mrbaseball
04-29-2005, 10:07 PM
Just got back from 5 days in LV at the Mirage. Lots of new rooms to check out this trip.
Day One
Arrival
After checking into the Mirage and getting settled I headed to the Poker Room and played about 5 hours of 6/12. The game was soft but the cards sucked and I ended up losing about 50 bucks in unexciting action. Went out and grabbed some dinner then came back for mor 6/12. Played a couple of more hours to a virtual standstill to cap off mediocre start to the trip.
Day Two
Tournament time
Went over to the Aladdin in the early AM to sign up for the afternoon 50+10+40 NL tourney. Then I went back to the Mirage for a workout in the Spa. Having some time to kill I jumped in a 3/6 game at the Mirage. Things went well and I finally cashed out a winner of about 100 bucks. Then I headed over to the Aladdin for the tournament.
I hate these live tournamnts. The internet has spoiled me. Even with 3000 in chips after adding on and rebuying you don't have enough. The pace is too slow the blinds too fast to really stay ahead of the game without incredible luck. My cards were crappy and for the most part unplayable. We only got about 25 hands in before the first break and it was a challenge to stay ahead of the blinds. I had nothing to play with but made a couple of aggressive steals to stay solvent. When the blinds were 300/600 I got my best hand (99) at UTG +1. I had 3200 in chips (5 BBs) so I pushed. An old timer on the button with about 5K called with AQo, hit a Q on the turn and my tournament was over. I promise never to play in one of these again. Online is much better because the blinds start so much lower and you get so many more hands it isn't pure luck and push like these slow live tourneys.
I decided to try the ring games at the Aladdin and all they had going was 3/6 and 1/2 NL. I sat in a very soft 3/6 and won about 50 in my two hours of playing in it. This is a nice room but they have the stupid high hand jackpot which really sucks. Watching that $4 rake with the extra jackpot dollar slide down the tube every hand means that even with soft games the house is the only real winner here. If you just have to play in a live (lower limit) tournement this is the place to go on the strip but otherwise it is easily avoidable.
After dinner headed back to the Mirage for some 6/12 and 10/20 and mired in more bad cards and suckouts and dumped about 100.
Day Three
Running Bad
After an early morning workout I spent some quality time lounging around the pool. In the early afternoon I headed to the Mirage poker room again. They called the 6/12 game and only 4 of us showed up. One more guy came up and said he'd paly if they started it 5 handed. In the past I would have balked on this but in the last year I have played a lot of 6 max and no longer fear shorthanded. Anyway we played about 6 or 7 hands before the guy that lobbied for the game to start short left fot a NL game. 2 old rocks decided they didn't want to play anymore so the game broke. I got into a 3/6 for about an hour until they got another 6/12 off of the ground. I played for about 5 hours all told and ran crappy. I was card dead for the most part and when I did hit something I got rivered. I cashed out down about 200 and went to grab some food and drink. Later that night I sat down in a 3/6 and hated it as it was cramped and crowded and uncomfortable. I went around the table about 2 times and quit dumping another 50 before retiring to the bar for the evening.
Day Four
Change of Hat, Change of Venue
My bright white Chicago White Sox wasn't working and my beige White Sox hat wasn't doing much better. So I broke out the secret weapon, a brand new black on black White Sox hat I bought just before this trip. I also jumped the tram down to the MGM to see what all the hubub was about the new room there.
The MGM is awesome! Easily my new favorite room. The electronic lists and seat openings make it by far the best run room I have ever seen. It's big and comforatble and spacious and roomy. The chairs are the best in town too. As a 2 times a year tourist I am much more into comfort and ambience than almost anything else. By comparision the Mirage is an absolute shithole.
I got right into a 6/12 that was very laggy and fishy with a couple of real clueless action players. I played for about 4 and a half hours and won about 400 which felt good after the previous days suckouts and pain. Then I went out for a nice dinner. When I came back the 6/12 had broken and there was only an interest list. I just wanted to play smaller and drink anyway. I got right into a 4/8 which was tight and taggish. Much tougher than the afternoon 6/12. Since the game sucked I didn't play too long and left after giving back about 50.
Last trip Harrahs had good wild 4/8 action which I was in the mood for. But this time they only had 3/6 going. I got into either the best or worst 3/6 game in the world. It featured a pretty much clueless lineup with a maniac foriegn guy who pretty much raised all the time. It would have been a fantastic game if not for the pace. The pace was unbearable. I posted in the middle, paid my blinds once and left as my second big blind came and that was over an hour. In that hour we played about 12 or 13 hands. The forign guy and his buddy paused and posed at every decision and the rest of the table was very slow too. I couldn't take it so I just quit for the night.
Day Five
We have a Wynner
Took an early morining stroll down to the new and exciting Wynn casino which had just opened at midnight. It was very Bellagioesque. Walking in through the stores was almost identical to entering the Bellagio from the Caesers side. The casino has the look and feel of the Bellagio with a slightly different color scheme.
At 6am the poker room had some decent action going but I didn't feel like playing. I wanted to go back and grab some breakfast and spend some pooltime. After eating I realized the pool wasn't gonna happen because it was cool and cloudy. Until this day the weather had been perfect.
I headed back to Wynn around 8am and got into a 4/8 game. They had an interest for 8/16 and had a 15/30 and I think 40/80 going along with a few 4/8s and NLs.
The game I got in was squishy soft. About midway in the session I peeked down UTG to see something I had yet to see this trip. Two aces. Two red aces to be exact. I had been playing a lot for 5 days straight and this was my first AA. I popped it and something strange happened (or not for this table) in that everyone called. The flop was AJx rainbow so with the set I didn't need to fear crappy 2 pair. The turn and river were inconsequential cards. I had about 5 or 6 stay with me on the flop and 3 stick on the turn but the 3 survivorsw folded on the river and I dragged a nice one. The very next hand in my BB I got a KK. I popped about 5 limpers and although not as big I dragged another beauty and I had chips everywhere since I didn't have a chance to stack the first huge pot. It took me about the next 3 or 4 hands just to get situated stacking all those chips. I built a fairly impressive pyramid. My favorite thing about 4/8 is all the chips and chip architecure possibilities when you run good. I played for 2.5 hours and won about 250. Most of it on those 2 hands.
The Wynn room is down a hallway off of the casino. It's a nice room but I expected nicer. The chairs are good and comfortable but the tables are kind of cramped and close together giving the Mirage style sardine can feel. They have the electronic list but not the electronic empty seat listing like at MGM? This seems like a major and stupid oversight to me. The dealer still has to yell out "seat open" which is very often the exact spot it all breaks down. They could have done better. Since (unless you are staying there) this place is very inconviently located for the typical tourist I expect they will have problems once the newness wears off.
On to the Bellagio! The new improved Bellagio. I still hate the Bellagio. I got right into an 8/16 game which sucked. I made it 6 handed. It was very taggish. Except for the old man. The old man had no idea and he was the only reason to be playing this game. Eventually the game filled (sort of) but always had at least 2 or 3 people walking so it never really played for more than 6 or 7 handed. I played for about 2 hours leaving right afer the old man did and I won about 50 for my trouble.
The new Bellagio is better than the old Bellagio but I still find it to be a very uncomfortable room. The tables seem a bit bigger (which is good) but still with a cramped feel to the room. I was in seat 8 at the end of one table and my chairback was right up against the chairback at the ajacent table. There was much jockeying to be done when a waitress or dealer needed to get through. I hated the old chairs ther. I hate the new chairs there. I like a solid and sturdy 4 legged chair. These swivel and rock and don't slide at all which made it tough when that waitress needed to get through. And in 6 months after being sat in 23.9 hours a day by fatass poker players they will take on the wobble factor of the old chairs. I can't believe they have the same old clipboard system that has proven itself to be extremely inefficient. Tourists just love being ignored by the guy with the clipboard /images/graemlins/smile.gif They also have what I assume to be and Ultra High level room in addition to the old style high limit area. It's in a closed off room with 2 tables and a bunch of cushy looking chairs and sofas. Johnny Chan was in there playing some guys heads up. I'm not sure what they were playing? There were a bunch of face up cards but it didn't look like stud or a flop game. I still have no reason to go to the Bellagio.
That evening I headed back to the Mirage and kept running well at 6/12 and finished the night up close to 400 for the trip and left town early the next morning. It started slowly for me this trip but I eventually got into the plus.
Conclusions
Goodbye Mirage, hello MGM! I love this new room even though I only spent one day there. MGM is poker room done right. I can't believe the Wynn missed the electronic seat openings? And I really can't beleive the Bellagio didn't go electronic at all.
For a guy like me who vactions to LV twice a year to play poker (comfortably) there is really no other choice than the MGM side of the strip now. The room is too good and it also has the comfortable Mandalay Bay and Monte Carlo and Aladdin withing spitting distance and even the Excaliber (which I think is the ultimate rathole) and the Luxor (or Suxor if you wish).
I really like the Mirage hotel. I like the pool and the spa b ut for poker comfort my next stay (this fall) will be down the street either at the MGM or damn close to it. The Mirage poker room is just too cramped and uncomfortable and poorly run to compete in the current environment. If they are smart (and I don't think they are?) they will rebuild it in the spirit of the MGM or they will be buried by the Wynn, MGM and Bellagio. MGM won me over big, but as a tourist I'm into convienince and comfort.
Day One
Arrival
After checking into the Mirage and getting settled I headed to the Poker Room and played about 5 hours of 6/12. The game was soft but the cards sucked and I ended up losing about 50 bucks in unexciting action. Went out and grabbed some dinner then came back for mor 6/12. Played a couple of more hours to a virtual standstill to cap off mediocre start to the trip.
Day Two
Tournament time
Went over to the Aladdin in the early AM to sign up for the afternoon 50+10+40 NL tourney. Then I went back to the Mirage for a workout in the Spa. Having some time to kill I jumped in a 3/6 game at the Mirage. Things went well and I finally cashed out a winner of about 100 bucks. Then I headed over to the Aladdin for the tournament.
I hate these live tournamnts. The internet has spoiled me. Even with 3000 in chips after adding on and rebuying you don't have enough. The pace is too slow the blinds too fast to really stay ahead of the game without incredible luck. My cards were crappy and for the most part unplayable. We only got about 25 hands in before the first break and it was a challenge to stay ahead of the blinds. I had nothing to play with but made a couple of aggressive steals to stay solvent. When the blinds were 300/600 I got my best hand (99) at UTG +1. I had 3200 in chips (5 BBs) so I pushed. An old timer on the button with about 5K called with AQo, hit a Q on the turn and my tournament was over. I promise never to play in one of these again. Online is much better because the blinds start so much lower and you get so many more hands it isn't pure luck and push like these slow live tourneys.
I decided to try the ring games at the Aladdin and all they had going was 3/6 and 1/2 NL. I sat in a very soft 3/6 and won about 50 in my two hours of playing in it. This is a nice room but they have the stupid high hand jackpot which really sucks. Watching that $4 rake with the extra jackpot dollar slide down the tube every hand means that even with soft games the house is the only real winner here. If you just have to play in a live (lower limit) tournement this is the place to go on the strip but otherwise it is easily avoidable.
After dinner headed back to the Mirage for some 6/12 and 10/20 and mired in more bad cards and suckouts and dumped about 100.
Day Three
Running Bad
After an early morning workout I spent some quality time lounging around the pool. In the early afternoon I headed to the Mirage poker room again. They called the 6/12 game and only 4 of us showed up. One more guy came up and said he'd paly if they started it 5 handed. In the past I would have balked on this but in the last year I have played a lot of 6 max and no longer fear shorthanded. Anyway we played about 6 or 7 hands before the guy that lobbied for the game to start short left fot a NL game. 2 old rocks decided they didn't want to play anymore so the game broke. I got into a 3/6 for about an hour until they got another 6/12 off of the ground. I played for about 5 hours all told and ran crappy. I was card dead for the most part and when I did hit something I got rivered. I cashed out down about 200 and went to grab some food and drink. Later that night I sat down in a 3/6 and hated it as it was cramped and crowded and uncomfortable. I went around the table about 2 times and quit dumping another 50 before retiring to the bar for the evening.
Day Four
Change of Hat, Change of Venue
My bright white Chicago White Sox wasn't working and my beige White Sox hat wasn't doing much better. So I broke out the secret weapon, a brand new black on black White Sox hat I bought just before this trip. I also jumped the tram down to the MGM to see what all the hubub was about the new room there.
The MGM is awesome! Easily my new favorite room. The electronic lists and seat openings make it by far the best run room I have ever seen. It's big and comforatble and spacious and roomy. The chairs are the best in town too. As a 2 times a year tourist I am much more into comfort and ambience than almost anything else. By comparision the Mirage is an absolute shithole.
I got right into a 6/12 that was very laggy and fishy with a couple of real clueless action players. I played for about 4 and a half hours and won about 400 which felt good after the previous days suckouts and pain. Then I went out for a nice dinner. When I came back the 6/12 had broken and there was only an interest list. I just wanted to play smaller and drink anyway. I got right into a 4/8 which was tight and taggish. Much tougher than the afternoon 6/12. Since the game sucked I didn't play too long and left after giving back about 50.
Last trip Harrahs had good wild 4/8 action which I was in the mood for. But this time they only had 3/6 going. I got into either the best or worst 3/6 game in the world. It featured a pretty much clueless lineup with a maniac foriegn guy who pretty much raised all the time. It would have been a fantastic game if not for the pace. The pace was unbearable. I posted in the middle, paid my blinds once and left as my second big blind came and that was over an hour. In that hour we played about 12 or 13 hands. The forign guy and his buddy paused and posed at every decision and the rest of the table was very slow too. I couldn't take it so I just quit for the night.
Day Five
We have a Wynner
Took an early morining stroll down to the new and exciting Wynn casino which had just opened at midnight. It was very Bellagioesque. Walking in through the stores was almost identical to entering the Bellagio from the Caesers side. The casino has the look and feel of the Bellagio with a slightly different color scheme.
At 6am the poker room had some decent action going but I didn't feel like playing. I wanted to go back and grab some breakfast and spend some pooltime. After eating I realized the pool wasn't gonna happen because it was cool and cloudy. Until this day the weather had been perfect.
I headed back to Wynn around 8am and got into a 4/8 game. They had an interest for 8/16 and had a 15/30 and I think 40/80 going along with a few 4/8s and NLs.
The game I got in was squishy soft. About midway in the session I peeked down UTG to see something I had yet to see this trip. Two aces. Two red aces to be exact. I had been playing a lot for 5 days straight and this was my first AA. I popped it and something strange happened (or not for this table) in that everyone called. The flop was AJx rainbow so with the set I didn't need to fear crappy 2 pair. The turn and river were inconsequential cards. I had about 5 or 6 stay with me on the flop and 3 stick on the turn but the 3 survivorsw folded on the river and I dragged a nice one. The very next hand in my BB I got a KK. I popped about 5 limpers and although not as big I dragged another beauty and I had chips everywhere since I didn't have a chance to stack the first huge pot. It took me about the next 3 or 4 hands just to get situated stacking all those chips. I built a fairly impressive pyramid. My favorite thing about 4/8 is all the chips and chip architecure possibilities when you run good. I played for 2.5 hours and won about 250. Most of it on those 2 hands.
The Wynn room is down a hallway off of the casino. It's a nice room but I expected nicer. The chairs are good and comfortable but the tables are kind of cramped and close together giving the Mirage style sardine can feel. They have the electronic list but not the electronic empty seat listing like at MGM? This seems like a major and stupid oversight to me. The dealer still has to yell out "seat open" which is very often the exact spot it all breaks down. They could have done better. Since (unless you are staying there) this place is very inconviently located for the typical tourist I expect they will have problems once the newness wears off.
On to the Bellagio! The new improved Bellagio. I still hate the Bellagio. I got right into an 8/16 game which sucked. I made it 6 handed. It was very taggish. Except for the old man. The old man had no idea and he was the only reason to be playing this game. Eventually the game filled (sort of) but always had at least 2 or 3 people walking so it never really played for more than 6 or 7 handed. I played for about 2 hours leaving right afer the old man did and I won about 50 for my trouble.
The new Bellagio is better than the old Bellagio but I still find it to be a very uncomfortable room. The tables seem a bit bigger (which is good) but still with a cramped feel to the room. I was in seat 8 at the end of one table and my chairback was right up against the chairback at the ajacent table. There was much jockeying to be done when a waitress or dealer needed to get through. I hated the old chairs ther. I hate the new chairs there. I like a solid and sturdy 4 legged chair. These swivel and rock and don't slide at all which made it tough when that waitress needed to get through. And in 6 months after being sat in 23.9 hours a day by fatass poker players they will take on the wobble factor of the old chairs. I can't believe they have the same old clipboard system that has proven itself to be extremely inefficient. Tourists just love being ignored by the guy with the clipboard /images/graemlins/smile.gif They also have what I assume to be and Ultra High level room in addition to the old style high limit area. It's in a closed off room with 2 tables and a bunch of cushy looking chairs and sofas. Johnny Chan was in there playing some guys heads up. I'm not sure what they were playing? There were a bunch of face up cards but it didn't look like stud or a flop game. I still have no reason to go to the Bellagio.
That evening I headed back to the Mirage and kept running well at 6/12 and finished the night up close to 400 for the trip and left town early the next morning. It started slowly for me this trip but I eventually got into the plus.
Conclusions
Goodbye Mirage, hello MGM! I love this new room even though I only spent one day there. MGM is poker room done right. I can't believe the Wynn missed the electronic seat openings? And I really can't beleive the Bellagio didn't go electronic at all.
For a guy like me who vactions to LV twice a year to play poker (comfortably) there is really no other choice than the MGM side of the strip now. The room is too good and it also has the comfortable Mandalay Bay and Monte Carlo and Aladdin withing spitting distance and even the Excaliber (which I think is the ultimate rathole) and the Luxor (or Suxor if you wish).
I really like the Mirage hotel. I like the pool and the spa b ut for poker comfort my next stay (this fall) will be down the street either at the MGM or damn close to it. The Mirage poker room is just too cramped and uncomfortable and poorly run to compete in the current environment. If they are smart (and I don't think they are?) they will rebuild it in the spirit of the MGM or they will be buried by the Wynn, MGM and Bellagio. MGM won me over big, but as a tourist I'm into convienince and comfort.