On this year’s March Madness trip we had an interesting cast of characters.  Myself, “44”, and Hollywood are the core members of this annual trip.  We really enjoy analyzing the teams, watching all of the games and betting too many of them.  It’s a trip that we really immerse ourselves into the action.

Unfortunately this year we added some different guys to the mix and the results were mixed at best.  The group was all over the map with one of the guys coming off of a divorce and looking to make up for lost time.  We had another guy who just wanted to golf and really nothing else.  And then we had this guy Mike (Moose) who fancied himself as a Vegas pro since he had been a couple of times before.  Now normally this would have been a great thing.  44 and I welcome the opportunity to have someone added to the mix that can fill in the gaps in the itinerary.  The problem is that there were none.  We had the rooms and meals more than covered so there was really no need to do anything else.  But that’s not what happened.

So Moose had his heart set on seeing Danny Gans.  He was told by a good buddy that this guy was amazing.  He basically browbeat the group into seeing the “Entertainer of the Year”, but what year or even what decade no one knows.  Well we headed over to the Mirage and decided to give it a shot since Moose already plunked down the money for the show on his Visa.

Now I have to say, Danny has talent.  He can do a lot of impersonations and his show basically is one long impersonation.  The only issue is that his entire set is geared toward the blue-hair crowd.  When you are still doing George Burns and Joan Rivers bits, then you know you are anything but contemporary.  It is a variety show so there is some singing (Simon Cowell would kick this guy’s ass not only for his terrible singing but for stealing his tight black t-shirt look!), some ventriloquism, and of course impersonations.  The show just didn’t have any flow and the transitions between bits were just not there.

Basically this is an “old” Vegas style show, much in the same vain as Wayne Newton (note: We have seen him too and it was just sad.  Please don’t spend that money either!).  Thankfully Moose sat on the end of our row and couldn’t hear or see anything that was being said by us.  We were dying.  I actually left to go to the bathroom about halfway through and I debated even coming back.  Well I did come back, but I stood in the entryway with the usher who was in love with Danny.  It was a little eerie.

So there you have it.  A show with no real flow with a guy who has some talent but is far from the most entertaining show you could see on any given night on the strip.  Personally I would recommend any Cirque du Soleil show over this one in a heartbeat, but you might want to have subject matter for constant jokes over the course of your trip.  If that’s the case than it’s Dan-tastic!

I have to say that I am one of the luckiest guys in the world.  The fact that Lori loves everything I do (Gators, Lakers, Johnnie Walker, and of course Vegas) makes life that much easier.

She happens to be a great poker player as well, which makes for great trips to Vegas where we do nothing but play poker.  We just went there two weeks ago to play in a couple of daily tourneys as a warm up for the WSOP trip that we will be going on early next month.  I will be posting throughout that trip, but here is a quick review to wet the palate.

Caesars Palace $300+$30 (Saturday @ Noon)

The poker room is located through the sportsbook and is fairly large.  The tournament area is actually a separate room altogether and has recently been redone since they held a WSOP circuit event earlier in the year.

The chairs, tables and general atmosphere are all top notch.  Oddly though they don’t have automatic shufflers which isn’t terrible per say, but you don’t get as many hands in per round.

Personnel is always key in every well run tournament, and these guys are good.  The dealers are efficient and knowledgeable and move the games along nicely.  Both food and beverage service is good; however the woman running food was a bit elderly and ornery.  Loved her.

You start with $10k worth of chips and there are 40 minute levels, so the play is nice and long.  I will spare you the bad beat stories, but I will point out that both Lori and I got bounced with QQ.  There is no justice.

The Venetian $130 +$20 (Sunday @ Noon)

The poker room in the Venetian is right next to the escalators leading up to the main entrance of the casino.  It’s very open and has a comfortable feel to it.

The chairs at the Venetian are a bit more “comfy” (Lori’s favorite descriptor) with more cushion and wheels.  This is key when you reach the 4th hour of a 9 hour tourney.

The dealers and floor personnel are solid; although there was almost a mutiny when the main floor guy turned off the Lakers/Jazz game right at the moment of the final shot which ultimately went to overtime.  The Lakers blew the game in OT, but they soldiered on and closed out the series in 6.  But I digress…

One of the nicest amenities of any poker room in Vegas is the Venetian water, which is bottled Fiji water.  They pass it out like candy, and it’s just a bit nicer than your normal purified water that you will get out on the casino floor.  Very Choice.

Nothing great to report other than I got out kicked on my set in a three way early on and then donked the rest of my chips off when this incredible Magoo woke up with KK.  Lori of course just had her AA cracked by a set of K’s with the last coming on the river.  Solid.

So over all I would have to say that the Venetian was the overall better experience.  They have a $500+$50 on Saturdays that is normally pretty good, but that’s for another post.

Pictures provided by www.allvegaspoker.com.  We forgot our camera.

It seems like such a non issue, but your interaction with your blackjack dealer is critical.  They can certainly make a tough session easier and a great session even better. 

I have another post on Karma that I am cooking up, but I can tell you that a properly toked (tipped) dealer can certainly make a difference in your session.  I can not tell you how many times I have been overpaid, paid on a tie, or just paid on a loss by a dealer who was looking out for yours truly.

Now I am not saying that they are actively trying to get fired, or that I am running some confidence game with a ring of dealers in Vegas or anything.  That’s just not the case.

What I can say is that I have made eye contact with a dealer on a number of occasions as they made a simple mistake, and they just keep moving the game forward.  You see, they don’t care if you take every last chip from their tray.  It’s not their money, and many of them will tell you just that.  So think of it as a bank error in your favor, just like in the monopoly game of your youth.  Only this time its real money and it’s nice when it happens to you.

I can also tell you how many times I have been shorted; and that would be only once.  It was an honest mistake and we had moved on to the next hand when someone else mentioned it.  The dealer felt terrible and wanted to roll the game back and called the pit boss over and everything.  I told her it was fine and that things happen, and they do.  But I can honestly say they are much more likely to benefit you than not.

Of course it helps if you are tipping like you should (more on that in another post) and if you are at a table with a dealer that is friendly and engaging.  So let’s get to it!

5. Caesars Palace –

We play in the “old” pit in the Forum Casino near the hotel registration area.  This is where you have the best odds for playing and the dealers are generally much older and are really the salt of the earth.  A lot of them have been dealing for years and many of them have stories of Vegas from “back in the day”.  I have had many great times in this pit just listening to some vintage Vegas vets turn a card or two.

4. New York New York–

This used to be a young a hip place to play that was a bit too smoky at times.  That was fine because the dealers were fun and we used to pull a lot of money off of the tables.  However they are currently going through a renovation and everything looks like crap right now.  There is almost no gaming floor left, and they didn’t have a lot to start with.  Hopefully they can make a comeback for next year’s poll, but as of right now they are 4th purely on legacy.

3. The Venetian –

As our level of play has increase over the years, we have found ourselves playing more and more in the Venetian, which is a good thing.  There are so many tables that you never have to hunt around to find a home.  They rate your play pretty well and the dealers have for the most part been great; fast when you need them to be and slow when it’s hurting.  A class act all the way.

2. Harrah’s –

This one tugs on the heart strings as you never forget your first.  Lori and I stayed at Harrah’s for New Year’s in 2003 and it was the right fit for us.   They had lower limits and some of the nicest dealers around.  We were in Vegas for like 6 days (way too long when you have no concept of money management) and they all knew us on the 2nd day by name.  Lori was actually sick that trip and I still remember Arlene asking me about how Lori was feeling.  It was startling and I remember her to this day, some 5 years and 30+ Vegas trips ago.

1. Wynn – 

Now I don’t think that I have won a dime at the casino from the moment it has opened, but I love playing there.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) is so damn nice that you just want to kill yourself.  Everything just smells good and everyone looks good.  Not that it should matter, but a well put together dealer just sets the mood just right.

So there you have it.  Lori and I don’t play downtown or at local casinos so it’s not a definitive list by any means.  But for the average Vegas visitor going to the strip, you can not beat the group for the best dealer experience around.

Remember, results may vary and check with your doctor before starting any vigorous activity. 

The Palazzo in Las Vegas is a very nice hotel.  That’s a pretty underwhelming statement when you consider how elegant the place really is.  I would say that it is on par with the Wynn and the Venetian in terms of “freshness”, but is by far the least ostentatious of the bunch.  For this discussion we are going to leave out the Bellagio as my good friend and frequent Vegas buddy; that we will call “44”, would say, “Are they still in business? Who even goes there?”  I personally don’t think that they are in fact going out of business, but they are definitely no longer the elite of the strip.

I will say that all of the staff at the Palazzo is extremely friendly.  Only once did we have a dealer who didn’t speak much, but she was extremely efficient and that was good since we were winning.

Lori and I have stayed their twice so far and the rooms are just great.  They are all suites and definitely all good. Here is a link to their site, but it really doesn’t do it justice.  All of the furniture is modern European with deep rich browns and cool to the touch marble through out the bathroom.  There are 3 flat screens throughout the room and they have HD as well, a very nice touch I thought.  There is a little office and a sunken living room, much like rooms at the Venetian.  The only real difference is that everything is just a little nicer.

The casino is actually very small compared to the Venetian.  There is only one main room with two long rows of tables.  JayZ has a club downstairs with a casino where the sports book is located, but we only wandered down there to see what was up and didn’t play any.

Every casino on the strip has a 24 hour place to eat and The Grand Lux Café is a great option.  There is one in the Venetian as well, but if you are staying at the Palazzo this is right by the elevators to the rooms so it’s very close.  They are owned by the same people that run The CheeseCake Factory, so you can imagine the size of the meals.  Very good indeed.

This last time we ate at Dos Caminos, which was great because the girls always love Mexican and this was very good Mexican.  The place doubles as an ultra lounge of sorts so late nights it’s a cool place to grab a drink.  They have a ton of Tequilas as you might expect, and can make a mean Margarita.  Very Choice.

There is a ton of high end shopping, but you are going to get that at all of the higher end casinos so there is nothing too special about that.

So basically The Palazzo is top notch and has quickly become Lori’s favorite spot on the Strip.  It doesn’t hurt that they give us rooms so I guess I should show them some love!