Posts Tagged ‘Hotel’

Poker Room at Ceasar’s Palace

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Style, class, mystery! Does that sound like Agent 007’s high stakes poker games? You bet it is and you bet it’s right where it should be – at the Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. True to its name, the Caesar’s Palace offers the fun and excitement of poker action in a luxury hotel and casino ambience – just as you would expect of a Vegas strip hotel.

The Mysterious Location

The Poker Room at Caesar’s Palace is typically located between the in-house nightclub Pure and the sports book. That sounds very much like every other location design in a Vegas hotel casino. But scour the Caesar’s Palace and you’d find that a mystery. You’ll miss the entrance at first glance because it’s intentionally hidden from view. This makes for the fun and excitement of a mystery novel. When you find the door and let yourself in, you’d be greeted by a silent, empty diagonal hall. Only the curiously anxious who follows the path down the hall shall find the animated excitement of a poker game down the end – similar to a tavern tucked in deep through a maze of dark rooms in a basement.

This tucked away location of the poker room in Caesar’s Palace is both a cool design twist and a drawback. The location is perfect for pure poker focus. Only the curious and the anxious find their way to the bowels of the hotel to get to the poker haven. There’s less distraction from a homogenous crowd. The very same thing works against it. Although the huge signage atop the entrance door is hard to miss, no signs nor sounds of a highly animated game permeates through to regular guests just passing by the door. This excludes the curious visitors who might have just needed some whetting of appetite to get in the mood for a game.

The Poker Room Features

The poker room at Caesar’s palace caters to gaming comfort. With wide spaces between tables, players can move around simultaneously without having to worry about bumping into the player on the next table. Cramp is not a word you’d give this gaming haven. Stylish new poker tables feature built-in auto shufflers, large, comfortable and wheeled poker chairs and overhead chandeliers for both quality lighting and style.

Caesar’s Palace’s poker room also features a screened off area for its daily poker tournaments. A waiting lounge for players has comfortable seats for viewing the action in total comfort, or you can let your eyes roam the room’s walls for various sports-themed decors lined up there. If anything, the Poker Room at Caesar’s Palace is the real-life secret garden of a poker aficionado

The Experience

The Poker Room at Caesar’s Palace may not be as high-stakes as the other Vegas Poker Rooms and its dealers may not be outstanding but it definitely serves the best margaritas in town. Cocktails of course are flowing and the staff is generally pleasant and capable. When the service staff floors its cocktail service speed, they’ll keep a happy, fully-quenched crowd of poker players happy.

The MGM Grand Hotel’s Poker Room

Friday, May 1st, 2009

The MGM Grand is not only a famous venue for top entertainers performing live; it’s also famous among high-stakes gamblers because of its Casino. One of its notable features is a late addition to the gambling Strip – the Poker Room, which opened in 2005. Located half a mile from the garage both ways, you’d save yourself the walk if you park right across the street as it is on ground level. Or if you’re looking to catch some exercise before tying yourself down to a comfy chair for hours on end, the walk from the garage to the bowels of the poker room should do you well.

The Poker Room’s Unique Service Line

Service par excellence is what keeps this poker room full besides the usual fast-paced poker action. A no-smoking zone, the MGM Grand’s 22-table room dedicated to poker and poker enthusiasts features top of the line amenities and services for an unrivaled comfortable player experience. Open 24/7, the MGM Grand’s Poker Room offers tableside food and beverage service round-the-clock, plus a daily tableside massage service by professional therapists. Is it a wonder why this Poker Room is quick to become the crowd favorite at the southern Strip?

The Features

Besides its excellent location, the MGM Grand has the most visually appealing poker room in all of Las Vegas. Much like other poker rooms, it’s located between the sports book and the MGM’s nightclub – Studio 54. The round Centrifuge Bar is adjacent to it, giving the Poker Room and amazing hour-glass backdrop. The cashier’s cage is hard to miss and the ten plasma monitors strategically scattered about the room makes viewing of games-in-progress easy from any seat. A higher-stakes gamer would enjoy the solitary room upstairs that gives a fantastic view of the sports book.

The latest in gaming technology is right here. Everything, from the list to the comp system to communication of open seats is done electronically. Dealers press a button from a console at each table to convey the number of vacant seats at their table. Not only does this save your eardrums from concussions but facilitates efficiency. What’s more? MGM is by far, the only room in town that gives you the freedom to roam around and do what you please while waiting for your turn; you’ll get a beep when your seat is ready so go ahead and explore if you wish to.

Oh, and be sure too sign up for a player card. You’ll need to swipe the card every time you switch tables; the hours you spend in the MGM Poker Room is tracked electronically and earns you a dollar per hour in. California-styled, the Poker Room is a hungry poker’s place with the deli counters only a few steps away. You can even request for a menu to be brought to you.

With the usual combination of limit and no-limit, low stakes or high stakes games and mixes, the MGM Grand’s Poker Room combines fast-paced excitement, superb service and top-of-the-line technology for a totally fun, exciting and rewarding gaming experience.

Poker Room at The Binions Horseshoe Hotel

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

If you’re looking to set foot at the place where it all began, the Poker Room at the Binion’s Gambling Hall is where you should be. Having been in the casino business since 1951, owner Benny Binion – hence the name – is a gambling legend, and his brainchild holds more poker history than any other Casino’s poker room in history.

Poker History with the Legend

Originally named Binion Horseshoe, the Binion Poker Room has pioneered many pokers first as its legendary owner reshaped downtown Las Vegas gambling. When it opened in 1951, bets were capped at $500, a good ten times of what the cap was at every other gambling house in downtown Vegas.

Benny also brought gambling standards to a much higher level as he sought to make it player-friendly. Offering free drinks to patron, limousine transport to and from airports and a carpet-lined walk are all Binion firsts. And what is poker history without a legendary player? The Old Man of Poker, Johnny Moss was dubbed the Binion’s Ambassador of Poker. Back in the day, he and his wife literally lived at the Horseshoe.

In all its poker history, the Binion’s played host to the World Series of Poker until 2004, as the privately owned property has fallen into a state of neglect on the death of its owner and the departure of his heir. For many years, Wall Street had to speculate on the Binion’s worth and earnings. But because it was privately held and did not need to make public its finances, nothing could be substantiated.

The Drama in 2004

The property temporarily closed for a couple of months in 2004 before intervening owner Harrah’s hastily bought the properly, cleaned the dump up, repainted walls, reopened the casino and hired staff a mere days before the WSOP 2004 Tournament. At the tournament’s conclusion, the property, except the Horseshoe name and the World Series of Poker Tournament, to new owners, MTR Gaming. The world-famous Casino was then renamed Binion’s.

Binion’s Poker Room Today

Binion’s Poker Room offers a total of 95 tables – the most in any Vegas Strip casino poker room. These tables are spread out into three sections, the regular hall has 18, the tournament hall has 28 and the rest -50- are upstairs at Benny’s Bullpen. Poker history is on the Binion’s walls as its Wall of Fame holds portraits of famous poker players. Out back of the poker room, the red-lined Gallery of Champions holds the portraits of various World Series of Poker Champions.

True to its tradition, Binion’s poker room offers $2/4, $4/8 and $3/6 Texas Hold’em. The $1/2 no-limit Texas Hold’em game comes with a $100 minimum buy-in and it always features action-packed games. Remaining true to Benny’s tradition of feeding its patrons, Binion’s has a more liberal comp policy than most in Las Vegas. Four hours of play earns you an $8.00 food comp you can use at most of the hotel’s restaurants and food outlets.