Going downtown to Binion's is like visiting Mecca for poker players. Binion's is where the World Series of Poker began; it's where Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek played their legendary heads-up match. For several decades, Binion's hosted the biggest cash games in the world. Because of its location in the heart of dingy downtown Las Vegas, Binion's doesn't attract as many casual players as it could if it were situated on the Strip.

However, you still get a mix of elderly locals that smell like Ben Gay, drunken tourists in Hawaiian shirts, and hardcore poker geeks paying homage to one of the most renowned card rooms in the history of poker. The bad news is that downtown still smells like a wet dog that rolled around in a puddle of urine. The good news is that Binion's remodeled their poker room with comfortable seating and the walls are adorned with photographs celebrating the history of poker.

The Stratosphere Poker Room has a High Hand Jackpot. As part of its daily tournament promotion, players that make the 7 p.m. Tournament receive complimentary pizza during the break. Stay at the iconic Stratosphere Hotel, Casino & Tower, BW Premier Collection hotel in Las Vegas. Live entertainment, dining, and casino action on the strip. 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard S Las Vegas, Nevada. Your account does not contain enough points to book this room.

There are only ten tables and they spreadlow-limit hold'em and low-stakes NL. If you go to Vegas a lot but only hang out on the Strip, then you should pay your respects to Binion's and play in their Midnight tournament, which attracts some of the most flavorful characters you'll ever come face-to-face with.

• Top of The World restaurant, 800 feet high and rotating 360 degrees, is located at the top of the Stratosphere Tower. A classic Las Vegas buffet, offering a Sunday champagne brunch, and Strat Cafe.
• More info: Santa Fe poker room website. South Point Phone: (702) 796-7111 More info: South Point poker room website. Venetian Phone: (702) 414-7657 More info: South Point poker room website. Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino Phone: (702) 732-5223 More info: Westgate Las Vegas poker room website. Wynn Phone: (702) 770-7654 More info: Wynn poker.
• Green Valley Ranch, the Mirage, and The Strat (formerly Stratosphere) are among the Las Vegas poker rooms that still remain closed. New Las Vegas COVID-19 Guidelines Sisolak is permitting more than.

If you've never been to Vegas, you have to take at least one trip downtown to see where it all began.

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?”

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.

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:

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.

Stratosphere Las Vegas Poker Tournaments

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.

Stratosphere Las Vegas Room Rates

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…

Las Vegas Poker Tournaments

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.

Stratosphere Las Vegas Poker Room Promotions

Andrew

Stratosphere Las Vegas Poker Rooms Reopening

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.