack games at the Mirage are six tables of single deck, nine tables of eight deck, and two tables of Blackjack Switch using a continuous shuffle machine. The single decks are 6:5 blackjack pay-offs for a house advantage of 1.45% and not worth the trouble. The eight deck games are H17, DAS, RSA, and late surrender, with $5-$5000 table limits, and two decks cut off.

The Mirage uses a facial recognition system and computers to evaluate player ability. With that said, vary the size of your bet off the top of a shuffled deck and keep your playing sessions short, and you should be able to stay under the radar.

Overall, the Mirage is a great place to beat the hundred degrees plus desert heat. With so-so penetration in the double-deck games, your best course of action would be to team up and attack the six-deck shoes (of course, avoiding the csm games).

I exited the Mirage on Las Vegas Boulevard heading north towards T.I (Treasure Island). The street was flooded with people. Many lined up on the rail waiting for the Mirage Volcano to erupt. Erupting every hour from 8 pm until midnight, the attraction, I must admit, was quite spectacular. Apparently, the same company that created the Bellagio fountains designed it.