The poker room at the Orleans is the biggest room I've ever been to, with probably 70+ tables. The room is off in it's own area and is quiet. The tables are ok, but the floor was a bit dirtier than I would have liked - often under the table by my feet were discarded bottles, chip trays, and other trash. The room is 100% nonsmoking.
Since this room caters to the locals, it tends to run tougher than the strip casinos. However, there still are plenty of bad players in the 2/4 game to make it a profitable game. In this case, rather than 20-something hipsters, the bad players were local drunks. Playing late nights seemed best. When I played in a morning game (10am), the competition was much tougher - it was full of older folks that the dealers knew by name.
The dealers were friendly and knew their stuff. No problems whatsoever.
Drink service was fast and frequent. Most of the waitresses were quite attractive as is pretty standard for the Orleans.
This room is run by pros. They have a monitor with all the waiting lists displayed, and the management happily answered all my questions. Although I didn't play a tournament there, I've heard good things about how they are run from friends who have.
When you arrive at the poker room, you need to sign up for a player's card - it's a different card from those used at the slots and table games. When you play, clock in with the card and clock out when you leave. You earn $1.25 per hour of play in comp dollars which can be cashed out by asking at the desk. You can apply the comp money towards any expense at the casino (food, room, etc.) The room also has a bad-beat jackpot that was up in the $50k range.
