If you’ve ever been to Vegas and stayed at one of the hotels on the Strip, you’ll know all hotels have casinos for you to bet on. With Texas Hold’em growing in popularity, every major casino hotel also has a separate poker room, and some hotels even offer “poker room rates”, which are discounted hotel room rates if you play long enough at their poker tables (see the bottom of this article). for hotels offering poker room rates).
There are over twenty poker rooms on the strip alone to choose from.
Some of the larger hotels such as the Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian, Mirage, and MGM Grand have 25-30 tables available; Caesar’s Palace has over 60! Typical poker rooms on the Vegas Strip, such as Aladdin, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, Luxor, Circus Circus, and Harrah’s have 9-15 tables .
Another area to experience Vegas poker is downtown on Freemont Street. One of the most famous, where many say poker first started, is Binions. Next to Binions, you’ll find hotels: Golden Nugget, El Cortez, Plaza and Fitgerald.
You will find with many hotels that have poker rooms on the strip, that there are many hotels that accommodate them from the strip (i.e. Arizona Charlie, Boulder Station, Gold Coast, Green Valley Ranch, Hilton, Palace Station, Red Rock, Rio All Suites, Silverton , South Coast, and Tuscany)
One thing that new poker players should keep in mind at any of these poker rooms is:
Playing at a live casino is not as intimidating as you might think.
You may feel that when you first sit down at the table, everyone can read your every move. You’ve been playing on a computer screen so far, with only your betting pattern and response speed as the only “tell” you’ve been given. Now you may feel nervous because other players can actually see you and know exactly what you are holding.
But the players in the live room are the same as the ones you play online. In fact, you may find it more fun to play with people in person. Many face-to-face players are also less serious and looser than you’ll find in online games.
Like most gambling in Vegas, many come to have fun and expect to lose money playing poker as payment for “entertainment”. Usually live casino games are more interesting and social and slower running games. You won’t see as many flops in an hour as online cash or tournament play. These slower speeds give you the ability to decide more wisely, whether to call, fold, or raise.
Some places have very aggressive players (namely MGM Grand) and some are more casual, with a lot of limp. (i.e. Circus Circus).
To find comments about a Vegas poker room, so that you are prepared ahead of time to try a particular poker room, you can search for comments about someone’s Vegas poker journey on popular poker discussion forums or read reviews on the Vegas Poker Room Review website.
Unlike online poker sites that offer limits as low as $0.01 / $0.02, the lowest betting limit in a Vegas poker room is $1/2 NL Hold’em. The minimum amount to sit at this table is $50 in some casinos and $100 in others. The maximum amount ranges from $200-300. You will also find $2/5 NL, $3/6 Limit, $4/8 Limit as well.
To receive a discounted rate for your hotel room, you must play approximately 6 hours/day on weekdays (Sunday-Thursday) or 8 hours/day on weekends for a minimum of 40-50 hours to get the rate. When you check into the poker room, they record your hours worked.