Casinos in Las Vegas were forced to close down temporarily one year ago, but the live poker scene in Sin City is clearly back. If you disagree with that claim, take a look at the city's upcoming tournament schedule.
Las Vegas is the poker capital of the world, with over 30 card rooms in town (20 of them are currently open), more than any other city in the world by a wide margin.
When Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered the closure of all casinos in the state last St. Patty's Day, many wondered if the live poker industry would survive. A full year later and it's clear the doubters were wrong.
This coming week, beginning on Tuesday, the Las Vegas Strip will play host to numerous low to mid-stakes tournaments, many of which have enticing guarantees.
The Wynn, one of the most luxurious casinos in the world, is in the midst of a Spring Poker Series. Tuesday's event is a $300 buy-in tournament with $15,000 guaranteed. The blind structure is quite advantageous to skilled players compared to most daily tournaments (20,000 starting stack and 30-minute blind levels).
Venetian, another fancy property next door to the Wynn, is also hosting a mid-stakes poker series. On Tuesday at 11 am, the casino resort (formerly owned by the late Sheldon Adelson) has a $400 buy-in tournament in store as part of its monthly DeepStack series, with an $80,000 prize pool guarantee. Players will start with 30,000 chips and the blinds will increase every 40 minutes.
Wynn and Venetian are the places to be this week
If you bust out of that tournament early, you can take another shot in the 6:10 pm $200 buy-in tournament, which offers $6,000 in guarantees. That one might not be quite as enticing, but maybe you'll win your money back from the afternoon event.
Wynn and Venetian will host many other similar events throughout the remainder of the week. But the two biggest tournaments for each casino kick off on Thursday, March 18, so don't get too hungover from St. Patty's Day.
At 11:10, over at Venetian, the DeepStack series features a $1,100 buy-in tournament with $350,000 guaranteed. One hour later, the Wynn will host a $1,600 tournament with, at minimum, $1 million in the prize pool. That's two events at neighboring casinos with combined $1,350,000 in prize money guaranteed this week. Need any further proof that live tournament poker is back?
If you're looking for some decent tournaments that are a bit cheaper, you'll find plenty of action at numerous other casinos. Aria, for example, is back to hosting its daily $140 tournament at 1 pm, with $3,000 guaranteed each day.
The Orleans, one of the top non-Strip poker rooms, offers daily tournaments, highlighted by a popular Friday night $130 tournament with $15,000 guaranteed each week. Play kicks off at 7 pm at the casino, located one mile west of the Strip. If you reach the final table, you should be prepared to play until early in the morning. This tournament has over 200 players most weeks.
You'll also find some low stakes tournament action at Flamingo, Sahara, Westgate, South Point, and Caesars Palace daily.
Featured image source: Poker.org
