I'd say this room is very nice. It has a certain trendiness to it, but not too trendy that it feels like I have to be super cool to walk in there. After playing at Caesars for a while, I became really fond of the 9-handed tables. If I was to offer one easy improvement for this room, it would be to switch to 9-handed. Unlike many others on this board, I prefer the marble border.
I hadn't played at the MGM for a while, and all night I was asking myself "why are you not here all the time?" The 1-2 no-limit game had the usual MGM types. A drunk woman, a few middle aged male tourists there with friends to have a good time, and of course the 3 or 4 guys with their ipods and sunglasses. This is the kind of place where a 1-2 player can find a casual atmosphere and a lot of loose-aggressive play. I often see 4 callers to a $10-15 pre-flop raise. If you are willing to be aggressive but not a maniac, you can build a nice stack.
I scored them as average only because the overall quality seemed to vary, and the dealers seem just average as a group. The first two dealers last night were some of the poorest I have seen in a while. The first one had a misdeal on one hand. The next hand the same dealer skipped a woman who had cards, threw everything in the muck, and pushed the pot before she realized she had missed the player. She then just laughed about it for about the next 2 hands while the player fumed. The next dealer managed 2 misdeals in hands. The rest of the dealers were all very professional, kept the game moving, and were on top of anything that happened at the table. The rest were really a class act.
Last night made me wish I was hitting the booze on a weeknight. The waitress was there at about the same time as everyone was getting close to the end of their drinks. The servie was friendly and they did seem to have Red Bull.
Last night was a fairly quiet night for MGM. My experiences with them have been for nothing more than getting a table and they seem extremely competent at that. The wonderful computerized wait-list system integrated with the tables eliminates the need for the management to be listening for dealers yelling "seat on table 7." I kept an eye on the tournament and a couple of SNGs that were running, and they seemed to be on the ball.
I hear it is the usual buck an hour at MGM. I slid my card right at the table. Last night I had a guy switch seats and sit in mine. The dealer didn't clock me out, so maybe I got some extra time with that guy sitting there after I left. A guy can hope, can't he?
