Mirage Poker Room Review

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Mirage Las Vegas Website | 702-791-7291 or 1-800-77POKER.
Location: 3400 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 Map
Games offered: 7 Card Stud, Texas Hold'em, Omaha 8 or better
Number of tables: 31
Smoking allowed? No
Member Review by: enough


The first poker room I ever played at in Las Vegas was the Mirage. I was very new to poker, having only played a few games with friends, but I knew the basics of the game and wanted to see how the action was in a card room.

During this trip to Vegas I was staying at Caesars, and after milling around the strip Saturday afternoon I decided I would muster up the courage and head over to the Mirage at about 6pm. The card room was very easy to find. The card room is located directly across from the Main Cashier's Cage on the Casino Floor and it is completely open to the main casino floor (it is only enclosed by a half wall). I walked to the entrance and stood for a minute looking around at the nearly full room.

After gazing at the crowd (and feeling a little intimidated) I walked up to the reservation podium and asked the guy behind the counter how to go about getting a seat at one of the low limit tables. Ready to hear back a gruff remark from what I assumed would be a less than friendly room manager (I have this habit of always finding the jerk in the casino to ask information of) I was pleasantly surprised when he welcomed me to the card room and laid out a few basic things that I needed to know.

"Minimum buy-in is 30 dollars, and depending on which game you want you can either sit right down or put your name on a list for the next available seat which usually comes up every 15 minutes or so." I told him that I was interested in the 3/6 Hold'em game and he said that I could sit down right away. He walked me over to the table and said that I could either wait for checks or I could walk over to the desk and buy some. I put down my jacket, walked over to the desk and grabbed a rack of dollars.

About 9 hours later it was two in the morning and I realized that not only was I still playing on my initial buy in, but I was a little ahead. I couldn't remember the last time I gambled in Vegas for 9 hours straight and could say the same thing. I also realized that I had learned a ton from playing with totally new people, and had a great time doing it. By the end of the night I was playing with 4 other guys who could've just as easily been at my home game. I wasn't there to win big - I was there to have a good time, and to learn a little more about the game.

After my mini marathon I headed back to Caesars and crashed out. Around 1pm the next day I headed back over to the Mirage and ended playing for about 4 more hours. I think from now on when I go to Vegas I'll be making the Mirage poker room my number 1 destination.


Games/stakes available

7 Card Stud, Texas Hold'em, Omaha 8 or better
Rake: I only played 3/6 Hold'em and the max rake was 10% or $4.00

Tournaments (updated as of 1/19/06)

Sit-N-Go's - Sit-N-Go’s tournaments offered any time there are 10 players ready to start

Daily Heads-Up Tournaments
Monday – Wednesday: $340
Thursday – Friday - Sunday $550
Saturday - $1080

• Register for Heads-Up events at the poker cage up to 24 hours prior to the start of the next event.
• Registration closes at 1:00 p.m. for that day’s event.
• Bracket seeding is done by random computer draw once registration closes.
• Each round in Heads-Up play requires a best 2 out of 3 games to advance.
• Win just 3 matches to cash! (Based on 32 players)

The Poker Zone Tournaments

Sunday
5:00 p.m.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em
$430 with no rebuys or add-ons.

Monday
7:00 p.m.
Limit Texas Hold'em
$130 Buy-in with unlimited $100 Re-Buys for the 1st hour with one add-on.

Tuesday
7:00 p.m.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em
$130 Buy-in with unlimited $100 Re-Buys for the 1st hour with one add-on.

Wednesday
7:00 p.m.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em
$130 Buy-in with unlimited $100 Re-Buys for the 1st hour with one add-on.

Thursday
7:00 p.m.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em
$230 Buy-in with one $200 Re-Buy anytime during the 1st hour.

Decor and atmosphere

Room Managers - On Saturday and Sunday I got to see the room at different levels of activity. The managers working the room knew how to handle both a packed house and a smaller crowed extremely well. The are very gracious, and it's obvious that they are concerned about you enjoying yourself when you're playing there. As Saturday night faded into Sunday morning they were right there helping to consolidate tables to keep the action going. The entire staff in the room is fantastic.

The room itself - The room is pretty much in the middle of the casino, so it shares the same decor as the rest of the floor. The tables are all in a corral of sorts, surrounded on two sides by a half wall which makes for a nice observation area if you are into watching poker, or if you just want to survey the landscape before diving in. One thing to note is that with 31 tables the room gets very cramped when it is full - sometimes there isn't enough room to sneak out of your chair without having to ask the guy at the table behind you to scoot over.

Dealers - I went through quite a few dealers during that weekend, and can't really say anything negative about them at all. Everyone was friendly and professional, and there were no misdeals even during the graveyard shift when they usually have the new recruits out there.

Cocktails - While the room was full it was pretty difficult to get a cocktail waitress - I'm not sure if there are any that are 100% covering the card room, so it could have been a standard Saturday night deal, but that's one area in particular that I can see needing improvement

Quality of opponents

I only played at the $3/$6 table which are usually notorious for being filled with calling stations, and I can say it's as true in the Mirage as it is in any other card room. Most everyone at the table was a novice, which was great for me as I was a novice too. The higher limit tables, and the NL tables appeared to have more skilled players, if only by the amount of hands that were being folded. In the span of time I was playing at the low limit table I'd say at least half the table was always in the pot pre-flop.

Chips

Since I stayed at the 3/6 table I only saw $1 chips floating around - they were the standard blue and white Mirage chips, must be Paulson (other members confirmed) with a Mirage mold including palm trees on the outer edge. Here's a picture courtesy of www.oldvegaschips.com:

Additional perks

I've read that if you're lucky enough to be still playing around 4am that the kitchen sometimes wheels out a cart of sandwiches on the house, but I can't confirm this.

Reviewers Comments

From here on out whenever I go to Vegas I will definitely be spending time at the Mirage. Great experience all around.

Pictures

Pictures courtesy of www.allvegaspoker.com