Oct 26, 2019 Promotions and Comps. Food and Drink. A miscarrige. Despite the rainforest highlights, Mandalay Bay is not a real power room. I showed up and was told on limited English. Alphadog1970 wrote a review about. Mandalay Bay poker is one of the greats I.
Excalibur is a casino located on the southwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Blvd.
MGM Resorts owns it, and Excalibur has become one of its value properties. This means that it is not on the same level as the company’s higher-tiered resorts.
The Excalibur poker room spreads lower-limit cash games and tournaments on its seven tables. The games are generally loose and full of tourists.
It is located near the sportsbook behind the table games pit and does not offer much in the way of amenities beyond automatic shufflers and televisions.
Excalibur Poker Room Option for Luxor Guests
The Luxor poker room closed in 2017. Poker players staying there may walk to Excalibur through an indoor corridor.
Mandalay Bay is accessible in a similar manner and typically spreads 1/2 no-limit Hold’em.
The best thing about the Excalibur is its loose games. The games tend to be friendly with tourists enjoying themselves.
Most of the staff has been there for years. This makes for a professional live poker experience.
Having to pay to park at Excalibur makes it not worth playing the low-limit games for locals. This can be a good and bad thing for players, as it keeps serious locals away.
The exception is if a player has at least Pearl status in MLife, which takes 75 hours of cash game action. That is the MGM Resorts players club. This earns free parking at all properties operated by the company.
There are two regular games at Excalibur. One is 1/2 no-limit Hold’em. The buy-in range is $60-$300. The other is a 2-6 Spread-Limit Hold’em game. This game has blinds of $1 and $2. Players may bet or raise anywhere from $2 to $6 at any time. It plays like a low-stakes limit game with small blinds.
Excalibur is the only poker room on the Las Vegas Strip that spreads this game. It is typically found in locals casinos in North Las Vegas and Henderson.
Excalibur rakes 10% up to $5. There is also a $1 jackpot drop.
Cash game players earn $1 an hour in food comps when playing with an MLife card. These comps must be used on the Excalibur property. Ask the poker host for a paper comp to redeem.
Excalibur hosts four daily poker tournaments. There is a $29+$11 at 9 am and a $32+$13 at 1 pm, 5 pm, and 8 pm. Each tournament has the same structure. Players start with 5,000 chips. Blinds start at 25/50. Levels go up every 15 minutes.
Late registration and re-entry is available through the first five levels. At the end of late registration, players are offered an opportunity to forfeit their stacks and re-enter the tournament with a full 5,000 in chips.
Cash game players clocked in with an MLife card receive $1 an hour for food comps. Aces cracked runs from 10 am to 3 pm daily. Players spin a wheel when losing with pocket aces. Players win an additional $25 plus the prize from the wheel.
A player that makes four of a kind or better also spins the wheel for a prize. The amounts range from $20 to $100. The player must use both hole cards for this promotion, too.
The wheel has two special slots on it. One is triple, which makes the next spin worth three times the amount shown. The other is a buddy bonus. This allows the player to pick another person in the room to also receive the bonus.
A royal flush wins $500. Both hole cards must be played to qualify.
Excalibur runs a football promotion. Cash games played on Monday night, Thursday night, and Sunday morning qualify.
A game is chosen by the room’s management and shown on television. There is a random seat drawing with every score of the game. A field goal wins $50, touchdown $100, and a safety pays $200.
Promotions are paid for through a jackpot drop. It is taken out of cash game pots. Tournament players do not qualify for promotions.
Excalibur offers low limits for table games. Players will find $5 or $10 limits for games like craps and roulette. Blackjack has these limits, but those games will pay 6 to 5. For $15, you will find 3 to 2 blackjack games. The video poker at Excalibur does not have friendly pay tables.
The sportsbook is just a few steps away from the poker room. This is a comfortable betting shop with low limits and wide television screens.
Excalibur offers several restaurants. They range from middle-tier steakhouses to a food court. Poker players may use comps at any of these.
There is little to do at Excalibur besides gamble. You can walk through the corridor to Luxor to check out the pyramid and several exhibits. New York New York is across Tropicana Avenue from Excalibur. It has a roller coaster that is a great break from the casinos. It has a new virtual reality option.
If the action at the Excalibur poker room is not what you hoped for, there are several options in the area. Mandalay Bay is about a 10-minute walk away. It is all indoors, as there is a shopping corridor that connects Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Another one connects Luxor with Excalibur. That requires walking across the casino floor and going up some escalators.
Mandalay Bay generally has a 1/2 no-limit Hold’em cash game running. It spreads three $65 tournaments every day. It also has a great view of one of the largest sportsbooks in Las Vegas.
MGM Grand is another option. It is across two Las Vegas Strip walkways. That poker room spreads 1/2 and 2/5 no-limit Hold’em. You will always find the 1/2 game. The 2/5 one is only available during peak hours. The poker room at MGM Grand offers four daily tournaments. Two have a $65 buy-in. The other two are $100.
Mandalay Bay is on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. The resort is known for its convention business.
The number of tables running and quality of the games can depend solely on the volume of conventioneers staying on the property. This was exacerbated when Mandalay Bay started charging locals to park there. Las Vegas residents tend to avoid properties that charge for parking.
The Mandalay Bay poker room spreads ten tables. It is located right next to the sportsbook. This is a nice feature for players that want to make a bet on a game or horse while at the poker tables.
Each seat has a USB port. Tables have automatic shufflers and Bravo Poker waitlists. Players may order food and have it delivered to their seat in the poker room.
Comps earned in cash games may be used for tableside service or at any other dining establishment on the property.
Mandalay Bay Deals Promotions
Best and Worst Features of Mandalay Bay Poker Room
The televisions from the sportsbook may be seen from many seats in the poker room. The ticket counters are convenient as well.
Mandalay Bay often takes a $2 jackpot drop. It is also unfortunate that parking must be paid for, and the parking deck and tram are a long walk from the poker room. There is usually only a 1/2 no-limit Hold’em game running.
The only regular cash game found at Mandalay Bay is 1/2 no-limit Hold’em. It has a buy-in range of $100 to $300.
A 2/5 game with buy-ins of $200 to $2,000 may run on weekends, though this is rare.
Mandalay Bay rakes 10% up to $5. It also takes a $2 jackpot drop to fund promotions.
Cash game players clocked in with an MLife card receive $2 an hour in comps that may be used at many outlets on the property.
Some outlets will deliver directly to the poker table. Players that give 75 hours of cash game action in a year receive free parking.
Poker comps may not be transferred to other MGM Resorts casinos.
Mandalay Bay offers three tournaments daily. The times are 11 am, 3 pm, and 10 pm. The buy-in is $45+$20.
All tournaments are no-limit Hold’em. Players start with 10,000 chips. Blinds start at 100/200. Blinds go up every 15 minutes. Late registration lasts through the first four levels. There are no guaranteed prize pools for these tournaments.
This structure is a turbo format. The starting level is much higher than most other tournaments with a similar chip stack. Levels go up every 15 minutes when competitors often have 20-minute blinds. Players should consider the format when paying $20 in juice to enter.
A high-hand bonus runs 24 hours a day. The player must use both hole cards to qualify. The payouts are as follows.
- Full house jacks or better: $50
- Four of a kind: $100
- Straight flush: $300
- Royal flush: $500
There is also a $150 high hand every hour.
Players receive one point for every hour of cash game action from midnight to 4 am Monday through Thursday and midnight to 10 am on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The top three players receive a prize. First place is $550. Second place wins $350. The third-place finisher in graveyard points takes home $150.
Things to Do at Mandalay Bay Besides Playing Poker
Mandalay Bay Poker Tournament Schedule
Mandalay Bay is a luxurious resort. It offers many of the amenities other upscale properties have. This includes a spa and two pools.
The sportsbook is just steps away from the Mandalay Bay poker room. Deposits and withdrawals for the MGM Resorts sports betting app may be made here. You can also take in a game here and enjoy drink service at your seat.
Blackjack players will find tables with a 3:2 payout on bets of $25 or more. Double down before and after splitting is accepted. Players may surrender on any two cards after the dealer checks for blackjack. Aces may be split up to four times. The dealer hits soft 17 in this game.
For $100, players will find these rules where the dealer stands on all 17s. There is also a $200 double-deck blackjack game with double down before and after splitting. The dealer stands on all 17s at this table, too.
Mandalay Bay Poker Tournament
Mandalay Bay is full of fine dining options. Choices include Libertine Social, Rivea, Red Square, Aureole, Charlie Palmer Steak, Stripsteak, Lupo, Border Grill, Della’s Kitchen, Foundation Room, and Fleur. There is also a buffet and food court.
The 1/2 no-limit Hold’em games may not be what you are looking for, or maybe you just need a break from them. There are a few poker rooms in the area to consider.
The Excalibur poker room is a short walk through the corridors. Go up the escalators from Mandalay Bay to the Luxor ones. Walk across the Luxor casino floor, and Excalibur is down that corridor.
Alternatively, you can take the tram from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur. Its station is outside. Enter the casino and walk across the casino floor. The Excalibur poker room spreads daily tournaments. Its cash games are 1/2 no-limit Hold’em and 2-6 spread-limit Hold’em.
MGM Grand is a bit farther than Excalibur in that direction. It requires crossing Las Vegas Blvd and Tropicana Avenue. Take the tram to Excalibur to save some walking. MGM Grand spreads 1/2 and 2/5 no-limit Hold’em. It hosts two no-limit Hold’em tournaments a day.
South Point is a locals poker room a few miles south of Mandalay Bay on Las Vegas Blvd. It hosts two daily tournaments. The cash games there are 1/2 no-limit Hold’em and 2/4 fixed-limit Hold’em.