photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

2008 was a year of downturns at every turn, even for recession proof Las Vegas. Billion dollar projects idled, layoffs by the thousands, sky-high gasoline, grounded airline flights, and poker rooms closing have combined to cast a darkening shadow of doubt over the Vegas skyline. The Las Vegas strip's eternally optimistic views of tomorrow have been replaced by views of rusting rebar and sun bleached concrete columns. What's the over/under on the "City of Entertainment" going under?

One of the few bright spots in the 2008 Las Vegas gaming landscape was live poker tournaments. The Mother of all poker tournaments, the World Series of Poker®, was a record setting event that played to one of the largest crowds in the long history of the WSOP.

Will the future of Vegas poker remain bright while the great Vegas gaming infrastructure continues to downsize in the raging economic storms? Again, we point to the WSOP. Properly branded, efficiently managed, better than year before, media savvy, Internet friendly, proven fan friendly atmosphere, and ESPN TV have registered send the WSOP to the next level.

The other popular poker tournament in 2008? The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. A high dollar NBC TV Sports production featuring 64 of poker's elite invited to come together in a series of single elimination heads-up matches to determine the best heads-up poker player in all the land. The Heads-Up tourney follows the college basketball championship format, and it's complete after three days of intense play in front of a live TV audience.

If you're dreaming of sitting in one of the 64 seats of the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace this February there are only two ways to get one. Most of the seats are filled with invited poker stars and elites; while, a few hopefuls win one of the rare seats offered in a satellite. Check your mail for an invitation. No invitation then you're down to one option for a seat, a Caesars Palace Free Roll Satellite for the final seat.

Get a free entry into the 2009 Heads-Up Championship Free Roll Tournament with fifty hours of live play in Caesars Poker Room during January. The Free Roll Heads-Up tournament is scheduled for February 22nd at 11AM. First place walks away with $10K in cash and the coveted $20K seat in the upcoming 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Get busy playing the Caesars Las Vegas Poker Room for your free ticket to the free roll.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Poker dealer work these days are slim pickin's, what with the recession, e-tables (Excalibur, which we hear are doing well and will most likely be picked up by other MGM Mirage properties), and the lack of players (Silverton, IP, and Gold Coast barely run one table these days).

But here's Aria to the rescue. Aria is the much-anticipated new casino being built as part of MGM Mirage's $9 billion CityCenter.

Today marks the opening of some 12,000 new job openings for CityCenter at this link.

While we don't yet know anything about what the poker room will be like, search for "poker," and you'll find vacancies for poker room cashiers, attendants, supervisors, coordinators, attendants, shift managers, and dealers. All positions begin September, with hirings running through December.

Just fill out the online application, then schedule an in-person review (if local; by telephone if out-of-state).

Interviews will then take place in April, plenty of time to brush up on your card pitching. In fact, here's a tip right from an MGM Grand poker dealer: when auditioning, if you forget everything else, don't forget to rake the pot. If they like you, they will overlook nervousness, misdealt cards, etc. But if you don't rake correctly, you won't have a chance.

Current MGM Mirage employees get preferential treatment, with interviews in February.

For more information, call (702) 590-2489 or 1-866-909-2489.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

With two major expos in town this week the poker rooms around Las Vegas should have a marked increase in players. Many of the drop-in players will be short on Vegas poker experience, others will be playing casino poker for the first time. This makes for an idea combination to give the advantage to the better poker players. Stop by a Las Vegas poker room this week, January 8-11, and maybe you'll leave with a few extra bucks from a visitor's expense account.

Unlike the now defunct Comdex Convention, the attendees to the Consumer Electronics Show and the AVN/Adult Entertainment Expo like to gamble. They spend time in the casinos and poker rooms pumping up the table drop. They also like to play poker tournaments.

Of course, not all of the newbies are inexperienced, they just act that way. These stealthy players represent a potential drain from the bankroll of even the high skilled, experienced players so be ever careful and be grateful that most of the convention player influx is dead money. They're in town to do some business, have a good time, and lose a few bucks. Don't forget to use the LasVegasVegas Poker Tournament Directory, updated daily for the most accurate Las Vegas poker tournament information on the Internet.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

photo courtesy BodogLife.com

If you are an enthusiastic online poker player, make an ambitious New Year's resolution this year to join Bodog and get started with their free poker download.

Bodog recently introduced their new poker client, which includes many innovative changes to their poker room interface, features and customization settings.

Bodog now features an inviting look and feel with unique and modern table structure that makes the overall game-flow more intuitive, enjoyable and easy to follow. It's sleeker, smoother and sharper than ever.

Opposing players now have a defined "place setting" and the "on-action" player is highlighted with a soft spotlight. The centralized dashboard has also been redesigned and clearly lays out controls for easy in-hand action.

New Bodog poker room features include:

• quickseat option that gets you started fast
• picture-in-picture so you can play at up to three tables
• at-table tournament info panel so you don't have to return to the main lobby
• folded hand display to see what you could've won or lost
• separate chat and dealer broadcast located on the table's side panel
• pre-populated bet buttons such as pot and half-pot for quick and easy placing
• player statistics to analyze your play in real time or afterwards and,
• opponent notes to keep track of your opponents' player styles

Players can also personalize their poker table settings by customizing the felt table colors, creating their own Player Profile Card, and by adding a Player Plaque image.

Don't wait another minute, start the New Year right and play online poker at Bodog!

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Rio Las Vegas is now offering the highest comps for poker players in Las Vegas, at $3 per hour.

The next highest is at Imperial Palace at $2 per hour.

We spoke with Danielle at Rio who was extremely chipper about the promotion, saying that $3 per hour applied to all cash game players between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day, then reverts to the regular $1 per hour the rest of the time.

In addition, the rake is capped at $3 between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. That's significant in itself.

Quads of 10s and above receive a guaranteed $300, though this will change next week when Rio switches to a bad beat jackpot.