The MGM poker room was my first experience at live poker (in a casino). Having played at 10 other rooms (in Vegas as well as in the Midwest), I have to say that this is by far the nicest room I have been in. My wife and I played in the MGM room for a total of 25 hours in just three days. One of our stints was over 14 hours straight. We both thoroughly enjoyed our time spent in the room although; the evenings could be very loud with the night club right next to the poker room. If you are looking to spend a relaxing evening playing cards, look elsewhere. I also enjoyed watching football all day Saturday and Sunday on the numerous screens strategically placed along the perimeter of the room.
My wife and I both found 2-4 limit tables that were full of intoxicated dentists and dental assistants. Most of these conventioneers clearly had not played live poker before and had plenty of $100's to play with. My wife played well! Just a good timing, I guess.
I found the dealers engaging and personable. The downside was, when there was a large discrepancy at my table, the dealer spent way too long trying to resolve the issue on his own. It was not until a room manager happened by that the discrepancy was resolved.
The first session we played, I wasn't aware of any cocktail waitresses. Then one happened by our table, which was tucked up against the wall of the night club, and the drinks started flowing fairly regularly. The waitresses were both friendly and attractive. Around 1:00am one night, my wife realized that we could spend the comps we had been earning on food IN the poker room. My wife ordered for me a chicken salad sandwich. The waitress not only brought it TO my table but brought a tray as well. Excellent service and even better sandwiches.
The poker room management was very pleasant and efficient. It was amazing to play in poker rooms without the technology and see the huge difference it makes. The one challenge that I had with management was that they allowed my wife and I to be seated at the same table during our first session but, in subsequent sessions they seemed to want to seat us at different tables. When a seat became available at my table, I inquired about moving her to my table. I was told to wait... "trying to even-out the tables". Later requests were also met with resistance. This turned out to be a good thing though, as my wife ended up sitting with 6 of the drunken Dental Convention Fish.
We used the comps on food. The food at the snack bar, which is only about 30 feet from the rear of the poker room, was very good.
