There’s a poker craze going on and it shows no sign of letting up. Of course, not everyone can play in the high-stakes tournaments that get shown on ESPN and the Travel Channel. Still, if you’re in Vegas you can certainly find a daily poker tournament to enjoy for a buy-in that won’t rival your yearly mortgage. Here are some of the ones we’ve heard about recently:
MGM Grand
702.891.7434
877.229.2121 (800 direct to poker room)
Starting on May 23, the MGM Grand added daily No-Limit Hold Em tournaments to the roster of features at its brand new 30-table poker room. The games run Monday through Thursday at 11am and they sell out quickly. One recent morning, we saw sixty players at the tables and
they were calling for alternate number 40. That’s a pretty strong
turnout for a new tournament, so get there before 9:30 if you want to get a seat in the starting 60. The buy-in is $65 and you get 1200 tournament chips to start.
**Jen’s Vegas Travel Tip**
If you have the extra cash to splurge, inquire about their poker skybox. It is upstairs in a private room and overlooks the sports book where you can play poker, lounge in leather chairs, and stare straight at your favorite sports game on the big screen.
The Aladdin
702.785.5555 Ext.59150
The Aladdin’s poker room may not be as ornate as the Bellagio’s or as high-tech as the MGM’s, but it’s got a charm all its own, and they’ve got more small tournaments running that just about any casino on the
Strip. Monday through Thursday you’ve got your choice of three events: 10am for $40; 1pm for $60, plus an optional $40 rebuy; and 7pm for $110. On Friday, they whittle it down to one event: $110 at noon. There can be anywhere from 30-120 players in these events, so your time investment may vary. The breakfast shootout seems to be incredibly popular and for $40, it’s easy to see why. The Aladdin is a sweet place to drink your coffee and play some poker.
Bonus: On Sundays, the Aladdin runs $50 single-table sit-and-gos all day long.
Flamingo
702.733.3111 x3485
Monday through Friday at 10am and 6pm, the Flamingo hosts No-Limit Hold Em tourneys limited to 30 players max. For $55, you get a seat and 1000 tournament chips, but get there early because limited seating means these events can sell out very early. Rule of thumb: if the hotel is full, so is the tournament. Registration starts two hours before the event and if you get there on time, you should have no problem securing a seat. These tournaments are not bad for beginners in that the Flamingo poker room is intimate and unintimidating and the players in these events tend to be friendly folks just like you and me. Of course, on the downside, the blinds go up steeply in these tournaments and they can feel a bit like a crap-shoot. But hey, this is Vegas! Let’s gamble!
Comments on this entry are closed.