Aria

Newly opened in 2010 as part of the huge CityCenter complex created by the MGM Mirage corporation, the Aria is an opulent casino connected to a sprawling upscale mall and a number of upscale hotels. The poker room at the Aria is as high-class and fancy as the rest of the casino, and in mid-2010 unveiled their special "Ivey Room", a super-high-stakes single-table room frequented by its namesake, Phil Ivey, and other high stakes poker players.

Games
Wait Time: Still picking up steam, the Aria poker room goes hot and cold in terms of crowds - sometimes it's only got a few tables going, other times it's jumping. The busier it is, the shorter the wait times.

Game Character: So far it's populated by wannabe sharks, up-and-comers, grinders, local rocks, and a few tourists. As the rest of CityCenter gets going, it'll probably attract more upscale tourists.

Posting: New players need not post.

Shuffling: All tables machine shuffled.

Rake: 0-10%, max rake is $4. No jackpot. For 4/8 limit, they take it at certain pot sizes: $1 each when the pot reaches 10, 30, 50, and 80 dollars, making an effective rake of between 5-10%. No flop, no drop.

Kills: Unknown.

House Rules: Only $100 bills play when in cash games. A bet and four raises (5 bets, in limit games) is the max.

Tournaments


Daily tournaments, schedule and entry fees subject to change. As of Sept 2010, they are


 * Sun-Sat 1pm: 100 + 25 NLHE
 * Sun-Sat 7pm: 100 + 25 NLHE

Jackpots and Promotions
No jackpots, no jackpot drop. No real promotions yet, either.

Atmosphere
Super-fancy upscale poker room with top of the line decor and equipment. A bit difficult to find, the poker room is situated in the far back of the casino next to Skybox Bar & Lounge. Its remoteness helps, though - it has its own set of restrooms nearby. The table lighting is fantastic, with pinpoint bright lights in the ceiling lighting the tables extremely well while leaving the somewhat darker, cooler ambience of the room itself unchanged. A dozen flatscreen TVs are discreetly hung around the room from the ceiling. While present, they don't distract from the generally uncluttered, calm, and low-profile vibe of the room.

The in-room cashier counter includes prominently-displayed safe deposit boxes, to encourage the local high stakes players to make this their home.

Smoking: Smoking not allowed in the room, and not much drift occurs.

Tables and Chairs: 10-seat tables have ruby red felt, clean commit line, black armrests. No cupholders - drinks can be kept on the fancy side tables. Really cool swivel-and-roll height-adjustable comfortable chairs with no arms, tall backs, and swanky striped fabric cushioning. Tables have the players-card swiping system seen at Station Casinos.

Parking: One of the downsides of Aria - they have no self-parking at all. All parking is valet, and is only reachable by driving eastbound on Harmon Ave from over the Interstate. Difficult to get to. You may want to park elsewhere (e.g. Bellagio or Planet Hollywood) and walk over to the Aria.

Service
Standard casino cocktail service, though quite prompt and frequent. Drinks ar elarger than typical casino drinks.

Other Notes
Visited by MarkT in Sept 2010.