A whole week in Vegas - Great time - PH Rant Too :(
Just got back last week from a week stay in Vegas. Played only 2 tourneys (one at Paris and one at Planet Hollywood [Aladin])...didn't money in either, so won't cover much there, but I must say the Planet Hollywood tourney was much better....$65 entry for $4K in chips!! One of the best starting stacks for that level buy in, save Sahara.
Played mostly 1/2 (1/3) nl at a variety of casinos - Planet Hollywood, Excalibur, Paris, Mirage and a few others. Mirage was my favorite by far. I love the cushy chairs and the fact that they cap the 1/2 buyin at $200 for cheapies like me. The staff and dealers at Mirage were unmatched to any of the other places I played. (Evangelyne - you rock!!) Planet Hollywood opened a new room while I was there, again...cushy chairs and nice room, but have rant about management below that dropped them a few notches for me.
I kept track of my ups/downs all week and I'm happy to report, I ended up on the + side after some 50 odd hours of play that week!! (Okay, so I was only 200 up, but up is up!!) Didn't break the bank by any means, but got a ton of table time and knowledge. Want to know the most important thing I learned? Table selection is key!! Check the stacks at a table before you decide to sit. Also, there is always a game, somewhere, loaded with donks and wannabes who play cash games like tourneys. Look for visors and sunglassess...dead giveaway. It's great. Best chance for donks: Excalibur. Best solid game: Mirage. That being said.....
**RANT* Long!! Ignore if you like!!**
Okay, so before I lay into management at Planet Hollywood (PH) , I'd like to start by commending one of the poker floor managers there by the name of Larry. We played on our first night in PH's temporary room and he comped my wife and I $10/ea for playing...he's a great guy.
Several days later, my wife and I checked out the brand new poker room at PH. Like I said before, it's pretty cush. We started playing around 10am and were gearing up for the 2pm tourney there. I asked the manager at the desk (Michael) if we would be comped for play and he said yeah '..dollar and hour' but the tourney didn't count. No problem.
Around noon, we decided we should break for the buffet before the tourney. When I asked Michael about getting a couple dollar comp for my wife and I, he shook his head and kinda squinted at me like 'cmon man'. Worse yet, he appealed to his boss, Tommy, and he gave me the same pitiful look and head shake. Made me feel like a complete ass.
Here's my beef:
If you comp, you comp. If you don't, you don't. Say it like it is. If you have a minimum time for play, say it. Maybe it's a little cheesedick for me to try to get $2 off my buffet, but every dollar counts for me. Christ's sake, I'm from Detroit area and I don't have to tell you what our economy's been like as of late. Furthermore, I toked the dealer on EVERY pot I won....I tipped the waitress for EVERY drink I got...I'm not a tightwad by any means. And I'm pretty sure PH could afford the minicomp.
So thanks, Michael and Tommy, for putting a stain on an otherwise awesome trip. You guys are a couple of peaches.
*RANT DONE**
I will play PH again...the room is just too nice. All the remodeling in the casino is pretty sweet too...big improvement over former Aladin.
Darn. From the title I thought we were going to get to hear a story about Phil Hellmuth losing his temper.
Great report. Congrats on coming home with more than you went with
One thing you'll have to understand about PH is that the comp system, which I have detailed in the PH thread, is in fact $1/hour but it is comped at $10 increments. They have a computer system that will be installed to track all of this stuff in the near future. I guess it could be worse, you could tip 10 to get 15 at Mirage or Bellagio. I'd probably attribute this to growing pains at this moment in time. They, unfortunately, are only allowed to comp the Buffet at this time since it's the only PH owned restaraunt in the building.
Thanks for the report. Good to read updates on PH. I loved to play craps there when it was the A. Always a $5 table and nobody else or very few people playing. Which is exactly what I like. To shoot the dice!!!!
Slough-foot,
Thanks for the trip report! Sorry your time at the PH poker room ended so badly--it sucks when someone tries to make you feel stupid.
I have to say, this is a real pet peeve of mine. How hard is it to be direct and polite? They could have just told you that comps were only provided in $10 increments and apologized for any misunderstanding. I mean how how frickin challenging could that have been?
But at least you were the big winner overall
. And we can hope that someone from PH will see this post, and maybe something productive will come of it.
Congrats again on a winning session!
@splashhappy
Sadly, I find that so many poker room floorpeople act that way. Maybe not outright rude, but I've found many times that when I talk to them, they make it seem like i'm interrupting their busy time and I better have something good to say. Not as much in Vegas as around here in Chicago, but I still do notice it everywhere. Which is why I plan on playing at TI when i'm there.