I think it would be best if you get some other responses from folks playing the room more recently than I have, but it seems you're stuck with me for the moment. Maybe this response bumping your query will do us both some good, because I used to play there fairly often, and I've been wondering about what's become of the place.

My short answer is that unfortunately I don't think you'll find much going on in the poker room.

Eighteen months ago I'd expect them to have a minimum of half a dozen games in progress right now, picking up a few more as the evening goes on, with the majority of them LHE but also regularly including multiple NL tables in the mix. That was then. When I last checked several days ago about this time they had one game, a limit Omaha table, and I think that may have been a dead spread logged in waiting for players. Right now they list zero active games, and one player on a list for a 1/2 game. Now it has been over a year since I dropped this from my list of places to play poker, and this information could be wrong. But, it is consistent with what I've seen when I've been on the property a few times to do other things and glanced at the poker room, and with what I've heard said by others in the general chatter about what's going on in rooms here and there around town. It has also been my experience that when there's an inaccuracy in the reporting of active games it is generally in the direction of listing games that aren't actually active (such as broken games that haven't gotten logged-out or dead spreads logged-in & suchlike) rather than the other way 'round. Their business was getting noticeably shaky in some ways the last time I played there about a year ago or so, but I've been astonished at how much the bottom seems to have fallen out of their business, from 7, 8, or 9 games to apparently struggling for 1.

I don't know squat about the status of their tournaments; maybe they are thriving more than their cash games lately. Or not; I wouldn't know.

Again, if others with recent experience contradict this, you should probably give them more weight than what I'm telling you. I used to enjoy playing in that room quite a bit, but last time I did so I made a decision not to try the poker room for a full year, and also after telling folks here and elsewhere of my reasons not to repeat them 'till that much time had passed and I'd checked out how the things that I was concerned about settled out. It has been a year, but I haven't gotten around to giving it another shot myself, since there are a few other things to do and places to do them in the Las Vegas Valley, and this one is rarely "on my way" to anything else.

Also, I should tell you I think this is an exceptionally well-designed poker room with a very nice comfortable physical environment to play in that I think is distinctly above average. I also think the casino property as a whole, apart from the poker room, is quite attractive with an appealing overall "feel" to it even in comparison to high-end Strip resorts. So, regardless of what is or isn't going on for poker I would NOT suggest that you have any reason to be concerned about it as a home base for your visit. The race & sports book is also a pretty nicely designed physical environment, if you have any business to do with that while you're in town.

I've never seen the hotel rooms, so I would be curious what you find if you have the time to write about it after your visit. Given what they did developing it with all the expense they went to trying to create a plush atmosphere to appeal to residents of some of the high-income neighborhoods nearby, I'd be surprised if the rooms were anything less than quite nice.

Hope that's useful some way, even if it isn't exactly what you might have wanted to hear.

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LocalRock - Thanks for the response. I am still a month or so away from my visit but will certainly post what I discover concerning the poker room. I have visited the property on several other (previous) trips and concur with your overall observations. More than likely 90% of my (cash) play will take place at MGM - I really enjoy playing there! The convenience of playing where I am staying is a rare occurrence, so it won't really be a big deal to take a little drive. The tourny I want to play is the Aria 1PM but due to circumstances can't/won't dedicate that amount of time. Perhaps I'll play the Mirage 10AM if the M morning tourny doesn't look inviting. Thanks again!

Any updates on this room? Their website has some interesting promos including for Omaha High. A room I've never spent a minute in, but you never know. I arrive in LV in a couple days.

It's a nice room, but I think they have lost some of their regulars to other places. Good buffet though, and the bar next to the poker room has like 96 different beers on tap. Definitely worth the drive.

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Thanks a lot i was searching for this for very long time, actually i recently join this forum and i hope got lot of such useful information in future.

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If any of you are interested in bigger tournaments, Penn Gaming started a poker "tour" this year - see http://www.hollywoodpokeropen.com. The first event will be hosted at the M at the end of this month.

There are 3 tournaments scheduled.

$125 buy-in, $10,000 Guarantee on Jan 25
$225 buy-in, $20,000 Guarantee on Jan 26
$335 buy-in, $40,000 Guarantee on Jan 27

Top 5 in the $10k get seats in the $20k.
Top 5 in the $20k get seats in the $40k.
Top 2 in the $40k get seats in the $500k at the end of June ($2700 buy-in).

The M has a $999 package for the weekend - entry into all 3 tournaments, 2 nights in the hotel, $100 property credit (use at the spa, restaurants, bars).

Those interested in signing up but paying with a credit card can do so by sending an email to hollywoodpokeropen@themresort.com - someone will call back to process your credit card.

The poker room is going to try and hold satellites daily the rest of the month for the $20k and $40k events. Satellites will start at noon and 8pm, or any time 10 people show up and want to play. Satellites for the $20k are $45. Satellites for the $40k are $60.

Multi-table satellites for the $40k will be held Sunday, Jan 13 and Sunday, Jan 20 at noon. Entry will be $75. For every 6 players, the M will award a seat to the $40k. Any prize money left after awarding seats will be awarded to 1st place.

You can also win your way into the $10k and $20k by qualifying for the $4k weekly free roll tournaments the next couple weeks. It only takes 12 hours to qualify. One $20k seat and two $10k seats awarded as part of the free roll each week.

How many runners are they getting for the 10am and 2pm tournaments? Just wondering if the $1K guarantee has helped. Are the 6pm and 10pm tourney fields a lot bigger than the day tourneys, or just a little bigger?

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I played in the 2pm on my last trip (Oct 20012) they had 27 runners, I think they had the 1k gteed but exceeded it, I got to the last three and we did a chop, got around 345 each.
I am back Feb 6-14th, will prob drop in and play one of their tourneys, will report back with findings.

What are the latest promos running at M? The poker room website has not been updated since the Hollywood Poker Open. The monthly calendar giveaways link is gone too.

PkrDlr may not post here frequently but he updates his twitter with whatever is currently going on at the M. For instance, earlier tonight he posted:

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