I have never seen tougher action at the 1/2, 1/3 or 2/5 limits than I did last week in Vegas. I ran supernova hot in the first 4 days then kind of choppy/cold the next 3. Ended up covering the travel expenses and other leaks + a few bucks but it made my head hurt to win.

I normally play in Louisiana, home of horrific poker players who have never heard of the internet. They've played for 35 years and that justifies their 5 figure/year losses.

I was winning consistently for the first 4 days. I spent the first 2 on the Strip, then stayed downtown to avoid high weekend rates. I then had 3 losing days on the Strip with some mixed winning sessions.

All poker rooms seemed to have some players in for the WSOP. My previous experience during the WSOP was playing 3/6 or 4/8 limit and the WSOP wannabees at those games were horrible. The NL wannabees may not be great, but they're an upgrade over your general Vegas tourist. I'm not sure I recommend the WSOP month for low limit play.

I played at Bally's, Bellagio, Binion's, Caesar's, the El Cortez, Excalibur, Golden Nugget, Harrah's, Hooter's, Imperial Palace, MGM Grand, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, TI, and Venetian.

I made a legitimate effor to play at Fitzgeralds, Flamingo, Mandalay Bay, and the Plaza but failed because of waitlist issues. It's not hard to find games in Vegas, so I don't sit around if the list looks long.

GENERAL MUSINGS ON LLNL DURING THE WSOP

I have never played in so many tough games in my life. I've previously won ridiculous pots and been gruesomely cold-decked from time to time, but I've never played this well for a week, run this well, and won so little. It was brutal. I don't think I'm going to choose the WSOP for cash game Vegas trips in the future.

POKER ROOM COMPARISONS

I'm not going to do individual poker room reviews, because I think a contrast of good/bad points is better.

DRINK SERVICE:

I generally find all poker room drink service to be server dependent with the exception of two. If you want to get blasted playing low limit poker your two best choices are Bally's and the Imperial Palace. They both have bars in the poker room and waitresses that focus on going between the bar and table as fast as possible. No other poker room in Vegas is even close.

GAME SELECTION:

The WSOP is a strange time where many games are spread that normally would not be. I would say that Bellagio, Binion's, CP, Mirage, and Venetian are your best bets for a non-Holdem game that runs without you bringing the players. The Mirage still runs their 5/10 O8 game with a kill that demonstrates why you should only play HE. This is the most nitty, depressing, choppy game on the planet. I wanted to shoot myself for playing it and I won. Ick!

GAME QUALITY:

Bally's never disappoints. It is the home of guys who just want to play that all-in game becasue they turned around from the roulette game and saw they had other options.

The Ex, PH, Golden Nugget, and Binion's all had good games at reasonable times. I hit some after 2 am great games at Bellagio, Venetian, and CP but I don't know if that's normal or I was just lucky.

My general advice is that if you aren't in a good game, there's one going somewhere. Go find it!

PHYSICAL PLANT:

CP, PH and the Venetian are the best poker rooms I've played in. Everything is right. The chairs and tables are good and well spaced. Bellagio and TI is good except for table spacing.

All the rest are about the same. Regardless, don't pick a room on the setup. Pick one on game quality.

MANAGEMENT:

I didn't really have issues with any management people. They all seemed to be working hard for my business except for the brush at Bellagio. I'm giving the Bel a pass because after I got a seat the second time I went in they were all over it and made everything right for players in the game. When I tried to get on the list, it was 20 deep and I'm pretty sure I'd have walked before getting a seat.

DEALER QUALITY:

I owe my Louisiana dealers a tip when they sit in the box. LV dealers were not bad, but I would say that generally my home dealers run a better, faster game while keeping the game light and fun than most Vegas dealers. Hopefully this is a WSOP phenomenom, but I'm liking the Harrah's NO guys a lot better now.

Bellagio was a notable exception. Those guys were on it. No errors in 4 hours, fast game, no BS. If you needed time to think, they knew it. If a player was not paying attention and didn't know it was his turn to act, they were on that. After getting past the brush, I'm starting to understand why the B is still the gold standard of Vegas poker rooms.

WORST PLAYERS:

Excalibur, Bally's, PH, Binion's and the Nugget. Oy, they're bad. Most other places had a lot of knowledgable players. Play carefully unless you find a good game. Good games are available just about anywhere, but be careful. CP and MGM had the worst games AFAIK, but this may be because every Internet board told the sharks to go there.

BELLAGIO SEMI-RANT:

The first time I tried to get a seat the brush let me stand there for two minutes while he studied his list doing his brush things. All I want is a "Just a minute, Sir. I'll be with you shortly." I didn't get it, so I rolled. I'd be cussing the B right now except that the last night of my trip I got drunk and decided to go over there and either get in a game or get 86'd. At 2 am with open seats, I got an immediate seat with no BS and got immediately moved to my preferred game when a seat was open. The B may need some pointers, put they're doing a lot right.

COMP SITUATION:

I like the MGM/TI system a lot. I don't like having to check out after a session. I pay rake and don't stiff the dealers. Why should I have to remember to check out after I take a $500 beat on a 2 outer? Other than that, I think the play a bit, get a $15 comp system is good. If you play a lot and aren't an a-hole you can get a comp at the Mirage. I don't really like the IP, V, or CP comp systems. I'd like to have the dealer handle it, but the IP, V, and CP may have better systems if you can remember to check out.