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Dec 17-20 16 Things I Learned
Here is a brief summary of what I encountered in Vegas this past weekend, 20 things I learned from my first time in Las Vegas. All play was done at 1/2 or 1/3 NLHE
1. Don't get into a fight at Aria. On Saturday night, a fight erupted right outside the poker room. I kid you not, it took security almost a full 5 minutes to get over and break up the fight. Just saying. . . don't tick off any really big guys, security won't bail you out. . . at least not before its too late.
2. Speaking of Aria, lots of non-serious and semi-serious players at Aria. Must be checking out the new digs. The table I was at was relatively soft and predictable. And the action was still good. Go over there now while its still good. That is if you can get there, its a long walk.
3. Last thought on Aria, really, no cup holders? Saw two spills on the felt in my time there. Totally avoidable.
4. Honestly, who came up with the idea. . . lets put marble on our poker tables. MGM Grand, seriously? On the other hand, its a winnable game.
5. Bellagio has great seats and the action can be sweet. I wasn't sure on going to this poker room, but after two sessions, it was prolly one of the better that I went to from a overall comfort level and profitability level. I'll be back to this room on my next trip.
6. Ceaser's on a Saturday night = jackpot. Thanks to the 500 max. buy-in and people that buy-in for that much and are terrible players. Oh, and the scenery outside the room next to Pure, just fablous. Seriously, is there any better place to be on a Friday or Saturday night?
7. Nothing better than gorgeous women half naked dancing in a cage right outside a poker room. . . Thanks Ceasers.
8. Oh, and all the women hanging around the entrance to Pure in their somewhat revealing black dresses, very nice.
9. I should of read more information on food before leaving. Its hard to find a reasonable meal for a reasonable price.
10. Bally's may not be as soft as suggested in the forums. I played there cause I stayed there. . . it was very nitty. You can be profitable, but its not going to be fun. Kinda like the dentist. You may be better off, but its not going to be pleasant. There are much better places.
11. My vote for the biggest shark tank = Venetian cash games. I didn't dump a whole lot there because it was evident very early that there was just many easier games in town. Went through one buy-in and left.
12. My vote for best tournament = Venetian daily 7PM. 7.5k starting, 25/50 blinds, 20 min. levels.
13. If you are at a particular place and the table turns bad via new player inflows, get up and leave. No reason not to be picky on your table in Vegas, just too many options to be stubborn.
14. Never play when its daylight out. If you break down my sessions, nothing good came of playing during the day, all my winnings came during night sessions. Just sayin. Next time I'm in Vegas, I'll just bring the laptop and play on FTP when I wake up till dusk.
15. The players in daily tournaments have really bad starting hand selection and have no concept of shoving/calling ranges.
16. If you are flying. . . and it asks you to upgrade your ticket for a 150$, do it. Economy sucks especially when you are flying 3 plus hours. Took first class home, totally different experience. Will never fly economy again so long as they offer the cheap upgrade option. Apparently, this only available at self-checkin and is not always offered.
Nice report Ziggie.
Point 9.Grand Lux is the answer...google it.
You must be saving the other 4 tips for yourself (you had said 20 tips in your post)!
I'll be headed to Vegas with a buddy in a month or so to play some poker. Normally, I just play at the Venetian, but a few people have mentioned that they find the games harder there than other places. I'll have to check out Aria, Bellagio, and Caesars (we are staying at IP).
That was 16.
Venetian IS a shark tank.
I personally LOVE the marble racetrack at MGM.
Players in daily tournaments all depends on where you are at and who happens to play. Venetian does have the best tourneys in town.
Nice list of things learned. Thanks for posting,
Hehe, I ran out of stuff by number 16, I missed that on the editing.
Really do mean what I said about this board, it is an excellent resource and I wanted to try to give back something for all that I have gotten.
Ummm, thanks for posting but....
playing once/several times at a poker room and concluding that the place is nitty is far too premature. I have played many times at Ballys and witnessed some of the loosest/wildest $1-2 players ever.
I agree with the marble track comment though and you are right about how annoying the lack of cup holders is.
Grand Lux is great, love it.
Played 3 sessions at Bally's this past weekend - the loosest/easiest sessions of the trip. Doubled to $600 all three times within an hour. If I lived in Vegas, I would pretty much only play here.
Two comments:
Re: #3: Most cardrooms I've played in do not have cupholders on the tables, not even the kind that slide under the rail. Seriously, if you have side tables available, why to you *have* to put your drink on the table?
Re: #16: If you're flying an airline that has too little room in coach, you're flying the wrong airline. My last 3 trips: Virgin, Virgin, and JetBlue. Plenty of legroom in coach.
I think your advice about playing ONLY at night is sound. I try to hit tournaments during the day. I will play cash games now ONLY at night because of your advice. THANKS!!
Good post. And the hell of it is that when you go back to Vegas you will learn just as much as you did the first time. Things are always changing and you never know what you will see next. LMAO in that post that you will play online till dusk. HAHA i can so imagine some people doing that.