Poker City Tour in Las Vegas
Las Vegas has nabbed the title of “The City That Never Sleeps” away from New York. And quite right, too, since Vegas is notoriously known for always having activity, no matter the time of day. The place is also known for its world-class entertainment and events, such as The Wynn’s Lake of Dreams and the Global Gaming Expo. Of course, Las Vegas is possibly most known for The Strip, where the glamorous mega-hotels and casinos are found — this is where the biggest poker tournament in the world, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) is held annually. The tournament is made of 88 events, from the $500 Casino Employees Tournament to the 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, spread over seven weeks. It attracts thousands of the world’s best poker players and draws even more fans, adding to the frenetic buzz.
If you can’t get enough of the poker excitement from WSOP, you can have a poker tour around Las Vegas. Below are a few of the best casinos to start with:
Wynn Las Vegas
The Wynn is one of the most expensive hotels in Las Vegas. It houses a spacious and luxurious poker room at Encore that’s open 24/7. The Wynn holds daily and weekly poker events with one of the biggest buy-ins in the city. In fact, Jon Sofen reports that the casino recently held a poker tournament with a $10,000 buy-in and $10 million guarantee. Wynn also has a range of mixed games, including No Limit Texas Hold’em, and Pot limit Omaha. If you’re using a Wynn Red Card, you get $1.50 an hour in comps that you can use for food and other amenities.
The Venetian
The Venetian is the second-largest resort in the world, hosting over 30 tables in its poker room, which is open from 9 AM to 3 AM daily. The poker room has one of the largest cash game varieties in Las Vegas. No Limit Hold’em limits typically have blinds of 1/3, 2/5, 3/5, and 5/10, but larger games are available if you have enough players. The Venetian is also known for their DeepStack Series, which is a tournament series that runs thrice a year. It’s one of the most popular poker festivals in Las Vegas — so much so that daily tournaments are suspended while this is underway. You earn $1 an hour in comps when you’re clocked in with a Grazie card.
Bellagio Hotel & Casino
Even people who don’t go to casinos have probably heard of Bellagio. After all, the poker tables have been featured in multiple shows, such as Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Thirteen. Bellagio holds World Poker Tour events, alongside high stakes at the Bobby’s Room venue. This room was named after Bobby Baldwin, a former MGM executive and the 1979 WSOP Main Event champion. However, the room was renamed the Legends Room in 2020 after Baldwin left the company. Bellagio’s poker room is open round the clock and offers various games, such as No Limit and Fixed Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha hi/lo, and seven-card stud hi/lo. Patrons also get $2 an hour in comps if they use the MLife card.
Aria Resort & Casino
The Aria is another upscale property that needs to be on your poker tour since it’s one of the hottest gaming spots in Las Vegas. Plus, it’s open all day, so you can drop by anytime. The Aria hosts a regular series, as well as World Poker Tour events such as the WPT Tournament of Champions. Their poker room offers a variety of Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and mixed games. If there are no scheduled tournament series, the daily tournaments usually have a buy-in of $140, with players having 20,000 starting chips and a guaranteed prize pool of $3,000. Players who are clocked into a cash game with the MLife card get $2 an hour in comps.
