While I have to admit the seats and tables do look a little worn, which just means well-used, but not ragged, everything else in the room is quite nice. The one exception: lighting. Trying to give the room an upscale appearance means inconsistent lighting at the tables.
Overall, the competition at the $3/$6 games is easy and predictable. Occasionally you get a shark coming in, or a maniac, but for the most part, players are either local nits or loose-passive tourists. Both of the latter check call when they have draws or weak pairs and bet out when they have good top pairs or the nuts. The bast games are rarely raised preflop with 3-6 players seeing flops, and these conditions are frequent. A good, thinking player will actually be able to bluff often in these games (more than once I made pure turn bluffs into 3 or 4 players and got them all to fold). The local nits are not hard to recognize, but they are also not pushovers; they know the game and have been playing it for many years, so do not take them for the fools like you would the sunglass-wearing, backward-hat toting donkeys that occasionally pop up.
The morning aces cracked promotion brings in some of the most profitable games, where if you just play your regular solid limit game, with one exception (when you get AA), you're almost guaranteed to make money.
If the room ever gets its $10/$20 game back, this rating would change. While the low-limit limit games are easily beatable, this game is tough, played be quality locals and other regulars, and to do well, you have to raise the level of your game here. That said, I hold out hope that this game will return.
The Mirage has some of the best dealers around. Unfortunately, they also have one of the worst, which brings down the overall rating.
The graveyard dealers are great. One, a tall skinny guy with a southern drawl is quite the hoot. One day shift dealer, a younger guy with a goatee is both fast and accurate. Some of the older dealers are a bit slower, but almost all are mechanically competent, run the game well, don't take B.S., enforce rules, lower rakes when games get short, and have enjoyable personalities. One late-night dealer apparently has trained a lot of other dealers on the Strip.
I'm sorry I don't remember all the names, but with the above-mentioned single exception, dealers here are exceptional overall, and a few are true gems.
I get only the occasional bottle of water, but I got to observe plenty. For the most part, waitresses came by frequently and brought drinks quickly.
I give3 this a 4 only because I so rarely give 5s (or 1s); if it was available, I'd give this a 4.5. Chris Coffin does a great job in managing the room, repositioning it from its former high-end glory days to a premier mid-range room. The tournaments offered here are some of the best values around. The people who work the room are friendly, personable, and quite competent. About the only gripe is the closing of the cage; with all the money handled at the front desk, it often creates a fustercluck of bodies milling around.
Chris is also just a great person to talk to, about the room about poker in general, or about many other subjects.
With no Genesis Bravo and many locations in the Mirage not accepting poker room comps, this is the one area where the room lags. It hasn't been for lack of trying, however, and hope remains that the system will be in place soon. Meanwhile, comps remain at $1 per hour, tracked on your card, but they last in the computer only a week, so if you're visiting, acquire comp dollars, and don't plan on using them on your current trip, ask for comp slips at the end of your last session. On your next trip, staff will gladly print out new ones when you do want to use them for use that day.
