There are many good poker rooms in downtown Vegas, such as one of the earliest at Binion’s, but call me snooty, my favorites are the ones at the luxury hotels on the Strip, Las Vegas Boulevard, most within walking distance of each other. Or at least were when I was younger. Most Vegas poker rooms are open 24-7, and offer two to five familiar games with a variety of buy-in charges. I don’t think any of them are totally smoke-free, but some offer smoke-free tables. There are also such benefits as comps (free rooms, meals, cash refunds, companionship and on up).
If you’re a hot shot and looking for tournaments, there are many and often in the world’s gambling capital, in both downtown and Strip hotels. Many of the high-dollar TV poker tournaments are taped in Vegas, and are becoming a staple of video programming both in the US and other parts of the world.
My current Vegas favorite is Harrah’s, which is a fairly new room. It isn’t the most luxurious on the Strip, but a dear relative often performs in the Comedy Club and is a joy to sit with and lose our money together. There are currently ten tables and boxed off for some privacy just a few steps from the busy casino floor. Harrah’s poker room offers Texas and Omaha Hold’em, as well as seven-card stud.
I have to list Imperial Palace, because the dealers there often dress as fake celebs, so that you can have all kinds of fun watching Elvis or Madonna dealing you your losing hands. The room is small, only six tables. Note: Don’t stay at Imperial Palace. It is a dump getting dumpier all the time because it has been up for sale for at least the past year.
Bally’s has a poker room with seven tables located next to a bar, so the waitresses don’t have long to walk before getting your free booze while you play. If you’re old, forget Bally’s. Just to get into the hotel and to the poker room requires a longer, drier walk that illegal immigrants must make through the Nevada desert. The games include the ever-pop Texas Hold’em and seven-card stud.
Palms isn’t on the Strip, about a mile away, but I must list this one because it attracts a young crowd of those who are loaded with money from parents, Wall Street and/or drug sales. If you want to play poker while rubbing shoulders and other parts of your body with pop music and movie stars, the Palms poker room is the place to be. One poker room has six tables, while the high-stakes one has only four. Don’t even think about it unless you’re really loaded with both money and booze.
love Mandalay Bay for its posh, ten-table poker room, but also because it is more Caribbean isle than Nevada desert. Once inside, you see fantastic glass and marble luxury all around, including the inflated sleeping room prices. It also boast some of the best surfing outside of Hawaii. Well, not exactly that great, but its extensive pool area has a sparkling powdery sand beach and mechanical waves that give clutzy surfers like me a chance to ride a wave for a few seconds and imagine I’m at Waikiki. Oh, if you want to know about what happens in the poker room, it offers friendly male and female dealers for the inevitable Texas hold’em and seven-card stud.
Bellagio is an architects’ and interior decorator’s dream, and it doesn’t let kid visitors in unless they are with a registered guest family. So, if you’re a grumpy poker player, you can play here without hearing the patter of little feet. A quick note about the Excalibur poker room: it is just the opposite. If you love kids all around and under foot, go play your poker there. The Bellagio poker room, like the rest of this upscale and expensive hotel, is elegant. While the younger players tend to hang around the Plaza, the older, wiser ones play here. If you’re not an expert, stay the hell away, unless you enjoy losing your family fortune. Of course, you’ll find the two types of Hold’em, some stud and other varieties.
Of course, there are many more poker rooms in Sin City, and although my favorites are in the upscale Strip hotels, you can find hundreds more downtown, on the Strip, in the mushrooming suburbs and nearby cities. I’m sure there are also some back-room poker palaces at many of the truck stops along Highway I-15 between Vegas and the California border. Don’t even get me started about the many Indian … ooops …Native American casinos with poker rooms all over the West.
