The Aftermath
My thoughts and feelings on Vegas and poker in the covid era.
Vegas in general
It's not quite there yet although seems to have plenty of visitors. My plane to LV had 155 passengers and 175 seats. In the past they were always full. Flight home was full. Vegas sidewalk traffic at peak times is as insane as ever. The casinos however do seem a bit emptier. Lots of stuff is closed or on limited hours. The much mentioned Henry is usually 24 hours but now cut out dinner and opens for late nigh at 11pm through lunch. I never saw the 24 hour place at PH open at all? 50% restaurant capacity needs to be managed. Places I used to just walk into now almost always have wait times. If you are going for a quality sit down meal get reservations well in advance. Masks are a pita!
Poker
The big rooms are good and the small rooms are very iffy. All have plexiglass and the Bellagio, Aria and Wynn seem to have the most professional setups. All have side plexiglass but Aria and Bellagio have plexiglass in front of you as well. Depending on what seat you are in you can get some crazy reflections making it hard to follow the action until you get used to it. Sometimes it makes it look like the action is happening on the opposite side of the table. All rooms sanitize the space before a new player comes in.
Bellagio - Normally I dislike this room but in covid it is one of the best. Lots of good games and comfortable (not as cramped as pre-covid).
Aria - Like Bellagio lots of good games and comfortable a bit more cramped than Bellagio but not too bad.
Venetian - Used to be my favorite but don't like the changes over the years. Not a fan of all the promo stuff (high hand every half hour) and the drop down the slot that comes with it. They also go psycho if you don't use hand sanitizer before you sit down. I went to get chips and when I sat down the dealer started shouting SANITIZE! SANITIZE! Except it was noisy and he had a strong Asian accent and through a mask I had no idea what he was saying and I kept saying what? Finally he tossed his little bottle of sanitizer to me which I used. No other room seems to care if you sanitize your hands or not before sitting but apparently it is a rule at Venetian.
Caesars - Only played there first day but seems the next best bet to get a game. Seems like they have decent action
Bally's - Spotty as far as games go. Only played there once but normally was no action when I would pass by.
Flamingo - Never played there but the couple of times I walked past had decent action.
Planet Hollywood - Very little action and as I mentioned earlier very shoddy haphazard plexiglass installation which may have something to do with it. 2 games going on a Friday night and one breaks early? I went in there last night and no games going with one name on the list? I wouldn't plan on PH being part of your poker experience right now.
Wynn - Only played the tourney but the tourney was played in the normal (Encore) poker room. All of the cash games were actually in a section of the Wynn casino. The action looked good and plenty of games going.
I wouldn't count on anything at all from the smaller rooms and stick with Aria, Bellagio. Venetian or Wynn (and maybe Caesars?). The action was good though and lots of fishy players. I was expecting lineups of local rocks but almost every game I played in had lots of splashy players. Even though I won a little playing it was frustrating as I don't believe I have ever had a trip where I was so utterly card dead.
Cosmo
I had a good time there despite the utter douchiness of the place. But as you know for me it is all about the terrace in the sun. I am NOT their demographic but they do have what I want being that terrace in the sun and easy access to Aria and Bellagio poker rooms. I think they try too hard to be edgy and hip but what do I know about edgy and hip? I di have a problem though. I came up to the room at about 5pm Sunday and it wasn't made up yet? So I called and somebody came up within 20 minutes to fix up the room. But then on Monday same thing? It was 6:15 and no room make up yet. I called they said they would send somebody right up. 30 minutes later nothing so I call again and they assure me someone is on the way. Another 30 minutes and now I am pissed! I call again and demand a manager (call me Karen). I talk to the manager and piss and moan and get my resort fees waived and the maid is there with 10 minutes. So I guess it saved me some money
I had a great time! Lots of good food, lots of relaxing sunshine and profitable poker even though the deck was mostly cruel to me. Masks suck though, they really do. I am glad I went and really needed it after 14 months of Netflix in my mancave. Felt good to get back out into society again. One mask trip was fine and necessary for my sanity but I ain't going back until masks are gone. I can live with the plexiglass and it didn't bother me in the least. 8 handed is great and I have never been more physically comfortable at the tables if you don't count the mask part.