I'm sure it's been asked a thousand times but are the 1/2 & 1/3 games actually super soft at all times in Vegas?

I have only been twice and I made it a point to go during times that I assumed would be softer than usual. (Superbowl and Rodeo - although the Rodeo seemed to do squat, I played with exactly one cowboy hat in 4 days lol). The reason I ask this question is because the game around the Superbowl was a lot better than during the Rodeo - in both cases I played all over the place and looked for the best games.

This year I was trying to do more of the same but I am having scheduling issues. i would like to go sometime between March and July - so I was thinking NCAA basketball tournament or WSOP. I'm down to only one option for the NCAA tourney and it is final four weekend. I'm assuming the more touristy times are the first and second weekend of the tournament, not the final four weekend? Then I have a big family trip in late May. I probably can't take too much time off of work too close to that trip.

So, should I just stuff a trip in in mid-April or late July when there is seemingly nothing to bring in the crowd or should I try to hold out for a better time? Also, am I missing another event in April that might bring in more people than usual?

I certainly feel like there's a difference in certain times. For instance I felt a noticeable difference in fishy players first weekend of WSOP when fish still have money vs. towards the end. Week of March Madness games seemed softer than random weekend in the summer, etc. You can still find soft games at any time but there easier to find at peak times.

Waitlists are crazy during the first couple of WSOP weekends that have all those super low buy-in events.

During those days, you better arrive before 9AM at places like Bellagio or Aria if you don't want to wait for hours to get into a game.

1/2 and 1/3 games are soft. I think rather than time of year, you should think time of day. Just my opinion, but I think you are likely to find softer 1/2 and 1/3 games later at night (especially Friday/Saturday night). All it takes is one drunk LAG to totally change the table dynamic.

IF you play Tuesday early afternoon, you are more likely to find a tighter table with more grinders.

More likely you'll find local OMC regs getting their monthly hours in and looking to hit high hands. Dunno if I'd call them "grinders".
Tighter, yes. Not actually a tough table, but a lot of short stacks and hard to win much.

You can raise to 11 on the button, CO, and HJ and steal the blinds, and win, but it's not all that much fun.

The problem with a table of tight OMCs isn't that they are tough to play against, it is that the average percentage of the pot that is raked goes up meaning that the game is overall tougher to beat. In a game where a significant majority of the pots are sub 50 bucks the effective rake is going to be closer to 10% whereas in a game where most of the pots are 100 bucks or more the effective rake is going to be closer to 5% or even less. All other things being equal it is much easier to be profitable in a game where the effective rake is 5% v. 10% which is why playing against a bunch of bad OMCs can still result in a not very profitable table.

I've heard this has as much to do with the fact that all the cash games at the WSOP aren't running as all dealers are used for the tourney?

Yep, when the tournament area is super busy, they run out of dealers.

Besides that, as a tourist who came to play a $565 tournament, where would you prefer to play your cash games?
a) In an extremely cold convention center with mostly terrible and/or new dealers where you might spot a waitress every other hour
b) In a famous poker room like Bellagio or Aria

Maybe we are just lucky, but I'm there like every begin of June and the cash games waitlists are not that long actually everywhere i play. Even when the Colossus starts. When i bust i go play cash and can play always within 15 minutes wherever i am.

It's not that big, but there is a deep stack extravaganza at the Venetian

Do you play in the bigger rooms on the Strip? IIRC correctly, I've seen 200+ player lists at Bellagio in the early afternoon on WSOP weekends.

Well yes, but i must admit that i play wherever i play the tourneys and near those rooms. I've been to Aria and Bellagio on occasions (early)but not that much as i've played a lot at Rio and Venetian (and Caesars when i but at Venetian) Mostly i return to Bellagio later on the day (i stay there mostly during WSOP) or night.

Nah, that mostly ended the second year of the Colossal. By the time enough players bust to have room for a lot of cash games, the dealers aren't needed for the tournament any more. It's just the Bellagio and Aria that have long lists. The other rooms are busy, but waits are not long.

I don't understand the logic of games being softer during WSOP. If reg/pro poker players from all around the world are going to be clogging up poker rooms, which will dissuade casual/drunk players from playing since they wont wait on long lists, won't there logically be better players at all tables rather than mixed?

The casual players will quickly notice how fast the list moves. Further, because the rooms are packed, some will want to feed the ego that 'they played with the best' even though many in the room are far from being 'the best.'

Additionally, remember that many who travel for WSOP and the surrounding series are NOT reg/pro players. Some, indeed a large number, are simply people who enjoy poker and who chose to take their vacation to poker mecca.

Games at night are just as wild on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday as they might ordinarily have been on a weekend any other time of the year. In other words, an element of softness will pervade most of the major rooms for the next six weeks...

This is NOT to say that all tables will be soft, but then again, there are tables any other time of the year that might, by random chance, be stacked as well.