SAM’S TOWN POKER ROOM…A REVIEW

Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall Poker Room.

Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall on the Boulder Strip.

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.