Probably the most "sealed" room that exists in Vegas. There are no railbirds, as there are no rails. There are two doors to enter this sealed room, one in the back, and one in the front. It is right next to a restroom, and it has windows, half of which are blocked by slot machines. I like this room for this exact reason. It is a sealed room. This allows for a relatively quiet atmosphere for concentration when necessary. Also, the tables have Shufflemaster autoshufflers, which I consider a major plus. Unfortunately, it is a non-smoking room, though. There is an electronic list system which is easy to follow, and the large tvs are a plus for those that care (I don't). The chairs are so-so, but the tables themselves are comfortable, with nice felt, leather rails, cupholders, no racetrack (which I like), and no commitment ring. They use Copag cards, which surprised the @#$% out of me, as I was under the impression that KEM ruled all cardrooms (I prefer Kems, but that is just me). One annoying thing is their chip racks. For some reason, there is a solid bottom on them which makes them impossible to stack. Very strange racks that definately need to go. Also, you have to post when you sit down at the low limits. In most places, you don't have to. The $4 rake is also a little excessive. All in all, though, a nice sealed room.
I will say average here. I played strictly 3/6 limit. The NL game is probably a completely different story. Honestly, at the limit game, I think they were easy, but that was because I knew who to avoid. Some players might not. There were about 2-3 at every table to watch out for. On our table there were two that I knew to not go to war with unless I had the nuts. The other 7 were cake. This place gets a lot of tourist traffic, which is good, but as we all know, they in turn attract the locals (like me). However, most of the table were tourists. Kid on my right from Chicago. Guy on my left from Canada. Guy accross the table from Wyoming. No real cardplayers, except for the two locals who generally folded to my raises anyway (and I to theirs). After buying in with $100, I walked away with $303 after about 2 hours of play at 3/6 limit. Like I said, I will be back!
Only two misdeals while I was there, and both were really player mistakes by not protecting their cards or getting their hand in the way of the pitch. No floor decisions had to be made. Good dealing staff. In dealer staff, I don't care about personalities, chit chat, etc. All I care about is fast, competent dealing. Harrahs has that. I like dealers that don't waste time with jokes or fanciful ways of turning the cards. Harrahs dealers were pretty much all business, and for that I rate them excellent.
Although I personally didn't order anything, I saw that they came around about every 20-30 minutes or so. Not great, but not bad either.
The room seem to be managed very well. They kept constant track of open seats and updated the electronic list tracker regularly. They were quick to get me a side table when requested, and kept the room running smoothly. I would like to see them do away with the rule that you have to post when you enter the game (in low limit). Pretty much nowhere except Binions, Rio, Mirage, and Bellagio do you have to post for a low limit game. All other places let you play for free until the blinds come around. I realize that this is above managements jurisdiction, so it will not effect their rating. Management was solid at Harrahs, and friendly to boot.
Unfortunately, this is the area that drags the review downhill. Aside from the free drinks and a friendly smile from the management, there are no comps. They really need to get with the program and offer at least $1 per hour on the card like everyone else. However, I am very happy that they don't take $1 out of the pot for jackpots or high hands (I hate that), so they don't get a flat out bad rating, but they definately need to get the card involved in hours tracking to remain competitive in the middle market casino level. All in all, a nice room that I will definately be returning to!
