ES
the good; this is the room i think of when i think poker and las vegas. where else will you see several top pros playing on a nightly basis? it is also the room i turn to at three am when i need a poker fix. you can count on there being some kind of good action here all day, every day. and what great action, any limit you have a hankering for. huge plus. covers my most pressing requirement and easily overshadows the short-comings...that you always have the option to take your game to the next level, and the next, as high as you want to test your game they will have a table for you, is unique on the strip.
the bad; cramped. frustrating as @#$% to be sat in an aisle seat and get whacked repeatedly. spotty lighting. there are seats where the lighting is too dim, and seeing your hand is difficult.
this is quite subjective, i know, and certainly game dependent. i've given the room a five because of the 1-2 game. without it, i'd certainly go with a 3.
i found the action in the 1-2 always good to great. yes, lots of pros play this room. but if you get a crappy table, there are always better options ( unless you forgot to tip the floorman...).
so many casual players, so much alcohol. good games.
some of the best dealers in the business work here. head down, quiet, cards firing, game under control. clearly a great deal of pride in their work...just does not make up for the unusually high number of terrible dealers. mostly day-shift, the poor dealers can be any combination of cranky, slow, lazy, and inept. by far the highest concentration of crappy dealers i encountered in vegas, are here.
further, a few of the dealers who also play the room need a stiff head-shake. slow-rolling your customers is BAD. dumb and bad.
would be a five but for the cocktail diva. the pretty young lady with the burr up her @#$%. wow.
on the brighter side, i thoroughly appreciated bellagio's wide range of excellent drink choices. from tequilla sunrise for breakfast, to double espresso's in a coffee glass, to guinness for strength, to neat glasses of glenfiddich, i often made my room choice based on the bellagio's drink menu.
i was treated very well to excellent by floor staff in every room on the strip except the bellagio. even here, i only have a gripe about one individual ( worked the day shift ). all other staff treated me very well.
$1/hr. had no trouble getting comped to the buffet. several times. big plus. but $ same as every where else, but nowhere else has the bellagio buffet.
