If you have to play in a BIG room... TI may not be for you. But if you like 4-6 table NL tournaments that are well run with pretty good dealers, you'll probably be very pleased with TI. I stayed there three nights and got the (weekday) casino rate for my stay which was $79/night. You need six hours of play per day to get the casino rate. The great part about this, is that they will credit you for 3 hours of play towards the room rate for each tournament in which you play. The casino rate is higher on the weekend and the number of hours you need to play are also a little higher on the weekend, but I don't exactly what those are. For cash games, you get comped $2/hour (in addition to the hours getting counted towards the casino rate). You have to accrue a minimum of $10 to get the comp and they dole it out in increments of $5 at or above $10. You can use the comps for any restaurant (and I guess bar) in TI. The chairs were comfortable, tables were good, the carpet is a little worn out, but who cares? The "vibe"/atmosphere works for me. Just enough light to be able to see what you need to, but just dim enough to provide a little atmosphere. In six tournaments, I made 4 final tables (they usually only pay the top six or less places, which makes the tournaments pay out much better than a lot) and had three cashes (1 chop for 1st/2nd, a 3rd, and a 4th). I bubbled on one tournament (7th) all in with my AA vs KK, and he spiked a K on the flop. Otherwise, I would have cashed in four and had a good chance at 1st-2nd if he would have doubled me up if the aces had held up (we both had the same amount of chips when we pushed). You know what they say about "ifs, ands, & buts". I also won a $1200 hand there in a cash game. I called $15 with 7-8 clubs, flop came 6d,9s, 10s. I bet 75-100 to protect the pot, and got 3 all-in calls, which I had to call. The first all-in was a 9-10, another was AJs, and think somebody else had a baby flush draw. My straight held up (I thought for sure somebody else had the 9-10 of spades and had the straight and was on a free roll for the flush/straight flush). Then, I started drinking at the table, which I shouldn't have. Wizzed away some money there, after the NL game broke up, came back down and played limit drunk and wizzed away some more profit. Had it not been for my lack of discipline with playing while drinking/tired, I probably would have come out up $750-1000 for the trip. Learned some good lessons from that, and just glad to leave Vegas with a little more than I came with.
I would say "easy" because of my tournament and cash game success, but I wouldn't want anybody thinking that this room is completely fishy. There were cash sessions and tournaments in which I couldn't grind out any profit. Some of these were results of being card dead and the occasional suck-out. Occasionally, I probably was out-played as the really good players could probably figure out that my biggest weakness is probably being a little too conservative/tight, and were able to force me off hands on crap-ola flops. If you play your A-game and stay sober, you can make some decent money in this room. It is mostly tourists and folks that want to play to have fun.
Very good quality dealers for a small room. A few small mistakes here and there, but nothing huge. I didn't ever have to call the floor, and the dealers are usually polite, competent, and eager to get things done correctly.
Mostly attractive, usually pretty quick, although there was one who just wanted to talk to coworkers and didn't hustle to get the drinks. Give them a dollar every time, and if you want to drink, you will be kept in booze. I drink Johnnie Walker Black, and they would bring them to me as doubles on the rocks almost as fast as I could drink them (tipping $5 will go a long ways towards attention). When the room is really full, it takes them a little longer (go figure). Also, they do serve Red Bull, most of the time in a can... once in a glass which is the first and only time I've ever had that happen.
Dannette and Michelle are floor managers who happen to be sisters who are both attractive and good at what they do. There was also a female night shift manager that was pretty attractive but I had no interaction with her. There are also a few guys that manage the floor/room (I spoke with the room manager and I can't remember his name), and they are good managers as well. If the floor manager was needed for a call, they came quickly and from what I saw made the correct call. The tournaments are very well run, signing up is quick and efficient.
As I said, tournament hours counts towards the room rate, and $2/hour for cash games. That's about as good as it gets on the Strip, as far as I know.
