This was my first trip to Vegas. I've done some gambling elsewhere, but it was time to get serious.
I was in town from Friday 8/19 through Tuesday 8/23. I'll skip the details about slots and blackjack where I seemed to just be throwing money away, although I did enjoy the Elivs slots at the Aladdin.
My wife and I were taking the trip to celebrate our 9th anniversary. She doesn't play poker, so we spent time together on other things like seeing shows. I'd recommend the Cirque show "KA", its worth every penny. We were staying in New York New York, which has NO poker room. I wouldn't stay there again unless they put one in (and it would have to be a damn nice one too) !

Started my first poker session Saturday night. With about 1.5 hour wait for the low limit hold'em tables at the MGM Grand, I wandered over to the Tropicana, and was seated quickly. One nice thing about the Trop's room is they'll call your cell phone when your table is ready. Great idea !. The room is small. Traffic is low, so the tables don't always stay full. Dealers were competent, but not great. Drinks were slow. The action was loose, as ettiquete. I was sitting at a table with a husband and wife whose table talk, and apparent drunken antics coulde easily have been a scam. They did clean up nicely while they were there. I did not play well and left down about $80 after 4 hours. I think this is a good place for beginners to play.

My next session was at the Mirage. I had a very good time here. The room was large, clean comfortable. The dealers were excellent, drink service was quick. The action was much tighter from tougher competition. I played well and caught a few good hands including quad K's. I left after 2 hours up about $100.

I started Monday night at the MGM Grand. This is the most modern of the rooms I played. Excellent computer monitors help you keep track of what games are playing, how many tables, and waiting list. They offer comps on their Players Club card, but as one dealer joked, "After you play 8 hours, you'll be able to buy yourself a salami sandwich." Dealers were excellent. The tables felt a little cramped. Drink service was good. I left after about 3 hours up $60 which was excellent considering the lack of good hands I caught. This is a really cool room to play in. You're open to a lot of casino traffic and they'll stop to watch the action. However, waits for the low limit hold'em tables can really get long. They grew to over 1 hour for 2/4 and 3/6 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights while I was there.

My last couple session were at the Monte Carlo. This was my favorite room. Excellent management. Smaller room, but classy styling like an old west bar. Tables were very comfortable and large with the built-in drink holders, which I like. The dealers I had were all good and had a lot of personality. They tried to keep the game fun and fast. The game I stumbled into at 4am Tuesday morning was a blast. There were a couple of Brits at the table who could barely play, but were a real barrel of laughs, although they did slow the games down quite a bit. One great thing about the Monte Carlo room, in contrast to most other rooms on the strip, they offer high hand jackpots. One player at my table hit a 10 high straight flush and picked up a healthy $500 jackpot for it. Man I wished I'd saved my 4-K's hand for this room; it was worth a few hundred itself.

The Monte Carlo was my favorite room, and I spent my last few exhausted hours playing poker there till I left for home. This is where I'd most like to play again.