Very nice room with big tables, soft chairs and well lighted. The poker area is right next to the Sports Book which has a conveninient little deli for snacks. Tables were clean and had a committment line for betting (some rooms don't have this). They also had cup holders for drinks. It was an elegant area with wood accents and a comfortable feel. I started out at the "Must Move" table in the back of the room. It was kinda like the batter's box where players warmed up before being moved to the "feature table" which was right in the very front corner of the room. Even at 10:00am there were railbirds watching the feature table. I felt like a celebrity. Mandalay Bay has a $200 maximum buy-in for their $2/4 NL game. It didn't seem like enough at first but when I sat down at the Must-Move table it seemed like the players either had no stacks, or big stacks. It was easy to figure out who to play against. I managed to make $130.00 before being moved to the Feature Table. My only complaint was that some of the chips were sticking together (yuck) and they like using the silver 50 cent pieces. To this day I don't know why casino's insist on using 50 cent pieces. Maybe they think poker players will save them and feed the slot machines later.
The cast of characters were all present and accounted for at my table. We had "the Fish" who never knew where the button was or if it was his turn. We also had "the Donkey" who played too many hands out of position. Then there was "the Calling Station" who chased everything to the river and his opposite "the Rock", who never played a hand and could be pushed out with a big bet when he did play. And of course there were a couple of "Sharks" waiting to take down the fish and donkey. The only other character which I rarely see was "the Lucky-Duck". This guy caught every draw he chased and went from $200 buy-in to over $800 in about 3 hours. Hey-it happens...but a couple of the guys were going on tilt when the suck-outs started and the dealer had to admonish one of them for throwing their cards.
The dealers were awesome. Each one very experienced and took control of the table. They call for the blinds, called out the bets, and kept the game moving (even with the beginners present). There was some inconsistency with the 50 cent piece rule. Once guy at our table kept asking the rest of us to trade $2 chips for 50 cent pieces. I hate the silver so I was giving all my silver to this guy and he gave me chips. Only one dealer actually said this was against the house rules (not sure why). All the other dealers didn't seem to mind. We had one guy throw his cards into the muck a little too aggressively and the dealer told him to calm down. Another guy (very "anal retentive") didn't like the way the dealer arranged the cards on the board after the flop so he reached into the pot and touched the cards on the board (to straighten them out). I thought the dealer was going to pull out a knife and chop his hand off. All in all, I felt very comfortable with the dealers. They really knew their stuff and since it was a March Madness weekend, the basketball talk was all over the table.
I always feel a little weird filling out this box because I'm a girl. But the ladies at Mandalay Bay were truely beautiful. I also think they have the classiest outfits on the strip. Our waitress was awesome. She kept track of the guy who wanted tea with cream and sugar, my coffee with 2% milk and Sweet-n-Low, and everyone else's drink. You know your waitress is good when she comes around and askes "Another Redbull and Jack for you sir?" Her timing was impeccable, she seemed to always show up as I was sucking down the last of my drink. I tipped her big, she worked hard and did a good job with the entire room.
There seemed to be at least two managers running the room. When I walked in at 10:00am, I was immediately put on the list and seated within 5 minutes. The floor manager got my chips for me and carried them to the table. When it was time for me to move to the Featured Table, he racked up my chips and escorted me to the new seat. Very professionally done. As the room filled up, they seemed to do a good job seating everyone and keeping the list updated. We didn't have any issues which required floor decisions so I couldn't really judge them with their calls. Very pleasant staff.
They didn't accept my MGM/Mirage Player's Card even though Mandalay Bay is owned by MGM. Bummer. I was told by the floor staff that you could get a $5.00 meal ticket after about 4-5 hours of play. Not as good as other places on the strip.
