Poker Trip to Vegas 3/17/06
Rooms: Aladdin, Caesars, MGM Grand, Mirage

Well, before describing the trip to Vegas, I wanted to let you know that I used this site extensively before leaving and found nearly everything spot on. I may mention the few differences I saw below with each room. Also, before coming to Vegas, I would describe myself as a low risk limit player who has attempted mostly 3-6, but some 4-8, 5-10, and 1-2 NL hold-em.

Aladdin: This is the hotel where I was staying for the weekend. As this site has stated, its not really a room. It was just a sectioned off area near a ton of slot machines. This makes for a somewhat noisy situation. I found the players here to be relatively weak, in particular from mid afternoon to late evening. The early morning hours brought the local players that I saw there every night around 3 AM. The cocktail service was good, and I received a drink 5 minutes after I ordered it, and was able to order Newcastle. The waitresses weren’t much to look at, but at least the service was friendly and quick. The dealers were all friendly and appreciated all tips. I would have to say the one thing that makes the Aladdin dominate the competition is the high hand jackpots that they offer. I saw a 9 high straight flush at MGM, and it paid nothing. A 9 high straight flush at Aladdin paid 259 dollars. Royal flushes were all 599 dollars. My only GOOD luck I had on this trip in regards to poker was my quad aces at Aladdin which paid 50 dollars. Better than nothing. I recommend this experience for any beginners and people who want to get paid for good hands.

Caesar’s Palace: Stop number two. I highly recommend the sports book for March Madness weekend. The look of the room is very clean and very nice. Being in a separate room, the only sounds you here are chips shuffling. Automatic shufflers speed things up tremendously. This was the toughest competition I saw in Vegas. Serious players not often playing with horrible cards. They were also wearing sunglasses and listening to music. I actually prefer a talkative table, so I did not stay here long. I recommend this room for semi-serious players looking for a bit stiffer competition. The dealers were again nice, and the management was fine. I got on the 3-6 list 20 people down and was able to sit in 15 minutes.

MGM Grand: Hands down this was the nicest, most stylish, best environment I played in the entire trip. The room is set up around the Centrifuge bar featuring some very nice looking GO-GO dancers. I played 3-6 limit with ½ kill. The ½ kill made the table very interesting and was a fun change of pace. I believe all of their limit tables had the ½ kill button. The players here were stronger than Aladdin but weaker than Caesars at 10 pm on a Saturday night. I would guess there were 2 local players at the table, and we did have 2 friends going at each other and sometimes frequently raising and capping before the flop. I actually feel that this was helpful if you were holding good cards because they would play anything. I did end up losing here because of just a string of horrible cards that did nothing for me. The waitresses were the best looking out of the places I went. Drinks came fast(including the Red Bull in a can). The dealers were nice although with minimal personality. I would recommend the room for the younger, hip crowd. There is a lot of eye candy walking by the room, so it added to the whole experience.

Mirage: This room was again very nice. A little darker feel to it with low lights. They covered a 3-6 table as well. The players at my table anyway were VERY VERY weak and not very good. They would play anything, and call ANY raise. I had a family pot where everyone put in nine dollars. Everyone called to the end because the pot was so big. I had pocket jacks and thought I was about to take it down, and then a girl who didn’t even know she had a straight was lucky enough to turn over her cards she almost mucked and took down the (huge) pot. I was a little disturbed by this hand and didn’t stay too much long. The dealers were good with no mistakes. The waitresses were fairly attractive and management was pleasant. I don’t really know who to recommend this room to because I did not stay long. And the Mirage was the only place I saw a poker pro and it wasn’t even at a table. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson came walking by while waiting in line for the Jet Night Club. He had a nice lady on his arms and seemed friendly to anyone who said hi or shouted out his name. Very cool.

Overall, I lost money at the table which I attribute to 1. Getting bad cards 2. Not getting lucky with good cards 3. People calling to the river and catching 4. Me chasing a little too often. It was a ton of fun, and if I go back, I am definitely going to give the MGM another try and maybe even step up to the Bellagio. Sorry for the long report, but I wanted to contribute what I had seen and done. Hope it helps.