going to vegas for christmas. is ballys the best game

iambusto · #1 12-21-2006, 06:59 PM

I play regular 300$ NL Hold em (2-5 blinds) in southern california at my local indian casino. I am going to Vegas for christmas (23-26th). From reading past posts, i realised that the people over here are of opinion that Ballys and Mgm grand are the best 2 places for this level of NL game. Am I correct?

I prefer a lot of limpers and not too much reraised pots at the table. passive players with 1-2 aggro players. I dont like when the table as a whole is on a mad tilt and every pot is raised and reraised.

m bozeman · #2 12-21-2006, 07:04 PM

Those two are good; also check out the Excalibur NL game.

MVPSPORTS · #3 12-21-2006, 07:29 PM

Ballys doens't have a 2/5 game... Their $300 buyin is 1/2, and it can get really aggro at times, although still a good game... You can find a lot of passive games at some of the smaller rooms too, like Hooters, if you're in the area...

GREAT 2/5 game at Venetian usually, if you want a bigger game...

NoRiverRats · #4 12-21-2006, 07:54 PM

Just got back from 5 days in Vegas. Played Venetian, Bally's, Mirage and Caesar's. On previous trips I have played Bellagio, MGM, Excal and Trop.

We spent most of our time at Bally's $1/2 for a good reason - very donktastic. Almost every time we sat down there was someone playing for the first time. As previous poster said, no $2-5 at Ballys, but they tried, four of us put our name on a list.

A few stories to give you a sense of the play.

We had one completely sober guy string raise every time he had a hand and wanted to raise. Another guy took a break, picked up $200 from his stack of $500(suckout heater) and played BJ for a while, then argued with the floor when they told him to put $$ back on the table. The floor was told by the table to go easy on the guy, we were scared he would leave.

Still another guy welcomed people to the table saying "I am the worse player here" and proceeded to prove it by losing $500 in 30 mins. And finally we had one guy who went bust twice in 30 mins. and was loaned $100 to stay in the game.(He went to ATM and paid up after the final bust out).

Last story, a husband and wife to be, sat at the table to play, both were awful but she was really bad, calling down with bottom pair or high cards regularly. They had three friends with them who had never played, two women and another guy. We were kind enough to invite them to play and when spots opened they joined. 'Nuff said.

There are some good players, but you can pick them out in about 20 mins.

Venetian is a beautiful room, players not as soft. Caesar's is nice too, but the players are better than Ballys in general.

Bottom line - Ballys, baaaaaby.

One criticism if you've never been before, its in the middle of the casino, next to a bar. While the room is non-smoking, the bar isn't. You can guess what direction the ventilation moves the smoke. On positive however, its the hooker bar - good sidebet action.

flopinthenutz · #5 12-21-2006, 11:37 PM

Paris is good too.

pig4bill · #6 12-22-2006, 02:36 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Just got back from 5 days in Vegas. Played Venetian, Bally's, Mirage and Caesar's. On previous trips I have played Bellagio, MGM, Excal and Trop.

We spent most of our time at Bally's $1/2 for a good reason - very donktastic. Almost every time we sat down there was someone playing for the first time. As previous poster said, no $2-5 at Ballys, but they tried, four of us put our name on a list.

A few stories to give you a sense of the play.

We had one completely sober guy string raise every time he had a hand and wanted to raise. Another guy took a break, picked up $200 from his stack of $500(suckout heater) and played BJ for a while, then argued with the floor when they told him to put $$ back on the table. The floor was told by the table to go easy on the guy, we were scared he would leave.

Still another guy welcomed people to the table saying "I am the worse player here" and proceeded to prove it by losing $500 in 30 mins. And finally we had one guy who went bust twice in 30 mins. and was loaned $100 to stay in the game.(He went to ATM and paid up after the final bust out).

Last story, a husband and wife to be, sat at the table to play, both were awful but she was really bad, calling down with bottom pair or high cards regularly. They had three friends with them who had never played, two women and another guy. We were kind enough to invite them to play and when spots opened they joined. 'Nuff said.

There are some good players, but you can pick them out in about 20 mins.

Venetian is a beautiful room, players not as soft. Caesar's is nice too, but the players are better than Ballys in general.

Bottom line - Ballys, baaaaaby.

One criticism if you've never been before, its in the middle of the casino, next to a bar. While the room is non-smoking, the bar isn't. You can guess what direction the ventilation moves the smoke. On positive however, its the hooker bar - good sidebet action.

[/ QUOTE ]

It depends on who's playing. As stupidly obvious as that sounds, it should be just as obvious that none of those tourists will be there when the OP gets to Bally's. I've played more at Bally's than any other Vegas casino, and I've never seen it as described above.

I've also played at a 1/2 NL table in the MGM where every pot was raised. Also at the Aladdin, another supposedly soft spot, in a low limit game where half the pots were 3 bet or more pre-flop.

GHL · #7 12-22-2006, 02:45 AM

I'm going to vegas those same days... will be staying at MGM.. hope it isn't dead because there will not be many tourists there.

PorkchopDJG · #8 12-22-2006, 01:15 PM

I am mostly a limit player but dabble in NL online and sometimes in Vegas.
I would definitely recommend starting at these smaller places like Bally's, IP, Flamingo, Excalibur, Harrah's rather than the big boys like Bellagio and Wynn.
Most definitely more bad, first time, drunk players at the smaller places.

LasVegasMichael · #9 12-22-2006, 01:23 PM

Being that Christmas is the slowest time of year in Vegas (which changes dramatically to the busiest time vome New Years), I recommend sticking toward the VERY tourisy places.

Considering you are used to a $300 max game, I recommend Ballys over MGM. MGM has a 1/2 $200 max which has gotten old as far as I am concerned. Just not enough starting chips. I like the $300 max offered at Ballys/Paris/Harrahs. TI and Caesars have a $500 max, but their rooms are drawing significantly more locals this time of the year.

Tourist heavy poker rooms during Christmas will be Ballys/Flamingo/Harrahs/Excalibur, and MGM.

bav · #10 12-22-2006, 01:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Being that Christmas is the slowest time of year in Vegas (which changes dramatically to the busiest time vome New Years), I recommend sticking toward the VERY tourisy places.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yesterday seemed wacky busy. 11:30am traffic on I15 northbound was slow and backed up past Russell, and the Caesars noon tourney had 98 entrants. And we had enough cash players to get two (count 'em, TWO) HORSE games going after the tourney. Perhaps Christmas coming on Monday has folks rushing to Vegas this weekend for a quick pre-Xmas vacation.