7 days of the Plaza, Golden Nugget, The Flamingo - mostly, Paris and Ceasars
Started out a 7 day/6 night stay in Vegas at the Main street station for 1 night with the following 5 nights at the Flamingo.
My first day I chilled out at the MSS (got here weds evening).
Plaza poker room - Thurs Morn... went there and signed up for a 35 dollar Sit- n - Go. Table was called almost immediatly as were the other 2 tables that seemed to be going constantly. Got knocked out in 5th place hoever while i played it became obviuos that SNG's players were about half of the room. I mean at least 6-7 guys played in at least 3-4 SNG's. One local, who was a union carpenter sitting on my left, said that that's all he plays at the plaza... First cash (2-4) game probably started around noon ( after a 1 and a half hour wait). Lost my 35 in the SNG and won back about 10 bucks @ 2-4.
Cocktail service was decent but somehow you got you got the feeling that these dealers did not want to be here and were just hoping that another poker room would be a calling soon.
Golden Nugget - Thurs afternoon got a 2-4 seat quickly. Classy operation..Half the table were veterans "rocks" who knew eack other, coupled with a cop from Norman Oklahoma, a Harvey Korman look alike and 2 woman who were pretty sharp players. Probably the toughest room I played at over my vegas stay! The "rocks" were aggressive and usually the other rocks got out of the way when it was heads up between tourist i.e. "Harvey Korman" who was always whining and a "rock". Broke even but i was impressed with the cocktail service, elderly but fast waitresses, and the way the dealers ran the game
Flamingo (home base) - Friday night and beyond. Tourist heaven! Dealers shout out to people passing the poker "room" (railed off area on the casino floor that is less than 30 feet from the strip) and tell them "I got a seat for you"!!.Tourist go from being a passer-by to sitting down with 100 bucks in chips and asking "What is a BLIND????" Must be patient here and I usually was. Friday night made about 80 bucks and subsequent nights totaled about 220 to the good! Friday in particular which was also St Pattys the table was loose with 6-7 people seeing the flop and 2-3 staying to the river. 1 guy in partcular made it a point, after a few scotches ,to raise consistently before the flop EVERY TIME for about a half an hour until he got crushed 2 times in a row. I later learned that you could see his cards if you sat on either side of him as two players, who were sitting next to him, later admitted after he busted out!
The fact that the bar is located at the end of the poker room and drinks come faster than
S---..... well you get the picture!!!
The dealers make this poker room. They are the friendliest on the strip and sometimes even run the floor since the management seems short staffed...which appears to be consistently!
The Waitresses are the oldest on the strip!!!! (no offense to my seniors- you noticed that I capitalized W aitresses) or at least the 1's that worked the pokerroom which probably means that seniority counts cuz the poker room has got to be the easist deal for waitresses
Paris - Sat Morn - only 2 tables going around 9 a.m. One 3-6 and one 1-2 NL. 3-6 table had 2 local kids and the rest tourists (since the table sits in the middle of the casino floor it is a tourist magnet). It does have that high tech sign-in board but its easy for the floor not to know that there are seats because the desk faces away from the tables and in my case i had to tell the florr that there was a 3-6 seat open before he sat me down at one!!
Over a couple hours made about 50 bucks although I must admit that I got caught up in conversation with an old friend who used to deal at the Gold Coast," Daniel", who now deals at the Paris ( and the Bellagio) and for a while I spent more time chatting with him than focusing on the pokergame.
Cocktail service was suspect at best (but the waitreesses were "Hot") but maybe that cause of the early morn. The dealers were chatty
(see "Daniel") but knew what they were doing and moved the game quickly ( especially "Daniel")
Spent the rest of the day At the Flamingo ( home base)
Ceasars - Sun Morn. Really went to Ceasars early Sunday morn around 7:30 a.m.. to get my March madness picks in for Sun. cause the Flamingo line was 30 deep. After picks went into their poker room which is right behind the Sportsbook and it is beautiful!. Got a seat at a 3-6 (lowest limit game that they have) and half the table were drunk kids who brtagged about playing all night with each other and were constatntly doing shot of Drambuie. 1 local hispanic guy who drank often but had sense enought to eat some egg sandwiches while he played. Also a young pretty woman who appearred to be new to the game but had 200 plus chips in front of her and had to be the most CLUELESS 3-6 player that I have ever seen and an older ( 40 something)lady who was in town for a Nurses conference from Georgia!. She, young pretty 1, stayed in on 1 hand with 7 4 off and the board showed Ace queen jack and 9 of spades. She called every bet that the hispanic guy made, including a preflop raise, and the river popped up 7 of clubs. She bet INTO the hispanic guy (who had been betting all along) on the river with K 2 of Spades in the hole! He raisied she Re Raised!!I am sitting on her immediate left and I can see her lifting her cards and checking to make sure that she had a pair of 7's. ( wow!
needless to say she got crushed however the idiot who beat her starts to rag on her about how stupid she is. I and the dealer tell him to ease up cause she is going back and forth with him. ( Plus hell.. i wanted some of her money too!) She was out in less than a half hour and replaced by another drunk kid. I finally asked for a table change cause tha game got so slow with all the alcohol ( at 10 a.m. mind you). Got another 3-6 table and it was the complete opposite. Nothing but veterans who seemd to know each for the most part. I am 48 yrs old and I was probably the youngest player at this table as opposed to 1 of the 3 oldest at the first "drunks" table. I have never really gotten a handle on how to play with a table full of drunks but I now realize that it takes a great amount of patience cuz at the 2nd "old timers table" I got my head handed to me. Down 40 or so, and thorougly outplayed 2 hands in a row, I left for lunch with my girl and sis around noon to "Flavors" at Harrahs (MMMM Good).
Dealers were first rate and the cocktail waitresees, which varied in age from 21 - 80, were a bit slow although they did serve Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice!!
The rest of the trip I pretty much spent playing at the Flamingo!