Being an East Coast resident who is used to Atlantic City poker rooms I was a bit surprised when arriving at MGM's poker room. It's not really a room, but an area wedged between 2 walls, one is a wall for the Centrifuge night club, and the other the sports betting area. So you are constantly blasted by disco music on one side and cheering fans on the other. Took some getting used to at first. Also this set up doesn't give you any protection from the casino smoke. Even though the poker rooms in Vegas are non-smoking, the casino floors aren't. I didn't realize how good we had it in AC, where the casinos and poker rooms are non-smoking.
Despite all that the MGM room is very well run by a mnagement team that is obviously very experienced. They are quick to start a new table when the waiting list grows to 8-10 players for a particular game, and the daily tournaments are also well run.
I ran into a mixture of players. Other than 3 tourneys i played exclusively 1-2 NL cash games. The players mostly played too many hands and stayed in too long, and didn't protect the good hands when the folp hit them. I played 3 separate 3 hiur sessions and finshed up in 2 out of th 3 for a profit of $200.
The daily 6PM tournament had a few semi-pros that play in 3 -4 tournaments a day, the rest clueless tourists and recreational players like myself. I made it to the final table in 2 of the 3 tourneys I played and won $1,200. Both were chopped with 5 players left.
Dealers were very good and mostly friendly. Did have one amusing episode in a late night 1-2 NL game where the dealer put a 6th card on the board. No one noticed it but me, and I wasn't even in the hand.
The waitresses were attractive and for the most part efficient. I don't drink alcohol while I play so I can't comment on the drinks.
As I sais above the room is well managed. Special mention to the guy who runs the daily 6Pm tournaments, it believe his name is Dave?
Comps were excellent. In 3 three days of palying me and my wife earned enough comp points for a free buffet each, about a $15 value each.