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Good morning, Sphere! The big plan for our last day in Las Vegas was to go see the Battle Bots! Mike had seen them live preiovusly, but I had only watched them on TV.
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We walked from The Venetian to the BattelBots arena:
Hello to Minotaur! The bull from Brazil
Link to youtube compliation of Mintaur's fights
The mighty Tombstone!
Hometown Hero, Jackpot! The original version was built by a plumber in Las Vegas for $5,000 (versus the normal $100,000+ price tage of a 300-lb fighting robot) ... and it won some fights! The team and robot have grown since then and are still doing great.
The BattleBots arena... I bought tickets near the (bulletproof) glass with the thought it would be the best thing ever or a strong regret:
Let the event begin!
Whiplash loves to flip bots over.
Mammoth
Mammoth
Nighmare was one of Mike's favorites from the 1999 version of Battlebots. They gave Nightmare something to chew on - a slot machine! The slot machine was mounted on robot wheels that brought it to meet its fate.
Nighmare
Nighmare throws the Casino Bot towards us!
Our waitress was impressed that I got that picture without flinching. I told her that a good photographer doesn't flinch... the truth is I have notoriously slow reflexes. It was an, um... talent that helped me be a
catcher when I played softball.
Hypershock
Witchdoctor
Witchdoctor Wins!
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After the tournament, we took a tour of the arena.
Bronco - another 90's favorite
Mike and Nighmare
Of course, Witchdoctor is one of my faves...
Back outside the arena, we noticed that Sphere is less overpowering from street level.
Time to head back to The Venentian. Farewell, BattleBots!
Walking back to The Venetian...
Crazy amount of gelato
Sphere at night:
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Last stop of the day was a pretty little wine bar near our elevator.
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Last updated 13Apr2025