Las Vegas trip....need some help

[DocHollyday]

Hi folks,

I'm planning to go to sacred land in december. As it is my first poker trip to vegas, I wonder if you can recommend me some cool card rooms. I intend to play 5-10$ holdem up to 10-20$ holdem. Additionally it would be cool to participate in a weekly (I stay one week) tournament, if this is available....!

Would be very glad to get some ideas.

Thanks

The doc

[2planka]

Hey Doc,

I'm heading out on Thursday (10/16). I'll provide a report when I get back. Not sure what limits are spread at what places,but I'll know better in a week!

2p

[johnb]

If this is your first trip to Las Vegas you want to visit the Mirage and Bellagio. The Mirage spreads 6-12 and 10-20. Bellagio spreads 8-16 and 15-30. Both are nice and professionally well run rooms. My personal preference is the Mirage as I am playing at about a 6-12 level when I go out right now. I don’t know of any specific 5-10 games in Las Vegas.

The Horseshoe has some 4-8 and 10-20 I think. You may want to visit there if you do downtown (and I recommend a downtown trip at least once. If nothing else, Main Street Station has one of the best buffets in town) However, except for the history I’ve never seen much to recommend the Shoe. I understand that Mandaly Bay may occasionally get a 10-20 game up but I think most everyone else spreads 3-6 or 4-8.

JB

[Dynasty]

There are no 5-10 hold 'em games on the Strip and probably not in the entire city. 6-12, 10-20, and 20-40 are at the Mirage. 8-16, 15-30, and 30-60 are at the Bellagio. 4-8 and 3-6 are all over the place.

[CrackerZack]

The only place I've seen 5-10 in LV was at Monte Carlo when I was there in March. Since posting on this board with Dynasty I've found out that this was an anamoly. But if you really want to play 5-10, get there kind of early and try to start an interest list. Both times I played the game was full with a few on the list so there is definitely interest out there. blinds were $2 and $5 as expected.

[DocHollyday]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

[MrDannimal]

Is there a reason that 4-8 games are common and 5-10 games are scarce? Psychological due to # of chips/pot? Harder to rake a 5-10 game because it's almost all $5 chips?

[TobDog]

I heard the same thing, in LA there is a lot of 9-18 games with $3 chips but very few 10-20 games, I was told that the pot size in the 9-18 makes it more attractive with the 3 chip 6 chip pots than the 2 chip 4 chip pots.

[M.B.E.]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a reason that 4-8 games are common and 5-10 games are scarce? Psychological due to # of chips/pot? Harder to rake a 5-10 game because it's almost all $5 chips?

[/ QUOTE ]
Definitely the psychological factor due to the number of chips. Raking a 5-10 game is no more difficult than raking a 15-30 game.

[2planka]

Got in on Thursday 10/16, watched the Sox lose. I was in town with my wife and some friends for a wedding, so my playing time was limited.

Friday I headed up the strip intending to check out Mandalay, but I never made it there. I stopped in the Luxor to have a look around and, after asking two attendants, found the tiny poker room there. It's little more than a roped off area set in a corner off the main casino. It was dead. One table was spreading 1-5 stud. There are only about 9 tables in the whole place. I asked about HE and they said they usually spread 2-4 and 4-8 but that's it. They supposedly have a noontime tourney with a $25 buy in every day. It was almost noon so I stuck around to see if it picked up. The tourney took over the room, and I was sent to the rail by the boss. Once players started popping out (about 15 minutes into the tourney) they spread a 4-8 game. I decided to play, just to check it out. It was very soft, with the exception of the prop players (there were two at the table initially). I ended up playing for around 5 hours and turned a nice profit. Pretty fun.

Friday night I went to Bellagio. It's a very nice room with a separate section for higher limit games, but it was just flat out mobbed. I had to wait in line for five minutes just to get my name on the list. After an hour wait I finally got into a 6-12 game. It was a fun table with lots of banter but I was cold decked. The best hand I made was two pair - AJ - and even that was no good. None of my draws hit and I failed to make a single set in four hours of play. Still, the game was very soft, full of passive calling stations. Clearly a Friday night crowd. Without the cards, though, I ended up losing $36. Really too bad as this was a great table... if only the cards were nicer.

I continued to miss just about every flop when I played at the Mirage Sunday night. This was the nicest room of the three. It's large (about 20 - 30 tables I think), well-lit, and well ventilated. It's surrounded by a four foot high wall on two sides which gives the railbirds a nice view without having them clamoring around the tables. The room is in the front of the casino, very close to the main entrance. Again there was a substantial wait. I got on the 6-12 and 3-6 lists and took the first available. I played 3-6 and was seated between two very aggressive players. I requested a seat change after one orbit, but had to wait for one to open up. Once I had these guys on my right I caught some good cards and managed to win a pot here and there, but this was definately a "show me the winner" table. By and large everyone chased and raises got little respect. Maybe it was the tourist crowd. Other than the two agressive players, the rest of the table was pretty passive and very, very loose. The dealers were pretty good, though not as good as at Bellagio, IMO. I played at the same table at the Mirage from about 9:00 to about 2:00. I just couldn't consistently find a hand that would hold up. Had a great time, even though I left down $60 (which is a big loss, in my opinion, at the 3-6 limit).

Still plenty of cardrooms to check out when I go back.

[M.B.E.]

Is Bellagio really spreading 6/12 holdem now? Does anyone know how long it's been doing that?

[Big Al]

They dont spread 6-12 there, this guy is full of it. 4-8 and 8-16 are the lower games there. His whole story os complete B.S.. How do you play 4 hours in a 6-12, not make a hand, and the best hand you make is 2 pair and lose, and only lose 36 bucks for the session? This guy is a nut job who likes to tell fantasy stories about Vegas...

[M.B.E.]

[ QUOTE ]
They dont spread 6-12 there, this guy is full of it. 4-8 and 8-16 are the lower games there. His whole story os complete B.S.. How do you play 4 hours in a 6-12, not make a hand, and the best hand you make is 2 pair and lose, and only lose 36 bucks for the session? This guy is a nut job who likes to tell fantasy stories about Vegas...

[/ QUOTE ]
Well I wouldn't assume he's making this up; it could have been an honest mistake. My assumption is that he was playing 8/16 at Bellagio (or maybe 4/8), and got confused with the 6/12 spread at Mirage. The loss of $36 does seem low considering that he never made a hand, played draws which lost, etc., but it is possible if it was a tight passive game, and he was able to steal the blinds often enough to compensate for never making a legitimate hand that won. Or maybe the $36 was a typo and he really meant $360.

Really -- if you were going to make up fantasies about what you did for your weekend in Las Vegas, I think you'd come up with something a lot better than "I played holdem for 10 hours and took a small loss".

In any event, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

[M.B.E.]

Okay, I just reread the post and now it all makes sense. At the top he says he was in town with his wife and so playing time was limited. Then he provides lots of details about his holdem sessions which, as Big Al pointed out, don't quite have the ring of truth.

Obviously he went to the Palomino Club or Cheetah's, and his 2+2 post is part of an intricate alibi for his wife's benefit!