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Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall Poker Room Review

Located on the Boulder Strip, Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall offers a full compliment of games, shopping and services. The off-strip signature property belongs to Boyd Gaming Corporation (Boyd Gaming owns 18 properties including the Borgata), and represents the first major Las Vegas casino project to be directed toward the local Las Vegas market.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

Fitzgeralds Poker Room Review

Fitzgeralds Hotel & Casino opened during the downtown Las Vegas pre-"Fremont Experience" era of prosperity. Back when Fremont Street was filled with bumper to bumper look-at-me cars cruising along only a few short feet from the slot machines players, an invisible air-curtain the only separation. Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas was one of the great American cruising experiences of that era. Downtown Vegas was jammed night and day with players, lines of taxis, long limos, exotic hot rods, throngs of pedestrians, gamblers and crowds of cops.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

I thought it a fitting time to run a review of Binion's Poker Room in downtown Las Vegas. The joint where the World Series of Poker tournament was born. I've added a few photos from the on-going 2006 WSOP happening now at the Rio Resort.

Poker Room Review
Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel

Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel located in downtown Las Vegas is a must see for every Las Vegas visitor. Stop by one of the most historic spots in town where the biggest bets were welcomed and accepted. Walk in with a million cash in your briefcase and bet it all on one roll of the dice, no problem. The late Benny Binion had a knack for appeasing gamblers and he built a reputation of accepting all bets for any amount, the larger the better. Benny is no longer running the old Horseshoe, he died on Christmas Day in 1989, but his spirit is ever present in the venerable downtown establishment.

Party where the stars party, at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The Palms is the Vegas home for celebrities from around the world. Movie stars, rock stars, sports stars, poker stars all flock to the Palms, its' like a red carpet event every night. The Palms Resort was the brainchild of George Maloof, one of four brothers from the New Mexico Maloof family, the family worth an estimated billion dollars. Brothers Joe and Gavin manage the family owned Sacramento Kings basketball franchise while brother George set his sights on Sin City and moved to Las Vegas with $8 million of the family money to invest in a neighborhood casino in planning, the Fiesta, a north Las Vegas locals property with a decidedly New Mexico influenced theme. From this humble (by Vegas standards $8 mill won't make even the smallest buy-in in the casino owner game) George Maloof parlayed that small investment into a major billion dollar super trendy resort just off the Las Vegas strip, the Palms Casino Resort.

The Excalibur, Las Vegas

My friends often ask me for advice where they should go to play poker in Las Vegas. I ask them what they are looking to do before I offer up any suggestions. Are they playing for fun? Wanting to play a tournament? Limit or No Limit? Here are some of my poker recommendations for low and middle limit players if you are going to Las Vegas for the first time:


Best Room to Play Poker if You Never Played Poker Before: Excalibur

Stop by the Excalibur for free poker lessons, something they offer up to beginners once a day. This is perfect if you would like a quick tutorial before playing in their poker room, which offers some of the lowest limits in Las Vegas with $1-3 Spread and $2-4 Limit Hold'em. The staff is friendly and courteous and always helps out newcomers.


Best Cheap Multi Table Tournament (MTT): Sahara

For the price, the Sahara tournament is the best bang for your buck if you are on a budget. The buy-in is $42, plus one rebuy is available for $20. You start with 2000 in chips and the rebuy gets you 1500 in chips. If you bust out before the first break including your rebuy, you can buy-in to the tournament again for $42. They run three daily tournaments (11am, 7pm, and 11pm) which are filled with both locals and tourists. At night they offer up free sandwiches and there's always very loose NL cash game going just in case you bust out early.


Best Pricey Multi Table Tournament (MTT): Wynn

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they run $300 MTTs and on Fridays they have $500 MTTs. Starting time is at Noon for all of the tournaments. Beginning at 8am, they run SNGs satellites the day of the tournaments.


Best Off-Strip MTT: Sam's Town

Sam's Town a long time Las Vegas local poker hot spot

The Excalibur offers the lowest limits on the strip and run $1-3 and $2-6 Spread Limit Hold'em and $2-4 Limit. They also offer up a $1-2 NL Game with a $200 max buy-in.


Best Promotions: Excalibur

For years the Excalibur has been a local's favorite because of their Money Wheel. You have to be playing $2-6 Spread or $4-8 Limit and up to qualify but if you get your aces cracked, you spin the wheel and collect anywhere from $20 up to $100. You can also have double and triple bonuses and they run double wheel spins on special occasions. You also get to spin the wheel if you get Quads or a Straight Flush. The best part is that you only need one card in your hand to qualify for those wheel spins. They also have a Bad Beat Jackpot for both Stud and Hold'em.


Best Bad Beat Jackpot: Station Casinos

If you don't mind playing off the Strip, you will always have a chance to be a part of winning a share in the Station's Bad Beat Jackpot, which is linked up to every Station Casino. If the Bad Beat hits at Palace Station and you are playing at Texas Station, then you are still eligible for a player's share. Usually when the Jackpot gets up to a high level, Grubby will often be found at Sunset or Green Valley hoping that the Bad Beat Jackpot hits while he's grinding away.


Hottest Waitresses: Palms

I'm a sucker for leather and fishnet stockings. Most of the waitresses are in their early 20s and some are from Eastern Europe. If you like tall and sexy women in leather, then you must play at the Palms.


Best Local's Poker Room: Green Valley Ranch

With all the Station Casino's you are eligible for food comps if you sign up for a player's card. The new poker room is a few steps away from the Sports Book and is close to the parking lot. Out of all the off-strip casinos I've played in, Green Valley Ranch is my favorite. The dealers are excellent and they spread both NL and Limit. Unlike some of the other local's casinos, you actually get a few tourists in the game which means you're not playing against the same people every day. I also like GVR because they have a Fatburger within walking distance.


Best Room for Celebrity Sightings: Bellagio

Bellagio, Las Vegas

The first time I went to the Bellagio I saw Phil Hellmuth walking around. I was blown away but not surprised because all the top names in poker will be found at some point playing in the Bellagio. The Big Game frequently meets in the glass encased Bobby's Room, so keep your eye out for the big boys such as Texas Dolly, Barry Greenstien, Jen Harman, and Daniel Negreanu. Plenty of other pros play at the Bellagio such as the lovely Liz Lieu and our good friend Charlie Shoten. The Bellagio is where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been spotted flinging chips around at odd hours.


Best Room to Play Against Drunks: MGM

The MGM in Las Vegas

Red Rock Casino-Resort-Spa sits on 70 choice acres of land approximately 10 miles west of the Las Vegas strip at Charleston and I-215. The natural backdrop of red rock cliffs dictated the design of this newest and most expensive resort project from Station Casinos and becomes their fifteenth property. Built at a cost of almost a billion dollars, the Red Rock Resort has been received with raves from the guest and visitors during the first few weeks of operation. My first jaded impression of this $925,000 project was genuine surprise. This place is plush, elegant and appointed. The exterior is subtle, understated, looking more like the surrounding red sandstone mountains than the latest billion dollar resort to open in the Las Vegas valley. The real surprise is walking into the resort where the scene moves from the timeless natural beauty outside into a spacious interior that's best described as ultra-modern, high-tech elegance wrapped in the solid feel of quality world class construction. Red Rock is the most expensive resort (per key) ever built off-strip.

The interior was designed using available natural desert lighting to emphasize the beauty of the warm earth tones used throughout. The many crystal chandeliers reminded me of the glamour and glitz of an older, classic Vegas. The property opened with 414 guest rooms finished and available. The second phase of the two stage project is scheduled for completion in early 2007 and will add another 436 for a total of more than 800 rooms and suites. The current guest room offerings include oversize standard rooms with appointments and amenities sure to score a five star rating and the suites go all the way up to a 4,000 square foot 'luxury home.' Every room includes high speed internet, voice over Internet protocol telephone, 42" hi-def plasma television, Bose sound system with iPod connectivity, martini bar, even a 15" LCD TV in the bathroom. Online room reservations are available by clicking here.

Nine different food offerings are currently at Red Rock including the only world famous Salt Lick BBQ restaurant to be located outside of Texas. Upscale dining at T-bones Chophouse and Lounge, Italian, Mexican, Oyster bar, coffee shop, Feast Buffet, and a food court filled with recognizable fast food brands are guaranteed to suit every appetite and, of course, if you must have a gourmet meal in your room at 3 in the morning room service is available 24/7.

The casino is a meandering expanse filled with 3,200 modern high-tech slot machines, 62 table games, bingo parlor, Keno lounge, and a race and sports book that features a 96 foot video wall. A private high-limit room is available for the privileged gamblers. Included in the casino space is the poker room and that's why we are really here.

The Red Rock poker room is quite simply the cutting edge of modern high-tech poker rooms. Twenty tables are arranged in the comfortable room with ample space for players and staff to easily move around. The high-tech heart of the room is the Genesis Bravo Tracking System that uses the Boarding Pass player's card to track time and to roll over comp time into player account points. points are used just like cash at any Station Casinos property. You can use a self serve kiosks located outside the poker room to place yourself on the wait list for any of the games offered in the room. Any one cabale of using an ATM machine can use the Bravo system. Swipe your Boarding Pass player's card select those games that interest you, click save and your name is added to the list displayed on convenient monitors. When you are seated in your game the dealewr swipes you into the system at the table and this allows the podium staff to continually monitor a master layout of the room with tables and seats. You are assured of receiving full credit for hours of play while tables walkers are held to a minimum and away players exceeding time limits are quickly picked guaranteeing full tables and happier players. All floor people are wired for two way communications so no more disconcerting shout outs across the room by the staff.

Red Rock poker operations are managed by Mike Doe, a two decade veteran of casino floors and poker rooms. Prior to opening Red Rock Mike logged 12 years with Station Csinos, his most recent stint as manager of Texas Station poker operations. I spent an informative afternoon with Mike at the Red Rock poker room while he took me through all the innovations built into the operation. Opening day the poker room was at maximum capacity within an hour of opening and provided players with a smooth, trouble free, pleasant experience, a direct result of the six weeks Mike spent training his crew before they opened. Players can order food from a grill menu and have it delivered to the table. You don't have to leave the poker room to hunt for a restroom, this room has a set of its own and of course, the poker room is none smoking.

Games spread in the room are Limit Hold'em with blinds of $2-$4, $4-$8, and $6-$12 through $20-$40. All Limit games except $2-$4 have a half kill. No-limit Hold'em is offered in $1-$2 blinds with a $100-$200 buy-in, $2-$5 blinds with a $200-$500 buy-in and $5-$10 blinds with a $500-No Max buy-in. Omaha High-Lo and straight Omaha high with a $4-$8 blind structure plus a half kill are offered. The room will deal most any poker game and limits dependent upon a minimum number of requests. Red Rock doesn't currently offer any scheduled tournaments although the staff is considering future offerings depending on demand. The poker room does participate in the Station Casino's Jumbo Bad Beat Jackpot, one of the largest progressive poker bad beat jackpots to be found anywhere. This one resets at a $100,000 minimum. Players also accumulate points for entry into the semi-annual Station Casinos Mega Freeroll Tournament. The last Mega qualified over two thousands players.

Parking and accessing the poker room couldn't be more convenient or easy. Go to the west parking garage for the closest valet parking or if you prefer the west self-park is only a short walk from the poker room.

A trip out to Red Rock Resort and a playing session in their poker room demonstrates the cutting edge of poker room technology. The room is continually filled with a large crowd of players so the action never stops. Mike Doe guarantees you will have a comfortable, plush room to enjoy your favorite game of poker, a place where you will always receive consistent above average care and your personal comfort is a prime consideration. After my stop at Red Rock I believe this is the future of live poker and I think you'll agree, the trip out is worth it.

I love playing poker in Vegas. And what's not to love? Card rooms are set up so that you can enjoy playing your game of choice at the stakes of your desire. But not all card rooms are created equal. I was in London a few weeks ago, and their card-room looked like the basement of a speakeasy. And not in a nostalgic cool way either. More like in a "are we playing in the garage so we can smoke?" sort of way.

Just what makes Las Vegas poker rooms so much better than in other cities? Well, let me count the ways in a list I like to call:

Why Vegas Card rooms are so good

1. They have clean, new chips. Have you ever gone to a card room in a smaller city, only to sit down to a stack of chips that stick together? Not only is it disgusting, but it makes it more difficult to play with the chips. It's hard to intimidate your opponent when you have to crack your chips apart like KGB opening an Oreo before you bet. New shiny chips make a wonderful sound almost as beautiful as the "ping" sound you get when you hit a perfect drive off the tee in golf. SHHHHH! Listen. Can you hear it? "Ping"

2. Sometimes a card room is just a card room. And then there is Vegas, baby. It's all about customer service and keeping up the pretense that there is no better place for you to be. Remember to take advantage of the fact that Vegas hates to lose a single gambler. Ask for things. Be off the wall. Order a drink but demand that it has a paper umbrella in it as you believe that brings you good luck.

3. All games are spread in Vegas. I have even seen MGM put up HORSE on request for a table last time I was there. Like Omaha? You can find it. Like Low-ball? Its there. Like Razz? Just kidding. No one likes Razz.

4. There are other types of gambling. I am not sure what they are, but I hear you bet on things and the house wins more than 50% of the time. I'm not sure I understand the attraction here, but it keeps a lot of money coming into the casino, which in turn allows them to build cooler card rooms, which in turn gets the casino on TV. Everybody wins. Well, except the people playing the table games. Serves them right for not playing poker.

5. Vegas has distractions. Many, many distractions. This allows poker players and gamblers to pretend that there are other things to do in Vegas. Best of all, when you return without a big winning streak and your friends ask you, "So how was Vegas?", you can reply "The Blue Man Group was awesome."

Poker Room Review, Boulder Station Hotel-Casino

Boulder Station Hotel-Casino (Map) is one of the Station Casino's families of off-strip Las Vegas casinos. Located on the Boulder Strip at the junction of US-95 and Boulder Highway, Boulder Station was aimed at the Las Vegas local's market but quickly became a favorite with Las Vegas visitors. The modern open design featuring high, vaulted ceilings painted to resemble a blue sky with puffy white clouds adds to the casino's appeal and luxurious up-scale atmosphere.

The Las Vegas Boulder Strip resort offers 300 hotel guest rooms and luxury suites that have recently been renovated to offer guest all the amenities expected from a Station Casino property. Five award winning restaurants await the hungry visitor. Everything from a fast food burger joint to the elegance of white table cloths and silver service can be found in the Broiler offering a selection of premium aged steaks and fresh seafood prepared to please even the most discriminating diner. The Guadalajara has a complete menu of Mexican specialties and a self serve salsa bar, perhaps your craving is for the Italian offerings of the Pasta Palace. The Cafe Coffee Shop is available twenty-four hours everyday and has a complete menu that rivals a New York diner in its variety of selection. Chinese fast foods available at the China Express and quick bites of standard Mexican fare are at the Viva Salsa with items as low as a $1.99. Pizza selections by the piece or the pie are available at the Pizza Palace. Can't decide what you want? Head to the Feast Action Buffet featuring for all-you-can-eat offerings numbering in the dozens. Action cooking stations are staffed by chef's that prepare specialty items to your order while you wait. The Boulder Station Resort's Feast Buffet is one of the most popular buffets in the city that perfected buffets and is often voted the best Las Vegas casino buffet. Lines can be long attesting to the quality of the food.

The casino is large and spacious with more than 2,800 state-of-the art slot and video poker machines including a wide variety of your favorites. The pit games are well represented with Blackjack, Pai Gow poker and Baccarat. The bingo crowd is regularly entertained in the 600 seat Bingo Parlor and if you're one of those believes-in-miracles gamblers (what gambler isn't?) then take a seat in the Keno lounge and try your luck at hundreds of thousands of dollars with the right choice of numbers. The Sports and Horse betting crowd will be pleased with the spacious, comfortable Book featuring a video wall of all the sports and racing action around the world. Individual monitors at the player's stations in the book add to the bettor's comfort and convenience. The Railhead offers live, big-name entertainment in an intimate setting; but, we're at Boulder Station to play poker so let's head over to the poker room.

The ten table room is located in the main casino behind as wall of glass that provides some sound insulation from the action of the casino. All of the tables feature the speed and random shuffles of shufflemasters. The Poker room is under the expert guidance of manager, Steve Devel. With more than three decades in the poker industry Steve guarantees the poker player a positive playing experience. The poker room offers players Limit Texas Hold'em with blinds of $2-$4 and $4-$8 with a half kill. No-limit Hold'em comes in $1-$2 blinds with a $100min-$200max buy-in and a $2-$5 with a $200min-$500max buy-in. Omaha High is played with a $4-$8 betting structure and a half kill.

Boulder Station Poker Room is a part of the Stations Casino's progressive Bad Beat Jackpot that recently set a record when it was hit for almost a half million dollars. Satellites for the WSOP and the WPT tour events are offered where players can win a free $10K buy-in for the WSOP main event or WPT championships. Stop by and play one of the satellites, the first step toward becoming a multi-millionaire and poker icon. Call the poker room direct for details and dates of the satellites at 702.432.7577. Play
50 hours in the Boulder Station Poker Room during April and May and you are qualified for the Poker Plus Tournament. The Poker Plus is a freeroll with a $300,000 prize pool and guarantees the winner $75,000, a nice haul from a freeroll tournament. The 2005 version of the Poker Plus drew a crowd of more than 2,000 players making it the second largest poker tournament ever held, just behind the 2005 WSOP main event.

Complimentary pastries are offered to players every morning and a self service gourmet coffee bar is available around the clock. Players earn comps at the rate 0f $1 per hour with a $7 daily limit. The food comps are good throughout the Station properties casinos with your Boarding Pass player's cards. Free poker lessons are offered daily at 2:00 PM.

I asked shift supervisor Rex Gurnick what the Poker Room at Boulder Station offers poker players and he was quick to reply with that the service accorded to players will keep you coming back. A professional staff that is dedicated to giving players a consistently pleasurable playing experience and floor decisions that favor the player. All of this in a room that gives poker players a comfortable setting and easy parking with valet and self-park only steps away. Stop by the Boulder Station Poker Room and sample some of the friendly atmosphere of one of Las Vegas' most comfortable local poker rooms.

Boulder Station Hotel-Casino 4111 Boulder Highway Las Vegas, NV 89121 Toll Free: 1.800.683.7777 Local: 702.432.7559 www.boulderstation.com

Las Vegas Vegas Rates Your Home Game

Read Part One Here...

Our ex-wife talked us into painting our dining room that shade of burgundy back when we were getting laid, and it took two coats of primer and four of paint to achieve the necessary depth. Of course, it only takes five carefully aligned chardonnay flutes to achieve pretension. Rating: Catalogesque

There's something unnerving about this girl... It's not that she's staring into your soul trying to figure out if you're slowplaying those Aces or not, it's more like she's trying to will those chips in the foreground into morphing into the potato variety. Rating: Ravenous

There are a few things we can divine from careful inspection of this photograph. First, this game is likely taking place in Texas, as per the Longhorns Rose Bowl shirt on our protagonist. Second, if you look carefully you'll notice the kitchen timer in his hand, indicating this is a tournament currently in play. Third, two fat guys at the table mean there's likely a plate full of ham sandwiches and a couple bags of Doritos lying around somewhere. Rating: Meets Minimum Expectations

You've got to admire the ingenuity of a group of probable slackers that know what to do with an old dining room table, a bed sheet and a staple gun. Still, you'd think with the money they're saving by not buying a poker table they could afford better beer than Killian's Red, which is neither Irish nor drinkable. Someone needs to bring back their Psych 201 book to buy a decent twelve pack. Rating: Sophomoric

For some, it's the lure of cheap beer and free barroom poker that's the draw. And so it goes for Bill "Chase" Rudy, who pushes all-in on a no-draw eight-five offsuit, goes home to an empty one-bedroom apartment and spends his days as a telemarketer. Not kidding. If this guy weren't making $1200 a month, we'd fly him in to our home game. Rating: More Pathetic Than You

With all respect and inspiration due from The Black Table...

Photos from Flickr users pupipanu, syd, texans_baby and aalbergj. Last photo courtesy of "Poker Faces," published in The Phoenix New Times.

Las Vegas Vegas Rates Your Home Game

With all respect and inspiration due from The Black Table...

Imagine a world where finding a home game or an online outlet for your poker jones is nearly impossible. You're itching to push, fold, call or raise, and all the while you've found those urges repressed by your right-wing do-gooder government at every step. Poker raids in NYC, legislation that may put online poker on the ropes, and you haven't been back to Vegas since that incident at the shrimp cocktail counter at the Golden Gate. Thank god for Ryan Budke's Traveling Salvation Show, available for weddings and bar mitzvahs in the greater Salem, Oregon metropolitan area. Rating: Entrepreneurial

We learned poker at the feet of our grandfather, a man with the Kraut-battling pedigree that befits the craggy crevice-ridden visage of a man full of decades of accumulated wisdom. He left us with a few pearls we carry with us to this day. First, never trust a full-blooded Canadian. Second, leave that alone - that's not cheese. And third? Don't gamble against people who are better than you at math. We're just guessing here, but the over/under on Fulbright Scholars at this table is 1.5. Rating: Polynomial

Shaggy haired hipster + ironically framed sunglasses + Aztec blanket could take you anywhere. Add poker chips and the presumption of narcotics to the mix, and you've got Rep. Bob Goodlatte's cautionary tale. Great, as if the Christian right needed more ammunition to squeeze poker players. Rating: Ruining It For The Rest Of Us

Look, we thought Michael Ian Black's schtick was pretty amusing on The State and even on the marginally unwatchable and thankfully short-lived Ed, but this guy has too-obviously dedicated his youth to emulating Canada's poorest excuse for a pithy talking head. We bet he seeds the table talk with seemingly random rambles on the virtues of the Slip'n Slide and the Go-Gos, which would absolutely put us on tilt from the first shuffle. Maybe, just maybe, that's his fiendish plot. Rating: I Love The 80s

We always assumed that the guys who program the databases at work went back to their apartments on the weekends and piously pondered their wide variety of deities as they relate through the manifestation of the one Supreme monistic cosmic spirit Brahman. And yes, we had to look that up. There's something refreshing and humanizing to know that the tech support specialist you struggle to understand on the phone goes home to poker - just like you. Of course, we aren't working for peanuts on an H1B visa and aren't about to sit on the floor while check-raising our friends. Still. Rating: Mumbairiffic

Photos from Flickr users ryanbudke, s27wong, gshey, gushparty and kavita_arumugam respectively.

The Gold Coast Hotel and Casino was opened in 1985 by Michael Gaughan, son of Las Vegas legend, Jackie Gaughan. Michael already owned the successful Barbary Coast on the Las Vegas Strip when he correctly read the local market potential for Las Vegas neighborhood resorts even though his critics forecast failure for his off-strip Gold Coast project. Doubters even criticized the overall size of the casino, saying it was all wrong...far too big. The success of the property was overwhelming from day one when Gaughan realized there wasn't enough parking to handle the traffic his project was drawing.

The Gold Coast Hotel and Casino is one of four Coast Casino properties recently acquired by Boyd Gaming in a deal with Coast Casinos' owner, Michael Gaughan. Boyd Gaming is the world's third largest casino company. The Boyd Group retained Michael Gaughan as president of Coast Casinos so little has changed in the overall atmosphere of the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino.

The Gold Coast opened with a number of firsts, the first Las Vegas casino to include movie theaters showing current releases. Another first was convention and special event space that attracted large crowds to the 'locals' casino. A modern 70 lane bowling alley was included in the design, another attraction for the Las Vegas locals market. Acceptance and success began on opening day with the players coming and liking what they saw, then returning again and again. The doubters were all proven wrong with the Gold Coast. Neighborhood casinos and resorts have become social centers for the locals area they serve. The continued success of the Gold Coast can be credited to many things being done right while providing patrons with a place that's more than a casino, a neighborhood gathering point. Parking is much improved from the opening day with only surface parking through the addition of two parking garages.

The food has always been good and plentiful at the Gold Coast with 8 choices of restaurants of where to eat. A cup of gourmet coffee and a pastry can be had at Seattle's Best, while the prime aged steak lover will find the Cortez more to their liking. The name "Cortez" for the upscale restaurant is a tribute to family patriarch, Jackie Gaughan, and his original downtown El Cortez Hotel and Casino. Pasta lovers will enjoy the selections offered in an elegant setting at the Arriva Italian restaurant. The hotel offers 711 guest rooms and suites, with all the amenities including high speed Internet. The property is within easy walking distance of other major resorts including the Rio, next door and the Palms across the street plus you can hike to the Vegas strip in minutes. A warning or an invitation for some is the walk to the strip is along side and very close to one of the busiest east-west traffic corriders plus you pass over the normally clogged I-15. A great short-hike for adrenalin junkies.

When the Gold Coast opened in 1985 it had a poker room located at the main entrance of the casino, right in the middle of the action. The room quickly established itself as the place to play for locals and tourist alike. Poker tournaments were always crowded with players and the summer tournament was a must attend with many of the pros playing. The room was closed with the opening of sister property, the Orleans. The players moved to the newer, more spacious Orleans poker room and poker was history at the Gold Coast...until Thanksgiving week in 2004. The Gold Coast Casino welcomed poker back to the property with the opening of an 8 table poker room on November 20, 2004. Robert Tagliaferri, room start-up specialist, was brought in from the Orleans to manage the room. Robert has more than a decade of poker operations experience and constantly strives to provide the casino poker player with the best playing experience in town. The room has developed a reputation of offering lower limit games with big limit 'action.' Limit Hold'em is offered with $2-$4, $4-$8, $6-$12 or $10-$20 blinds and No-limit Hold'em with $1-$2 blinds and one $100 buy-in. The poker room will spread most poker games including Stud and Omaha when requested if enough players are present.

Tournaments are handled by tournament director and shift supervisor, Jack Slatter. Jack came to Vegas in 1968, got involved in the poker industry and never left the business or Las Vegas. Jack keeps the Gold Coast poker experience everything the players expect in a Las Vegas poker room. His longevity in the business has provided Jack with some great stories of the way it was, when many of the legends played daily in the poker rooms around town. Gold Coast Poker Tournaments are offered daily at 10:00 AM with a $22 buy-in contest that plays limit Hold'em for the first hour then shifts to No-limit. The events are quite popular, regularly attracting 40-70 or more players, even at the early hour.

The Gold Coast Poker Room will be hosting satellites for the Heavyweight of Poker $100K buy-in Tournament. Complete details of the Heavyweight satellites are available by calling the poker room at 702.367.7111. Players can earn food comps while playing in the Gold Coast Room at the rate of $1.25 credit per hour of play up to $9 per 24 hour period, but you must have a player's card so get one before you play. The comps can be used at any of the food outlets. A high hand promo pays out hundreds of dollars each day to players making certain hands. Additional promos are run throughout the year so check with the room for what they are currently offering.

I recently took part in the Poker Player Newspaper sponsored Beat the Pros Tournament at the Gold Coast and was impressed with the smooth four day event, a demonstration of the dedication of the Gold Coast to provide enjoyable, professionally managed poker events and cash games. Stop by the Gold Coast Poker Room for some of the best low to mid-limit 'action' games in Vegas.

Green Valley Ranch Casino and Spa became the benchmark for luxury local resorts when it opened in December, 2001. Located high above the Las Vegas Valley in Henderson, Station Casinos built the premier resort and included a large, European style health spa. Acres of plush grounds offering a variety of pools and lounging areas where guest enjoy all the special amenities of a world class spa, and all of this ambience comes with a million dollar view by day that becomes even more spectacular after dark.

Everything about Green Valley is different, not the usual Las Vegas Strip resort, even the exterior lighting for the Resort differs from the Vegas norm of blazing neon, the more the better. Lighting for this resort is subdued and neutral, the perfect compliment to the vista views of the Las Vegas Valley after sundown. The grounds have forest of palm trees, acres of shimmering water and a well-tended hillside vineyard. The resort is bordered by The District at Green Valley Ranch, a collection of shops and restaurants connected by landscaped walkways. Green Valley Ranch was the location for the television series, American Casino.

The Green Valley Resort is an easy car trip from anywhere in the Las Vegas metropolis and like all major resorts in the Las Vegas area it's easy to find. Take I-215 to Henderson and in under fifteen minutes you'll be exiting on Green Valley, you're there.

The smallish casino benefits from its layout, feeling much larger than its fifty thousand square foot size. Green Valley Resort has eight restaurants offering the hungry guest quick and easy fast food or an evening of elegant dining at Hank's Steak House, considered by many to be one of the best in a city that specializes in great steak places. Of course, it can't be a Station Casino without a signature, Feast Buffet. Station Casino's Feast Buffet was the first 'action buffet' in Las Vegas. The action part was the results of adding dedicated cooking stations that prepared your request your way. As expected, the Green Valley Feast Buffet is a cut above. Prepare to spend time in line; but, the wait is worth it. Remember, long lines generally are a testimony to the culinary pleasures awaiting within. The longer the line the better the food.

The hotel offers 496 guest rooms and suites, all with luxurious appointments. Green Valley Ranch Resort accommodations are in stark contrast to the hectic pace of the resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Consider staying here the next time you're in Las Vegas. Need another reason to stay at Green Valley? Look no further than the poker room.

Opened five months ago with 11 tables, the poker room has already added 3 tables bringing the current total to 14. The Green Valley Ranch poker room has quickly established its reputation as a No-limit Hold'em house. Poker Room Manager, Gary DeWitt, has put together a class operation. Gary has been in the Las Vegas poker industry for three decades so he knows how to pay attention to his players and attend the details to make the Green Valley poker room the place to play for some great poker action. The setting is next to the sports book and provides players with a panoramic view of the surroundings. The poker room has a full service bar running alongside one side and a dedicated cocktail server, so no waiting for drinks. Parking couldn't be easier or closer; a few steps away from the poker room are two valet parking areas and plenty of self parking.

Comps are issued to players at the standard Station Casino rate of $1/hour and may be used at any of the food outlets. The Green Valley poker room is included in the Station Casinos' Progressive Bad Beat jackpot. A bad Beat Jackpot that resets at $200,000 was hit recently for a bad beat record of $418,870. The poker room spreads Limit Hold'em with limits of $2-$4, $4-$8, $6-$12 and all have a 1/2 Kill. The popular No-limit Hold'em games offered are $1-$2 blinds with $100-$200 buy-in, $3-$5 blinds with $300-$500 buy-in and $5-$10 blinds with $500-No Cap buy-in. A well trained poker room staff will spread most any poker game or limits if enough players request it. A $30-$60 with a Full Kill Hold'em game is often going in the room, great for the adrenalin junkies. Tournaments are not currently offered in the room due to the lack of available table space. Live games keep the tables full and there is often a wait list. Weekends the list can grow to more than a hundred players waiting for a seat.

As with most of the major Las Vegas area resorts, Green Valley Ranch is currently adding thousands of parking spaces in a new parking garage, the race and sports book is being enlarged to more than double its present size and the poker room will be moving to an area that will accommodate a couple of dozen tables. Tournaments are in the future when the room has completed this expansion sometime later this year.

Green Valley Ranch offers poker players another alternative to the strip-side places. The drive is easy for locals or visitors and can be accomplished in the same time or less it takes to visit many of the strip resorts. Las Vegas visitors can do themselves a favorite and play in a great poker room with continuous action and a friendly, professional staff. I spent part of an afternoon with poker room shift supervisor, Houston Waldie, while preparing for this Prof's Poker Room Review and I noticed how quiet and comfortable the room can be. The Green Valley Ranch Poker Room is a must play room so take some time and check out the advantages to playing in the most luxurious 'locals joint,' and its a destination resort and spa. Phone ahead to place your name on the list or to check the availability of games on the direct poker room phone number 702.617.7017.

Green Valley Ranch Resort-Spa-Casino
2300 Paseo Verde Drive
Henderson, Nevada 89052
Toll Free Reservations: 866.617.7777
Local: 702.392.7313
www.greenvalleyranchresort.com

Dr. Pauley From Tao of Poker is live blogging the WPT Borgata Winter Open poker tournament. Click on over to read his best-of-the-web live blogging direct from the Borgata in Atlantic City, then take a look as his photos only minutes from the tournament floor. The action begins at 11:00 AM EST. And, remember, the Dr. will be live blogging the LA Poker Classic from the Commerce Casino.-Flipchip

Caesars Palace opened its doors to the public in 1966 and was immediately accepted as the most luxurious place in Las Vegas. Las Vegas' original entrepreneur, Jay Sarno, borrowed $10 million from the teamster's pension fund and began construction of the resort in 1962. His goal was to produce a Las Vegas hotel/casino that would provide guests with the experience of visiting the home of a king. The original Caesars Palace opened with 680 guest rooms on the 34 acre site owned by Kirk Kirkorian at the corner of Flamingo and the Las Vegas Strip. The famous fountains were an immediate hit and quickly became a must see for Vegas visitors. On New Year's Eve in 1967 motorcycle daredevil, Evel Knievel, attempted to jump over the fountains and failed, breaking many bones for the huge crowd of watchers. His son, Robbie Knievel, attempted the same jump in 1989 and was successful.

Caesars Palace has been the scene of many championship boxing matches staged in the outdoor sports arena, now gone after being replaced with more family oriented attractions in the early 1990's. Gran Prix racing enjoyed a brief stay at Caesars' strip side racetrack. The Omnimax theatre was added and thrilled the masses with realistic surround video and sound movies. The largest game arcade in Las Vegas, the Atari Room, opened on the open air second floor above the poker room.

The racetrack was bulldozed to make way for the Forum Shopping Mall which opened in 1992 and recently completed its second expansion. The showrooms of Caesars Palace have featured all of the top name stars including Liberace, George Burns, Gloria Estafan, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. In recent years the outdoor Roman Plaza has opened on the strip corner, once again championship boxing has been broadcast worldwide from Caesars and the Colosseum was constructed to house the Celine Dion musical show. Elton John's Red Piano also performs from the showroom.

Caesars Palace has changed hands a half dozen times in the last four decades with each new owner continuing to maintain and improve the resort. Now under the flag of Harrah's Entertainment the hotel has grown to 3348 guest rooms, has one of the largest sports books in the world, miles of exclusive shops, world class restaurants, Cleopatra's Barge and after a sixteen year absence, a poker room.

Caesars Palace opened the poker room on December 21. The fourteen thousand square foot facility is divided with eight thousand square feet in the live gaming area and six thousand in the tournament area. The poker room is located adjacent to the sports book next to Pure Night Club. The entrance to the room features eleven original LeRoy Neiman paintings. Poker room manager, Michael Matts, has over a decade in gaming including managing the live poker games during the WSOP. He opened the Rio's poker room and now brings that experience to Caesars Palace.

The poker room is one of the most spacious to be found anywhere, offering 30 tables in the live game area and an additional 33 tables in the high ceiling tournament area. Large sound damping fabric panels control the noise. The poker player is surrounded by luxury and conversations are at normal levels without players having to talk over the casino sounds of the slot machines or screaming fans in the sports book. Digital boards display the wait list for games and a service bar assures fast drink service. Food comps are available at the standard rate of $1 per hour of play with no maximum limit.

Caesars Palace poker room spreads limit Texas Hold'em $3-$6, $6-$12, $10-$20, $20-$40 and up. No Limit Hold'em is available in $1-$2 with a $100-$500 buy-in, $2-$5 with a $200-no max buy-in, $5-$10 with a $500-no max buy-in and up. The room will spread almost any poker game and limits if there are enough players.

Tournaments are offered twice daily every day at 12:00 Noon and 7:00 PM. Tournament Director, Paul Lord, brings a decade of poker experience to the operation including the WSOP and he has designed one of the best tournament schedules and structures to be found in any poker room. The tournaments are mostly $120 buy-in with one $100 rebuy No-limit Hold'em. The exceptions are Monday and Tuesday Noon tournaments being an $80 with one $50 buy-in, Tuesday 7:00 PM is a Limit $120 buy-in with one $100 rebuy, Wednesday 7:00 PM is Omaha High $120 buy-in with one $100 rebuy. The Friday and Saturday 7:00 PM tournaments are $530 buy-in No-limit Hold'em freeze-out with no rebuy. Players begin play with $1,500 in tournament chips ($4,000 for the two $530 buy-in tournaments) and the blind levels are forty minutes. This tournament structure was designed to attract the amateur and expert alike with the larger starting chip count and longer sessions it becomes more of a game of skill instead of a lucky shootout.

Two major poker tournaments are already scheduled for the new Caesars Palace poker room. The first will be the NBC National Heads-Up Championship that will fill the tournament area for three days, March 4, 5 and 6, 2006. The World Series of Poker Circuit Series will be at Caesars beginning April 28 and concluding May 10 with an ESPN filmed championship event. Caesars Palace has made a long term commitment to the game of poker and offers one of the best poker rooms to be found on the planet. Contact the poker room direct at 702.785.6566.

Caesars Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd., South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Toll Free 877.427.7243
Local 702.731.7110
www.caesars.com

Stratosphere Poker Room

Standing 1,149 feet above the Las Vegas cityscape, the Stratosphere Tower is the tallest freestanding observation deck in the United States and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River (some argue its not a building). A trip to Las Vegas is not complete without an express elevator ride to the top and the open air views of the Las Vegas Valley. The extreme fear junkies in the crowd can experience three world class thrill rides, all located outside on the top of the Stratosphere Tower. The Big Shot, X-Scream and Insanity the Ride are all designed to provide riders a Niagara size adrenalin rush, nothing between you and the ground a thousand feet down. The roller coaster, High Roller, has been shut down and will be replaced with an all new white-knuckle coaster.

The Stratosphere Las Vegas can't be missed; it's the most visible landmark in the Las Vegas Valley. The white triple leg column of the Tower is high above everything else in town. Conveniently located on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip provides hotel guests with easy access to the Las Vegas Strip or Downtown Las Vegas. The Hotel at the Stratosphere has 2,444 guest rooms and suites with many of the rooms offering one of the best views of the Las Vegas Strip.

The Stratosphere has restaurants to please almost every taste from the fast food addicts all the way up to the white table cloths at the Top of the World Restaurant located more than 800 feet high on a rotating observation deck of the Tower. When entertaining out of town guests the restaurant of choice is the Top of the World with the floor that rotates 360 degrees every 80 minutes giving diners spectacular views of Las Vegas and the surrounding countryside. Fellini's Ristorante, one of our favorite Las Vegas eateries, is located at the Stratosphere.

The 80,000 square feet of casino floor space guarantees you will find your favorite table game from the more than fifty in the casino and if the slots are your passion, there are more than 1,500 modern slot machines from which to choose. The Stratosphere has long been known for its promotions offering visitors freebies for everything from food to extra slot money. A large race and sports book gives the betting crowd an opportunity to wager on their favorites and watch all the sports action live on the many large screen monitors covering the walls. Located adjacent to the sports book is the poker room.

Opened in June of 2005 the Stratosphere Poker Room is managed by Bob Dunning. Bob has more than thirty years of poker room and casino management experience. He managed the downtown poker rooms at the old Union Plaza and the Horseshoe. Bob was there for the initial planning and construction of the Stratosphere Poker Room to assure poker players a comfortable, spacious and convenient room.

The eight table poker room was located by design to provide players with valet or self parking located a short walk from the room. The main entrance into the casino from the parking garage goes right into the poker room. The Stratosphere Poker Room is currently spreading low-limit Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Seven Card Stud. The room offers $1-$2 No-limit Hold'em with a $40 minimum, $100 maximum buy-in and a $2-$5 No-limit Hold'em game with a $100 minimum, $500 maximum buy-in.

No-limit Hold'em tournaments are offered every day at 9:00 AM. The $22 buy-in makes this tournament a very affordable learning experience. An optional $3 dealer bonus gets extra chips and one $22 rebuy is available the first hour. Monday through Friday at 2:00 PM another tournament with the same format is offered. Monday through Friday at 7:00 PM a $44 buy-in with an optional $6 dealer bonus for extra chips with one rebuy and one 2 for 1 add-on at the end of the first hour. Lewis Young handles the Tournament Director duties for the Stratoshpere Poker Room.

Poker player food comps are offered at the standard Las Vegas rate of $1 per hour of play; but you must have a player's card so get one before you play. Day shift supervisor, Eric Comer, is a recognizable face from the 2005 WSOP. He was one of the assistant TD's running the evening satellites. Phil Goatz, the swing supervisor, is an experienced poker room veteran with many years in the business going back to the Bill Boyd days at the downtown Golden Nugget.

Poker players now have another choice when looking for a comfortable room to enjoy playing their favorite game. The first time player and even those players just needing a quick refresher on modern casino poker play can join in the free poker lessons offered in the room from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM every morning. The Stratosphere poker room is quickly building a reputation among locals and visitors alike as a great place to come, stay and play poker. The success of the room is already giving cause to expanding the size of the room to eleven tables. Stop by the Stratosphere Poker Room located beneath the tallest structure in western American. Check out the Tower webcams, some of the best in Las Vegas.

Stratosphere Las Vegas
2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada
702.380.7777
www.stratospherehotel.com

The Wynn Poker Room

The Wynn Resort is the latest addition to the Las Vegas skyline from master resort designer, Steve Wynn. The tallest building in Nevada provides guest with 2,716 luxurious rooms and suites to satisfy the most discerning visitor. Located on the north end of the fabled Vegas Strip tucked away behind the only alpine mountain range in the city the great curved copper mirrored monolith rises above it all. The Wynn Resort represents the state-of-the-art in accommodations, entertainment, food, service and shopping. Steve Wynn brought all of the best from his previous projects and combined these elements to create this imposing property. Typical of Wynn designs, he provides guest with a visual overload of colors, views and art. Plush gardens fill the public spaces and extensive use of live trees and exotic plants throughout the resort provides guests with an experience of unmatched splendor. Steve Wynn's attention to even the smallest of details is quite apparent in his latest Las Vegas project. The accommodations are not only high-end but they offer cutting edge digital technology from the flat panel digital large screen displays to super high speed Internet access, its all here now in your room.

The highly anticipated opening of the property was only eight months ago and already the Wynn has a Five Star Restaurant included among the more than two dozen food offerings, there's always something to please even the most fickle of international paletes. Strolling along the mosaic tiled work-of-art footpaths winding through the gardens circling the casino finds concourses lined with exclusive shops. Clothes from the great designers, jewels to please royalty, priceless art exhibits, trendy restaurants and, yes, you can buy a Ferrari or Maserati. Come to the Wynn for dinner and a show, perhaps some baccarat, and then leave in your very own 200 mph, Italian bauble. A full-service Ferrari-Maserati dealership is located inside the Wynn Resort and it has quickly become a must-see for Las Vegas visitors.

The Wynn Resort is behind the heavily wooded mountain fronting the Las Vegas strip. You have to come into the property to experience its' many features and that is by Steve Wynn's design. Waterfalls cascading down the rocks into an alpine lake bordered by restaurants and bars provides each of the eateries with its own unique setting. The Wynn is the Las Vegas Resort that quickly becomes a world unto itself.

While you are mulling over your decision of colors for your Ferrari walk directly across the corridor to the Wynn's Poker Room. Located a few short steps from a parking garage the Wynn Poker Room has the most convenient access around. Drive into the garage, park and in less than a minute you are in the poker room. The room has 26 tables offering a variety of games and limits. The No-limit Hold'em crowd will find $1-$3 blinds with a $100 minimum buy-in, $2-$5 blinds with a $200 minimum buy-in and $5-$10 blinds with a $500 minimum buy-in. The No-limit Hold'em games have no maximum buy-in cap. Limit Hold'em is offered with all of the popular blind structures: $4-$8, $8-$16, $15-$30 and $30-$60. The poker room usually has a $10-$20 mix game going that is typically a variety of H.O.R.S.E. and will spread any of the poker games that have enough players for a table.

Poker operations for the Wynn are under the expert guidance of Deborah Giardina, Director of poker Room Operations for the Wynn. Deborah has more than fifteen years in the poker industry including nine years with Lyle Berman's enterprises. She follows a simple business plan of providing every poker player with a truly pleasurable playing experience. The spaciousness of the room, digital player red cards, shufflemaster tables, a well trained friendly room staff and a rare Las Vegas poker room commodity...you can order from a menu and have food delivered to directly to your seat at the table. Players can earn food comps by playing in the room. Rake games provide $1 per hour of play and timed games offer $1.50 per hour. No cap is placed on the comp amount.

Players staying in the Wynn Hotel can put their name on the waiting list for any of the active games and watch their progress on the in-house poker channel from the comforts of their room. When you're next up, come down to the poker room without having to stand around waiting for your seat to open. Monitors are conveniently located so waiting players can check their progress. The layout of the poker room provides great views of the action from the rail and there's always a crowd watching the games and players.

Tournament Director David Eglseder brings 13 years of poker tournament management experience to the Wynn's poker room. He constantly monitors the feedback from the players and dealers to provide the best tournament limits and schedules. The Poker Room offers three No-limit Hold'em tournaments each week: on Tuesdays at Noon a $300 +$30 buy-in, Thursday at Noon a $300 + $300 rebuy/add-on and Fridays at 3:00PM a $500 + $30 buy-in event. Single table satellites are available on tournament days beginning at 8:00AM. Phone the room at 702.770.7654 for complete information including any recent changes. The Wynn Poker Room is currently working on plans to offer a major tournament event that will be offered at different times throughout the year. More details will become available after plans are completed.

The Wynn Resort is the latest example of Steve Wynn's ability to create world class destinations. A trip to Las Vegas is not complete until you take the time to visit and experience this magnificent resort.

Wynn Las Vegas
3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
702.770.7100 or toll free 877.321.WYNN
Email: roomreservations@wynnlasvegas.com
www.wynnlasvegas.com

Plaza Hotel and Casino
Number One Main Street
Las Vegas, Nevada
Toll free 1.800.634.6575 or 702.386.2110
www.plazahotelcasino.com

The Plaza Hotel and Casino opened more than three decades ago to much fanfare and promotion. I was there for the VIP opening preceding the public grand opening as a guest of one of the contractors that had helped in the construction of this new "Queen of Downtown." The Union Plaza was simply elegant and newer than anything on the Las Vegas Strip. The crowd was definitely upscale and the event was one giant free party. Trays of food were everywhere, Champaign was flowing from fountains and everyone was excited about the future of downtown Las Vegas with this new jewel of a resort at Number One Main Street. The original Union Plaza housed the train station for the passenger trains that serviced Las Vegas then, bringing visitors to downtown from all points.

Fast forward to the present and even though the property is into its fourth decade and the trains no longer bring passengers to Las Vegas it remains the anchor of Main Street and the best place to view the Fremont Street Experience show. The 1037 hotel rooms provide guests with great accommodations at rates that are much easier on the budget than many of the strip hotels. All of downtown is within easy walking distance to the Plaza Hotel and Casino. The property has changed ownership over the years and is now owned by the Barrick Group. They have begun a renovation program that has brought the hotel up to modern standards without sacrificing the friendly feel and comfortable atmosphere long associated with the downtown Casino.

The spacious casino provides visitors with a selection of hundreds of the newest slot machines, a full compliment of table games, Keno, Race and Sports book, a fast food court, and restaurants to please every taste and budget. The Center Stage Restaurant located in the mirrored dome covering the entrance to the hotel is one of the most filmed places in all of Las Vegas. Many movies have used the spectacular setting to convey the spirit of Las Vegas. During the Fremont Street Experience Light Show the lights in the restaurant are dimmed and the show's music is piped into the room. Next time you're in Las Vegas make an effort to have dinner at the Center Stage Restaurant for one of the original Las Vegas dining experiences. The second floor of the hotel is the location of the men's barber shop where the master barber still provides a straight razor, steaming towel shave, another unique experience that has become difficult to find. Live lounge entertainment is always happening at the Plaza, and always free. The groups are typically well above average including an Asian Rock group that you won't soon forget.

The Plaza Poker Room is located in the casino area close to the main cashier's cage. Convenient to valet and self parking makes the spacious room popular with tourist and locals alike. Plaza poker operations are managed by poker industry veteran, Kenn Bennett. The room has 9 pan tables and 19 poker tables spreading all of your favorite games. The Plaza Poker Room is one of the last places anywhere to offer pan. The Plaza Poker Room even offers the occasional pan tournament. The poker room offers $3-$6 Omaha Hi-Low Split, Texas Hold'em with $2-$4, $3-$6 or $4-$8 limit, and $1-$4 Seven Card Stud. A $1-$2 blind No-limit Hold'em game with a $40 min up to $500 max buy-in and a $2-$5 blind No-limit Hold'em with a minimum $100-No max limit buy-in.

Tournaments at the Plaza are numerous with a daily 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Single Table $25 & $50 Sit-n-Go's plus $25 Shoot-Outs. Tuesday through Sunday play in the daily 7 PM $35 buy-in w/rebuys No-limit Hold'em. Monday's at 7 PM the Plaza Poker Room offers a $35 buy-in w/rebuys Omaha Hi/Lo Split tournament. A $55 buy-in No-limit Hold'em w/rebuys tournament is offered at noon and every night at midnight, a great tournament for the late night crowd.

The Plaza hotel is the home of the Ultimate Poker Challenge tournament series now into its third season. The Ultimate Poker Challenge is filmed for broadcast on TV and includes a championship event that always draws all the top name pros. The 2005 UPC is scheduled for November 16th through the 29th at the downtown Plaza Hotel with $500 No-limit Hold'em buy-in events offered daily. The Ultimate Poker Challenge is a great series of tournament to break into major Las Vegas poker tournaments and play your best game for a shot at a nationally syndicated TV show.

The Plaza Poker Room offers players comps at the rate of $5 after 4 hours of play, better than average. Come to the Plaza Hotel and Casino to experience the personal service, hospitality and friendliness of downtown Las Vegas. Enjoy the historic old Vegas spirit of gambling and entertainment at Number One Main Street.

Paris/Bally's Resort located in the heart of the Las Vegas strip combines one of the original super properties with a contemporary romantic Paris-themed casino. Bally's was the first Las Vegas casino project to go over a hundred million dollars, coming in for around one hundred ten million. Everything about the original property was done on a grand scale to compete with Caesar's Palace, the long-standing benchmark of Las Vegas luxury. The casino showcased beautifully painted vaulted ceilings in the huge casino. Even the coffee shop was above standard with white table cloths and real silver. Another Las Vegas first could be found on the lower level of Bally's, the first ever enclosed shopping mall in a Las Vegas Strip resort.

The Paris side of the conjoined hotel twins became a Las Vegas landmark before it was completed in 1999. The replica Eiffel Tower rises above the Las Vegas Strip to a height of fifty stories. From the observation deck at the top you can see a huge Egyptian Pyramid, Dancing fountains in Italy, a Roman Palace, a tropical island with an erupting volcano, a sailing ship and crew of playmates sinking into the sea and even a mountain range that Wynn built. Inside the Paris the resort is a Las Vegas version of the other Paris that includes not only the tower but an Arc de Triomphe and Louve. The hotel has 2,916 guest rooms offering the visitor the latest in luxurious accommodations.

Bally's has 2,814 oversize guest rooms and suites. The casino occupies 70,000 square feet and is filled with more than a hundred table games that's sure to include all of your favorites. The casino is also home to 2,100 of the latest slot machines. The Paris/Bally's Resort is located within an easy stroll to all of the major strip resorts.

The poker room located in Bally's has been in operation since opening August 1, 2004. Poker operations at Bally's and the Paris are the responsibility of Chris Eggers, Director of Specialty Gaming. The 10 table room is located in the central area of the casino close to hotel registration and the passageway to the Paris. The room is spacious, the tables are large, the lighting is subdued to a focus on the table surface and the seating was chosen with the player's comfort in mind. A sit-down bar is conveniently located adjacent to the room providing players easy access to rest and relax away from the poker table. Drink service to the tables is constant and quick with the bar just a couple of steps away. Big screen TV's are located around the room so you don't miss any of the sports action. Bally's has set up four poker tables in the sports book that are available through the NFL football season. The tables are opened on Sundays from 10:00 AM until the last NFL game of the day. Play poker while you are surrounded by all the NFL Sunday action.

Bally's poker room spreads the following games: Limit Hold'em $2-$4 up to $10-$20, No-limit Hold'em $1-$2 with a $100-$200 buy-in or $2-$5 with a $200-$500 buy-in, $1-$5 Stud, $2-$4 Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple plus $4-$8 Omaha 8 or better. No-limit Hold'em tournaments are offered Monday thru Friday at 11:00 AM. The buy-in is $50 + $5 with no rebuys or add-ons. Sign-up for the daily events begins at 10:00am and seating is limited to 50 players so come early since many of the tournaments are a sell out. Contact Bally's Poker Room direct at 702.967.4483 for all the details.

The Paris Poker Room opened September 2, 2005 in an open area in the center of the casino. The room features 9 tables arranged under a canopy outside a bar reminiscent of a Paris street scene. A steady stream of foot traffic flows alongside the room, adding to the open-air sidewalk feel. The Paris Poker Room has just completed installation of new tables with a large WSOP logo on each end of the felt, just like the 2005 WSOP tables.

The Paris poker Room offers Limit Hold'em $3-$6 up to $10-$20 or higher on demand, $1-2 No-limit Hold'em with a $100-$200 buy-in and $2-$5 with a $200-$500 buy-in, $1-$5 Stud, $3-$6 Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple and $4-$8 Omaha 8 or Better. The Paris Poker Room offers poker lessons 24 hours a day. You can phone the Paris Poker Room direct at 702.946.2426 for complete details.

The Paris/Bally's Resort offers a wide range of entertainment choices, restaurants to please everyone, two distinctly different poker rooms and acres of casino games. Players staying in either of the hotels and playing in the poker room are offered a casino rate for their rooms that can result in considerable savings over the standard rate. The food comp policy for the poker rooms is currently being worked out by Harrah's and will be standardized throughout all of the poker rooms in the different Harrah's Resorts. Harrah's is planning to introduce a single progressive bad beat jackpot that will include all Harrah's poker rooms in Las Vegas. Phone the resort's toll-free hotline for WSOP Poker Tournament details and information at 1.800.468.UWIN.

Paris/Bally's Resorts
3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109-4307
702.967.4403 or toll-free 1.800.7BALLYS

The 2005 World Series of Poker broadcast on ESPN is getting close to the final two days of the main event played at the downtown Las Vegas Binion's Horseshoe Casino, now named Binion's. I thought it a good idea to review the poker room so readers will have some advance background in the properties poker rich history. If you're coming to Vegas and plan to play some cash game or tournament poker then stop downtown and test your skill and luck where it all started.-FlipChip

Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel located at 128 East Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas has more poker history than any casino poker room in the city. The original small casino sat on a corner on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Opened by gaming legend Benny Binion in 1951, the Horseshoe offered gamblers the best odds for whatever game they played and his way of doing business drew the players. Binion's Horseshoe was proabaly the most profitable casino per square foot in Nevada; but, the likely rumor couldn't be substantiated since the Horseshoe was privately owned and didn't have to make public the accounting books.

Benny Binion is one of the true Las Vegas pioneers and architects of modern Las Vegas. He moved from his home near Dallas, Texas to Las Vegas in 1951 when a booming post-war economy made the downtown train station a busy place. All of the downtown gambling joints were small with sawdust covering the floors and low, $50, maximum bet limits designed to protect the house from going broke if someone got lucky. The most you could win at keno was fifty bucks, the most you could bet at any of the casino's games was fifty bucks, fifty bucks and that was it. Benny opened his casino on a corner of Fremont Street a block from the busy train station and named it Binion's Horseshoe. He set his maximum limit at $500, ten times higher than the bet limit of other downtown gambling joints, and the gamblers flocked to his games. Benny continued to improve the Las Vegas gaming landscape making it player friendly for the first time. He was the first to offer slot players free drinks, he was the first to provide limousines to transport players to and from the airport and he replaced the sawdust with carpet, just like the new uptown joints on the strip, another first for downtown Las Vegas. Read more of Benny's history here.

Binion's Horseshoe bought the next door Mint Hotel in 1988 for $27 million, knocked a hole in the wall and went from an 80 room hotel with a small casino to a 362 room hotel with enough casino floorspace to open a permanent poker room. The room was placed up front in the old Mint's casino with a view of car clogged Fremont Street a few short steps away. Benny built it and they did come including one of his oldest friends, poker legend Johnny Moss. Go to the Horseshoe's poker then on almost any day back then and you would find the Grand Old Man of Poker, Moss, there in the thick of things at the highest limit game. He was Benny's Ambassador of Poker. Johnny and his wife maintained a residence at the Horseshoe.

The Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas had been the only home of the World Series of Poker until 2005, for the first time in WSOP history the event was not held at the downtown landmark. The property had fallen into a state of neglect after the death of Benny Binion and the forced departure of Benny's son, Jack Binion. The property was closed in 2004 for two months before Harrah's bought the property, the Horseshoe name and the World Series of Poker Tournament. The new owners quickly cleaned, painted, staffed and opened with only a few days to spare before hosting the 2004 WSOP. The poker room was also reopened and expanded to serve the large crowds of players attending the 2004 WSOP. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Harrah's sold everything downtown except the Horseshoe name and the WSOP Tournament, to current owner, MTR Gaming. MTR renamed the property Binion's.

Binion's poker room has 18 tables. The adjacent tournament area has another 28 tables plus Benny's Bullpen upstairs has an additional 50 tables. Binion's poker room is managed by long time poker room manager Jimmy Delorto. His 25 plus years of experience go all the way back to the old Mint Hotel's poker operations.

Binion's poker room spreads $2-$4, $4-$8 and $3-$6 Texas Hold'em. The room also offers a $1-$2 No-limit Hold'em game with a $100 minimum to no limit maximum buy-in. The downtown poker room always has action games and, remaining true to a Benny tradition of feeding players, Binion's offers one of the more liberal comp policies in Las Vegas. Play four hours for an $8.00 food comp that can be used at most of the food outlets in the hotel.

Binion's Horseshoe had a long history of tournament poker and the tradition continues today with Binion's poker room. No-limit Hold'em tournaments at 10:00am, 2:00pm, 8:00pm and 2:00am every day. The tournament action is managed by Binion's Tournament Director, Chuck Bliane. The buy-in for the tournaments is $60.00 for all except the 8:00 pm Friday thru Sunday tournaments which are $125.00. All tournaments have a one time bonus chip buy for $10.00 ($25.00 for $125.00 buy-in) and one optional rebuy for $40.00 ($50.00 for $125.00 buy-in). Registration for the tournaments begins 2 hours before the scheduled start times. This is your first opportunity to use our new Tournament Information Page with an ultra easy search function. Type your info into the Tournament Search box for up-to-date results.

Learn to play poker at Binion's, call the poker room at 702.366.7397 for complete the complete poker lesson details. The poker room also offers promotions and special events for poker players. Binion's is currently offering Las Vegas taxi drivers a free poker tournament with a $1,000 purse on November 7th at 4:00pm. In the planning stages is another major tournament, the Binion's Classic Poker Tournament slated for October, 2006. Binion's poker room has the Gallery of Champions on one of the red flocked walls with photos and stats for every winner of the World Series of Poker's Main Event from Johnny Moss to 2005 World Champion, Joe Hachem.

Binion's Poker Room is a must visit for players and fans alike. The place is filled with the memories of some of poker's most historic moments and the air is thick with the spirits of the game's great players. Walking through Binion's where so much poker genius sat and played the game is an experience unto its self. All of the world champions in those gallery photographs played in this house and won the coveted WSOP World Champion's bracelet.

Call Binion's Poker Room direct: 702.366.7397. Room reservations toll free at: 1.800.937.6537. Website: www.binions.com

Located on the Boulder Strip, Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall offers a full complement of games, shopping and services. The off-strip signature property belongs to Boyd Gaming Corporation (Boyd Gaming owns 18 properties including the Borgata), and represents the first major Las Vegas casino project to be directed toward the local Las Vegas market. Tourist quickly found and liked Sam's Town old style air of friendliness and hospitatility; so, Sam's Town on Boulder Highway has been expanding almost continuously since it opened in 1978. The latest on-going project includes the recently completed remodel of all of the hotel guest rooms. The 646 room hotel offers oversized standard rooms outfitted in early 19th century Southwest decor. Three levels of suite up to a luxury apartment style two bedroom complete the accommodations. The hotel tower surrounds a fully enclosed, glass roofed atrium that features a live tree forest, meandering brook and a dynamic waterfall. Aptly named the Mystic Falls Indoor Park, it is a great place to enjoy a drink or just some quiet time away from the gaming. A free laser light and water show, Sunset Stampede, begins every evening at 6:00 pm and goes hourly until 10:00 pm.

Sam's Town includes shops sure to please everyone. A full service salon and day spa, Jon Ric International, offers guests a range of services from a simple hair cut to a complete makeover. Sheplers Western Wear is considered to be the place to find everything in southwest clothing and accessories. Whether you need a pair of Levis' or some alligator boots, Sheplers is the place. The Logo Shop and Ethyl M Candies are also located around the glass-roofed atrium.

An eighteen screen theater provides all the latest from Hollywood in state-of-the-art luxurious surroundings with full THX certified digital sound systems. Live entertainment is offered in the Sam's Town Live! Showroom. Nightly entertainment is offered at Roxy's Saloon with live bands and a dance floor. The basement houses the Bowling Center with 55 modern lanes, automatic scoring, separate snack bar, cocktail lounge, childcare center and meeting rooms.

Sam's Town restaurants offering steaks and seafood, traditional Mexican and Italian menus provide the guest with a choice of fine dining. The Firelight Buffet features rotisserie specialties in an open, spacious dining room. Standard coffee shop fare is available twenty-four hours at the Fresh Harvest Cafe. A food court provides a selection of fast food burgers, pizza and oriental specialties.

The casino is full service with all of your favorite table games, bingo, keno and one of the world's largest collections of modern slot machines. A player's club offers the frequent visitor discounts on rooms, food and merchandise. The race and sports book is a spacious operation offering the sports bettor a full range of proposition wagers, personal viewing screens and a convenient snack bar.

Sam's Town Poker Room is a comfortable, non-smoking nine table room located just outside the Race and Sports Book. The poker operations are under the direction of Dick Gatewood, long-time Poker Room Manager at Sam's Town. Dick has more than twenty years in the poker industry and he is a poker player, too. He understands the details of the business and the needs of the players. Dick listens and responds to player's wants and comforts.

Easy parking and a short walk from the parking garage make access to the room very convenient. $4 food comps are offered for 3 hours of play and they may be used at most food outlets in Sam's Town. A bad beat jackpot promotion is offered with details available in the room.

The room is currently spreading $2-$4 Seven Card Stud. $4-$8 Texas Hold'em, $4-$8 Hi/Lo Omaha and $1-$2 blinds $100-$300 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold'em. The room is known for offering action at the lower limit levels. No-limit Texas Hold'em tournaments are offered Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm. The buy-in is $40 + $5 with $20 rebuys the first hour and a $20 add-on at the end of the hour. Registration begins at 4:00 pm and seating is limited. A $6000 freeroll tournament is held every month for players qualifying by playing fifty hours during the month. Additional tournaments are offered throughout the year and some include a free poker cruise going to the winner. Check with the poker room for all the details of upcoming tournaments.

Frequent room promotions offer poker players an opportunity to collect merchandise. A poker room jacket promotion is planned for October, with players receiving a logo jacket just for playing in the room. Complete details are available at the poker room.

The poker room at Sam's Town has a long history of offering fast action low-limit games to please everyone from the novice to the local pro. The poker room will spread most any game if there are enough players. It is not unusual to glance around the room and see the "Big Game," Doyle's game, at the back corner table. The players will all be well known professionals and the pots will be more money than your house cost.

Sam's Town Poker Room offers poker players a friendly atmosphere in a comfortable setting designed to make your poker playing experience pleasurable. Take some time and visit the best poker room off the Las Vegas Strip. You can telephone the room direct at 702.454.8092.

Sam's Town Poker Room is very poker blogger friendly, the first ever 2004 WPBT Annual Holiday Tournament was held at Sam's Town with poker professional Max Pescatori finishing second to blogger, Felicia Lee, the winner of the event.

The newly opened Las Vegas Hilton poker room occupies the same space as the room of old. Even the hammered copper sheets depicting the four different suits of face cards remain on the columns marking the entrance to the room. My anticipated nostalgia for the old room was soon forgotten. The 11 table room is state of the art, ultra modern with Shufflemasters on every table and a digitized player waiting list displayed on large plasma monitors. Waiting players can check their progress on the waiting lists from the comfort of their hotel room. The well lighted room is enticing with its colorful decor and lingering elegance. The original ceiling from the first room remains.

The Las Vegas Hilton was sold to Colony Resorts International in July, 2004. Colony also owns other properties in Tunica, Atlantic City and Chicago. The Colony owners are continually upgrading and enhancing the property to reflect the wants of today's casino visitor. The rise in the popularity of poker made the opening the poker room an easy step in the evolution of the property. The Las Vegas Hilton offers guests acres of modern slots, every conceivable table game, Keno and an one of the World's greatest Race and Sports Books, the SuperBook. The Hilton has all the amenities one would expect from a major Las Vegas resort. In addition to the gaming, the Hilton is noted for shopping, health spas, restaurants to please any palate and big name entertainment in the Hilton's legendary showrooms, the same showrooms that housed Elvis for his comeback. The hotel features 3,000 luxurious rooms and suites complete with all the conveniences of the digital age. A rider station for the Las Vegas monorail is conveniently located at the front of the casino. Combine all the Las Vegas Hilton's features with the superb service afforded guest and the Hilton becomes a world class destination resort.

Park in the back parking lot and use the entrance into the Hilton's Superbook, a pleasant stroll through the cavernous sports book and you've arrived at the Hilton's reincarnated poker room. The Hilton's poker operations are overseen by Poker Manager, Ari Mizrachi. Ari has been working in the poker industry for five years having began his carrer as a poker dealer in Hollywood, Florida. Additionally, Ari is a professional hai-lai player with nine years of experience. Also interesting is his background. He grew up in the same hometown as the the Mizrachi brothers, Michael "the Grinder" and older brother, Robert, both accomplished professional poker players. Even though they share the same last name and background Ari is not related to the brothers. Ari said he has been involved in the game of poker most of his life having grown up in a family of poker players. His credentials for managing the Hilton's poker room are solid, and being a player himself, he knows what the player expects and strives to provide the most comfortable, accommodating poker room anywhere.

The Hilton poker room currently spreads $3-$6, $4-$8 with a 1/2 kill and $1-$2 no-limit with a $50-$300 buy-in. All Texas hold'em. Comps are earned at the standard Vegas rate of $1 per hour of play and they can be used at any of the food outlets in the hotel. The poker room has a full time self-serve coffee bar and the coffee is supplemented every morning with pastries beginning at 6:00 am. The room has a progressive Royal Flush Jackpot that currently stands at $8,000. Details are available at the poker room

Tournaments are scheduled every morning at 10:30, Monday thru Thursday. The $60 buy-in with one $5 dollar add-on event is No-limit Hold'em. Players begin the event with $1,500 in chips and a $25, $25 blind which increases every 15 minutes. Alternates are not accepted for the daily tournaments. You must be in your seat when the cards are dealt. Ari recently added $60 sit-n-go's with $5 in house juice + another $2 going to the dealers. The remainder of the buy-in money is returned to the players with first place paying $400 and the runner-up receiving $130. The SnG's are available when ten paid players are there.

The Hilton is currently exploring its' options for hosting a major tournament on the property. Whatever tournament lands at the hotel, the casual and professional players will be provided with a first class venue that has the experience to accommodate the large crowds drawn to major poker tournaments.

Poker players looking for a poker room that offers one of the lowest rakes ($3 max) in Las Vegas, comfortable surroundings, the latest in poker table evolution, convenient ground level parking and easy access, all housed within the exciting domain of the Hilton's Superbook. And remember, there's a glaring error in the deep relief cards embossed the copper plates.

The Tuscany Suites and Casino located just off the Las Vegas Strip on Flamingo receives high marks on the list of Las Vegas Poker Rooms. The recently opened poker room at the Tuscany offers players unique options to make their visit the best it can be.

Locals have long known that the Tuscany is a hidden gem offering outstanding accommodations, great food, a modern full service casino and old Vegas service. The 24/7 coffee shop offers all the standard Las Vegas diner fare along with a great oriental menu. A Mexican restaurant provides the more adventurous hungry guests a full menu of dishes straight out of the desert southwest. Casual, elegant dinning straight out of Tuscany can be had at the Tuscany Gardens; where diners are afforded a menu filled with Italian specialties. The intimate Tuscany Gardens dining room has a view of the tropical gardens surrounding the hotel's inner open-air atrium.

The Tuscany Poker Room is currently spreading Hold'em games with $2/4, $4/8 and $6/12 limits. No-limit Hold'em is offered in two varieties: $1-$2 blinds and a $40-$200 buy-in plus a higher limit $2-$5 blinds with a $100-$400 buy-in. In addition to the Hold'em games the room offers an Omaha Hi/Lo game. A daily high hand promotion pays a bonus to players for high hands and two bad beat promos are currently running in the room. The Jackpot bad beat and the House bad beat pay players for losing with specific hands. Details of the high-hand and bad beat jackpots are available in the room.

The Tuscany Poker Room has a daily Hold'em tournament at noon appropriately called 'Nooners at the Tuscany.' Entrance into a monthly $2,500 Freeroll Tournament can be had by players for fifteen hours of play during one of the qualifying periods.

The Tuscany poker room comp policy is typical of today's Las Vegas poker rooms offering players $1 for every hour of play. The comp credits can be used almost everywhere in the Tuscany including the restaurants, hotel and the gift shop. Bob Sanders, Manager of the Tuscany poker room, can be reached by e-mail at: bsanders@tuscanylasvegas.com. The direct telephone line into the poker room is 702.595.0959. Hotel reservations are available at 702.893.8933.

The Mirage Resort sitting amid a rain forest of palm trees, exotics and wild beast will always be remembered as the first ground-up super resort created by Steve Wynn. Opened in 1989, the Mirage was the first property to be billed as a destination unto its' self.

The Mirage is truly a world class resort offering the guest every possible amenity. Luxuriously landscaped grounds surround equally luxurious hotel accommodations. Constructed for a cost of $650 million, early speculation ran high about the survival over/under of such a costly resort. Needless to say, $650 million for a 3,049 luxury resort sounds rather cheap in today's multi-billion dollar projects.

The modern, plush casino is the resort's core area surrounded by a dozen restaurants and snack bars. A mix of bars and lounges are conveniently located throughout the resort. The Mirage is probably most famous for the erupting volcano sitting serenely in a lagoon out front surrounded by tropical plants and valet parking. The original volcanic eruptions were spiked with a Pina Colada fragrance personally chosen by Wynn. The erupting of the volcano is a traffic stopper with it's great special effects. Inside the hotel is the white tiger habitant providing luxurious accommodations for these regal animals. It's always a crowd pleaser to watch these huge rare cats just being cats, and when you tire of the felines you can visit the Mirage's unique Dolphin Habitant. Just being close and watching these high intelligence aquatic creatures is simply fascinating.

The Mirage Poker Room has become the industry standard that other rooms are measured against. The room supports 31 tables, most with auto card shufflers, spreading everything from low-limit games all the way up to "How much you got?" Limits vary from $3-$6 up to structured buy-in, No-Limit formats. The games spread include Texas Hold'em, Omaha 8 or Better and 7 Card Stud. Favored by professional players since opening day, the Mirage Poker Room is one of the most popular in Las Vegas. Expertly managed by the Director of Poker Operations, Donna Harris, the Mirage Poker Room is the results of Donna's twenty-five years of experience with the organization, having started her gaming career at the Original Wynn property, the downtown Golden Nugget. Donna listens closely to what the players are saying and responds to make your visit to the Mirage Poker Room as enjoyable as possible.

The Mirage Poker Room runs the Mirage Poker Zone Tournaments every Sunday through Thursday evenings with details as follows:

Sunday...A 5:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $330 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $200 buy-ins during first hour and 1 add-on.

Monday...A 7:00 pm start time Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $100 buy-ins during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Tuesday...A 7:00 start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $100 buy-ins during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Wednesday...A 7:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. One $100 rebuy during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Thursday...A 7:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $230 + 0 buy-in. One $200 rebuy during the first hour.

I have always enjoyed the amenities and comforts of the Mirage Poker Room. Easy parking, a short walk and you are in one of the premier poker rooms in the world. If you enjoy playing poker in plush surroundings located in the heart of a major Las Vegas resort; then, the Mirage Poker Room is the one for you.

You can contact the Mirage poker room by e-mail at: dh@mirage.com or call 702.791.2290. The toll free reservations number is 800.374.9000.