The only difference I noticed at the temporary tables is that they are using the "old" chairs from the main room (the few left that weren't broken I guess) instead of the replacement white ones. I didn't look closely enough to see if they have shuffle machines this year.

That works for me I guess. I was really happy to see those extra tables last year. Really cut down on wait times later in the afternoon / evening.

What? When does this start? Or did it happen already? Is this for limit and NL games?

It started either today or yesterday (wasn't there yesterday). It was $5 max for all raked games I checked (4/8 and 9/18 limit, 1/3 nl). The time charge for 20/40 limit is the same $6 per down it has been for about 2 years.

All MGM properties with the exception of Luxor (closing next month) have gone up to $5. I made a few calls and the following properties are all now at $5 for percentage raked games.

Aria $5
Bally's $5 + $1
Bellagio $5
Excalibur $5 + $1
Flamingo $5 + $1
Mandalay Bay $5 +$2
MGM $5 + $2
Mirage $5 + $2
Planet Hollywood $5 + $1
Venetian $5 + $1
Wynn $5

That's funny because at my game yesterday there was a dealer at MGM and I asked him if it was going up there also. He said it was still 4+2 and if it went up to 5 he thought it would kill their games.

I called this morning and they confirmed the rake was $5.

Oh, I believed you about MGM; I'm sure the dealer just didn't know because he hadn't been to work since the change. Just thought it was funny that it was sprung on the dealers with no warning, and that he thinks it would kill their games.

It won't kill the games during the WSOP. The players coming in from out of town don't care and are used to higher rake. Might hurt their ability to get a 2-5 game though.

Let's be honest it won't kill the games. They raised the rake at Commerce to 6+1 (2 dollar if no flop and no 10% max) and the place is still at capacity on the weekends.

The Pavillion Room still takes 5 dollar if there's a bet and raise pre-flop and no flop and people still pack the place.

I don't think it will be an issue at all with Bellagio, Venetian, Aria, WSOP and Wynn all taking $5 now. It's the new price of poker.

Wat?! Meh.

Tables all over Vegas will be packed like usual during the series. Rake will not matter although its nice to keep rake low, some rooms do upgrade. I play most of my time at Aria and being able to keep my phone charged while at table is nice.

I'll be there in 2 weeks. Can anyone comment on lhe action 40-80 to 100/200 or anywhere in the middle. Thanks!

I wish more people would bump into my chair.

Was there last week. The lhe games were incredible. Hoping to get some more game time next when I drive out there.

I'm curious how people around here feel about the Bellagio especially during the WSOP.

I felt the room itself was poorly ran, being thrown out in to the sports book for 1-3 or 2-5 kind of feels like they are just dumping out the trash. They were filling up seats at an alarmingly slow rate. Eventually I got in to the 5-10 game and it was like a completely different room.

None of this would matter that much if the games were good but the 2-5 games I sat down at were very reg heavy and very nity. Multiple people on multiple occasions were grinding wsop.com while at the table and the games were just not good. To me this makes sense, because what type of action player is going to wait around for a 50+ name list? Probably not many. The 5-10 games on the other hand were much softer but still on average tougher than at the other rooms I was playing at.

This is over a 3 session sample size over 3 different nights, hardly a big sample size but I'm wondering how other people feel about this room? Honestly I was expecting a lot more action in here or maybe I was just getting bad luck. I did table change multiple times in the 2-5 games and scope others out, none of them seemed to be great.

Do you pretty much only come here if you are playing bigger games or mixed games?

I played Bellagio during the WSOP because they are the only place that has LHE. If I were playing a game that was spread at any other room, I would have happily gone to that room.

I played a morning session there last week and felt they were a bit scattered as well, but I immediately sat at 2/5 and was moved to a new 5/10 within 2 orbits. After an hour or so when things really started to pick up there were additional floors and they seemed on top of it, even catching players jumping the list to sit down at new tables 'incorrectly' twice!

Can't comment on night staff, but with the variety of games they spread I can 'see' how things might get more complicated in that room.

I will say that the crew at the Venetian at night was excellent. They all have head sets and communicate very well with their main Bravo desk. The floor for the area I played in knew (and used) my name immediately and was on top of the chip runner needs for entering and sitting players. Certainly less volume than Bellagio/Aria but well run.

When I returned the following night I didn't even have to go to the Bravo desk ... The same floor from the night before just moved me to a table and got a chip runner for me.

I didn't consider going anywhere else since I couldn't even start playing until after 12:30 AM and didn't want to deal with any lists ... and I was staying at TI. GL

The room does have space limitations so they really don't have any other option then opening the smaller games in the sportsbook area of the room as you don't want to begin spreading 5/10's or a new 25/50 PLO in the sportsbook because the main room has tables with 2/5 and 1/3 running in it. I feel they handle this perfectly and really the only way they can handle it.

The 2/5 games over the past 3 summers have been reg-filled at Bellagio during the series as are most rooms. The people flocking to Vegas during the wsop to grind 2/5 are predominantly regs from other areas. The best times in Vegas and at Bellagio specifically are not during a popular poker event as that attracts poker regs. The best times in Vegas and at Bellagio are during popular SPORTING events such as NFL weekends or March Madness that results in sports fans sitting in these seats that poker regs occupy during the wsop.

The sportsbook area just feels so disconnected it's almost like you have to treat it as two separate poker rooms in the same casino.

There's no bravo out there at the table, you have to swipe in manually and they always had one floor trying to manage two 50+ person lists which would be hard for anybody, especially without a proper Bravo system.. so it's really hard to blame anyone other than what seems to be a lack of staff.

If they are going to run games out there it should be at the same standard as the main room, that's my opinion on it anyways.

I'd say that room in general could use at least one more full time floor during these extra crowded periods. As user above mentioned, people were sneaking in to games, lists were moving slowly, etc. None of the other rooms I played at really had any of these issues.

When stuff like march madness is going on do they also have to throw games out at the sportsbook or is it typically just during wsop?

I've been there for March madness once and it wasn't that busy TBH. It was in 2015. I'm not sure if maybe St Patty's falling 2 days beforehand that year had a negative impact because rooms were cheap (I was in bellagio for 160$ a night) and I didn't find Vegas overall or the tables to be overly busy. The most notable thing to tell you the truth that week was that you were constantly having people away from the table because either they were betting the games or they were running to watch the last two minutes of the game so I swear you seemed to have a third man walking situation almost nonstop from 9am-8pm. Outside of WSOP it's unusual to ever see wait lists or rooms be out of control other than the Chinese New Year.

You should see it on Sundays in the fall. Many of the 1/3 and 2/5NL games are 4 or 5-handed for a brief period of time as the early games are ending. Everyone knows what is going on but you can't pick everyone up. Unlike March Madness which is all day this phenomenon only occurs from 1-1:25pm Vegas time on those Sundays.

I love the fact they put more tables outside the room. Aria doesn't do that and the lists there get ridiculously long. There it feels like they are hoping the trash will leave. At Bellagio they are trying to get those players to stay.

Being at a 2-5 table full of tight grinders isn't that unusual these days. Seems like the games have gotten worse over time.

Over the past two weeks, the 5/10 games at Bellagio average about 6.5 regulars at the table according to my unscientific poll.

Regs don't necessarily mean great players though, but the ratio is certainly getting better over the years during the WSOP.

The extra tables last year seemed to have helped them have more 5/10 tables.

I gotta hand it to the floor at Bellagio. I wouldn't be able to last there. It's amazing how terrible some regulars treat the staff there. One nameless guy, goes out of his way to place his finished drinks on top of the front desk so that they have deal with with his trash rather than focus on something else. Unreal.