At MGM, most of the $1 pick'em are gone, but some remain at on bartops. Virtually total VP wasteland as the entire crappy VP inventory is excluded from most promotions. Rumor has it MGM will sell this property to Harrah's and rebrand Motor City after they take over Mandalay.

MGM sent me a pack of 4 coupons, each good for 2 dinners at their relatively new Lion's Roar pub / sports bar. "Big deal", I thought, "a couple hundred thou of coin-in chasing (and occasionally catching) the 9/7 DB progressive, and all I get is comps for bar food." Man, was I wrong! Generally superb chow, on a par or better than any of the snooty restaurants in downtown Ann Arbor (my hometown).

MGM has been rapidly replacing all VP machines with TITO, including the bank of MG progressives with 9/7 DB, and the entire roomful located to the left of the buffet entrance. Be forewarned, however, that all of these machines are mounted very high, MGM badly needs either shorter cabinets or taller chairs. I'm 6'0" and had to reach up to play. Some of the machines are set on the fastest of the three speeds, and some allow the player to select a speed. This cannot be determined until you start playing. Also, if your intention is to play 5-coin max quarters, look very closely at the machine before you begin. They have quarters that require a 20-coin max bet for the Royal bonus.

Stopped at the booth yesterday and started asking specific questions about their points and cashback. The obviously annoyed boothling finally gave up and fished out a small sheet that lists the info. $2 coin-in (slots) = 1 point $6 coin-in (VP) = 1 point 100 points = $1 There is a slight increase in the points awarded for $5 machine play, $5 = 3 points. Apparently this doesn't apply to VP, which is no big deal since the $5/up pay schedules are horrible. I couldn't obtain comp rate info, is not on the sheet and the response I got was a look that can be best described as dazed and confused.