Las Vegas's Venetian Resort has revealed plans to expand its existing poker room and relocate it to the second floor of the twin Venetian/Palazzo casino-resort property. The Venetian's plans for the expanded poker-room footprint, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, include expanding the number of available tables from 35 to 50 and moving the room from the edge of the main casino floor to a new location one flight up, amid the vast panorama of retail shops and restaurants on the venue's second floor.
The Venetian's existing poker room has been at its precious location, just inside the casino's primary ground-floor entrance on Las Vegas Blvd. (the "Strip"), since 2006. That room has undergone prior reconfigurations over the years, and had been largely dedicated to cash-game and daily-tourney traffic, including an overflow area that had at times spread onto the edge of the nearby casino floor. More recently, major tournaments that have been too large for the poker-room area, such as the plentiful Deepstack Extravaganza offerings, have instead been held in the adjacent Sands Convention Center.
The poker room's upcoming expansion and relocation appears to offer multiple benefits to the casino. The room will move almost directly up the one flight, shifted less than a hundred yards toward the second-floor Palazzo-side entrance. The room appears to be earmarked for an available space close to the start of the famed gondola ride amid the second-floor retail layout, according to the Venetian's property map.
One added benefit is that the Venetian's existing parking ramp actually provides access to the south end of the venue's second floor. Instead of descending an escalator to reach the main casino floor and then take a short walk to the poker room, poker players will eventually just navigate through the second floor's maze of retail shops to reach the relocated poker room. Numerous escalators connect the two floors.
The move will also allow the Venetian to expand its existing casino-floor space. The property, noted for having the latest generations of slot machines, will likely expand those slots into the area occupied by the existing poker room. The current room will remain open until the new room is completed.
Streaming facility among plans for new room
One modernization the Venetian's new room will feature is the ability to live-stream poker action, whether from ongoing cash games or from final tables in the frequent DSE tourneys. The existing poker room is just too small to create the set and support facility needed to stream games, but the new 14,000-square-foot room offers significantly more space.
Other niceties planned for the new poker room include dedicated bathrooms, self-serve beverages, charging ports at each seat, sports-betting and player-loyalty kiosks, and other accoutrements.
“It’s going to be a completely different look and a completely different feel,” The Venetian's Tommy LaRosa told the LVRJ. “It’s going to be modern, it’s going to be clean, and it’s just going to be unique. It’s going to be a one-of-a-kind space.”
