Best Vegas Poker rooms

[Accident]

Hey all. I'm going to Vegas to play, um, what was it...oh, yea, POKER!! Halloween weekend. Any suggestions for places to play NL holde'em? Tournaments? My bankroll will be in the $100's not the $1,000's. We will be staying somewhere in the vicinity of the Imperial Palace I think. We will have a car most likely so, we can drive to anywhere. Any opinions as to your favorite place and why would be appreciated.
Thanx,
Accident /images/graemlins/club.gif

[Al_Capone_Junior]

My personal fav for your size budget in vegas is the excalibur. it's a well run room, and the "wheel-o-shame" is kinda fun too. Their no limit $100 game is very juicy late at night. they have mostly 1-3 or 2-6 spread limit games. the 2-6 can be an excellent game for a good player who understands how to adapt to that structure. 1-3 is all fish and I only play it when a group of 2+2ers come to town and want to screw around, get drunk, and ram-and-jam. Scout games in that room as they have a lot of tables and some games are much better than others. My overall rating of excalibur is very good, one of the best in vegas.

I suggest avoiding mirage and bellagio, particularly during mid-day, as it is not likely to be the best action, to say the least. sometimes night action there can be good, but daytime usually sux at the limits you want to play.

actually, daytime poker in vegas just plain sux almost everywhere, you gotta wait till the loo-loo-loosies, action jacksons, rammy-mc-jammies, and cappy-McCaps come out, which is well after dark.

The aladdin (which will soon be planet hollywood) will have a new room by the time you get here, should be worth checking out, they are likely to get spill-over from bellagio when the lines get long, and will probably cater more to the touristy types. Aladdin will also have full size blinds in all games, not the mini-blinds.

Monte carlo has a room, I believe the 4-8 game has 1-2 mini-blinds there, as do many places on the strip and throughout town. Personally, I prefer the full-size blinds, but that is just me.

I have played at imperial palace a couple times, wasn't too impressed actually, but it wasn't bad or anything.

Harrah's has a room, never played there, so not sure.

Bally's has a room, but it is smack dab in the middle of the pit, so noisy and smoky.

Mandalay bay has a very nice room, but it is often crowded, particularly weekends. Game quality ranges from great to poor. They have $200 no limit, but if you only have $1000 I would suggest NOT playing no limit games that large, stick to excalibur's $100 game. Smallest game at MB is 4-8 (with a 1/2 kill I believe) and they spread mini-blind games.

Poker downtown is nothing special, I wouldn't suggest a special trip just for that.

Luxor is so-so in the overall game quality, and only has small limits. their promotions are good if you are going to stay more than a day or two, but overall I don't rate it very high.

Some off-strip casinos also have poker, but none are particularly worthy of mention here.

Orleans has poker, but overall they have been as friendly to me as a polar bear is on baby seal beach.

Palms has poker, and it can be very good at times, it's kinda hit or miss. Avoid the $500 no limit game with your bankroll, it is very dangerous.

This is not a comprehensive list, but all I could think of while drinking a nice Johnny Walker Black on the rocks and surfing the "ferums." /images/graemlins/grin.gif

you can pm me if you would like to meet up while in vegas. if you are going to be here on a wednesday, you should visit the wednesday poker discussion group at 2pm at binion's.

al

[Luv2DriveTT]

I have now been in an out of Vegas three times in the past month (sample size is too small) but I think I can add to Al's comments.

I'd stick to the following rooms based on your bankroll:
1) Excaliber - fun fun fun! Smoking is allowed in the poker room, which made me cringe. Spin the wheel, make a deal!
2) The Orleans - I hope you like taking candy from a baby, because their baby blinds encourage the entire table to play. The 4/8 game with 1-2 blinds. Almost everyone at the table calls 2 (because its cheep). But the first raise is $4, making it $6 to go. The flop and all other streets play standard 4/8. Horrible table felt (feels like an aligator skin, perfect for the theme) but great dealers who moved the action along and were fun to be around. I am looking forward to returning! No smoking poker room, but smoking casino. Woo Woo! Its a 1/2 kill game! FUN!
3) I disagree with Al about one thing, visit downtown for some very soft low-limit games. Play Binions, they have great chips and good dealers. The room feels like a nasty old bar, but the lighting looks just like it does on TV. I had a blast playing there... a Grandma donating to the pot playing against Raisy McRaiser and Straddle McStraddle (no relation). I sat in the middle waiting paitently to strike and won almost every pot I entered between these two. Good times, PLUS if you get tired of Binions you have the 4 Queens and the Nugget next door. Freemont street is cheesy and unexciting to me, but some people love it. Best of all its a semi-short walking distance of 8 blocks to the Gambler's General Store - a must visit location!

Finally, I agree with Al.... avoid the Mirage and the Bellagio with a small bank. And especially avoid it during the day. I found the Mirage to be tight but filled with bad players during my last trip, the Bellagio had slightly better players with a lot more action in their 4/8 game (that is the only limit I played here, I was too tired to try anything else).

Next time I am in town I'll try to stop by the weekly Wednesday meeting, I keep missing it /images/graemlins/frown.gif

TT in da club /images/graemlins/club.gif

[imaptone]

The Bellagio spreads a nice no limit game. Its a $300 max buy in with small blinds. The Orleans has 2 tournaments every day 1 at noonish and 1 at 7ish. They have always have had at least 100 players. The buy ins are relatively low, with rebuys and add ons.

[Luv2DriveTT]

woops.... I missread the post. I thought you were asking about limit games. Sorry..... my advice won't help you too much!

TT

[jpg777]

fyi... smoking is no longer allowed at Excalibur.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

[ QUOTE ]
fyi... smoking is no longer allowed at Excalibur.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or Luxor, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Mirage, Mandalay Bay and I think Imperial Palace.

Most importantly, Mandalay has the best cocktail waitress constumes (if you are a woman, please ignore the last bit, you probably wouldn't appreciate it).

[Derek in NYC]

The Orleans is the best poker room in town for low limit in my opinion. This statement may strike some as ridiculous, but I played there for about 20 hours on my last trip, and was stacking chips hand over fist from the idiots.

Disagree totally on the spread limit game at the Excalibur. The players are bad, yes, but I think spread limit sucks, and the action is so slow on those tables because the players are really too new.

I LOVE THE ORLEANS.

[Eder]

Played alot of rooms this trip...Orleans was best for me...lots of tables so no wait...loose play...fast waitresses...tried Flamingo tonite...nothing special...2/5 nl but game never filled and broke after 2 hours,seemed bit tight....

[Ghazban]

Thanks for the info Al. I'm going to Vegas for the first time next month and have been wondering where the best places to play no-limit are. I'll PM you closer to the trip to get info about the Wednesday discussion group, too.

[Accident]

Great info, thanx guys. I've never played limit except for free online. That's why I didnt ask about it. If it's the only thing available I would play it. Any advice for playing live limit?
Accident

[imaptone]

Buy Winning Low Limit Holdem by Lee Jones. When you understand it buy Ed Millers Small Stakes Holdem book. When you understand it you'll kick a$$.

[OrangeCat]

[ QUOTE ]
The Orleans is the best poker room in town for low limit in my opinion.

[/ QUOTE ]How did you find the no limit game there? I agree about the limit games.

[Luv2DriveTT]

[ QUOTE ]
The Orleans is the best poker room in town for low limit in my opinion. This statement may strike some as ridiculous, but I played there for about 20 hours on my last trip, and was stacking chips hand over fist from the idiots.

[/ QUOTE ]

I only played $4-$8-$8 Texas Hold'em with a 1/2 Kill, what are the other games like? They also have 6-12 and 10-20, but I would assume the blinds are standard for these games (unlike the 4/8 which has 1 & 2 dollar blinds to rncourage family pots)

TT /images/graemlins/club.gif

[AllVegasPoker.com]

With a bankroll in the 100's, I really wouldn't recommend getting into any NLH games with buy-ins of $200-500 (such as Palms, Bellagio, Harrah's, etc). You will probably want to check out the Luxor $50 NLH game which has a min/max buy-in of only 50 bucks. Also, right next door, you can't go wrong with the Excalibur $100 min/max no limit game.

Also, I should mention that the Imperial Palace has some lively tournaments with relatively low limit buy-ins. Since you're staying next to the IP, you should check out their tournament schedule -- and perhaps play some cash games there because the IP has some of the best comps in town ($3 per hour back to the player in comp dollars).

Let me know if you have any specific questions about any room in Vegas.

[ncskiier]

Allvegaspoker- Your site is great. What a tool for frequent AND infrequent visitors to vegas. Everyone should bookmark this site and support this site by posting their trip reports and room reviews.

[AllVegasPoker.com]

[ QUOTE ]
Allvegaspoker- Your site is great. What a tool for frequent AND infrequent visitors to vegas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks so much! I'm really working hard to create a quality resource. And, if anyone has any questions about Vegas card rooms, I'm always glad to answer.

[bunky9590]

[ QUOTE ]
Most importantly, Mandalay has the best cocktail waitress constumes

[/ QUOTE ]

No way can it be better than the micro minis, fishnets and high heels of the Palms Babes. Hubba hubba.

[westmt01]

I highly recommend the daily 2:00pm tourneys at the Horseshoe downtown. Harrah's has done a good job of de-crudifying the place after Becky Binion ran it into the ground. Buy-in is $60 for 1000 chips or $70 for 1500, plus $40 for an additional 1000 chips any time during the first hour.

The players are mostly pretty bad - though a guy that looked suspiciously like Kerry Wood of the Cubs eliminated me late in a tourney a few weeks ago when I made a foolish semi-bluff all-in. I usually get there about noon when sign-up starts, then play in the very soft low-limit ring-games while waiting for the tourney to start. All-in-all I think Horseshoe is a great place to play in the afternoon/evening.

I also highly recommend Imperial Palace. The players there are VERY VERY BAD!! The games are very friendly and profitable.

[Accident]

Staying at the Imperial Palace. Bought Sklansky's book about low limit for experts put out Jun or July 2004. NIce read. Thanx for all the advice. Took notes and will be touring lots of casinos. Leaving 1st thing tomorrow. (Friday) I will look you up Al.
Accident

[Accident]

PS. Will I need anything nicer than bluejeans and white athletic shoes? We prolly will only go to buffet's and maybe a comedy show or something, besides all the poker.
THanx,
Accident /images/graemlins/club.gif

[Eder]

Most people going to Vegas need to bring fewer clothes and bring more money

[dabbler]

Or clothes that you could sell for money. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif