Venetian: An Updated Review PALeeze

[RydenStoompala]

I've settled on the Venetian for a four-day poker binge in late December, escaping just before the drunks from LA start barfing all over LV Boulevard on New Years Eve.

Anyone with recent experience in the Venetian's poker room, your comments would be greatly appreciated. If it sucks, I will spread it out along the strip, otherwise, I am moving in. I play NL and some 15-30 to 30-60 limit, depending on game availability and whether I can beat the game like a rented mule. At least once during the trip I will be seeking a mixed game, normally after mixed drinks.

Thankyouverymuch (especially you locals)

[LasVegasMichael]

I was there about 2 weeks ago during a rather mundane weekday. They had about 14 cash tables going, with 1 15/30LHE, 3 2/5NL (1K max) and about 5-6 1/2 NL and the rest 4/8 LHE. They were calling the list for the 5/10 NL, but I left so I don't know if they actually got it running or not.

The 15/30 runs pretty consistently, but above that is not common for weekdays (even on weekends LHE above 15/30 is rare).

1/2NL and 2/5NL runs 24/7 every day.

Mixed game hasn't run in a while anywhere. If you start a list on the weekend (thurssat) at the V you could probably get it going (6/12L), but not 100% on that one.

[bav]

The 40/80 game is gone. The story I was told...

Venetian used to put that game in the back high-limit area and spread 'em a full buffet...free food for the high-limit players on top of other comps. But the players bitched that nobody knew the game was there and they wanted to be out front. Fine, Venetian put 'em out front. Then they bitched because the buffet wasn't being set up for them anymore. Sorry, but management can't really put out a buffet in the middle of the poker room and rope it off and proclaim it's ONLY for the 40/80 game and Venetian told the players it was one or the other--play out front without a buffet, or play in back and get fed. So they all got PO'd and went back to Mirage.

[MandM_WSU]

What about mixed games in the middle of the week?

[pig4bill]

[ QUOTE ]
But the players bitched that nobody knew the game was there and they wanted to be out front.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's really stupid of them since every game shows up on the monitor.

[Photoc]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But the players bitched that nobody knew the game was there and they wanted to be out front.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's really stupid of them since every game shows up on the monitor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed completely, but it's a perception thing. Tourists like the rail birds watching their game and like to feel important. Lots of locals feel the same way. Typical nit players kill games like this, as they did with the Venetian's 40. The room gave them everything they could and the players screwed it for themselves.

Btw, 40 has been rarely running at the Mirage except for the weekends lately. That is direct from a floor/shift manager there when I stopped by the other day.

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
Agreed completely, but it's a perception thing. Tourists like the rail birds watching their game and like to feel important. Lots of locals feel the same way. Typical nit players kill games like this, as they did with the Venetian's 40. The room gave them everything they could and the players screwed it for themselves.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ive played in that 40, and you are right - the locals were nitty, bratty, and annoying. They knew theirs was the big game in the room and rode it much father than they should have.

At the same time The Venetian is also to blame, keeping the 40 game in the "private" section was like being kept in a little cage, it was not an enjoyable playing experiance. The game play actually changed the following trip when they moved the game out to the main floor, it was much looser due to the distractions in the room. So although the players did it to themselves at least they can still get a game together if they try hard enough, where as the Venetian lost the income and the warm bodies by taking the plays for granted. In this case I'd have to say the Venetian's mistake was bigger.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[Photoc]

I have to disagree on this one that the Venetian did the bigger mistake. They were giving these players $3/hour (heard more at one time) in comps, which is 30/hour/table, and a free buffet. Thats a lot to give players that only complained and pushed the envelope as far as they could for whatever they could get out of the V. Also a casino funded bad beat jackpot was included in the 40 game along with the rest of the poker room IIRC. I'd say the V on a financial level did everything they could to appease the players and keep the game.

One thing I've learned in this town about locals. They absolutey HATE change and usually return to their accustomed poker rooms. IE: 60 at wynn, rarely goes now. The players all went back to the Bellagio's 30 and 80 games. Wynn was giving, what was it, $7 time charge every 1.5 hours and double comps to get the game in the room and keep it.

[52s]

I'm surprised reading this that the V was still willing to give the 40/80 so much (free buffet!) after finagling the Big Game players into using the room occasionally. I guess the private lounge they (Big Game players and such) have card passes to that absolutely no one knows about was good enough.

Did the Billy Baxter/Sheiky 300/600 game ever show up at the V? They used the V as a way to try and get more freebies from Caesars but were instead shown the door. I've wondered where that game went.

[vegasbob]

I was at the venetian at around 6 pm friday night and the highest limit game they had was 4-8. At the mirage soon later they had 1 20/40 game and 1 10/20 and many empty tables.