Let me begin by stating first that I am a limit player, and I prefer 3-6 limit or higher.

I arrived downtown on Sunday January 4th (staying at the Fremont for $36 per night - hard to beat). I immediately headed for the poker room and was very pleasantly surprised to see the setup at GN was extremely professional and comfortable. Nice tables, mediocre chairs. It was about 1 AM by the time I was ready to sit down, and to my delight there was a 3-6 game, a 2-4 game, and a 1-2 NL game. I of course opted for the 3-6 game and went fishing for a good 4-5 hours, winning $260. After the 3-6 table broke around 4:30 I headed back to the room to drop off some cash, and wandered around for a while. I got bored wandering and went back and played 2-4 (which I hate, rake is hard to beat) and lost $74.

The next night I wanted to try something else, so I tried Binion's (only 1-2 NL); Fitz (totally closed after hours); Plaza (totally closed most of the time); and then hit the Deuce for the MGM which I'd heard was a nice poker room. The MGM poker room pales in comparison to the GN. I was happy to find a 3-6 game at the MGM, but at least two of the players there were dealers who were playing exceptionally badly (giving their money away, basically) and I had the feeling that they were shills planted there to keep the game going, so I bolted - up $100.

The next night I headed down early to GN since my lady went to the spa. GN definitely became my favorite over this trip. I sat down to a 3-6 table and won $30 in 15 minutes. Then I decided to cash out and try their $47+13+5 nightly tournament. After 3 hours, I cashed $307. I actually recognized two gentlemen who were in the tournament with me - I had played with them several years ago in the HORRIBLE poker room at Imperial Palace (years ago before they moved it downstairs): lookout for two brothers from California, one named Dariel - solid players.

The next night, I skipped GN and went with my lady to see the sites seeking to play poker later in the evening, but nobody, including GN had a 3-6 game so I didn't play at all. While we were on the strip, I checked Harrah's (where I've played before, decent poker room but only 1-2), O'Shea's (which has NO business having a poker game of any kind); Caesar's palace (which I thought was a really awesome poker room for a NL player - they had one table of limit for "internet players" with enormous chipstacks. If I was NL player, this probably would be my home.) Circus Circus (actually not a terrible poker room, I like that it is removed from all of the terrible theatrics they have there.) None of them caught my eye like GN.

On the final night, my lady and I were eating and made two bets on Keno at the Cafe, I won $500. I hate Keno, but I love $500.

So... by far... Golden Nugget was a great trip.

One bad thing, though... Mike, the dealer (the black Mike, not the white Mike) has a really shitty attitude. I am definitely hoping they are rid of him by the time I come back.

Also! There is no hourly comp here, but there are jackpots which are nice. And if you play 4hrs, they'll give you $10 at the snackbar, but you gotta ask for it. $10 goes a long way at the very decent snackbar, so enjoy.