Arrived in Las Vegas for a few days of relaxation with my wife. She is not a poker player so I mostly played in the afternoons and early evenings while she was as the spa or shopping. Have not had much luck in tourneys so I stuck mostly to cash games. Let me say that I was very impressed with quality of dealers in Las Vegas, much better than at my local casinos.

Day 1:

Venetian - 1/2 No Limit
I stayed here in 2006 right before the poker room opened so I was excited to see how it turned out. I was quite impressed and did not notice a strong vanilla smell like others have complained about. I like 2/5 NL with a $500 max (at Ventian it is a $1000 mix) so I played 1/2 NL and bought in for$300. Management got me seated right away and brought my chips before I could get my coat off. My table was soft, a couple locals were seated that were easy to spot so I stayed out of their way. The rest of the table were tourist fish with $ to burn. No real memorable hands, tried to bluff a calling station and got caught which cost me $80. After a few hours it was time to check on the wife so I got up +$168. Dealers were very good, drink service was ok looking and a little slow. Thought I would be back to play 2/5 NL but never made it.

Ceasers Palace - 1/3 No Limit
Bought in for $400. Let me say this was the worst group of players I have ever seen. Me and another guy at the table took turns taking down pot after pot. After 90 minutes was up $300, had dinner reservations so I had to leave. Drink service was terrible and the waitress was old enough to be my grandmother. Management seemed bored and not very responsive. Dealers let a couple things go which should have been stopped, it allowed me to win more $ so I did not speak up. The play here is so bad that I wanted to come back but management, dealers and drink service pushed me to other places.

MGM - 1/2 No Limit
I played 3/6 limit here back in 2006 and did well, looked forward to coming back this time.
I have heard stories about how easy the 1/2 game is here so I sat down for a couple hours after dinner and bought in for the $200 max. I did not like how it was so dark/loud plus the chairs did not roll. The play was bad and I should have won but got rivered a couple times and lost my $200 buy in. Drink service was quick and management was friendly. I really wanted to like this room but could not get comfortable.

Day 2

Mandalay Bay - 1/2 No Limit.
There was no 2/4 no limit game going when I arrived so I played 1/2 NL and bought in for the $200 max. I was facing the sports book when I played so I could watch TV's in there but otherwise there was not much else as far as technology. I could not get going here and left down $100. Drink service was quick and attractive, management did a good job with player issues and getting chips. Dealers did a really good job of welcoming new players to the table and keeping things in order. If you are in the area I would stop by and play, but if you want to watch TV while you play best to go some where else.

Bellagio - 2/5 No Limit
I have read many bad reviews on here and was nervous but thought I would give it a try. Let me say this was the best room I played at factoring in all things. Both times I played here I got seated within a couple minutes. Management treated me well and the dealers were top notch, nothing got by them and they resolved all issues quickly and fairly. Also the first time I sat down I was at the 1 seat, normally I hate being at the 1 or 10 seat but the table had extra room so it was never a problem. All the 2/5 games I played were really loose and if you played TAG poker you were going to come out ahead. Over two days I made $800+ here.

Day 3

Wynn - 1/3 No Limit
I think this was the most comfortable room (lots of plasma TV's, soft chairs, good dealers and management) but the competition here was very tight. When I got there I was #7 on the 1/3 list, within a couple minutes two others singed up so they started a new table very quickly. I bought in for $300 which is what almost everyone else did. Right off the bat I did not like the $3 chips, when placing bets you had to think about how many chips vs. money you were betting. Almost all the players at the table were local and the play was much more sophisticated than 2/5 at Bellagio. Lost $200 over the course of the afternoon. The waitresses were attractive but nothing like the models other promised. Not sure if I will play here again, Bellagio/Venetian/Ceasers were all much easier.

Monte Carlo - 6pm tourney
A friend was in town for a convention and wanted to play in a cheap tourney. It was $50 plus $10 add on. There were only two tables and the play was very passive. I could not get any cards and was put to the rail when my pocket Jacks ran up against pocket Aces. My friend was the next one out so neither of us got to cash or see the final table. The management and dealers did a good job letting players know the rules and keeping things in order. Will try to play in a cash game next time I am in town.

So in summary I would say if you want to play 1/2 NL go to Ceasers or Venetian. For 2/5 NL Bellagio was excellent. Next time I want to try 2/5 NL at Venetian.