Looks to me like a couple people acting up and hundreds with their cell phones out..

Was there this past weekend, 9/16 to 9/20, and here are some observations:

1) Stayed at Bellagio. Go once a year and degen enough at Mlife properties so I get a free room offer pretty much every year in the summer. Same this time.

2) The economic class of the crowd at Bellagio was definitely not the norm. You can attach any other demographic to that you'd like, and you would probably be correct in your assumption. But to be clear, I saw plenty of riff raff white guys drinking cheap beer out of cans and in crappy t shirts walking around, so it was equal opportunity in that respect.

3) I experienced and saw no problems, with one exception. When I arrived and checked in, the room next door (and some distance away due to there being some kind of maintenance in between) had a very loud party going on, music, shouting, etc. Once in my room, the music was still so loud that it shook the table side lamp near the bed. I called guest services but it stopped as I was speaking to them, they said to call back later.

I did when I returned to the room about 5 hours later and the music once again was just out of control. Spoke to a staff person who said he could hear it all the way down the hall. A buddy likened it to being at a stoplight and a car pulls up with the thumping "look at me!, look at me!" bass. Guest services moved us down a floor to another room, no problem.

In 15 years of Bellagio/Aria/Encore, etc., never experienced anything like that. Would not have put up with it at a Hampton Inn, much less at a resort.

Walking around, I would say the Aria crowd was pretty typical for Aria. Cosmopolitan was also fairly normal for what one expect. Maybe a bit more ... boisterous. Bottom line is that within that group of resorts there was a surprising drop off in class. Again, take that any way you want.

4) I did see the scooter phenomenon. Did not have a really noteworthy encounter. But I will say that the substantial majority of people I saw riding them appeared to me not to actually need them. It just seemed like a bit of a lark for some. And they were always in groups, which reinforced that for me.


As an aside, poker-wise, cash at Bellagio sucked. Played 2-5 for a bit, no one talking, everyone looking at their phones, the plexiglass just killed any discussion. Guy next to me shouted a few things. I couldn't hear him and he was three feet away from me.

Venetian tournaments well run. For whatever reason the plexiglass there, while inconvenient, did not kill the entire vibe.

Best cash games were at the Orleans. While the plexiglass did inhibit good conversation, the action Friday and Saturday nights was solid enough to make up for that.

Personally, I won't be back until the plexiglass is gone. And I will be careful about which resort I go to.

The big resorts have always had a wide spectrum of demographic..especially foot traffic..the bellagio gets as much or more walk through as any resort..hillbillies and wannabe rappers walk through all day long..and always have..if you mind your business almost zero chance of a problem..what did surprise me once a few years ago is I witnessed a fistfight in front of bellagio fountains and one of the guys was laying there needing medical attention..it took metro at least 15 minutes to respond..how can it take them that long to respond to that location?? Totally unacceptable..

I feel the same way about the plexiglass. I played at the Venetian a couple weeks ago and it was pretty annoying, more so for me because I’m already hard of hearing and the masks + giant block of plexiglass in your face made it almost impossible for me to hear anyone. I’m probably going to stick to online until it’s gone. I’m really hoping that this vaccine works and Las Vegas will be more Las Vegasish in time for my next trip next year.

I'll agree with your view and I am local here.

I may still try SouthPoint, but only if I am really bored for something to do. I found my interest wanes within an hour of play, even if I am ahead.

The poker experience currently is just NOT entertaining or enjoyable for the most part..... Even when the table is action-oriented, profitable and talkative, I'm looking to pick up within an hour.

Have you ever driven on the Strip? There's traffic on it.

Was in town from 9/14-9/18. It wasn't a planned thing. The wildfire smoke in OR was just getting too bad and driving me crazy living in a constant cloud of ash.

Stayed at Harrah's due to cheap rates + decent quality + convenient central location. Town felt surprisingly busy. Can confirm that some of the clientele and pedestrians had a bit more of a "rough" edge than usual. Overheard a pedestrian say to his buddy, "Vegas is sketchy as f*** now." I can also say that nobody harassed me and I never felt in any danger. I'm a 6'4" man though, and I can imagine being a 5'4" woman in the same crowds could've gotten uncomfortable. It would be prudent for women to travel in groups. For men, as long as you don't go looking for trouble or escalating situations, I don't think there's any real danger in traveling among these crowds. I definitely noticed some scooter action, and you need to be alert to keep your shins safe.

Played some of the Venetian events, which were enjoyable enough given the context. Eight-handed play with dividers and masks. If you are in a high-risk group for COVID or live/work with high-risk people, I wouldn't risk it just to play some live poker. If you are young and don't work/live in close proximity with others, it's probably not a huge risk to go play.

Also played 2 hours of cash at Bellagio. Extremely soft table full of nits, but can confirm that something just feels a little off. No table talk at all. There's no real interaction. Everything feels a little lifeless and grim.

I was glad to make it out to LV in 2020 because it's been a frequent stop for me the past few years and I didn't think I'd squeeze a trip in after the WSOP was cancelled, but I don't see myself going back again until hopefully the 2021 WSOP if that happens. The Venetian series shows that live MTTs can still be viable, but in the back of your mind it does feel sort of "wrong" to be playing right now and I don't think we'll see a true rebound until a vaccine/herd immunity have cleared things up more.

Unless you're trolling, you have a surprising ignorance of how they're deployed along the strip (or supposed to be).

Doesn’t sound like much will change even if a vaccine comes out:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn...day/index.html

Hey, I’ll wear a mask for however long, just get rid of the plexiglass.

^Well plexiglass helps with social distancing so I doubt it will go away anytime soon.

I actually enjoy the plexiglass for 6 handed tables, specifically how they are at Aria and Bellagio. Do not like it at the 8 handed games. Which sucks because I'd rather play 8 than 6.

Oh just another shooting outside Stage Door last night, yawn.

3 injured and they are shutting down until Tuesday for some strange reason?

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/3-peo...38c913519.html

Seriously, David.

Do you think your post was informative, posting Jeff's announcement about some 9 or 10 helicopters circling ? Fwiw, the FSE is kind of impervious to helicopters, so whatever prompted their flights was probably elsewhere. Also, 10 helicopters, really ?

Yes, Fremont is not a good place to be late at night. I was there yesterday during the day, things were pretty busy and a lot of folks were having a good time.

However, no, I wouldn't hang out there after 9 pm anyway, regardless of what someone, even Jeff who is a credible guy, "heard about restaurants possibly boarding up or demonstrators possibly heading that way"

lol

sorry for shitty tweet. he's the only one who posts these videos

Is it a free for all over there? Security is too busy taking temperatures at the door?

Why so 'Angry'...

Where are the quick response teams?

As someone who will be staying in Las Vegas for a week starting Tuesday with plans to play poker for the entirety of the trip, I'm looking for some advice.

It will be my third time visiting the strip, the first two I stayed in the flamingo and had no issues whatsoever. I always carried a backpack with me with my valuables and money inside it, and I was very alert of my surroundings and even took the extra step of latching the clip on the front of my backpack straps together so you basically couldnt take the backpack off of me while I was wearing it. Sure it looked dorky but better safe than sorry.

I will not be staying there this time, and would rather not state exactly where I'll be staying but what I can say that I will be within a 30-45 minute walk of everywhere that I am planning on playing. My original plan was to do just that, walk to wherever I am planning on playing that day, but the recent uptick in crime on the strip has me rethinking this and how I did things in the past in terms of how I carried my money. I plan on playing 1/3 and 2/5 during my stay so I'll be carrying an appropriate amount of money on me to play these stakes and not have to worry about running out unless something crazy happens.

So really I am just looking for advice from locals/people who have been there recently on how I should go about carrying a decent sum of money around with me, and whether it is worth the risk of walking if I do choose to do so. I do play professionally so I would like to keep expenses down as much as possible.

Best comment - He must've split 10s

Other comments are suggesting this was MGM National Harbor in Maryland, not MGM Grand in Vegas.

I think you'll be fine as long as you just keep your head down and don't engage with these shitheads. They're drunk or high and probably looking for a fight so don't give one to them.

you'll be fine
also you won't be the only guy walking around vegas with cash so it doesn't matter if you say where you're staying

LVRJ reporting another shooting at (outside?) Flamingo last night. Says CHP apparently apprehended suspect early this morning.

From the article -- "Last week, Las Vegas police reported that overall violent crime is up less than 1% in 2020 on the Strip and adjacent areas, but aggravated assaults are up 29% year to date."

Don't walk around carrying your cash, especially from the Strip to wherever you plan on staying ....where you are staying will not remain a secure secret if you walk there from a casino cage, after cashing out a large amount of money. If you are worried about getting mugged on the Strip, consider the relative danger walking FROM the Strip with cash after playing.

Don't know where you plan on staying/playing, but you really should get a room where you are planning on playing, use the room safe, don't talk to hookers in the bar, etc. I think it is naive to think a 35 minute walk to/from where you plan on playing makes any sense.

Secure lodging and going to/from your playing are costs of business. Don't scrimp If an additional hour of playing time/revenue each day doesn't cover the relative cost of playing where you stay, you are in the wrong market for your planned trip. Room rates are pretty cheap, versus the cost/time, etc. of trying to walk 35 minutes from the Strip to wherever.