MGM Grand

I spent most of my poker time in LV playing at the MGM Grand. I have to say that the MGM really has it going on. Open and roomy, some noise and distractions but not so loud that you couldn't hear the action at the table. Great plasma screen 'Board'. The one thing that kept me from rating this is 5 is the tables themselves. They are rather small for 10 players and have a marble racetrack and low rail. They certainly look very cool, but once you start playing cards are easily flipped by hitting the track or can slide right off the table. Also with the betting line inside the felt area being rather small it's very easy for someone rainbowing their chips on a bet to be splashing the pot and making it hard to distinguish bets. The auto shufflers make the play go pretty quickly, although a few seemed be jamming up a lot (table 7 especially). One thing to note is that if you are sitting in the number 10 seat be careful with you left arm and there's a good chance that you will accidentally press the dealers buttons (no pun intended) and clock someone out or summon the Floor.

I only played low limits (4-8 and 1 session of 2-4) so I expected play to be pretty loose. There seemed to be a mix of wild first timers, drunks, locals and off duty dealers in varying ratios depending on the day (weekday vs weekend) and time of day (day shift vs graveyard shift). At the limits I played there always seemed to be 2 or 3 wild/poor players that more or less turned the game into a crap shoot. After a hour or so the solid players had identified each other and would tend to band together for moral support. During my 2/4 session this actually made it the best time I've ever had playing (even though I got stuck for a rack). There was one crazy lady at our table that was betting so eratically you had no idea what you were in for. I was seated with some locals and we started chatting it up busting our guts at some of the hands played and bad beats that she was laying on players new to the table. I would say that while at the lower limits the players were rather weak, be prepared for a fair amount of bad beats and suckouts! Also heard stories about a 2/4 table with a bunch of WPT wannabes taking 2 minutes to decide on a $4 call and doing the big sunglass stairdown.

While there were a few dealers that seemed a bit green, they were all very professional. Most were able joke right along with the players during the lighter times and be serious and impartial during the tense times.

While at times the drinks seemed a little on the weak side (although there were other times that I think I got straight shots), there was definitely no problem getting one in a timely manner. The waitresses I found to be quite attractive in a very classy way, definitely not the 'bimbo' types.

All in all I think the management staff was great. They did have a few issues with the board software which didn't really cause problems, just slowed down action at the desk for a while. The first night (Thursday) there didn't seem to be enough chip runners so it was easier to get them yourself (which you should do anyway when you first get seated for speed sake). The rest of the sessions that I played there were plenty of runners and with the buttons on the table the dealer could call for them very easily.

While there are currently no jackpots, I suspect that it's only a matter of time before they are added. The comps are $1 an hour max of $10 per day. I was under the impression that you just use your players card (which is swiped at the table when you sit down) in order to cash in on a comp, but found out that you actually have to go to the manager's desk and they will issue you a comp certificate in whatever amount you request (assuming that it is available on your card). You can then take that certificate to the food vendor of your choice. It seemed kinda complicated to me, but maybe this is an interim process.