Live poker rooms in Vegas

Hi All,
I am planning to be next week in Vegas and play some no limit Texas on the strip based poker rooms.
I am looking for recommendations for poker rooms on the low end of the buy in (120 or less) which are nice and relaxed (For example I like the Paris and PH rooms but not the O'Shea's or Venetian).
Would appreciate recommendations for strip based poker rooms which you like
Best and thanks
ysmisc

here are a few of the places where the locals hang out at. most are low buy ins and low stakes but loads of fun. good luck and have fun. next time take me with ya.


Rio All-Suite Poker Room Profile -- Rio All-Suite Card Room Information

Arizona Charlie's Poker Room Editor's Review

Circus Circus Poker Room - Editor's Review

Stratosphere Poker Room Editor's Review

ysmisc said:

Hi All,
I am planning to be next week in Vegas and play some no limit Texas on the strip based poker rooms.
I am looking for recommendations for poker rooms on the low end of the buy in (120 or less) which are nice and relaxed (For example I like the Paris and PH rooms but not the O'Shea's or Venetian).
Would appreciate recommendations for strip based poker rooms which you like
Best and thanks
ysmisc

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I don't know what you mean by nice and relaxed but...

The Luxor and the Excalibur have some of the most fish games in town. While not the nicest rooms (they're basically just roped off floor sections) they are filled with super-loose/passive players. Many, many, first time players.

Sample hand from Luxor 1/2 NLHE: UTG limps, fold to me in middle position, I raise to $8 w/ AQs, late player reraises to $50, UTG goes all-in ($80ish), I fold, late player calls. Showdown? Q3s and J6o...

You might want to check out Caesar's. Very nice room, seldom crowded, w/ fairly weak competition. Caesar's is often over looked as a strip room but shouldn't be.

If you don't find what you're looking for here check out CheapoVegas and AllVegasPoker online. Both sites have poker room reviews for every joint in town. Good Luck!

Thanks a lot for your answers (also found the following link in the above list - http://poker.about.com/od/lasvegas/tp/lasvegaspoker.htm).
I will try the Caesar's and perhaps Rio but since I have little time I want to try to stay in the middle of the strip vicinity.
Again thanks and wish me luck

The tournaments at Caesars are the best but they are around $120ish. Also I enjoyed the structure at Sahara's tournaments and the cash game there was awesome (fishy but people weren't stupid crazy).

TI...$65 and at least 3 start times daily. Small and friedly. Marage is very good as well...Dunno about thier tourneys though.

Las Vegas Poker Tournaments, Schedule and Ratings

That's the site I've used for tourney info for the last two years for my trips to Vegas. The "Patience Factor" and "Skill Level" columns are what really reveal how good the tourney is likely to be.

Personally, I soured on tourneys in Vegas this year when I was out there in July. Anything under a $100 buy-in is going to be filled with people who learned to play by watching ESPN. Between the donkey factor and the typical low 70ish% (some as low as 58%) of buy-in payout to the players, they are a terrible investment. But if you still really want to play tourneys and don't mind stepping up to a $150 buy-in, the noon tourney at the Venetian will give you the most reasonable tourney (better than even Caesar's or Belaggio's $500-$1K tourneys).

Due to my experience this year, I strongly believe cash tables are the way to go out there. After being down around $700 over the first half of my trip, mostly due to tourneys, I stuck to the cash tables ($1/$2 NL at the Nugget) for the second half of the week and left for home nearly dead even for the entire trip. Not to mention, the meal comps I got for cash table time were nice too.

I do not enjoy cash games as I enjoy tournaments - That is why I try to play mostly in the latter.
I will try to catch the Caesars 120$ and the Orleans 105$ but as these are already above my smallish bank roll I am not sure if I will be able to do the 150$ in the venetian.
Anyway thanks again!

Double-A said:

Sample hand from Luxor 1/2 NLHE: UTG limps, fold to me in middle position, I raise to $8 w/ AQs, late player reraises to $50, UTG goes all-in ($80ish), I fold, late player calls. Showdown? Q3s and J6o..

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Wow! Luxor also has one of the worst tournament structures in town.

rotocub said:

Las Vegas Poker Tournaments, Schedule and Ratings

That's the site I've used for tourney info for the last two years for my trips to Vegas. The "Patience Factor" and "Skill Level" columns are what really reveal how good the tourney is likely to be.

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Excellent link, thanks!

See here for previous tourney thread.

Also, note that for cash games, the MIN buy in is usually $100 for $1/$2NL. This is a bit more than some non-vegas venues, where the MAX buy in is $100. If you want to "short stack" then the Mirage is your best bet, with a min buy in of $40. You can basically play exploitable poker, as you standard raise of $16 + $4 for every limper will be too big of a % of your stack for loose calls against.

Played in PH, Paris, Caesars and Bellagio.
In the last day was in the top 2 in all 3 tournaments that I played - Won first 2 and came second on the No limit daily tournament in Bellagio.
Bellagio is a very nice room but the tournaments and cash games are very expensive, on the other hand most players are serious and professional and its was lots of fun to play with these players.
In the room next to me (Bobby's room) I saw some famous faces from WPT and the minimum buyin for that cash game was 100k!!
VIVA LAS VEGAS.

ysmisc said:

Played in PH, Paris, Caesars and Bellagio.
In the last day was in the top 2 in all 3 tournaments that I played - Won first 2 and came second on the No limit daily tournament in Bellagio.
Bellagio is a very nice room but the tournaments and cash games are very expensive, on the other hand most players are serious and professional and its was lots of fun to play with these players.
In the room next to me (Bobby's room) I saw some famous faces from WPT and the minimum buyin for that cash game was 100k!!
VIVA LAS VEGAS.

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Nice hand sir, Congrats!

a buy in of 120 you may as well just play in some small tourneys or just stay in your home casino and play 3-6. I don't mean to be rude but 120 is a pretty small amount to expect to play with unless you just want to sit for a bit.

sketchpad said:

a buy in of 120 you may as well just play in some small tourneys or just stay in your home casino and play 3-6. I don't mean to be rude but 120 is a pretty small amount to expect to play with unless you just want to sit for a bit.

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Actually almost all hotels in the strip have T for less than 100 with about 40 players in them, so these are nice to begin with.
I love playing in Vegas compared to other places because of the many options to play as well as the fact that it is not some sleazy place but inside the beatiful casinos of Vegas.

ysmisc said:

I love playing in Vegas compared to other places because of the many options to play as well as the fact that it is not some sleazy place but inside the beatiful casinos of Vegas.

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Lol, O'Sheas!!!

This thread really helped me because im goin to vegas the first of october, and i was wondering some of the same stuff. thanks.