Vegas Casino Ratings

I'm going to Vegas in a month and have not picked a hotel to stay at. Here are my choices

MGM Grand
NY NY
RIO
Palms
Hard Rock

Any comments at the BJ rules in these casinos and deck penetration. I'll be mostly playing $25/hand. I'm looking for the best playing conditions out of these casinos.

thx

What Casino is Best?

It's been a year since I was in Las Vegas, but to my knowledge, MGM is the only casino on your list that offers S17. Also check out Mandaly Bay and Bellagio. They had S17 and Late Surrender when I was there.

Unless you are young, I would avoid the Hard Rock. No valet parking for the casino, you could not move inside, it was too loud to think, and I don't think the rules were that great. If you are young, that is the place to be. They probably give topless tuesdays at the palms a run for their money. Bring some shorts. It was hot as hell. I am from fla and I was dying. They say it is a dry heat. Well, it is like standing behind a running greyhound bus parked in a garage. Even at midnight, it was still in the mid 90s.

try caesars

I went to caesars in January and got some good play in @ $25. Rules were good and with a rating, the comps were worth having. They use surrender, so its worth a few fractions of a % adavantage if played correctly

Thanks for the recommendation... I will also look into Caesar's...

What is type of action do have to give in order to get the RFB at this casino? I ask because some casinos are stingy (i.e. Borgata in AC - they could care less because they have so many people on the tables during the weekend and holidays)

PokerJunky,
I go to Vegas pretty often (once a month or so). I haven't been to Rio in a long time--it's off the strip and so is Palms & Hard Rock. Palms is kind of the 'in-scene' these days thanks to MTV (celebrities, post-college set). It's what the Hard Rock was a few years ago. Palms and Hard Rock stay on 17 only in the high limit rooms ($100/hand). MGM and NY NY are on the strip, and NY NY also only offers S17 in their high limit room ($100/hand). There are some $25 tables at MGM that S17 and ukdave is right about Caesars also. There are also a lot of $25 tables that offer S17 are at Mandalay Bay--they're pretty stingy w/ comps though. To get a free room, you pretty much have to play at the $100 tables. Mandalay also has double deck--I think they H17 on double deck. Luxor also has a couple of S17 tables. Good luck.

Has anyone played at the Palms Casino in Vegas?

The reason I ask is that I have a friend who is coming along that is not much of a gambler. If the tables are fairly decent, I would consider playing bj there. Anyone's insight would be appreciated..

Palms:
At limits under $25 or $50, all you'll find is CSMs or 8-deck shoes. They hit soft 17, but the other rules aren't bad, including late surrender and resplitting Aces.

There are some 2-deck games, at either $25 or $50 minimums on the main floor. In the high-limit room, they stand on all 17s, and deal 2-deck and 6-deck games.

Palms "comps"

Thanks Ken for the input...

I spoke to the host at Palms and he was telling me that in order to get the room at the Palms you need to average $100 per hand for 4 hours. When I asked for RFB, he started going off saying that you will need at $500 per hand average with a limit on the RFB after the evalute your play (meaning that you can't go nuts if they give you the RFB) . This rate ($500 per hand average) seems extremely high (i.e. it includes room, food, beverage, entrance to the clubs and shows)

Just curious what people think...

PokerJunkie, those are about the rates I'd expect from an "in" place in Vegas. I think you'd get more at a lower level to go off the strip and away from the popular joints.