ES
I was not a big fan of this room. While the decorations were very nice and the room had a classy feel, there are too many tables and they are much too close together. I was stuck at a table in the back corner and making my way over to the exit so I could use the bathroom was always an ordeal. I often had to squeeze by people and/or chairs and take multiple routes because some paths were completely blocked by chairs. It's almost like a catch 22 because they also need to have more tables to satisfy the demand. I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and the place was an absolute zoo. I waited over an hour for a 4-8 table. They really need some TV screens to show the wait list because the way it is now everybody crowds around the podium to ask the management how far up they are on the list or to @#$% that their name got skipped over. The room was also extremely loud. Overall just not a pleasant or relaxing atmosphere.
Lots of tourists at my 4-8 table who (like me) just wanted to play at Belagio and weren't necessarily all that good. Some solid players as well. Pretty much typical of what you will find at most card rooms in Vegas... a mix of everything. Bellagio is known for attracting pro's but I doubt there are many pro's at the low levels. People should not be intimidated playing the 4-8 game here.
Awesome dealers for the most part who were among the fastest I've seen. One gentlement was so fast it almost seemed that he had hyperactivity disorder. Only problem with this particular dealer was that he sometimes tried to do too much, such as making $100 in change for a non-active player in the middle of a hand and temporarily taking his eyes off the game while doing so. Really nothing else to complain about though -- these guys are very good at what they do and you won't see any rookie mistakes here.
Not good at all. There only seemed to be 1 or 2 girls serving the entire room, which made for very slow service. At one point I ordered a black coffee and it took well over an hour for it to arrive. Maybe somebody called in sick and it's not always this bad, but I could have gone home and brewed a cup of coffee myself faster than I could get one here.
In a word, understaffed. For the sheer volume of players there was just not enough management to handle everybody. The wait list seemed to be borderline chaos at all times. Players were complaining of being skipped over, there was confusion about how long seats could be locked up, etc. I think the managers did an ok job for what they had to work with, but they were just overwhelmed by the number of players. Dealers sometimes had to call out for fills 5 or 6 times before they got them. Overall there just seemed to be an atmosphere of chaos throughout the room.
Not aware of any comps. I didn't see players signing in with cards, so I assume they don't give points for play. I have heard that meal vouchers are available for the asking after several hours of play.
