Amid the opulent splendor that is the veneer of the Venetian is the once shining jewel of the poker room, now worn and well-used, not unlike an aging hooker, but a high-class aging hooker, to be sure. Sure, the room is always busy, so you can always get a game, and when you stand back, everything still look really nice. But when you get in close, you can see the details. Seats are still comfortable, but getting worn, the padding well contoured from facing hours and hours of posteriors. And that's if you can get one; tournament players are frequently absconding with the "good" chairs, leaving the cheapo tournament ones for cash game players. Table felts are worn, stained and dirty. But that's nothing compared to the chips and the cards, both more fitting of a downtown dive than a mid-Strip jewel. The cards I saw in play were gray and bent, and the chips were uniformly filthy. The front left of the poker room used to be a comfortable seating area. Recently, those seats were removed, and a couple more poker tables were crammed in. They are in there a bit tight, and one (the one in he corner) is positioned so that the player in seat 7 can easily kick the plug, just by shifting around a bit, for the Genesis Bravo system at the table and dislodge it.
Even the lowest of games are very tough, at least in the limit arena. Tough, aggressive locals duke it out with two primary classes of tourists, the sharks who come to fight back and the tourists who like to drink and gamble. The combination of the three make a very aggressive, loose, high-variance game.
Dealers are mostly good and professional, but there are still the occasional jokers in the deck, perhaps leftover from the DSE, who can be slow, hesitant, and unsure of themselves.
Service has much improved since the DSE ended. Waitresses were frequent and brought drinks quickly. But then, I can't really tell the different between the Fifi water served there and any ol' bottled water served elsewhere.
It is here that I see the most slippage. Chip runners are still overworked, which means it takes a long time to get chips when you need them. And when they don't come when the Genesis Bravo button is pressed, dealers are often reluctant to call out to speed the process. With the whole Genesis Bravo system in place, why are table changes still tracked with pencil and paper. I was watching the games after I put my name on the list. When I was called, it was not for the table I had identified as likely the best. I asked the person at the podium for a table change, and I got a curt and dismissive "You'll have to find someone in a suit." Meaning floor person. I looked over the floor, wandered around a bit, and saw no one, save for at the back podium. I approached him, and he was helpful (obviously not his responsibility, so props for him at least going above and beyond), and he found the floor person, a woman, not at all in a "suit," who took my table change request on a pad of paper. The games were a bit short for awhile, but when they filled up, I saw someone get the last seat at the table I wanted, and I had the fortune of seeing that floorperson walking my way, and I was able to catch her attention and ask for the table I wanted, which was granted. That this isn't built in to the list software is a significant omission. It sort of seems like a Bellagio-like attitude is creeping into management consciousness, as if customers should feel grateful that they are being allowed to play there.
Comps are $1/hour for all games except $2/%5 NL and up, where they are $1.50/hour. Good at any Venetian venue, but you can't use your card, but must get a comp slip at the rear poker desk. While drinks are free (standard in Vegas), food is pricey and pretentious. No jackpots of any kind, but that means no jackpot drop.
