MGM Grand Poker Room

Tried my first poker tournament this weekend and they ran everything quite well and efficiently. Since I’ve never been in a casino-​based tournament I don’t have a frame of reference, but they seemed to run it well and the dealers were great.

Poker room is dark, sometimes hard for older people to see cards. Managers have an attitude. Sometimes tournaments are cancelled due to lack of dealers.
On the other hand, you are playing poker in Vegas. It doesn’t get better than that. Still, other rooms are available.

lots of action and lucky winners here. a very beatable game, but have to avoid the luckboxes.
the USB ports are great, but they don’t charge or have enough amperage to positively charge an iphone.

Very sad. MGM used to have one of the better poker rooms when it was right behind the sports book. I’m assuming they moved it to make the traffic coming /​going into the hotel more convenient, but they ruined it.
The old setup made it much more spacious. Now, it’s very crowded, as someone described kind of an afterthought.
They used to have a good balance of limit and no limit games. I was there in October and they had one $ 3-​$ 6 limit table, and was there again in December and was told it was just no-​limit (didn’t go to see for myself).
Service is also very slow, probably because it much further for the waitresses to walk, and also hard to maneuver between tables.

I don’t know how those dealers remain so calm with all the people playing their tournaments who have no clue what’s going on. They are having to constantly remind the players to post their blinds and antes. There are some good dealers there and anyone who has played here will agree with me that it seems like the dealers have no interest in dealing those tourneys other than sheer comedic entertainment. If you are a serious player looking for a good poker tourney I’d probably say steer clear of here.

Visiting Las Vegas from England and as a lover of poker thought i’d hit up a couple of spots on the strip.
Choose MGM as their 11:05 daily tournament seemed to be good value.
$ 35 buy-​in, 4k chips, 20min blinds
+ 1k for registering 30mins early
+$ 5 option buy-​in anytime, 4k chips or less
+ unlimited rebuys max 6k chips, $ 5 per 2k for the first 2 levels.
+ $ 10 top up of 5k after 2 levels.
I’m not the greatest player so was happy to spend the $ 50 after two levels.
Tables were all in great condition and had automatic shufflers installed.
The chips looked brand new and felt nice to hold.
Dealers really friendly, and players seemed friendly in general.
I lasted until the 7^th level and busted with QQ’s vs AA & KK.
Happy with the three hours play.
The restroom is also situated just opposite the poker room and there is quick waitress service providing free drinks to all players ($ 1 tip recommended)
Hope this proves to help you in making your choice of playing poker and good luck.

After planning my day around the Friday 2:05 Turbo Tournament I registered and waited for over an hour only to hear them announce that they were canceling the tournament FIVE MINUTES before it was scheduled to start. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. They have also downsized the room and it is very cramped now. Big disappointment.

Burn em and turn em… im such a river rat! This place rocks. Everytime I’m here I have a ball.

The last time I was here was in 2006 or 2007, when the MGM Grand Poker room enjoyed a prime spot in the middle of the ground floor, just across from the lions. For a poker player on a $ 1 – 2 type of bankroll, this was the place to be.*
My return trip? Oof. It’s like that time I was at a two-​bit strip club at closing time, and the lights came on.**
The lions are either gone or moved. The poker room has also been moved, but maybe it would be better off being gone.
Situated off to the side somewhere and playing with the dregs of society, I realized that some things just don’t last. And sometimes there is no need to revisit those fabled locations of our past.
After I left the table and walked out of MGM’s doors, I knew I would never return again.
*This is artistic license. I am not a gambler, and if I did, I never win money. And if I did and lost money, I wouldn’t have a gambling problem.
**This is also artistic license. I have only seen strip clubs in movies, and only for as long as it takes for me to change the channel or to skip the scene on my DVD.

really not a bad room. i don’t know how the setup was prior, but, i liked what is here. around 15 tables set up next to the sports book and the sports restaurant. tourists playing and some locals. tournament buy-​ins are $ 35 plus $ 5 for the dealer option, totalling 4000 chips. rebuys for the first 2 levels at $ 5 for 2000. cash games were minimum $ 65 for the $ 1−2NL. didn’t too good during the morning sessions, but, the evenings went pretty well for me. dealers were pretty cool and bosses were nice enough to look for my MLife number to track my play. oh yeah, and i’m not a fan of the no-​wheel, non-​adjustable chairs. :(

We made our way over to check out the MGM last week on our trip to Vegas. To our disappointment the whole place smells like disgusting carpet cleaner. The smell was so bad we had to leave and the smell stays in your nose for a good 30 minutes after you leave. I would not recommend going if you have a sensitive nose.

Eh, just okay. The dealers weren’t that great, the poker room feels very cramped. There are better places to lose money.

The old location for the Poker Room at the MGM Grand was much better. Now, the area is very small and cramp, and seems to have been placed just off to the side of the casino wherever they had extra room. I figure this is a temporary location during renovations, but during my last 2 visits to Vegas it was stuck off in this corner. Players composed of a good mix of tourists and moderate amateurs/​didn’t seem to be any pros with the low limits.
Staff /​service– 4 (dealers keep the game moving along at a good pace)
Environment– 2 (small and cramp/​no cage seems to make it less professional)
Available games — 2 (just 2 diff No Limit games running. Much diff than the variety of NL and Limit games that used to be available in the old location)

My friends and I are avid poker players and just returned from our annual poker trip to Vegas; I couldn’t have imaged a worse set up for the «new» poker room. It was a disaster. We loved playing at the MGM but will now go elsewhere. MGM should either invest in a poker room or don’t have one at all.
There is no cage, the chairs were uncomfortable, the TVs are lousy, and the barrier between the cigarette smoke filled slot area and the poker area was divided by the main walkway, which left the poker area abnoxiously loud and stinky.
You can already see it in the numbers. They raised the prices of the tourneys to those comparable to ARIA, but with fewer amenities, the new poker area was averaging only two tables of players on a weekend (It used to average 5 – 10)! There were only two 1 – 2 cash games going at 4pm on a Saturday!
Disappointed!

I used to love the MGM Grand’s poker room when I first started visiting Sin City.
There was something both cool and sacrosanct about playing poker in the largest resort hotel in Vegas. It made you feel like a contender, no matter your level of skill.
It’s two daily tournaments were also quite affordable, and there was always a nice ambience there, given its friendly dealers, chatty (but not annoying) players, and (on occasion) a couple of pseudo-​celebrity (reality show star) servers.
But during the MGM Grand’s (constant) renovations, the poker room was moved from its central location to a side area that lacks the same grandiosity and distinction, and feels like an afterthought.
Back in January, the poker room was back where it should be, and in all its glory, but only three months later, it was moved back to that dingy side space because the casino needed its home for some Academy of Country Music awards function. Huh?
It’s that kind of thinking from casino management that sends a clear signal to poker players: we don’t care about your comfort and the atmosphere you play in; we don’t care about the poker’s long history and the game itself; and we’re more interested in the latest trends than tradition. I imagine the same kind of thinking inspired the closure of the MGM Grand’s famous and much beloved lion habitat.
That kind of thinking leaves a sour taste in my mouth. If they don’t care, why should I?

I prefer the old MGM Grand poker room. This one was not laid out as well as the old one. I say this without hyperbole, but the chairs at MGM are the most uncomfortable chairs I’ve encountered in a poker room. And, they have no cushions that other rooms typically have to help with this. Nice dealers, a couple were very personable. The games are mostly $ 1/​$ 2 NLHE and $ 2/​$ 4 Limit. They also had a few $ 2/​$ 5 games. But, the cramped nature of the room and the chairs will likely prevent me from coming back, unless I’m at the MGM for another reason and the mood to play strikes.

I liked the old poker room better. The new ‘room’ feels like an afterthought.
Friendly, courteous & professional staff. 2 daily poker tournaments.

I am not a great poker player. In fact, I’m not even a GOOD poker player. I would love to engage in the illusion that I am a great poker player. The reason the MGM Grand Poker Room gets many stars from me is because it creates a temporary reality where I actually get to feel like I’m a relatively GREAT poker player.
Don’t get me wrong. I got absolutely owned one night here to the tune of $ 240 on a single hand because I badly misread an opponent. However, aside from that one rather unforgivable mistake, I was playing the lowest limit poker offered ($ 1/​$ 2) and pretty much was able to pay for everything but my room while I was in Vegas purely with my poker winnings. And that was after sitting at their tables for no more than 10 hours TOTAL during a three day period.
If you aren’t any good (like me) but would still like to make a decent sum of money (apx $ 60−80/hr), I would strongly suggest playing a relatively tight game early on and getting it all in when you know you have the goods. Some people here will call you just to see what you have even if they have essentially nothing. Seriously. But aside from the rare miracles, a relatively basic understanding of pot odds and statistics should earn you a relatively healthy sum of money.
How is the actual poker room? The dealers are friendly, the cocktail waitresses bring your (non) alcoholic drinks of choice at a relatively quick rate, and there was quite a bit of non-​asinine table talk. Because the MGM Poker Room is in a temporary location right now, I didn’t notice the loud blaring music that others have noted. Then again, I played exclusively morning/​afternoon sessions here. So there might be your answer. This definitely is not the sexiest poker room. If you are looking for that type of experience, you should go to Aria. If you aren’t at least a semi-​decent player, however, prepare to lose hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Overall, I think this is a fine poker room for people who just want to play low-​limit tables against people of modest poker ability. If you are looking for a more challenging game or if you just want to play somewhere that looks gorgeous, go elsewhere.

There are so many irritating things about this room that I can barely list them all. The saving grace of the MGM Grand Poker room is the fact that it is FILLLEDDDD with tourists who are just looking to gamble and generally play pretty awful.
If you can get past the blaring music, awkward marble rail around the tables, and the annoying loud noises the MGM Grand Poker Room might be for you. If you love money this room also might be a good fit. Who doesn’t love free money?!

The poker room at the MGM Grand is pretty deep inside the casino, hidden further from view than the table games and slot machines that make the house more money. But seek it out — if you’re looking to gamble and like a slower bleed than Black Jack, the $ 1/​$ 2 tables are great.
The room is not the biggest I’ve seen, but it’s fairly nice and you get seated pretty fast. The dealers are friendly and professional, and you get free drinks while you gamble. I’ve only played in the MGM once, but I think I’ll try and come back on future visits to Vegas.
I’d heard beforehand that the MGM poker room was easy money, and the softness of my table didn’t contradict that description. We were playing nine-​handed, and five of the players had no idea what they were doing, while the rest were so tight that you could just fold any time they made a move. It was actually pretty boring, but I won almost every hand I got involved in, with one fold to an A9 that hit his two pair on the river. I’m no poker guru, and would lose to a lot of the $ 1/​$ 2 grinders that occupy various Vegas poker rooms. I didn’t see any of that type at my table.
Until I come back to the MGM poker room and lose some big hands, I will have a rosy view of the place. I’ve also heard that it’s a goldmine late at night, since it’s close to a club. I love poker but hate losing, so I hope this place is nice to me when I come back.