Rant and Rave:
Las Vegas
by Oliver Butterick

Rant—The Poker Room at the Palms Casino—At least one person that works at the Palms has a brain.  They planned a twice-a-day tournament series to mirror the WSOP, which is taking place nearly across the street at the Rio.  They get a nice turnout from the overflow traffic, and they give gifts to everyone who makes the final table (a commemorative chip) and to the winner (a 300 chip set with case).

However, not everyone at the Palms is a brain surgeon.  A few weeks into the Summer Series, they are still inconsistent with their procedures, and I’ve seen contradictory decisions made by the floor staff (particularly when it comes to people not putting enough money in to call and then wanting to fold and get their money back).

Also, when a customer asked the person running the cash games where the ATM was, he simply told the customer that he hadn’t memorized the layout of the massive casino yet.  Just a pointer for people getting their first (or hundredth) job at a casino—here are the first things you need to find:

1. The ATM
2. The restrooms
3. Someone to ask when you don’t know the answer to a very, very basic question so that you don’t look like a complete a-hole and drive customers out of your casino.

By the way, the nearest ATM to the poker room is on the left side of the cashier, about 20 yards away.