Goin to Vegas next week...

Will be staying at the Flamingo. I am inexperienced, playing mostly home Holdem L/L games. I want to avoid the casinos where it is mostly local sharks are lying in wait for fish (like me!). I want a fun game with mostly tourists/vacationers, if that is possible. Also, I am familiar with the casino rake, but I have also heard that there are also time charges on top of that. How does that work and how much are these extra charges? Any advise on where to play near the Flamingo where I can have fun playing mostly fish like myself in 2/4 or 3/6 games? Thanks for any responses!

[pokerstudAA]

I just got back from going last weekend.

I played the $42 torunaments at the Sahara. 11a, 7p, 11p. One $20 rebuy. About 120-150 entrys. Good tournaments. I also played 4/8 at the MGM grand (niiiice poker room) and the RIO (not as nice). I recommend the Sahara tourneys - low cost and alot of play.

[Oblivious]

The sahara tourneys have quite a bit of juice. But if youre just out to have fun, then go for it. You can play 2/4 (and sometimes 3/6) at the MGM. The consentration of vacationers in the MGM limit games is pretty much the highest in town. You also get $1 per hour in comps. Other rooms to check out are the Wynn (if youre willing to play 4/8) and Bellagio (also 4/8). Fiesta al Lago is going on right now at Bellagio, so in the evenings you can see the likes of Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, and other recognizable players in "Bobbys Room." They'll all be playing 4000/8000 mixed games. I saw Larry Flynt in there the other night playing 4k/8k stud with everyone.

[DrawDeadJed]

The low limit games in Vegas are not that tough. Tourists take up the vast majority of the seats from what I've seen in three trips there. Have fun.

[LilBart]

I will be out there the same week and am interested in playing in the same type of rooms (low limits). Maybe I will see you out there.

[JasonE]

I was out a couple of weeks ago and had a great time at good ol' Binion's. I'm no pro, but no one at the table was, either. The cool thing was, I was travelling with three other guys who all wanted to play and we could actually get them to seat the four of us at a single table.

There were some people at the table who had obviously played a lot of poker, but that experience didn't translate into good play.

The downsides are obvious - it's not close to Flamingo, and the place is a dump. Downtown is the only place to get a deep fried Twinkie, though.

[MicroBob]

time-charge is on different games than raked-games.

it's either one OR the other.

on 2/4 or 3/6 limit it will just be raked and there will not be any time-charge.

The Palms also has 2/4 limit.
Other places have 3/6 or 4/8 (or sometimes 2/4 depending on the room).

As long as you know how to play the game (you know that a flush does not beat a full-house...and you know that QKA23 is NOT a straight) then you will be on roughly equal footing with most of the vacationers and tourists who play these games.

Some 2+2'ers like to occasionally get on a 3/6 game, get as drunk as possible, and play as stupidly as possible.
If you play 2/4 or 3/6 on a weekend night in ANY room you will likely be playing with at least 1 or 2 players who are so drunk that they are struggling to handle their chips or see their cards.


If you are at a table for an hour or two and it's a bunch of boring, uptight morons then go ahead and switch tables and casinos. Low-limit poker is supposed to be fun and SOMEWHERE there's a table that has players that actually remember that.

[Tcchap]

I am heading out this weekend and will be there from thursday to sunday. I am planning on playing 4/8 limit. I will be playing at Bally's, Bellagio, Wynn, & MGM. I will try to give a trip report next week about the games.

I feel better now about being able to find a good, fun game. Microbob, I hope I can find a few of those 2+2ers who have had a little too much to drink! Unless I get plastered myself, I think I'll remember that a full house beats a flush! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Anyway, thanks again to all of you for the tips.
Emilyn

The Excalibur was fishy last time I was in Vegas