OK, so I am staying at the Venetian (V) for a conference and am excited to play at the V for the first time. Their poker room is excellent - Tons of room, very classy, comfortable chairs and couches if there is a wait (only had to wait once). I had 3 sessions there playing 1/2 NL with 300 buy in and did well. I would generally rate the players as mediocre with a couple solid players here and there. In one session, a guy to my right was playing nearly every hand and seeing his stack slowly erode. When he pushed all in with for about $35, I meant to raise and isolate but inadvertently didn't put in enough chips, so I accidentally called. A couple others called for a 4-way pot. I had A4 suited and caught an ace and flush draw on the flop. Ended up heads up with someone and worked it so I ended up all in after I caught the nut flush (he had straight).

In sharp contrast to my "success" at the V, after eating an excellent meal at the Prime at Bellagio (highly recommended - had surf and turf which was out of this world), my buddy and I played 2/5 NL at Bellagio. Granted, I had never played 2/5 before, but I found myself at a LAG game and floundered. I lost a lot very quickly (felt like I was on High Stakes Poker!). It was a good learning experience, but I do not recommend playing at B for your first foray into 2/5 NL (or at least not at the table I sat down at - Broke a lot of cardinal rules of poker, such as avoid sharks, avoid not buying in for Max, avoid playing when you're not playing your "A" game partially due to food coma and fact that you insisted on playing heads up credit card roullette with big dinner tab and lost).

I also played at Binions (2/4 Limit) - We brought my cousin who had never played poker before - I had bought her a book and she had watched me play NL a bit. Had a great time - The players and dealers were very cool about the newbie (who totally held her own) - Binions is a great place to bring a beginner (or someone who plays in home games but is somewhat apprehensive about playing in a poker room). Also, Binion's is a great place to play for the history, atmosphere, etc. Definitely a lot of locals.

All in all, it was an excellent trip and if it wasn't for the mess at Bellagio, my bankroll would be in much better shape! LMK if anyone has thoughts on good places to play 2/5 for people looking to move up from 1/2.