ES
The room was crowded and tables were packed in there, however it was a great atmosphere with all of the activity going on. Watching Sammy Farha play in Bobby's room while I waited was a GREAT treat, and quickly passed the 20 minutes it took for me to go from 12th on the list to sitting at a table. There were at least 25 people around the outside perimeter of the poker room watching the action, so it was busy on Tuesday night.
I played for about an hour earlier in the day, and the competition was much looser. One gal was being so obvious about watching people and putting "stink eye" on them that when someone outdrew her flush, everyone seemed happy that she left. The tenor of the table changed after she left, and I was able to make some money. A guy then sat down for one hand, drew bullets and went all-in, got called by a pair of jacks and lost when a jack turned on the river. Bummer for him, bonus for the guy who won it (who was much nicer anyway). On tuesday night at my 2/5NL table, there was a mix of young pros, average players, and one guy who made it known he played on the internet a lot. That was the guy everyone made money off of, and the rest of the time there was just good solid play that helped elevate my game. Learned a few new techniques that will come in handy again - play with better players, become a better player. I more than doubled up my $200 buy in during three hours of tight-agressive play, was happy with that and walked.
They were great except one guy who misdealt on two consecutive hands - one exposure and one dealing three cards to a player. Didn't expect that here, and he was put on break after the second misdeal, so management was watching. But, other than that,they were great.
The waitresses were all classy and pretty. Being female, I pay more attention to service, which was good considering the maze they had to work through to get to us. I was able to get a better variety of beverages than at other rooms, including espresso drinks. That was a nice touch.
The managers were very nice, and the main manager actually took my $200 and got my checks at the cage for me. That was a pleasant shocker conisdering I wasn't getting a rack of blacks. Maybe it was the female thing again, but hey, if it works, use it! Very professional, very organized, and handeled some exciting disputes at the next table and at ours. There was a blowup at the next table when all of a sudden this woman yells "You're not the f...in' dealer, shut the f..k up!" The the guy she yelled at yells about getting the floor manager, who was already right there by that time. It was handled and they got back to play. At our table, there was a three way all in with AA, KK, and AK. The guy who had AK left when an A hit the board, but didn't realize he had covered the AA guy (but not the KK guy). So, $50 was pushed to his chair, but the other two were trying to convince the dealer to split it between them since he said "good game" and left. She wasn't going to have any of it, and the manager was called. The KK just didn't get that he wasn't going to get any money back because he was beaten by both hands, another guy not involved kept trying the "he left, therefore he's folded" philosophy, which was not being bought by the management at all. The floor man gave him 1/2 hour to come back, and after that locked his checks and said they would be held if he came back. That put the KK guy on a little tilt, which I made some money off of.
I learned about the $15 food comp from this site AFTER I had been there, so I'm assuming you have to ask for the voucher. I'll remember that for next time, becuase I play for at least 4 hours in a session easily. This is a serious poker room for serious players, so they don't need any promotional gimmicks to get people there. I've heard some buzz about the "other" hotel rooms at Bellagio that are less opulent and are for business people (and much cheaper), but I couldn't get an answer on this busy tuesday.
