Am Planing A Trip to Vegas, What's The Best Place to Stay and Play?

Hey Everyone,

Am planing a trip to Vegas in April... what would be some good Casinos to Play in... and what would be some good Casinos to say in...

and while am there, what are some other attractions to see... as a poker player...

Bellagio is the top of the line as one of the mega casinos, poker room is one of the best. You might want to check out some web sities that will tell you some of the poker tournys when your there.

What do you plan on playing - cash tables or tournaments?

I would like to play some Cash Games first... but eventually I would like to play some tournaments... a nice tournament that is between $100 - $500 buy-in... would be nice...

I would suggest you better play the tournament first so if you win/lose anything you will know how to plan your game at cash games .

The cash tables are good at the Venetian and MGM - I have not played those anywhere else.

For tournaments there are 2 places I recommend that I have a lot of experience with.

The Venetian has 2 daily tournaments. They have a noon tournament and I think the buy-in for that is $125. I have only played in that one once or twice cause I have trouble getting up early enough for it lol. They have a nightly one at 7pm which I love and have played in a lot. For both you start with 7500 chips and the blinds go up every 20 minutes. Tight play early works well in these - ramp it up a bit mid-game and be very aggressive once in the money. Not sure on the noon ones - but the field for the nightly varies between 80-270 depending on what time of year you go and what is going on. (Largest fields in the summer during WSOP and then next largest when they are having the Deep Stack Extravaganza).

The Aria also has 2 tournaments each day -at 1pm and 7pm. There are fewer players in these but I love them. You start with 8000 chips and the blinds go up every 30 minutes. Staff is fantastic there - and there are some fun regulars. I will be heading back there soon for a week of these.

I played in one at the Mirage but the rake was outrageous and it was more like a multi-table sng. I min-cashed in it but would not be likely to play it again.

The MGM is a great place to stay middle of the road price wise,they have 2 tourny's each day at least they did earlier this year when I was there about 80 buyin if I remember right, but I like the ring games, but if I learned 1 thing about Vegas is play at the upper end casino's, people that stay and play there tend to be a little looser with their money

Sounds like you have a nice budget.
Bellagio and Paris are good places to stay, as you are right in the middle of everything. If you can't afford those rooms, Motel 6 off Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd is 31 bucks a night (yeah baby), and you're directly across the street from MGM Grand, which has a decent card room.
Attractions to see? Sounds like you've never been to Vegas. You pretty much wanna see anything and everything. You probably wanna see the Fremont St Experience light show, then you can pop into Binion's for some poker since you're on that end of the Strip.
There's hundreds of shows to see, whatever you're into. Vegas has everything you ever wanted, and some. Seriously. (If you're looking for something and you can't find it, you're probably not looking right. Try asking a local.)
One of my favorite things to do in Vegas, is just walk up and down the Strip on a Friday or Saturday night, it's just one half mile long party. Check out the fountain show in front of Bellagio. There's tons of street performers who are quite entertaining. What I normally do is play poker til midnight, one or two, cash out, grab a twelve pack and hit the Strip, get smashed, wake up, rinse and repeat.
I normally hit Vegas with a smaller budget than sounds like your willing to spend, but I always leave with more money than I came with.

PS Weekends are easy money on the poker tables, but towards midweek the vacationers are less and the regulars more and play tightens up.

PMd you my list of fav hotels to stay based on class of hotel, as well as my picks of Best Poker Rooms to play in Las Vegas