People ask me this question over and over and over and over and over. No not how do you play pocket jacks. Even more frequently than that.

“I’m coming to Vegas for my company conference/21st birthday/brother’s bachelor party and I’m a recreational poker player. Which poker room should I play at?”

Rooms

Reasonable question considering the number of rooms in small proximity. There were even more before! No longer is Hooters or the Trop or TI or Fitzgerald’s an option. I’ve heard that in Atlantic City, you basically wanna be at the Borgata and forget everything else. And in LA there’s really only a small handful of prime choices. In Vegas, there’s lots!

Here’s the thing about the Las Vegas poker ecosystem and those who regularly inhabit it: We have a big reputation, but we’re actually a small town. And in small towns, word gets around quick. So imagine there was a poker room where people were blasting away, punting stacks of cash on the reg, the promised land of poker rooms. What do you think the highest concentration of poker professionals and semi professionals in any particular geography would do in that dream scenario? If you guessed they’d probably flock there, I’d say that’s a solid guess. Before long, the promised land becomes a wasteland of minimally profitable poker and a no-man’s land for your lanyarded self.

Golden Nugget is the only major poker room left in Downtown Las Vegas. This decade has seen the demise of poker rooms at El Cortez, The D, and Plaza. The Binion’s poker room traffic collapsed to the point that the casino abandoned its poker room and tournament area. The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel is located on the iconic Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, owned and operated by Derek and Greg Stevens. The D delivers a fresh, energetic attitude and fun atmosphere that has become synonymous with the Neapolitan area. The D Las Vegas Hotel provides a haven of rest and relaxation just a few steps away from the city's popular attractions like the Fremont Street. Play one of the world’s favorite card games in the new The Venetian Poker Room at The Venetian Las Vegas. It’s the ultimate combination of elegance, comfort and convenience.

Instead that’s not really what happens. Games are good in some rooms sometimes, other rooms other times. Generally great at night/graveyard because we’re a party destination, whereas in other cities it can be midweek afternoons that are prime. But you never really know what will happen where and when ahead of time.

There are some general traits based on one or two factors that could results in less regs and locals playing in particular rooms. Sure. I’ll mention that below. But the biggest deciding factor regarding which room to play in will probably come down to personal preferences. Here are my personal favorite poker rooms:

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Wynn
The gold standard. Great dealers, even better floor staff who know exactly how to phrase everything they say to sound both professional and personable. Super comfortable room with ample space. Sharply appointed. Food is on the pricey side but still a couple reasonable options. All the games have the biggest max buyins in town, which again is going to come down to personal preference on whether that’s a plus or minus. I think the games are probably slightly tougher than average due to having more money available on the table, but you will also have the Wynn clientele occasionally wandering into the room to balance that. The tournament area just outside the poker room has natural light coming in during the daytime. And, the people watching. (Wynn nightclubs are the best.)

Aria
In my mind it’s a 1B to the Wynn’s 1A. Better food options but a little more crowded and almost always seems to have at least a little longer of waitlists (which are brutal during WSOP). Again, exceptional dealers and staff. Nice and plush. The homebase for PLO in Vegas.

Golden Nugget
The last stalwart to allow $100 bills to play in the games, which are all uncapped. It’s usually standard fare $1/$2NL, but as a result of dismissing the cap you could wind up in the best $1/$2NL on the planet at any given time. It’s a proper gem and the only real place to play in DTLV. (Binions sadly moved their games into the pit to die a slow death.)

Planet Hollywood
This is very much personal preference related, because if you don’t like loud music and go-go dancers when you’re tryna fuckin’ grind, don’t come here. It’s the most party atmosphere of any room in Vegas by far. Speaking of far, the self parking is miles away and you have to trek through the godforsaken tribute to American commercialism that is the Miracle Mile mall. As a result of that aspect, a lot of locals don’t have it in them to even get to the poker room. So the games can be above average. Also, two of the best dealers in all of Vegas work here: Allison and Chase. I wish I could say the same about the management… but hey, go-go dancers!

Bellagio
Game quality is good. North valet is good. Several of the floorpeople are very good. Some of the dealers are very good, like Crissy and Joe and Trina and a few others. Food is decent. But it’s definitely cramped and a little… not sure. Old? Each time I’ve moved up in stakes, first to 2/5 then to 5/10, I’ve used Bellagio as my stepping stone. The flip side to the Wynn, they have the lowest caps on their games and as a result I think the game quality benefits at least somewhat with less money available on the table. The Bellagio can bank on their location and reputation to just be a little on the meh side, but because of the above it’ll have to remain in the rotation for me, personally.

Honorable Mentions!

Mirage
Definitely a reasonable spot for low stakes games. Very accommodating staff if you want to bring a group of friends in and all play together.

Bally’s
I don’t know if this property has an ounce of personality to it, but the poker room will generally be on the softer side due to self parking stuff.

The D Las Vegas Poker Rooms Open

Mandalay Bay
I played a ton here when I first moved to Vegas. Seems to get reasonable low stakes games. Pretty comfortable room. Can celebrate a good session with a drink in the Skylounge.

Caesars
Can also be pretty noisy in here, without the go-go dancers. But yeah, could challenge PH for biggest party vibe with the Omnia entrance within view of the poker room. If you play 2/5 you feel kinda high-rollerish as they put that game in the back, kinda-sorta cordoned off.

Red Rock
Gets 2/5 every day, nice property… but you’re never gonna go way the fuck out there.

Ok so let’s recap. There are 3 spots where I basically spend all of my poker time: Wynn, Bellagio, and Aria. I think generally games will be a little tougher at the Wynn and Aria due to how nice these rooms are. Think about it: If you’re a pro or semi pro, and you’re spending a ton of your time in the poker rooms, you’re gonna wanna work to get to a spot where you’re actually enjoying your surroundings. That said you just never know because at any one time there could be a ridiculously profitable 2/5 game going at the Wynn. It happens quite frequently, really. It just isn’t nonstop in any one spot, if that makes sense…

A game will be amazing for a bunch of hours, until it isn’t. Then another one somewhere else will be amazing, until it isn’t. Etc. The point is this: Have a think about what it is you want out of a poker room, then decide where to go based on that (or maybe on how many games are running on the Bravo Live app list). If you’re looking to have fun, you can do that in almost any poker room, and 1/2 and 1/3 will generally be good everywhere. Don’t base your Vegas trip success on getting rich quick in some secret location that only I/people in-the-know can direct you to. Base it around having fun.

Andrew

P.S. There is an obvious omission on this list because it’s run by He Who Shall Not Be Named. If you wanna go there, have at it. If not, cool. A lot of poker players get into poker so that they can tune out of all the BS in the world and just play cards. I get that. I’ve chosen not to give them any free publicity in my vlog, but has it made any difference? Probably not.

The D Las Vegas Promotions

In general, this small room was a lot of fun. Don't expect Bellagio-like conditions or game choices, but the atmosphere was always relaxed and friendly during my four-night stay. Managers and dealers get to know your name and really make you feel welcome. One downside is that there is usually only one full cash game (3/6 with a full kill) going (although 3 were going at one point on Saturday night).

Played for four nights with my brother over a long Super Bowl weekend. Competition was generally loose/passive every night except for Saturday night.

Dealers at this small room really worked hard, dealt well, and had great senses of humor. A few of them also played in the games when off-duty, which helped keep games full.

Alicia was great, serving drinks promptly and always with a smile. Others were mediocre, but did the job.

The managers were friendly and experienced, and handled all questions politely and correctly. I was impressed with how the managers/dealers got to know my brother and I and greeted us by name upon arriving in the room on our second night there, not what I expected from a Las Vegas poker room.

While there's no hourly comp rate for poker play at the Fitz, the poker room rate and the high hand/bad beat jackpots make up for it. I really enjoyed playing this room, and the poker room rate helped keep our costs down.