Venetian Poker Questions

[Don Olney]

AND THE OTHER NIGHT -- THEY WERE SPLASHING THE POTS NOW AND THEN WITH BLUE MAN GROUP TICKETS -------
THIS PLACE IS TRYING HARD....
Nice to see a poker room that is giving its all to make the players happy....

[zipo]

Mr. Vinocur -

First, thanks for asking for comments/input.

My question about poker room rates - does a player have to play 6 hours each day, or can the hours be cumulative (i.e. total hours/number of days >6)

Thanks in advance

PS - Props to the chefs at Noodle Asia - great, authentic Szechuan/Cantonese and best fried dumlings ever.

[LVinocur]

It's a cumulative total.
Try the MooShu pork!

[dirty moose]

Can you give us some tournment info?

[LasVegasMichael]

Hello,

Thank you for posting this thread, sir. I was a Bellagio regular in the poker room until the Venetian opened on April 2nd, and haven't gone back to the B since. I play at the Venetian about 15 hours a week on average, and have been since April 2nd. I will start this post with compliments, and end with suggestions/critical comments.

I have gotten to know a lot of specific people during my time at Venetian, and can say without the shadow of a doubt that the guy commenting on Kim is WAY overdoing it with his viscious commentary.

Honestly, I would like to mention specific people that make this the BEST staff in Vegas (especially when compared to the complete snobs that operate Bellagio).

Rich (Floor): Rich is truly a diamond that makes this room approachable, and keeps regulars like me coming back every other day. Great personalilty, fair decision making, and a great no nonsense attitude. He is porbably the best floor I have ever worked with.

Keith (dice turned poker dealer): Keith is amongst the cream of the crop. Fast, efficient, and a great personality, he is a perfect card room dealer.

Kim (dealer): Despite what others have said on other boards, Kim one of the few I would keep at the TOP of the list. Can anyone name me a single sealer that hasn't made a mistake? Come on! She is well experienced, deals fast, and accurately reads the boards with no problems. She is one of the few that I seek out when I get to the room, as she will always make me feel welcome and make me truly glad I choose Venetian as my home base. The Venetian is very lucky to have Kim on board, as if all dealers were like her, a LOT more people would beel comfortable sitting down at the table.

Tommy (day shift) & Boonie (days): These two round out what I consider to be the cream of the crop. These two guys are not only all efficient, quick, and friendly, but all are superb in customer service to boot. I always feel welcome and am addressed by name by Tommy and Boonie, and feel truly at home when they are dealing. They truly make Venetian great.

Anthony (tournament coordinator): Anthony was the first person I got to know in the poker room, and to this day, his fun and entertaining attitude has kept me coming back and playing in an occasional tournament (something I used to rarely if ever do). Like one of the boys, he makes me feel comfortable and welcome, and runs a great tournament with a great attidude and fair decisions.

Other then staff I have a few other compliments to disperse:

1. I like the Venetian's signature air freshener. It is better then the stale air found elsewhere.

2. Space between the tables and the chairs. This is huge with me. The Bellagio could learn a LOT from you on this aspect. I love the fact that it is easy to get up and walk around your room without bumping into everyone. this is absolutely, the TOP aspect of your room when compared to others.

3. Comps. I use my parking pass everyday. The $2 per hour coupled with the 500K freeroll and house funded bad beat is superb. Phenomenal idea, and thank you for thinking of the regulars.

Now, some constructive comments on things that could use some improvement:

1. the switch from 4/8 to 3/6. I talked with Kathy Raymond about this the day after they made the change. I HATE this change, and wish it would go back. Granted, I am more of a 1/2 NL player anyway, but I like a good 4/8 game occasionally, and do not like the fact that it went away. Bellagio and Wynn have 4/8 without any problems. I consider Venetian to be more on par with those two then the 3/6 houses of Mirage and Caesars. Yes, I realize that this was done so a 6/12 and 9/18 game could go, but is all this necessary? What is wrong with 4/8, 8/16, and 10/20? 10/20 has an interest list all the time anyway. This was really the only major bad decision of late that I feel was made with this room.

2. The Bad Beat flashing on the wait list screens. Like others have said, this is a little annoying.

3. The Sit and Go starting chips have changed from 1500 to 1000. This is a very bad decision and makes for a pretty lame structure for the Sit and Goes. I know that the idea behind it was to shorten the SnGs to about an hour, but even with 500 less chips, it still takes about an hour, and less real poker can be played. I would play a LOT more of them if the 1500 chip count was brought back, so more real poker can be played and not just an all in fest.

4. I don't know her name, but there is one employee that seems to work in less then professional dress when on the floor. She is rather young, and seems to deal with promotions (giving out hats and such). She dresses very casually (usually in a Venetian T-shirt and jeans). I wouldn't have a problem with this if she was behind the scenes, but as she seems to work with customers quite often, I think a more professional dress is appropriate, to match the others in the room.

5. A little more effort/technology in monitering open seats. Occasionally, when I get on the list for a game, I find it better to go into the room and monitor the tables with the limit I am interested in personally, as the front or the floor may not have heard the dealer announcing an open seat. Perhaps if you had the open seat technology that you see in some other rooms (with the abolity to swipe players cards in at the table), this would be alleviated. A truly minor complaint but still worth mentioning.

6. My final cause for concern is that regarding missing big blinds and pickups. Too often, someone will sit down and dissapear for an hour or so and they are not picked up. These people should be clocked out, as it is not fair for them to soak up hours when they are gone for so long. More picking up of chips should be done and deduction of hours from players that dissapear from the table for an hour or more. (this happens very infrequently, but when it does, it is very annoying that they didn't clock out. If they table had a card swiper at the table, this could be monitored a lot easier).

+++++++++++

Like I said earlier, I play this room every other day, about 15 hours a week, and LOVE every minute of it. It is, BAR NONE, the BEST room in Las Vegas, and the only room that I will play in. The few causes for concern are easily corrected, and all in all, I would just like to say thank you to the staff and management for making this room the best, and to keep up the great work! See you all later today, and thanks again, sir, for creating this thread.

Sincerely,

LVM

[LasVegasMichael]

I am going to Venetian right now, so if no one posts it, I will post the tournament schedule later today when I get home, as I will get a flyer while I am there.

[RR]

[ QUOTE ]
1. the switch from 4/8 to 3/6. I talked with Kathy Raymond about this the day after they made the change. I HATE this change, and wish it would go back. Granted, I am more of a 1/2 NL player anyway, but I like a good 4/8 game occasionally, and do not like the fact that it went away. Bellagio and Wynn have 4/8 without any problems. I consider Venetian to be more on par with those two then the 3/6 houses of Mirage and Caesars. Yes, I realize that this was done so a 6/12 and 9/18 game could go, but is all this necessary? What is wrong with 4/8, 8/16, and 10/20? 10/20 has an interest list all the time anyway. This was really the only major bad decision of late that I feel was made with this room.

[/ QUOTE ]

3-6 is a much better game for a casino to spread than 4-8 fot the reasons that were presented here. I was suprised that the Venetian was aware of this to make the change. Of course this begs the question of why was the 4-8 spread in the first place.

[ QUOTE ]
5. A little more effort/technology in monitering open seats. Occasionally, when I get on the list for a game, I find it better to go into the room and monitor the tables with the limit I am interested in personally, as the front or the floor may not have heard the dealer announcing an open seat. Perhaps if you had the open seat technology that you see in some other rooms (with the abolity to swipe players cards in at the table), this would be alleviated. A truly minor complaint but still worth mentioning.

[/ QUOTE ]

The best way to avoid this problem (without an upgrade in technology is to have floor staff actively walking the flor. Even when they can monitor seats electronically the floor staff should be walking the floor to ahve an idea of who is playing etc. By being out on the floor the floor can be aware of potential trouble spots. Of time I have put someone out of a room for throwing cards etc I would say I saw the incident myself at least 75% of the time because players generally don't just throw the cards at the dealer out of the blue, they usually build up to that so these players already had my attention.

[dirty moose]

[ QUOTE ]
I am going to Venetian right now, so if no one posts it, I will post the tournament schedule later today when I get home, as I will get a flyer while I am there.

[/ QUOTE ]

please do, thanks a bunch

and does anyone know how up to date All Vegas Poker is?

[BillyC]

Venetian's new tournament structure:

12 noon and 8pm

$110+15 Buy-in + (1) $50 rebuy + (1) $5 dealer bonus chips.

1,500 chips + 1,500 chips + 1,000 chips... 4,000 chips total

30 minute levels, blinds start at 25-50.
25 ante kicks in at 4th level with 100-200 blinds.

There are presently between 3 and 5 tables in action.

[Don Olney]

I am a big fan of this room and what Lee is doing for the live games.BUT----
I think the tournament structure still needs help.
$110 with the dealer bonus is fine. KILL the re-buy though.
Raise the $110 to $125 with the $5.00 dealer bonuse and GO FOR IT-------