Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time poster. I recently made the decision to sell my house and move out to Las Vegas. I am lucky enough to be able to work 100% remote from my computer, so while yes I am still fully employed I do intend to spend the rest of my time playing poker. I'm currently writing this from a hotel room in Illinois and plan to arrive to Las Vegas Wednesday.

I do not have plans yet as to where I am living and will be bouncing around from strip hotels to extended stay hotels the first month or two. (first 9 days somehow found a way to secure a room at the Vdara for 9 nights for only the cost of amenities)

Anyways, I'm not posting for attention just more so for advice on where to play and what to do while I'm there. While I do follow many players on twitter I don't personally know many people in Vegas, always in for meet up games or anything of that sort.

A little more info about me, I am 30 years old, I play primarily 2/5 NLH although I dab a bit in tournaments and am not above playing 1/2 from time to time. I'll also be trying to golf (need some golf buddies).

I'm not 100% sure of the point of this post is other than to get some advice and start some conversations of dos and don'ts once I arrive.

Thanks for the quick read!

Good luck!

This is something I've thought about doing as well since I'm also able to work 100% remote. I would probably take the plunge if I was a better poker player.

Very curious how it goes for you.

Thought about doing the same but hotel internet was not solid enough to do it. I'd need a residence or something where I could buy cable or dsl internet.

Play as much cash as you can for the next couple weeks while the series is still going on. Save the apartment hunting for when the action slows down

Chrismrjen, thanks for the kind words! I will certainly keep you updated with how everything goes!

Pig4bill, i completely understand where you’re coming from I worked out of hotels on the east coast from time to time and some was spotty at best. I really only booked hotels with good reviews on the internet but yes nothing it for sure when you’re doing this

Drunktilt, agreed! I will be putting in lots of hours the next month or so especially as well as a few single table satellites at the rio

Thanks again for commenting everyone and I will keep you updated!

If you can get your own mobile hotspot, like through AT&T, you will not be dependent upon hotel wifi or wherever you roost prior to getting a real residence. You likely will need suchc for your work as well as poker if you plan on online play. .... get something secure. Avoid shared wifi, such as Starbucks.

Drink plenty of water, always, until at least late September. This is a desert, not like the East Coast.

Plan on having a car, and invest in a reflective sunshade. Buy sunscreen the day you get here.

Ask itt where the most useful comps are to be earned, among whatever rooms people tout for $2-5 play.

NFL games come on at 10 here on Sundays, making poker v. tourists available on Sunday mornings.

There is no sex in the champagne room.

Thank you Gzesh! Lots of good information! All of that is noted and will be kept in mind.

Currently in a hotel room in Nebraska going to break the remaining 1100 miles in 2 days instead of trying to push it tomorrow in one next stop will be somewhere around Colorado /Utah line and arriving to Vegas still scheduled for 5 ish pm on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the replies !

I just finished 2 weeks in Vegas, and my goal was to play as much 1/2, 1/3, and 2/5 in as many different rooms as I could.

The big takeaway I have from playing 97 hours in 9 different rooms is that at least at the 1/2 to 1/3 level, there's not a magic answer for who has the best games. The player lineups range from old nits, to good recreational players, to bad recreational players, to spewy or otherwise inexperienced players. If you're at a table where you don't have a solid reason for being there, just rack up and find a new table.

I will say that in my experience, the 4 biggest and nicest rooms are the best places to play. That would be Aria, Venetian, Bellagio, and Wynn. They're institutionally big enough that there are always games running. Aria has the best PLO cash games (if you're in to that), the Wynn has deeper max buyins if you like deepstacked play ($500 at 1/3). I feel like Bellagio and Aria had the best average dealers... fastest and most competent.

Definitely check out the Rio if you're there while the World Series is going on, for the spectacle if nothing else. I will say that the dealers at the Rio seemed like clearly the worst... inexperienced, made inappropriate table comments, slow and made mistakes. But I'm pretty sure I wasn't getting the A-team for the 10 pm turbo or graveyard shift 1/3.

I also played at the Golden Nugget (uncapped 1/2 games, which is neat, but it's a smallish room and nothing special). I thought I'd try a session at Planet Hollywood during vampire hours to try and pick off some drunks, but the game was pretty meh and the loud music in the Pleasure Pit is not conducive to long sessions. MGM and Caesar's Palace were fine, nothing special... I feel like I'd have better game selection at one of the big 4 casinos I mentioned earlier, or the Rio during the series.

I suggest that you get a Player's Card. That way you will get some food comps for the time that you put in. Also, while TJ's above comment is an excellent summary, I would add two things:

The Orleans poker room has to be included. Good promotions, good games, very professional staff, etc. Spoiler Alert - You will hear comments like "Local infested, Full of Old Men Coffees, etc." But, since you are moving to LV, check it out for yourself.

Spend enough time in each room so that you truly become familiar with it. A 2 week sampling gives you a good feel but it does have its limitations.

Everyone's preferences are different (game selection, stakes, customer traffic, ambience, etc.), so use TJ's review to find yours.

After you get players cards at MGM and Caesars (if you don`t already have them), google the credit card deals they both have. What I mean is this: both casino chains have a feature where if you get a specific credit card you can link your players card info to it and they will bump you up to whatever tier level gets free parking at their properties.

I think you can get free parking at both chains after a certain number of hours played, but this will cut out having to do that since it would take a while (I think it`s like 100 hours at Caesars properties to get free parking at all of them?). For MGM all you have to do is make sure the card is active from year to year, but IIRC for Caesars after the first year you have to spend 5k on the credit card per year to stay in that tier. That could change with the new company taking over Caesars though. Anyway, this is enough info to steer you in the right research direction. Free parking is becoming scarce on the main part of the strip; as far as I know the only free parking anymore is (from south to north) Tropicana, (possibly Hooters, can`t remember), Planet Hollywood, Venetian/Palazzo, and Fashion Show Mall.

Get the MGM credit card, easy to get, no play required ..... and provides free parking at all MGM properties.

How long does the MGM card give you pearl status for free parking?

I'm close to the 75 hrs at Bellagio to get it from poker but it would be nice to not have to worry about doing that every 6 months.

I have both CC's. (wife has CET, I have MGM) We seem to get marginally more perks from CET card, but we've had that longer.
Regarding players cards and comps- Caesars hours and comps do travel between properties. For that reason consider playing and checking out the Caesars poker room, and its actually pretty nice for my way of thinking. Out in the open now for the last few years, next to the sports book, which has greatly increased the walkbys and tournament entries. And the comps travel to all the CET properties. There are more than a few locals that put in tons of hours at Flamingo too. Always busy. But not an endorsement.
MGM comps only stay within the casino you earn them in, and then they expire after six months. (yeah, that sucks, Bobby B) So, being a new local, you'll probably be able to use them up. I hate playing for hours at Bellagio or Mirage (she loves the place) and then getting less than from them for comps.

Ii was told last week, you get Pearl "tier" status, which has free parking, for as long as you have the card. Play not required.

Poker comps are treated differently that comps earned on the floor.

Hi All, sorry for the delay in updating my journey. Just read everyones responses and all the good info is very much appreciated and I will take it all into consideration.

I arrived in Vegas on Wednesday night after my final leg of my road trip through Colorado and Utah. Man that drive is no joke, the Colorado part is very scenic but the insane elevations and twists and turns certainly don't lend to a cruise control type of drive. Utah was pretty much the exact opposite just cruised at 85 the whole way through.

I'm currently at the Vdara now on day 4 of my 9 comped days (checking out Friday morning to go to my comped room at MGM).

So far the room is awesome really impressed with everything and I love the quick walk to the Bellagio. I did decide on parking at the Bellagio self park since Vdara does not have a self park. Im keeping the car there all 9 days at $18/Day. I am unfortunately the lowest MGM tier level but once I get to the next level I will get free parking so my goal is to be at that level before I have to pay for parking and then it'll all be free. (currently at 13K tier credits need to get to 25K for next level and free parking)

I've had to work a lot from the room but I did manage to get in 2 poker sessions at the Bellagio one was 1/3 and one was 2/5. The 1/3 session was 3.5 hours in for $300 out for $976. No insane hands just really bad play so far (had a dude jam $400 pre against my AK diamonds and he had 63 clubs, actually flopped a 6 but I runner runner diamonds)

2/5 session in for $500 out for $386 after 5.75 hours. No big pots just card dead a lot.

This thread is boring with no pics so I promise pics are coming but if anyone has any suggestions on how to get more tier credits fast I would appreciate it (the bulk came from my spending $35 a night for 9 nights, you get 25 points per $1 spent) gonna be struggling to get the last 12K by Saturday but I need to to avoid that $180 parking bill.

Anyways I'm rambling at this point, promise the next update will have pics. Thanks!

Yeah, .............. get the MGM credit card last week.

Where you be at OP?

In

there has to be a way to hack some free parking near the strip.

I was at the Orleans last week for a motorcycle trip to Lake Tahoe. We trailered the bikes to Las Vegas and asked security at the Orleans if we could leave the truck and trailer in their lot for 2-3 days. They said no problem just call the office with the vehicle info so they could log it in. When we called the office, Brenda in Security said if our vehicle was in their lot and we were not a registered guest it would be towed!

https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-t...as-vegas-strip

I used to just dump my stuff in the room and move my car to one of the free properties. There's likely one not far from wherever you're staying.