Late April, 2012
I'm a fixed limit specialist and was more than a little nervous about the action I'd find in Vegas. The rumors I heard was that games get wild, lots of raising and re-raising. Super aggressive and dower players who treat each hand as all out war. I make a point to be friendly and affable at the tables. I find it to be much more profitable that way (fish tend to not mind loosing as much) and fun! Also, I tend to try and avoid tables with one or two players with big stacks, angrily raising and re-raising. Loose-passive is where I make my profits. I was VERY pleased to find the rumors I'd heard completely wrong with almost all the action almost timid with weak opponents playing garbage hands.
The most profitable room I played was Excalibur. They play a 2-6 spread game. I normally don't like spread because it has all the elements of I hate about fixed and NL and none of the benefits. But, that's because I've only played games with a much wider spread, like a 2-10. With a much smaller spread it plays just like fixed limit. If I have a hand to play, I'm betting the max. If I don't, I fold. I booked about 10 hours in this game and raked in over $500. It was all just ram and jam. Many times players would call down and fold on the river. Lots of times I get called downs from 2 or 3 players when I had pretty close to the nuts. There were a few flat out beginners but these guys are never the most profitable for me. No, I was getting the most equity from experienced players who just simply play terrible poker. Transparent, unimaginative, passive calling stations. God, how I love them!
Imperial Palace was much the same. I booked only 90 minutes there and walked out with nearly $100 playing 2-4 fixed, including a cracked A's bonus. Both Excalibur and Imperial have 1/2 decent beverage service (although I don't drink when I play) but neither have table-side dining. You can eat at the table but you gotta go get your own damn food! I really don't understand this, but that's the way it is.
I spent the lion's share of my time at Bellagio, nearly 20 hours, playing 4/8. This is my game and where I feel most comfortable. All's I can say is this place fulfilled all my fantasies about what it would be like to play there, AND MORE! What an amazing place this casino is! I didn't have nearly the win rate I had at Excalibur, in fact I just barely made it into positive territory. But, the action of the games I was in was completely the reason I went to Vegas. Very tight, aggressive poker with expert players that I learn A TON from. Every minute of my experience there was gold. I was literally giggling to myself as I watched these players ply their trade and take my shot at trying to match them. All the extras you could want here, any top shelf booze, room service white linen dining, big comfortable chairs, everything top notch. It was a real treat just to be there.
As far as flat out fun, I had a blast playing a little 1-2 NL at O'Shea's. It was twilight time for this little dive. Closing it's doors and getting the wrecking ball on 4/30. But, it was a real hoot playing cards practically on the side walk of the strip in the shadow of Caesar's.
Another thing I did, just to say I did it, was play a couple hours at Aria. Another magnificent card room, beautiful architecture and artwork but very modern and edgy, very different than Bellagio. They don't play fixed limit at Aria. I bought in to a 2-5 NL game and quickly had my butt handed to me.
A really fun tournament rounded out my trip at Bill's. Super cheap buyin, only $30. I'm a terrible tournament player but they are a lot of fun. At these stakes, lots of characters turn out. Lots of laughs and crazy plays. It was like my home game!
I had a blast and can't wait to come back! I used the great Iphone ap AVP put together and it was super. Save me a lot of time and searching. Thanks guys!