PAULY’S PICKS: LAS VEGAS POKER

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

How soft is Sam’s Town’s MTTs? I’ve played two and made the final table of both. Flipchip regularly wins the MTTs at Sam’s Town. He admits that it’s not because he’s an excellent player, rather that the players are so horrible that if you just wait and play smart, you’re almost guaranteed to make a final table. Buy-in is $63 with one $40 Rebuy. You start with 2500 in chips and the rebuy gets you 2000 more.

Best Low Stakes Action: Excalibur

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

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

I don’t know why but all the drunken frat boys and loose LA players who like to drink and play at the MGM Grand. If you like taking pots off of drunk tourists at 2am on a Friday and don’t mind the noise and sloppy play, then you have to play at the MGM on the weekends. Grubby once joked that the MGM was constantly filled with drunken bad poker players with lots of money and that we should play there more often.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for more suggestions about the Las Vegas poker scene.