Hi all,

I am going to Vegas in November. I’m pretty much a noob what it comes to LV (hence a beginner q). I hear Vegas is a tough place to make $ playing. I have no clue how to grind in Vegas and keep costs as low as possible. I’ve been there once before when I was 21 for a weekend with my ex gf but that’s it. We stayed at MGM Grand. Cliffs notes: drank huge margaritas, got drunk, lost money.

This trip will be a trial run to see how I do there and to decide whether to stay longer at some point in the future. My job is remote except for maybe once or twice a year. I plan on staying between two weeks and a month.

Any general advice for someone new to LV grind? What spots to avoid, play at, etc.?

Also, wondering best way to get cheapest room possible near strip. Hostel? Airbnb? Other? Hoping not to pay more than $150/wk. Will be ubering everywhere. Will have at least $10k roll by November.

Thanks for helping to make my Vegas grinding dream a reality!

DT

PS: sorry mod if you have to move this. Felt beginner-y enough.

Are you playing mtts or cash games?

Cash.

You know there's an entire Vegas forum, right?

Best advice is to game select as usual, if you don't like the tables/action at the room you're at, you're a very quick hop to a different room. That said, I usually don't take that too far when I'm in Vegas, because the niceness of the poker rooms is one of the biggest draws for me (I'm used to dingy LA cardrooms).

Some of the stereotypes are that Aria is infested with regs, the lower-tier or off the beaten path rooms like Orleans and Red Rock are full of locals, and Planet Hollywood is full of drunk party dudes.

My personal favorite room to play in is Bellagio, I really like the atmosphere and professional staff/dealers there. Bellagio attracts a good mix of thinking players and wannabes IMO. Caesar's would be a close second, it tends to attract a bunch of nitty retirees who are constantly distracted by their parlays/newspapers and are extremely exploitable.

As for staying somewhere for $150/week... you're gonna need to let go of that idea pretty quick. I used to go to Vegas 4-6x a year but that has dwindled to 1-2x because room rates are absolutely stupid now. I would do a little research and see if staying in an AirBNB off-strip + ubering makes more sense for you. GL

Yeah I’m gonna end up living off strip with a 2+2er and some other 2+2ers in the same house 10-12 min from strip. Will Uber. Should still be way less $$ than paying for a hotel on the strip. Plus will be able to get good advice from known grinders.

Thanks!

Hahah that's the funniest thing I've heard in weeks

I was in town for 8 days during WSOP and 4 days this past week. I'll defer to the locals in general, but here are some thoughts based on my limited experience:

Food is expensive in Vegas. If you are a nit like me, I recommend buying snacks in bulk ahead of time. Some cheap-ish fast food options on the strip: Shake Shack outside NYNY, In 'N' Out by the High Roller, and Chipotle inside the PH mall (I think there are multiple Chipotle locations on the Strip). If you want a "nice" meal or a sit-down place with service, expect to pay a little more.

I found MGM 1/2 to be the softest NLHE game I tried, though I never got dealt anything there. It's mostly casual players and 3 out of the 4 times I've played there there's been a different massive clown spewing at my table. You still need to get lucky to make some hands and hold though because people don't like to fold. PH has a reputation for crazy drunk donks, but I've never personally seen it and I don't like playing there. Loud, crowded, and the room is right in the middle of the casino.

Aria, Bellagio, Venetian, and Wynn are probably the most poker-centric casinos on the Strip. They all have big rooms that attract a lot of players. Bellagio seems good for high limit and mixed games. For whatever reason, I find that I'm able to play longer sessions there than at other casinos (maybe because their room is bright, quiet, and well-lit). Aria is kind of dark and I tend to lose focus there after a couple hours. It's probably my favorite casino in terms of people watching and general ambiance though. I've found the player pool at Aria to be mediocre, but with only a small percentage of outright donators. Wynn is nice, but the location pretty far north on the Strip seems to result in less foot traffic than at MGM/Bellagio/Aria/PH, the latter three of which are right in the heart of the Strip.

I've never played at Orleans, but I've heard they run a lot of mixed games. I believe you can take a free bus from the LINQ there and back.

Venetian is similar to the Bellagio in atmosphere and decor, but I try not to play there since the owner of the casino, Sheldon Adelson, is a piece of garbage.

I've never played at Caesars, but their room is on the large side. Excalibur's room is tiny and Mandalay Bay was only running one table of cash when I passed through there. You can really see that the poker ecosystem is a haves and have-nots situation right now and that everyone outside of maybe Aria/Bellagio/Wynn/Venetian seems to be hurting for action. As people have speculated elsewhere, don't be surprised to see some more smaller rooms follow the Treasure Island example and shutter to put up more slots and pit games.

I've never played cash downtown, but the Golden Nugget is probably the nicest casino out there and I've heard good things about their cash games. Downtown Vegas is a bit seedier, cheaper, and dirtier than the Strip. It's worth visiting sometimes for a change of pace though. Also, the Four Queens is one of the only big hotels in town that has no resort fee, so that's nice if you're looking for a cheap spot to crash and you don't care about luxury or location too much.

Apart from that, I tend to get overwhelmed after a few days in Vegas. It's loud, bright, and crowded. If you are the type of person who values quiet reflection time, you might get a little antsy after a while, because solitude is hard to come by there.

Also, expect to breathe in **** tons of cigarette smoke and to smell like an ash tray after a couple days of sitting in poker rooms. It's one of the inevitable drawbacks of playing lots of live poker in Vegas.

I suggest that the best food options are off the strip.

As for the Orleans it does attract a lot of locals . . . but . . . that doesn't mean they are great players. You are simply dealing with players for whom this is not their first rodeo but sometimes a player who has leaks will never change them.

Hey DT - So how long are you staying? You say you want less than 150 $/wk. Some places on the strip can be cheap, but not that cheap, but figure in transportation/time costs too. For trips like two or three weeks places like Bally's, TI, Harrah's are reasonable. (Generally they'll only let you stay two weeks -- but that's another thread.) Sounds like you're set for off-strip tho

I agree with YMC on game/room selecting. I like the larger rooms like Venetian and Caesar's. Smaller places are harder to table select because, well, they only have two or three tables.

I wish you the best of luck and fortunes on your journey.

Rooms, if your going for a week, you can often find people unloading timeshares just off the strip. When i am not using my current timeshare, i can usually pick them up for $350-400 total for 7 nights and that does include free transportation to the strip from 9am to 12am every 30 minutes.

Food options: like others have suggested, hit up the grocery store for some snacks throughout the day. The comps earned from playing poker will add up quickly. Also, keep an eye on bravo for free buffets. Play 3 or 4 hours and get a free buffet. This worked well and i have taken advantage of this at Ballys, Rio and Planet Hollywood. Bravo updates the room promotions monthly.

Rooms: I prefer the "tourist" rooms. MGM, Excalibur, Ballys, Harrahs and Mirage. Lots of recreational players with lots of $2 limped pots. If your looking for promotions, my suggestion would be the Orleans as they consistently run all types of promotions from hours played to high hands. The rake is also tied for the lowest on the strip with a cap of $5 ($3 to the casino and $2 towards promotions.

Don't know much about this place

https://www.apartmenthomeliving.com/...-89109-1908027

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...ments-1389448/


2nd inexpensive timeshares on or off strip. CacheCellar do you use RCI or Interval?

Thanks all! Will be there two weeks. Unlikely much longer. This is a trial run for a potentially longer stay down the line. Hoping to at least make close to my hourly here in MD. More for the experience than anything though. I’m sure it will be a good learning opportunity. Hope to run into some vloggers at the Bellagio 2/5. That would be something to write home about!

Best of luck. Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

You are not going to win as much as in Maryland

I’m ready for that reality. Last two months have been really good (8-10bb/hr.), so I’ll be happy with $10-$15/hr. But really want to learn as much as possible from the other grinders I’ll be staying with.

Will be updating my pg&c thread daily from LV. I’m sure it will be MILES ahead of Greece, where I just played for the first time.

Shameless Greek poker experience plug: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...64/index3.html.

Link to PG&C thread, I'm interested in tagging along.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...64/index3.html

ive had good experiences with airbnb and the other one simiar vrbo.com can't think of any bad points tbh, vrbo would be first choice imo, and a rental car.

Venetian 2-5 PLO, $10 opt straddle on button, happy days

downtowns nits and locals when ive been there, planet Hollywood gets lively late on a night

good luck

Just arrived. First night was a bad run. Hope it gets better!

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...kroll-1711364/

Hey all,

What casinos are good any given day of the week for cash games? 1/2, 1/3, or low stakes PLO.

Thanks!

DT

Get the Bravo Poker Live App, you can see where the action is at any given time.

So you just go where the most tables are running? Right now it looks like where I am staying has the most. Orleans.

Nobody can tell you where the best games for you specifically run. Nobody wants to tell you in which good game they are right now.

But Bravo tells you which casino runs the games you are looking for and how many tables of those and you can make a decision where you want to be.

Also, if you are just looking for the smallest games, there’s nothing wrong with checking out plenty of rooms to see what you like and not like.

I've played 1/3 at Orleans a few times now and it's growing on me. Since you are staying there, I'd definitely check it out. And yes, Orleans room has a lot of tables and depending on the day and time, you might have a significant wait time ie 40 minutes to sit at a 1/3 tables.