[barrett]

I have never played at Binion's so I can't comment.

I was in Vegas 3 weeks ago and played at the other places you've mentioned. Luxor and Excalibur are total second hand smoke fests in my opinion. The atmosphere just seems trashy to me.

Mandalay Bay has a nice room and good dealers but take note of the recent thread about their rules. Monte Carlo has a nice room but that place drove me nuts last time. There are bad players and then there are players who don't even know the rules of the game. I played against a few of those at MC and they took $100 from me before I left for the Bellagio.

For example:
I'm holding KK and of course a lady without the foggiest clue of how to play is holding AA. She didn't re-raise me pre-flop. An Ace comes out on the flop and she check-called me the whole way. Argh

I'm sticking with the Bellagio and Mirage exclusively from now on. I don't see any reason to go anywhere else -- you can still find loose passive players who will pay you off, smoke free, and the service is much better than any other casino.

My $0.02