[ryanghall]

This year at WSOP was my first trip to Vegas and boy was I disappointed in the Bellagio poker room.

First of all, I visited twice and put myself on the list. Both times after waiting for a while, I took my name off the list because the waits were too long. This I have no problem with, as it was WSOP time.

The third time, I gave my name and asked the brush (some old guy) if I should get chips at the cage or just bring $100s to the table (I don't play live that much and when I do it's usually underground). He literally glared at me and after a few seconds he told me it doesn't matter. I thought, oook?

When I finally got to play 5/10 NL, the players were the grouchiest I've ever experienced in any place before. Perhaps I got a bad table but I doubt it. One jerk in particular directly to my left (some fat ass from Baltimore) was absolutely intolerable, so much so that I left later because I couldn't take it anymore.

Also, the place was disgusting in my opinion. I got moved to a table and there were a pile of dirty glasses under it. Nobody bothered to come move them and eventually I kicked one over by accident and crap spilt all over my shoe. Lovely.

In comparison, the Venetian was an excellent place to play. Much quicker wait times, if at all. The brush (some youngish tall guy) was nice, although the third time I went there I asked him to move to a particular table and he said OK and just forgot I guess so I just left. Maybe it's because I didn't tip him. Reading this thread, I see you're supposed to tip the brush? WTF? Why? I don't mind tipping the dealer $1/hand but I HATE when dealers expect more than that (or expect you to tip out after a good session and whine if you don't like one particular underground dealer around here.., anyway this tipping business is getting out of control in my opinion... surely the casinos can afford to pay these people properly. Overall, though, Venetian I found quite nice.

Also, TI has a GREAT little room if you like lower limit games. I played 2/5 1K buyin there (probably only runs during WSOP) and 1/3 500 buyin... that's probably your best bet if you like lower limits - they also comp $2/hr and you don't have to ask, you just get a card and give it to the dealer and it's automatically done.

So bottom line, I was really looking forward to playing at the Bellagio when I went to Vegas and was left rather underwhelmed to say the least. The only good thing was that I won there heh.

Ryan