Apologies if this has been discussed already. Haven't been to Vegas in 8 years but last time I was there I stayed at Venetian and the action in the poker room wasn't great.

Which has softer games, Aria or Venetian? I plan on staying at one of these casinos. I used to play 1/2 live, with the occasional 2/5, several times a week 5 years ago but now I hardly play at all. Also, has the action at Venetian gotten any better? I wont be playing 12 hour sessions. Just a couple of hours as I'd like to enjoy more of what Vegas has to offer.

I'll be there the week of August 14. Thanks in advance.

Hope you enjoy your stay. Will you have a friend with you? Try the Red Rock Scooter Tour by Scoot City Tours (morning session). It's a great way to start your day if you don't have a car to get out there. Red Rock Park is so close ...

I just stayed at TI in early July and mainly played at Venetian at night due to our schedule and wanting to avoid being on a list for too long and it being across the street. I found the 2/5 games very playable but the 5/10 is reg/pro heavy but always had 1-2 whales to try and isolate. I did get to play with Jamie Gold one night.

I've had good experiences at Aria in the past playing 1/3 .. it was plenty deep that I didn't feel I needed to step up in stakes.

If you want to play a morning session, then get to Bellagio IMO.

Granted this was during WSOP and I would assume that August is 'down' a bit. Get the Bravo Poker app so you know what games are going and how deep the lists are. It also will provide you with the phone numbers to get on the lists. Again, with it being August I would assume most rooms are going to be reg heavy. I really wouldn't classify either casino as 'soft' ... for that you may want to try MGM/NY/Flamingo/PH ... somewhere that offers discounted rooms if you know what I mean!

Have fun ... Take a look at the Go Las Vegas Card as well for up to 7 discounted attractions. Just make sure you don't wait in line for show tickets on any other day than the day of the show .. it will be very disappointing. GL

Thanks for the detailed info. It's a short trip so I won't be doing any tourist type activities. Just looking to relax, mingle, etc. Going solo, 2nd time I do the one man wolf pack thing. I had no problem meeting people last time.

I won't do any nite clubs, looking more for lounge/bar spots with lots of women. The clubs are insanity, to me.

I'll be sure to check out multiple rooms. I'm OK that it will be off peak time to go. Just wanted to get away.

I just came back from playing both a few weeks ago. There was not appreciable difference in the play between them. The difference is the Venetian is a separate room with more tables while you can see and hear the casino floor from the Aria's room.

Yea if you want softer games head to the strip casinos that are not known for poker, mostly tourists checking out their hotels poker room (see above) , def stay away from locals casinos like RR, Orleans, South Point, etc.

Between the two I like Aria better, as stated 1-3 is solid there, and I also have many personal reasons why I like it better too.

IMO, post-WSOP, Aria will have more games. Hence, more chances for table selection and the desired "soft spots". I would not consider either room fishy.
Venetian has been well documented as downsizing their room, cutting comps, tables, etc, losing players. Mostly locals. But you need to factor that in.
I also like Aria for the ease of proximity to other properties. (Bellagio, PH, Caesars, Ballys)

Thanks. Im booked for Aria. Really looking forward to it. Any good bars/lounges someone can recommend? I'm not interested in nightclubs.

I think the Chandelier Bar at Cosmopolitan, which is right next door, is pretty cool.

Whenever I ask hotties where they've stayed at in Vegas, Cosmopolitan and Planet Hollywood get mentioned a lot. So I'd imagine the bars/lounges there might be decent. I'd also imagine Octane bar next to the Thunder From Down Under place at Excalibur might get some horny women after the show, lol.

You might want to try also asking in the Las Vegas forum here.

Stayed at Aria last trip (solo as well) and I'd need a REALLY good reason to ever stay somewhere else.

The 1/3 games there are NOT deep though. It's a $300 max 1/3. Many others in town are $500 max on the 1/3.

There's also a really cool bar at the top of Mandarin that's worth checking out

Thunder down under. Lol!

The lounges and bars at Aria aren't too exciting but I like to stop in for a margarita and app at Javiers from time to time and Carbone has some great wines by the glass (had a brunello by the glass last time I was in) and some great sharable pastas/apps.

now that the rake is $5 at each of the locations mentioned, i would probably say.... have you considered playing at caesars with a $4 rake still?

Just got back from 4 nights in Vegas. 3 nights, Wed-Fri at Aria and the last night, Saturday, at Venetian. This is a quick trip report.
The Aria is a really nice casino and the rooms are very cool. $20 tip at check in got me upgraded to strip view. The pool is nice and there are some trees and umbrellas that offer shade. Drink prices are not outrageous.

The poker room is nice and the chairs are comfy. I found most of the players to be surprisingly bad and easily giving money away. I felt most of the dealers were weak, indifferent and very passive. They almost never called out the action, whether it was a bet, raise or check.

I understand how some people say the casino floor feels dark because it does. The food options are probably the worst part of this casino. It is crazy how expensive it is to eat anything here. All the restaurants are very expensive and there's not a lot of options. Dinner one night at the Spanish restaurant that serves tapas mostly was $50 for 3 different tapas and a glass of sangria. Thank God for Uber Eats. And this casino sits so far back from the strip.

The staff is very pleasant and really make you feel like they're there to help. No attitudes from anyone.

I've stayed at Venetian before and I just love this place. It's such a classy and beautiful hotel. The Palazzo is gorgeous as well. All the rooms are very large and beautifully appointed. The casino is bright and lively with many, many food and drink options at various price ranges. You can't go wrong eating at Cafe Lux, which has good food at normal everyday prices.

The spa was a life altering experience and I highly recommend it. It's nice to be pampered and you leave there feeling like a new man. My masseuse was an older lady but the ones in line before and after her were young and hot, so I just missed out. They allow you to stay as long as you want and you can leave and come back.

Lots of really nice bars between the two hotels. Several pools with padded chairs but little to no shade. I really can't say enough good things about this place and wish I would have stayed here all week.

The action in the poker room for 1-3 wasn't great and was at times nitty. I found the dealers a little better than Aria.

It is a little annoying though that they won't allow Uber or Lyft to pick up or drop off at the front.

On a side note, United Airlines sucks. Flew business class going and they had no TV. Food was nothing special. Coming back, you had to pay for TV and they didn't feed you on a 5 hr flight. Not to mention how tiny the seats are. I did make some money on this trip.

I would say Aria. The games tend to always be softer, and the room is just nicer!

I just so happened onto this thread with a similar question so hopefully OP doesn't mind me tossing this in the mix. I've been tracking games for the days I'll be there (Thur-Mon) via Bravo and it comes down to these 2 plus Ceasars as looking to be the best options the times of day I want to play for 1/2 and 2/5 so beyond the low rake at Ceasars any other comparisons?

I have logged around the same hours at the Aria and Venetian and in my experience the Aria games have been tremendously tougher than the games at the Venetian. Regardless, both are awesome poker rooms to play in and both have great chairs, staff, and drink service.

I believe Bellagio has a $500 max for the 2/5 game so that is the game I would jump into if you want to take a shot at 2/5.

Caesar's Palace is awesome as well and on average has more 1/2 tables than any other casino on the strip.

Old guy in my 1-2 game at Venetian this week was complaining about all the PF raising when the high hand promotion was going on. He kept limping into pots and getting raised. He said "I don't want your money. I want the house money."

He did win the $500 promotion just minutes later, and ended up having a losing session anyway.

You don't get those promo chasers at Aria; not sure if that's good or bad though because it also attracts locals.

and limit of any consequence in Vegas is still Bellagio and Orleans?

Ctrick311, I don't know if it's true that Ceasars 1/2 is that good. From checking Bravo over a week, I found that Aria, Bellagio, and Venetian had the most low limit games in any given day. Bellagio, appears to still clearly have the most higher limit action of any room. One night, there were actually more 2/5 games than 1/3 and this is when there was about 20+ games going. I don't think that Aria or Venetian are hard at all for 1/3. Alot of players were pretty bad, easy to read. I find the games at Borgata in Atlantic City harder to win money at. Of course, Alot depends on what day and what time you play. Yes, both rooms are very nice.

I will say that Venetian, and most poker rooms, action has slowed down from the high of around 2008. The action used to be so good even at 1/2 and the room was always busy. Now they've had to downsize. I should have tried the 2/5 game.

Hmm I guess the safe answer here is that both properties are nice and have their appeal. I avoid the V because of Adelson and I'm not a fan of Cafe Lux. But when I travel I tend to like to ignore value and just go for what I like so I was happy to drop $$$ in the restaurants in Aria.

I'd also generally not pay into a promo fund even if it means not playing against promo chasers.

Aria may be the place for me but if V is the place for you who am I to argue.

By 'awesome', I meant good drinks, friendly staff, and comfortable chairs. I wasn't referring to the action. I checked Bravo twice a day for 4 days a week from February to the end of July and Caesar's had more 1/2 (or 1/3) tables than any other Casino on the strip. Obviously there are many factors influencing this data but it was a fairly large sample size. Also, know that this list only contains poker rooms that I intended to play in during the WSOP. I did not plan to play at Bally's, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, etc.
I doubt many people will argue that Aria, Bellagio, and the Wynn aren't the nicest poker rooms in Las Vegas but I wanted an average table count so that I would know which room I could likely get into a game the quickest. The Aria is my favorite room but the lists are much longer than the Venetian for example.

Casino Avg Tables Stake Buy-In
Caesar's Palace - 4.9 - 1/2 - 300 Max
Venetian - 4.6 - 1/2 - 300 Max
Aria - 3.9 - 1/3 - 300 Max
Bellagio - 3.6 - 1/3 - 300 Max
Wynn - 3.3 - 1/3 - 500 Max
MGM Grand - 2.7 - 1/2 - 300 Max
Planet Hollywood - 2.5 - 1/2 - 300 Max
Flamingo - 2.1 - 1/2 - 300 Max

Aria