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Hi im going to vegas in 3 week and im searching tournaments that will be good to play in.....I found one at orleans for $125 but the Return of the tournament is 76% is that decent? is it worth playing? does anyone know of any good tournaments in vegas?

I wouldn't play in a 95$ + 30$ tournament for money (nice way for them to mask the huge rake by informing return of the tournament, when most people suck at percentage calculations). The rake just seems that brutal and quite possibly when it's a low buyin live tournament, the structure will suck as well. If you just want to experience playing in live tournament, perhaps it is worth the money then.

The Aria has a good one at noon. Also any Venetian tournament will be decent. Harrah's I believe has a relatively deepstacked 11am if I remember correctly (though it might not be as large a turnout as it deserves). The Orleans will usually have some good offerings as it's more of a locals crowd on average.

Low buy-in live tournaments will always appear to be ridiculous from a rake perspective when compared to online. You really don't have much of a choice at the sub $200 level. Try to avoid the absolutely dreadful ones (Mandalay Bay is a standout example) and try to go for those that have a good-sized field, 50-60 runners at a minimum. The more players there are, the more BAD players there will be, and the easier it will be to overcome the rake.

I played a year's worth of these tournaments, often two a day (sometimes three), $250 and less, and I was able to achieve an ROI around 120% despite the crappy rake. This was 2006 and I was nowhere near the tournament player I am now.

Good luck and definitely post a trip report!

'06 was also a boom year for the economy, not a recession with low consumer confidence.

I was in Vegas 12 weeks ago and my opinion is the same. So there!

Lol, good for you Just thought it was a valid point (b/c it sure is different playing online poker from what it was in 06 from what i gather)

I'd say the effect on online poker and live poker has been the exact opposite in the last couple years.

I'd say the effect on online poker and live poker has been the exact opposite in the last couple years.

I actually agree with this from what I have seen, only Indian Casinos where I am at but still its a big difference. On a similar side note, its funny in a sick kind of way to watch all the people at the 2/4 LHE game wonder where all the money has gone when the same people have been sitting there for 3 hrs and no one has left.

I played a year's worth of these tournaments, often two a day (sometimes three), $250 and less, and I was able to achieve an ROI around 120% despite the crappy rake.

Wow. I'd always assumed that the 20 to 30% rake was enough to make these, well, only modestly +ROI. Because you're citing this number, I take it you think something over 100% is sustainable long-term?

Wow. I'd always assumed that the 20 to 30% rake was enough to make these, well, only modestly +ROI. Because you're citing this number, I take it you think something over 100% is sustainable long-term?

Again here where we have Indian Casinos (ie, separated by a large distance, no tourist appeal like Vegas has). I can see this as being possible I have not played enough to have as large a sample as I have on internet poker but I do have an ROI of +100% spanning since I graduated from Highschool in 2003.
The only things that I did not account for in the past that I now look at are; gas to get there, eating food there, tips, etc which all add up faster then you might imagine I started tracking those in 2008 and TBH I have not spent much time in the casino since 2008 mainly due to the extra costs that I previously did not worry about.

Lol, good for you Just thought it was a valid point (b/c it sure is different playing online poker from what it was in 06 from what i gather)

there are a lot of reasons for this, but i doubt the economy is a big one. UIGEA, more multitablers, and increased availability of poker knowledge are much bigger factors IMO.