Based on the review here I played in tournaments at Paris and Sahara. I agree with most of the earlier reviews here about Paris. A very well run tournament, but not really a "poker room" and the begining chip count and speed of blind increases could be better. I would have also played in the 11:00 AM tournament at Bally's, but I lasted too long in the 9:30 AM Paris tourney (but not long enough - 12th). The cash tables at Bally's were enjoyable. However, I would suggest not playing with with friends whose only mission seems to be to rebuy and load up the big stack at the table.

The Sahara runs 3 tournaments daily, all with the same format ($55 + one $20 rebuy/add-on). There is a pretty large turn out on Friday and Saturday nights (I believe both nights had at least 150 players), particularly since you can play in the 7:00 PM and roll right into the 11:00 PM if you bust out or buy in as a late alternate if you are able to work a chop before midnight. Plan on 5 hours to make in into the money with these. Made it down to two tables on Friday, but did not do as well on Saturday (maybe going to be at 5:30 AM the night before had something to do with that?). The cash tables at Sahara were very friendly and had a lot of folks that just wanted to gamble. It was nice being able to win my entry fees back in about 45 minutes of play at a 1/2 table. Incidentally, this room does not have the best playing environment -- the room was uncomfortably warm and very, very smokey. It is also very difficult to get beverage service. One real nice feature is that they provide free sandwich platters at the first break in the 7 PM tourneys.

On Sunday, we played in noon tournament at The Orleans. I have played this one a couple of times in the past and really enjoy the format. It is a $50 buy-in with a $5 dealer option and one $20 rebuy/add-on. You really have to rebuy/add-on in this one because for $55 you get 500 chips and the rebuy/add-on is for another 800! There were approximately 130 players with a total prize pool around $7,400. Another feature of this tourney is that they pay $5 bounties for each person you take out. They generally pay just the final table, but upon agreement of the players they will make the final table 11 handed. A lot of locals play in this one, so beware if it is not your thing that a lot of folks know each other and dealers know a lot of players names. I think I played for about 4.5-5 hours and may have only been one other non-local at the final table with me. Really nice room enviroment that is almost smoke-free and better than average beverage service (with attractive servers).

I also played some cash tables at Caesars Palace. Nice room that is seperated from the rest of the casino activity. I did not play enough to a get a real feel for this room, but I would certainly give it another try.