 |
|
|||
Can't find it? Search All Vegas Poker: Register Now to contribute a poker room review or trip report.
AVP In The News! Click pics to watch videos...
The Excalibur poker room is the first poker room in Las Vegas to feature electronic poker tables.
LasVegasMichael and Doug weigh in during an interview with KLAS TV Channel 8 in Las Vegas. More details here
Home
Register
Submit Review
Post Trip Report
Big Rooms
Bellagio
Caesars Palace
MGM Grand
Mirage
Venetian
Wynn
Strip Rooms
Bally's
Bill's
Circus Circus
Excalibur (Electronic)
Flamingo
Harrah's
Hooters
Imperial Palace
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
Monte Carlo
O'Shea's
Planet Hollywood
Riviera
Sahara
Stratosphere
Treasure Island (TI)
Downtown Rooms
Binion's
El Cortez
Fitzgeralds
Golden Nugget
Plaza
Off-Strip Rooms
Aliante Station
Arizona Charlie's
Boulder Station
Cannery
Club Fortune
Eastside Cannery
Fiesta Henderson
Gold Coast
Green Valley Ranch
Hacienda (Boulder City)
Hard Rock
Joker's Wild
Orleans
Palace Station
Palms
Poker Palace
Red Rock
Rio
Sam's Town
Santa Fe
Silverton
South Point
Suncoast
Sunset Station
Texas Station
Tuscany
Closed Rooms
Aladdin
Excalibur (Live)
Fiesta Rancho
Hilton
Paris
Rampart
Stardust
Tropicana
Online Poker Rooms
Rakeback
Rankings
About
Logout
|
Trip Report A whirlwind week of poker Date: 01/26/07 Player: docxulp For Rooms: Caesars Palace,Circus Circus,Flamingo,Luxor,Venetian, Summary: I can't wait to do it again, knowing what I now know re: some of these poker rooms. (See below) Content: I needed a vacation to focus on something other than work and decided to check out multiple poker rooms in Vegas. Here's what I played in each and my impressions. If I had to do it all again, I'd visit only one room which is leaps and bounds above the rest (see the end of my report!) My trip started out with 2 3-6 limit hold'em sessions at circus circus. This room is not quite as bad as I expected given the description others have provided. It is just a seperated area off to the side of the entrance. It was relatively quiet when I played there and no, there were no large crowds of uncontrolled kids distracting from the game. The competition was a mix of locals and some relatively solid players. I lost about $50 across 5-6 hours in 2 sessions. I then began going to daily tournaments at Caesars. These were spread out evenly during my trip. 6 total, cashed in none but busted out on (or next to) 'the bubble' twice. These are nice tournaments because the levels are quite long (40 min!). Also, note that all "RE-BUYS" listed for the daily noon, 7pm, and 11pm tournaments are not real re-buys, but more accurately an option to either use as an add-on or a rebuy before the start of the third (?) round. I always purchased this "re-buy" up front as an add-on, as did most others I played with. There are definitely a lot of fish at the Caesar's tournaments but once you get to the top 20-25% of the players the competition stiffens up considerably. ~3.5 hours into the 11pm tournament I found myself short-stacked with only 10 players left, and it felt like it took at least an hour before the next person (myself) busted out. This is serious early morning endurance poker. Made no money in the tournaments but had a lot of fun. The caesar's dealers were all quite good and the room was well run. Their tournament room is huge and a bit sterile. It lacks the character of their main room. There is something about playing poker beneath a huge poster of Mohammad Ali that adds a little extra charm to the experience... Other cash games included Flamingo (2-4 limit hold'em) and luxor (the same). The flamingo, when I played my single session, was the first time I have ever sat down at a table and identified every single player there as a complete fish. This was quite a moment for me as often I seem to play this role. The folks at the table thought I was a bit mean for playing as aggressively as I did when I had a hand. There was definite money to be made if you had the patience as most of the players were 'calling stations' who just wanted to see if the next card would complete their hand... I turned $100 to $250 in about 2 hours which, to me, is pretty good given the limit. Again this was with all (and I do mean 100%) tourists at the table, half of whom did not have any idea how to play. I probably should have been up by even more than $150! I only played at the Luxor a single time. Very poor management, poor room as well. While we were playing someone in the casino thought it would be a good idea to clean the air ducts directly above our dealer. Unfortunately given the lighting in the room you could see the tons of dust and crud flung into the air. It was absolutely one of the most disguisting things I have ever seen. The management didn't seem to care. I thought our dealer was going to pass out from trying to hold his breath... Also there was one player at the table who was an abusive "prima donna" and had quite the malignant attitude at the table. He apparently has a long history with the management there. Per the other players at the table, who were happy to talk about him behind his back, this guy has a habit of being verbally abusive to players, cocktail waitresses, and dealers -- basically to anyone who will listen and take his abuse. I'm sorry but 2-4 limit texas hold'em is meant to be a fun game. The fact that the management did absolutely nothing to calm this guy down or even ask him to leave for his obnoxious behavior is a major turn-off for me. Combining how they dealt with this guy, combined with the dunginess of the room, made this room a complete bust for me. I will not be going back and recommend skipping it. Which is a shame because the last time I played poker in vegas (about 2 years ago) the Luxor seemed like a fairly good room especially for beginners. Not any more. Lastly I stumbled upon the Venetian. This is a jewel folks. I can't give it enough high praise. Some folks say that this room feels impersonal and isnt as nice as the bellagio or other more "intimate" rooms. I'm sorry but I could not disagree more. The room is very large with ample room to stretch out (the review where someone said Shaq could comfortably stretch out at the table was NOT an exaggeration!). The cocktail waitresses come by frequently and are easy on the eyes. The room is managed very well and the dealers appear top-notch. I played in one no-limit tournament there and had a good time. There was a significant mistake by a dealer when he turned the flop when someone still had yet to respond to a pre-flop raise. Immediately we stopped play and the floor person came up with a fair solution that made everyone satisfied. It was an honest mistake by the dealer but was handled very quickly and in a way that was fair. The competition for the tournament was very tough. A few novice players, who dropped out quickly, and the rest were sharks. Don't play in their tournaments looking for easy money as you won't find it... The Venetian 2-4 limit game is fairly easy. Lots of tourists blended with a few of us who have a fairly good idea of what we're doing. I ranged between a $60 loss to a $100 win across 4-5 sessions in this game. Lastly the venetian 1-2 no limit game: I had never played no limit before, except for the multiple no-limit tournaments which I believe I am quite good at but ultimately got 'blinded out' on during this trip. I played a single session of the 1-2 no limit, turned $200 to >$1000 in 4 hours. It was a complete blast. This was a mix of people playing "for fun" and expecting to lose their money (what I would consider 'fish') and a few solid players. To anyone reading this please take my advice: if you're hitting a blend of poker rooms during a trip to vegas I can not more strongly recommend that you pay the Venetian a visit sooner rather than later. The criticisms of the room (it's too big, it's impersonal, the tan felt gives eye-strain and makes it difficult to read the cards, etc) that I've read are just flat-out wrong. This is the place to play. The next time I come to vegas I'm getting a room at the Venetian (it will be worth the cost) and making that poker room my 'home base'. I hope you find this helpful. |
Comment on this trip report in our discussion forumPrevious Trip Report|Next Trip Report|Trip Reports Listing
Free Bellagio Poker Chip: Submit a qualified trip report or poker room review and receive a free authentic Bellagio poker chip. Details | |
| Can't Wait Until Vegas? Try Full Tilt Poker, my new personal favorite online poker room. | |
|
| |
 NeverwinPoker.com is UNCENSORED Poker Forum that lists online poker and poker rules. Play poker here now! | |