Coconuts - Love your posts! - Don't have a b word - But my c word is curmudgeon but I mean it in as a nice way. You make me laugh!
Here are some of my assessments -
As far as experiencing other poker rooms, I, too, have been to the Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian Casesar’s Palace, MGM, The Mirage…….
Wynn - Very nice room, you can eat at the table. I was in an excellent 4/8 limit game there in April and was winning like crazy. Had played several hours - didn’t want to break my streak so ate a sandwich at the table. Don’t do this often - but liked that option.
Bellagio - Same impression as most who have posted. The have become snobs. Don’t know why because a few years ago it wasn’t like that for me. A few years ago they were always very very busy and had a lot of tables going. 4/8,8/16,15/30 limit games. Omaha h/l - There was a low limit Omaha3/6 and a higher 15/30. This was all b/4 the Moneymaker explosion and the no limit explosion.
Venetian - Has become very popular and when I was there in April the popular draw was deep stack tournaments. Nice room. Food service at the tables.
Ceasar’s Palace - The room is hard to find. Kind of buried. You have to go thru a door to get there. It felt very private. When I got there - there wasn’t much action. So I left.
MGM - Lots of no limit. Played for a while. They had a very noisy bar behind the room that would explode with music, I think every half hour.
The Mirage - Have always liked the room for the games, but they are not generous with their comps.
These are some of the popular strip poker rooms, but I think if you want to have a more friendly atmosphere and an idea of poker rooms for local people(like we are in Chicago) the local poker rooms in Las Vegas are the ones to try.
The Orleans - They have a great board. They can even mark on the board when someone is eating. In other words - different codes for people not in their seats. In April I complimented the person running that board - a woman - she was fast and excellent. They have seat change buttons. They are a no-nonsense poker room. Third man walking rule(enforced). When a dealer sits down he immediately notes and throws a button to an empty seat. The next dealer adds a button to the empty seat. When a third dealer comes in he notifies the floor that this will be the third button. If the player returns he can only turn in one button at a time. One to that dealer and then one to the next dealer. They run tournaments daily at noon and seven pm.
Other local rooms and yes, I have been to these also and actually like most of the local rooms better than the strip - Boulder Station, Sam’s Town, Sunset Station and Red Rock.
Closer to home we are very good poker rooms in Minnesota - thinking Canterbury Park, Running Aces. Been there too.
In St. Louis - Ameristar and Harrah's are the last ones I've been to and had no complaints there.
My favorite on the strip is probably the Wynn with The Venetian a close second.
My complaints and compliments about the Horseshoe, Hammond are not frivilous. Like you and a few others here, I do know a good poker room when I see one.
If you want to compare the Horseshoe with the strip rooms - Its way up there except for being 9 handed which I don’t expect to see changed. The poker room at the Horseshoe is the best part of the casino even though it has a few minor changes they still have to deal with. It is much improved and I still stand by the fact that best run businesses listen to their customers.
I sincerely do like the added touch of the candy bowl! You can let a hard candy melt in your mouth while waiting for that player at the table to make up his mind whether to call, raise or fold.