friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

Well, I'm heading to Vegas this weekend and plan to log some time at the poker tables. I've been to Vegas before but have never played poker there (I mostly play online or in home games). I'm not poker newbie, per se, but I've never played Hold 'Em in a casino. So I was wondering what card rooms would you guys recommend. I'm staying at the Luxor and I hear they have either 1/2 or 2/4 NLHE so I'm looking for something around those kind of stakes, possibly a 3/6 or a 5/10 as well. Also, how do the poker rooms work? Do you pay an hourly fee to sit? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Tony Stacks

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

I was just there last weekend and I had a great time at the Excalibur. I was playing with a few buddies of mine with different levels of experience/comfort playing poker. they have 1/3 and 2/6 spread limit hold'em with single blinds and 1/2 $100 max NLHE is the highest they spread). Anybody playing 2/6 or higher who has Aces cracked gets to go up to a big wheel and take a spin to win some money. They also have a bad beat jackpot.

My advice would be start off playing NLHE at the Ex or Luxor and to get comfortable. If you're running well try the Bellagio, but it's a lot tougher game. Anybody with something to prove is at the Bellagio.

I think the fact that the Ex is strictly low-limit keeps away the WPT wanna-bes at the Bellagio.

I've always liked the Luxor, but that's probably b/c it was the first poker room I ever played at(and I won a bad beat).

I think most poker rooms take a rake from the low limit games and time charge for higher stakes.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

Thanks for the reply Tank. I've been browsing the B&M threads and found some great info (specifically a FAQ for first time B&M players. I just don't want to look like (too much of a) schmuck and slow the game down.

T. Stacks

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

Play at Luxor or Excalibur...and if you want to step up a bit to 4/8 half kill then go next door to Mandalay Bay...all have very beatable games. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

VC

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

Well, I forgot to ask this in my first post, but what kind of buyin for a 2/4 or 3/6 limit game would you guys recommend? That FAQ that I read suggested a buyin of at least 10-20 big bets.....does this sound about right?

-Stacks

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

no the buyin should be more like 20-30 big bets.

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

If you want to play 4/8 definately check out the Bellagio. Very soft games in the nicest place in town. Actually, even if you don't play it's worth going by the Bellagio and watching the action for a while. You may see someone you recognize and the poker room and casino are worth seeing.

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

I would just go ahead and buyin for a rack at those levels..but have more cash available to "beef up" your stack if you start running a little low.

VC

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

Getting a rack of $1 chips ($100) should be fine, but as someone else says, be ready to buy a little more if you dip below $50 or so. Nothing is worse than getting a good hand and then being all in on the flop.

Re: friendliest vegas poker rooms?
 

This seems to be a constant thread here. If you have on-line poker experience you are way ahead of a lot of people sitting down at the tables these days. Just remember to protect your cards and act in turn. Don't worry about appearing like a newbie and forget about your table image. Like I've said before, there are plenty of people who have been playing for years and are still schmucks.