My Last, Unpublished Ante Up Column

This is the last column I wrote for Ante Up.  The last so far, that is.  Hopefully poker will return and there will be more to write about in the near future.  But as I post this, I would normally be sending off a column for the May issue right now, but I have not written a column for the May issue.  There will be no May issue of Ante Up, it's been cancelled.

There is no April issue of Ante Up, either.  I wrote a column for it which I sent in a month ago.  But seeing as how there are no poker rooms operating anywhere in the U.S., the editors decided there was no point in printing up an April issue, since most of the circulation of the magazine is the copies they distribute to poker rooms for free.

But they did have all that content that the columnists submitted, including my contribution.  They did publish that content on the Ante Up website.  You can find my column here, or below.  Actually, I dunno if they published everything that was submitted for the April issue, I only know for sure they published my column.

So here is my column that you will not find in any poker room anywhere, if you can even get into a poker room, which currently, you cannot.

Before you read it, if you are going to, let me explain.  Around this time of year, I do previews of the Vegas summer poker series being held around town simultaneously with the WSOP.  As my deadline last month approached, I knew I had to get started--if at all possible--on the previews.  There generally are seven rooms that run series, so in a perfect world I would be able to split them up, three or four in April, the others in May.  The last thing I want is to have to do all seven in May, I wouldn't be able to do justice to any of them.  Unlike my regular blog posts, I can't make my column as long as I want, I have a strict word limit.

So I begged all the room managers and TD's at the rooms for their schedules.  Even a rough draft, one that hadn't received final approval, would be ok, so I would have something to write about and be able to spread everything out over two columns.  Plus, if none of them showed up for the April issue, I'd basically have nothing to write about for that issue!

Well, the folks at Orleans, Venetian and Golden Nugget, bless them, came through for me and I had my column.  At the time I wrote this, I knew there was a chance that maybe world events might possibly impact Vegas summer, but I had to write as if nothing would change.

So I want to thank the managers of those rooms for helping me out.  And now I am presenting a column--and who knows if anything I wrote is relevant.  Are any Vegas summer series going to take place?  All I can say is that as I post this, I have not heard officially of one cancellation of the Vegas summer events. And as of now, the WSOP has not been cancelled or postponed.  Will it be?  I'd say there's a pretty good chance.

So it might be sad to read this, and I'll understand if you want to skip over it, seeing all the events I talk about that will likely not take place.  But perhaps it will make you feel nostalgic for a time when things were normal and we could all be looking forward to a regular summer of Vegas poker. And maybe there will be a miracle and these events all will take place?

With that, here is my column.  I usually say "Enjoy!" before posting these columns but I'm not sure any of you can.  Note:  I'm including the editor's note from the website.

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Editor’s note: Ante Up refrained from publishing its April issue because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While most of the news in the issue would have been obsolete, we are publishing online what we deem still newsworthy. There’s no predicting the future so while we may be mentioning some upcoming events, there is a very good chance they will be canceled as well. So, be sure to double check with poker rooms before returning to them.

The Orleans Summer Series was scheduled for May 29-July 7 in Las Vegas. It starts with a five-starting-flight event over that opening weekend (one on Friday, two each on Saturday and Sunday). It’s called Wild Deuces NLHE and has a $222 buy-in and a $222K guarantee.

Most weekdays at 11 a.m., the series runs a $150 tournament with a $25K guarantee. The evenings feature mostly disciplines other than hold’em, usually for $150.

The room is running its regular, hugely popular Friday night tournament, a $130 buy-in with a $20K guarantee during the series, starting at 6.

Two-day championship events with $400 buy-ins run June 6 for PLO, June 7 for HORSE, June 14 for Omaha/8 and June 21 for PLO/8. All of these have $50K guarantees. The $400 eight-game mix championship runs July 5-6 and has a $40K guarantee.

The two-day, $300 LIPS championship runs June 20. The $400 Seniors Poker Tour championship runs June 13-14.

The $400 NLHE championship has five-starting flights beginning June 26 and has a $400K guarantee, finishing up on June 29.

New this year is a Final Table Freeroll. All players who make a final table through July 2 are eligible for a $20K freeroll on July 3. Players who make more than one final table will start with extra chips. The first-place prize is $5K. The top 21 finishers will cash. See the ad on Pages 24-25.

VENETIAN LAS VEGAS: The Deepstack Championship Poker Series is slated to kick off May 4 and runs until July 26. There are numerous events with guarantees of $1M-plus.

The first of these is a $1,100 Mid-States Poker Tour event with four starting flights beginning June 1. The guarantee is $3M. Then a $1,600 MSPT event with three starting flights begins June 8 and features a $3M guarantee.

A $1,100 seniors tournament has the first of its two Day 1 flights June 15 and offers a $1M guarantee. The three-starting-flight $1,600 monster stack starts June 24 and has a $1.5M guarantee. There are two $1,100 Summer Saver events, each with a $1,100 buy-in and $1M guarantee. The first Day 1s for these are July 3 and July 7, respectively. A two-starting-flight $5K event begins July 14 and has a $2M guarantee.

A $1,100 pot-limit Omaha championship has two Day 1s beginning June 6 and guarantees $400K. The PLO/8 version with the same details starts June 28. The two-day LIPS event starts June 14 and has a $50K guarantee.

The two-starting-flight $1,100 Summer Kickoff event begins May 25 and has a $400K guarantee. There’s a $600 Epic Stack with five starting flights beginning June 19 and guarantees $750K.

Of course, the schedule is filled with plenty of shorter, smaller buy-in events, some as affordable as $200.

GOLDEN NUGGET: The Grand Series is supposed to be May 26-July 6. Once again, there are three tournaments daily. Throughout the series, a $150 tourney with a $25K guarantee runs at 1 p.m., except when displaced by a bigger event. Most evenings at 7, a $120 tournament with a $5K guarantee takes place. The

11 a.m. tournament is most often a non-hold’em discipline, usually with a $150 or $250 buy-in.

As in the past, the schedule on most weekends is filled by a huge multi-flight event, with three Day 1s each Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Day 2 on Sunday. These $200 buy-ins begin May 28, June 4, June 11 and July 2. Note: There are only two flights on June 11. The guarantees are $250K each, except for the last one on July 2, which has a $200K guarantee.

The $250 senior event runs June 20 with a $100K guarantee. The $1,100 senior high roller runs June 20-21. The $400 senior championship with a $100K guarantee runs June 21. A $250 seniors Omaha/8 tourney is June 23 with a $10K guarantee. The $1,100 Omaha/8 championship is June 15. There’s a $600 event with a $500K guarantee and three starting flights beginning June 25. The $1,100 HORSE championship is June 22-23.

SAHARA: The property at the north end of the Strip, formerly known as SLS, has restored the historic name Sahara and with it brought back poker to the remodeled casino. The beautiful room opened mid-February with seven tables and comfortable chairs that are getting rave reviews. Steven Pique, formerly of the Aria, is the poker operations manager.

The main cash game has been $1-$3 NLHE, with a $100 minimum, $300 maximum buy-in. A $4-$8 mixed game has been running fairly regularly, the minimum buy-in is $40. A $1-$2 PLO game with a $200-$500 min-max also is offered.

Promos included progressive high hands, Aces Cracked and a bonus for making flushes in all four suits. Players get $2 an hour in comps, which jumps to $3 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Call the room for information as the schedule evolves.

CAESARS PALACE: The poker room has begun offering promotions for cash games. The initial promo is the popular Aces Full. Players who hit aces full or better receive $100. That starts the clock and if they hit another high hand of aces full or better within 24 hours, the payout is an additional $499. A player catching a third high hand within 24 hours of the first hand receives $1K more.

The room is taking a $2-max jackpot drop per hand to fund the promo. That’s $1 at $10 and $2 at $30. That’s fairly standard for the rooms in Vegas. The switch to offering promos leaves Aria, Bellagio and Wynn as the only rooms in Vegas to not offer promotions for cash games.

Vegas Poker Scene -- March 2020

Here's my latest column for Ante Up.  My column can be found on the Ante Up website here.  Remember I only write the Vegas portion of the page.  The magazine is available now in your local poker room.

Enjoy!

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David Levy of Denver and Francis Rusnak of Las Vegas chopped the top prize in the $1,100 championship of the Wynn Signature Series in January, each taking home $86K. Washington’s Ryan Stoker earned $46K for third. The event drew 516 players and had a $505K prize pool, smashing the $400K guarantee.

The Wynn Spring Classic runs through March 18. A $1,600 event with three Day 1s begins March 5 and has a $1M guarantee. A $1,100 tourney with four Day 1s starts March 9 and has a $500K guarantee.

The three-day $5,300 championship is March 16 and has a $1M guarantee. Satellites are offered for all of these events.

A $550 tournament runs March 14 with a $100K guarantee and there’s a $1,600 PLO bounty event ($500 bounties) with a $50K guarantee March 15.

BALLY’S: The WSOPC runs March 19-30. The first three ring events all have three starting flights on the same day. In each case, the first two flights have 30-minute levels and the last

Day 1 flight of the day has 20-minute levels. The opening event is $250 with a $50K guarantee. The next day, March 20, the buy-in is $400 and the guarantee is $75K. That’s followed by a $600 tournament March 21 with a $100K guarantee. All of these events conclude the next day.

There’s a $250 women’s event March 25 and a $250 seniors event March 26, which has a $25K guarantee. A $400 Monster Stack with 30K chips has a $150K guarantee and runs March 25. All of these are two-day events.

The $1,700 main event has two starting flights beginning March 27 and has a $750K guarantee. A two-day, $2,200 high roller starts March 29 with a $150K guarantee.

VENETIAN LAS VEGAS: The Deepstack Showdown will run March 9-29. The highlight is a $5K WPT event that begins March 13. It has two starting flights and four playing days. The guarantee is $2M.

A $400 Monster Stack with two Day 1s begins March 16 and has a $100K guarantee. A $600 Monster Stack with three starting flights begins March 10 and has a $200K guarantee.

The $1,600 Ultimate Stack (40K chips) has two Day 1s beginning March 25 and offers a $400K guarantee.

The next Deep Stack Extravaganza follows soon thereafter, running April 6-26. The series kicks off with a $400 Double Stack with two starting flights. Players start with 25K chips and play 30-minute levels Day 1, increasing to 40 minutes Day 2. The guarantee is $100K.

A $600 Ultimate Stack has two starting flights beginning April 10. Stacks are 40K and again, the levels are 30 minutes Day 1 and 40 minutes Day 2. A $400 Monster Stack has two Day 1s beginning April 13. Players start with a 30K stack and play 40-minute levels.

The $600 Monster Stack that starts April 16 has three starting flights. Stacks are 35K, levels are 40 minutes and the guarantee is $200K. If you’d like to play for a $250K guarantee for $340, the five-starting-flight Double Stack starting April 21 is your event. The stack is 25K and the levels are 40 minutes.

There are three opportunities for Omaha lovers to test their skill. A $300 one-day PLO tourney runs April 6. Players start with 20K chips and the guarantee is $10K. A $300 PLO/8 with the same details runs April 10. There’s also a $300 PLO bounty event April 23 ($100 bounties).

A one-day, $400 seniors event runs April 9. The starting stack is 15K, levels are 30 minutes and the guarantee is $20K. There are two $80 Survivor tournaments, representing the cheapest buy-in for a DSE event in years. These run April 9 and April 16. Players start with 10K chips and play 20-minute levels. The tournament ends 10 percent of the field remains, each survivor getting $600. The guarantee is $1,200.

ARIA: The U.S. Poker Open runs March 19-31. This is part of the High Roller of the Year Series. The player who wins the most HROY points during the 12-event series wins the championship and a $50K bonus. The first 10 events are $10K buy-ins. March 29 is a $25K event and the final event March 30 has a $50K buy-in. PLO is offered March 20 and March 26. A Big Bet Mix runs March 22 and an eight-game mix plays March 24. The deuce-to-seven triple-draw event is March 28. All other events are NLHE.

ORLEANS: The room has changed two of its 7 p.m. tournaments. The $100 Tuesday event switches from PLO to PLO/8. Wednesday, ROSE replaces the eight-game mix. ROSE is HORSE without hold’em. This is a $125 buy-in. Both tournaments have 15K stacks and play 20-minute levels.

Vegas Poker Scene -- February 2020

Here's my latest column for Ante Up.  My column can be found on the Ante Up website here.  Remember I only write the Vegas portion of the page.  The magazine is available now in your local poker room.

Enjoy!

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Valentyn Shabelnyk of the Ukraine won $136K for capturing the $3,500 main event of December’s Deep Stack Extravaganza at Venetian Las Vegas. Steve Sung from Southern California pocketed $85K as runner-up and George Wolff of Oregon grabbed $60K for third. The event drew 160 players and had a $504K prize pool.  

The next DSE is under way and runs through March 1. A $600 Monster Stack with two starting flights begins Feb. 7 and has a $150K guarantee. Players start with 35K chips and play 40-minute levels. 

The $400 Ultimate Stack has a $100K guarantee and begins Feb. 10 with two Day 1 flights. The starting stack is 40K and the levels are 30 minutes for the first 20 levels and then increase to 40 minutes.

An $800 Monster Stack with a $250K guarantee has three starting flights beginning Feb. 14. It has a 35K stack and 40-minute levels. 

A $400 Monster Stack, which has a $100K guarantee, has the first of its two starting flights Feb. 22. The stack is 30K and the levels are 40 minutes. 

A one-day $400 pot-limit Omaha event is Feb. 23 and has a $10K guarantee. For those of you who prefer freezeouts, one-day $300 Monster Stack events with no re-entry run Feb. 9 and March 1. These have $20K guarantees.

The main event starts Feb. 18. It offers a $1,600 buy-in, three starting flights and a $1M guarantee. Players start with 30K chips and play 60-minute levels. 

There are plenty of $200, $300 and $340 events throughout the series. The guarantees for the series exceed $3.3M.

The regular schedule at the Venetian has been revised. There are tournaments daily at 12:10 and six days a week at 6:10. Monday-Thursday afternoons, a $150 NLHE tournament has an $8K guarantee. Players start with 15K chips and play 30-minute levels. Friday is a $200 Super Stack with a $20K guarantee.  Players start with 15K chips and play 30-minute levels. There are two $100 add-ons available. The first is available after the fourth level and is for 12K chips. The second is after the eighth level and is for 25K chips.  That’s when registration ends. This tournament is so popular, there’s no evening event.

A $340 Double Stack runs Saturday afternoon as players start with 24K chips and play 40-minute levels.  The guarantee is $25K. The Sunday tournament is a $250 Super Stack with a $15K guarantee. Players start with 20K and play 30-minute levels. 

Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings host a $125 Monster Stack with a $4K guarantee that offers 20-minute levels and a 20K starting stack. Monday offers a $125 bounty with a $4K guarantee, 15K stacks, 20-minute levels and $25 bounties. This same tournament runs Thursday but with a $6K guarantee. Tuesday has a $200 bounty event with 12K stacks, 30-minute levels and $50 bounties. 

HARRAH’S: Mexico’s Anthony Spinella won the WSOPC main event in December, taking home $192K. Nipun Java of Los Angeles received $119K for second and Canada’s Jimmy Lee earned $87K for third.  The $1,700 event had 665 entrants, creating a $1M prize pool, easily surpassing the $500K guarantee.

RIO: The WSOPC runs Feb. 14-25 with 14 ring events, including a $400 combination NLHE-PLO that starts Feb. 18 and plays over two days. The next day, a $600 two-day HORSE event begins. There is a one-day $250 seniors event Feb. 17. A $400 Monster Stack with two starting flights begins Feb. 21.

The $1,700 main event has two starting flights beginning Feb. 22 and a $1M guarantee. A $2,200 High Roller closes out the action Feb. 24.

WYNN: Michael Rocco of Southern California won the $5,300 championship at the Winter Classic in December, taking home $540K. Michael Dyer from Las Vegas earned $353K for second and England’s Ben Farrell claimed $240K for third. The event drew 557 players, resulting in a $2.7M prize pool, smashing the $1.5M guarantee.

BELLAGIO: Alex Foxen of New York took down the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December. He received $1.694M for the win and, as a result, finished first in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race for the second time in a row. Ireland’s Toby Joyce scored $1.12M for second and Seth Davies out of Oregon claimed $827K for third. The $10,400 event drew a record 1,035 players and had a $10M prize pool.

SAM’S TOWN: The room offers a $50 PLO tournament Wednesday nights at 7. Players start with 10K chips and play 20-minute levels. There is an optional $10 add-on for 5K chips available any time during the first six levels. The tournament features a $1K guarantee.

SAHARA LAS VEGAS: The poker room opens Jan. 29.  

GREEN VALLEY RANCH: Through the end of March, the room is offering the GVR High Hands promo on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

Between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m., the highest hand of the period (two or three hours) receives $200, $250 or $300 depending on the period it hits. 

If a period does not have a qualified winner, that amount rolls over into the next day the promo runs. The minimum qualifying hand is queens full.

Vegas Poker Scene -- January 2020

Here's my latest column for Ante Up.  Since it still has not been posted on the Ante Up website for some reason, this is the version I submitted for publication.  You can read the entire issue online here.  The actual issue is available in a poker room near you.

Enjoy!

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Michael Trivett, long time Vegas pro, won his first WSOP circuit ring in November at Planet Hollywood.  Trivett, who until just a few years ago was mostly a mixed games player, took down the $1.700 No Limit Hold'em Main Event.  Trivett won $216K.  James Petzing, a fellow Las Vegan, busted to Trivett in heads-up play for a $133K payday.  Canada's Tzu Huang earned $99K for third.  The event drew 778 entrees and had a prize pool of $1,178,670.

VENETIAN:  Samuel Uhlmann from Colorado won the Main Event at Venetian's November Deepstack Extravaganza, taking home $93K.  Rory Brown from Ireland claimed $73K for second and Matthew Leecy from Florida received $46K for third. The $1,600 event attracted 312 players, resulting in a $446K prize pool

.

In February, the cash game promotion will be a "Let it Ride" High Hand Giveaway. Every thirty minutes between noon and midnight, the high hand is worth $600.  If that high hand is a full house or quads, the winner has the option to let the hand play through the next thirty-minute period.  If it remains the high hand, the winner receives an extra $900.  If it does not hold up, the winner who beats that hand receives $1,200 instead of $600.

ARIA:  Sam Soverel won the Main Event of the High Roller Poker Masters series in early November, securing his title as 2019 Masters Champion for his overall performance in the series.  Soverel won $680K for his first place finish in the $50K main event, and finished with 1,160 total points in the series.  His overall winnings for the event were $1.4M.  Kahle Burns and Chance Kornuth each had 630 points for the series, with Burns taking home $586K and Kornuth earning $556K.  Soverel cashed in seven of the 10 events, quite an impressive feat, and also took home the coveted purple jacket for winning the series.

The room runs two popular tournaments daily, and has just added guarantees to the daytime events.  Monday through Thursday the 1 p.m. tournament has a $140 buy-in and a $5K guarantee.  Players start with 12K chips and play 30-minute levels. Late registration and re-entry is open for four levels.  On Friday through Sunday, the starting time is 11 a.m. for the $240 buy-in that now has a $7,500 guarantee. Players start with 20K chips and play 30-minute levels. Entry and re-entry is open for six levels. The guarantees have definitely increased player interest in these dailies, and have been routinely surpassed thus far.

The 7 p.m. tournament running Monday through Thursday is the same as the one during the day, minus the guarantee. The weekend 7 p.m. is the "20/20" tournament.  It's a $140 buy-in for 20K chips, with 20-minute levels.  Players have six levels to register and re-enter.

The cash games are usually hopping at the Aria.  You'll always find multiple $1-$3 NLH games going.  Minimum buy-in is $100, maximum is $300. The $2-$5 game is almost as busy, with a minimum buy-in of $200 and a maximum of $1K.  Another popular option is the $1-$2 PLO game with a $200 minimum and a $500 maximum. 

Beyond that, Aria is home to some of the biggest and most varied cash games in town.  You'll often find a $5-$5 PLO game with a rock that has a $400-$2K buy-in spread.  There are mixed games of various limits available, and much bigger NLH games spreading during busier hours.

BINION'S:  The venerable downtown poker room, the birthplace of the WSOP, has new hours.  The room is now open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., daily.  Of course the room will stay open past 1 a.m. if there are games running. The one daily tournament is at 6 p.m.  It's a $75 buy-in that starts players with 10K chips. There is an optional $25 add-on for 10K chips available any time through the first four levels.  In addition, players can re-buy 10K chips any time they are below 10K through the first four levels.  The levels last 20 minutes. 

The main cash game is a $1-$2 NLH game with a $100 minimum buy-in and no maximum. There are high hand bonuses, and additional bonuses for flopping the high hand.

SOUTH POINT:  Qualifying for the $225K winter freeroll runs January 1 – March 31.  Players need to play 120 hours during the period to earn a seat.

RED ROCK: The popular locals room in Summerlin recently made some changes to their tournament schedule.  Tournaments run daily at noon and 6:30 p.m., except for Saturday, when only a noon tournament is offered.  Monday through Friday the noon tournament is a $60 NLH event with a 6K starting stack, 20-minute levels and a $1K guarantee. Saturday a $100 Bounty tournament runs.  Players start with a 13K stack and play 20-minute levels.  The bounty is $25 and the guarantee is $2K.  Sunday the noon tournament has a $125 buy-in and a $5K guarantee. Players start with 18K chips and play 30-minute levels.

Monday and Thursday the 6:30 p.m. tourney is a $100 NLH Bounty with a 13K starting stack and a $3,500 guarantee. The levels are 20-minutes and the bounties are $25.  Tuesday and Wednesday it's a $90 buy-in with an 18K starting stack and 20-minute levels.  The guarantee is $2K.  Friday evening a $150 NLH Bounty is offered with a $5K guarantee.  The starting stack is 15K, the levels are 20-minutes and the bounties are $50.  Sunday evening the buy-in is $60 for a 7K starting stack, 20-minute levels and a $1,500 guarantee.

All the tournaments offer a $10 add-on for an additional 2K in chips. Players can win free tournament entries for hitting high hands of quads or better during tournament play.

Vegas Poker Scene -- December, 2019

Here's my latest column for Ante Up. You can find it embedded in the entire West region report here.  Remember, I just write the Vegas part.  You can find it in your local poker room now.

Enjoy!

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Bob Shao of Texas won the Wynn Fall Classic’s main event in October, receiving $223K. Eugene Tito of Los Angeles scored $165K for second and Ping Liu of Michigan earned $140K for third. The $1,600 event had 1,024 entrants, resulting in a $1.5M prize pool.

The series hosted a $3,200 event with a $200K guarantee as Tucson’s Adnan Aidi earned $100K for first, while two Las Vegans, Mitch Garshofsky and Alexander Condon, claimed $88K and $44K, respectively. The prize pool of $409K more than doubled the guarantee, as the event drew 128 players. 

The inaugural Wynn Winter Classic runs Dec. 2-22. The $5,300 championship is a three-day event with one starting flight Dec. 18.  The guarantee is $1.5M. Players get a 50K stack and 60-minute levels. A $1,100 NLHE event starts Dec. 12 with a $500K guarantee. Players get 40K chips and 40-minute levels. There are plenty of $400 events, too.

VENETIAN LAS VEGAS: The October Deep Stack Showdown saw Eric Baldwin of Las Vegas win the $400 monster stack for $52K. Andrew Campbell, also of Vegas, took $33K for second and Maine’s Daniel Pickering earned $24K for third. More than 800 players created a prize pool of $275K.

Later in October, Diogo Goncalves Bento of Portugal was the big winner in the $225K Lucky Shot Series and Drawing, taking home $31K for first in the $250 main event. New Zealand’s Paul Hockin earned $19K for second and Shadd Baudoin of Vegas received $14K for third. This unique event had a fixed prize pool of $150K regardless of the size of the field. There were 645 players.

The next Deep Stack Extravaganza runs Dec. 12-Jan. 12. The biggest tournament is a three-day $3,500 event that starts Dec. 21 with one starting flight. Players start with 40K chips and play 60-minute levels. The guarantee is $500K.

A $600 doublestack has the first of its two starting flights Dec. 17.  Players get 30K stacks and 40-minute levels.  The guarantee is $150K.

The $600 monster stack is Dec. 27 with three starting flights and a $300K guarantee. Players get 35K chips and 30-minute levels on Day 1, 40-minute levels on Day 2.

The series guarantees $1.8M-plus.

SOUTH POINT: The new schedule features a 10 p.m. tournament and has guarantees for all tournaments.

The $60 NLHE tournament runs daily at 10 a.m. and
10 p.m. It also runs Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., as well as Monday, Tuesday, Thursday at 6 p.m. Players start with 10K chips and play 20-minute levels. The guarantee is $2K for the 10 a.m., $1K for the 6 p.m., and $500 for the 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. offerings.

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6 p.m., a $125 deepstack. Players get 15K chips and 20-minute levels. Wednesday the guarantee is $5K, Friday and Saturday it’s $7,500 and Sunday it’s $10K.

Fans of Omaha/8 get their chance Tuesday and Friday at
2 p.m. The $60 buy-in starts players with 10K chips. The levels are 20 minutes and the guarantee is $500.

Cash games include a busy $1-$2 NLHE game with a $100 minimum buy-in and a $300 maximum. Recently, the room has been spreading a $2-$3 game ($200-$600 min-max). The room has become a popular location for the meet-up games of vloggers Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen. When they are there, there are multiple tables of $3-$5 NLHE, which has a $300-$1,500 min-max. 

Limit players will find multiple tables of $2-$4 with a $20 buy-in and there’s $3-$6 limit with a $30 minimum.

GOLDEN NUGGET: The Moose International series runs Jan. 10-15. All events, with the exception of the main event Jan. 13, are open to the public. Buy-ins are $75-$200 and a portion of each buy-in is donated to a Moose charity. Traditionally, these events are wild and loose affairs, with the juicy action spilling over into the cash games.

M RESORT: The HPT event scheduled for mid December has been postponed with an eye toward a return next year.

THE STRAT: After rebranding the casino and moving the poker room, the Strat abruptly closed its poker room in October.

Vegas Poker Scene -- November, 2019

Here's my latest column for Ante Up. You can find it embedded in the entire West region report here.  Remember, I just write the Vegas part.  You can find it in your local poker room now.

Enjoy!

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Eric Baldwin of Las Vegas earned $81K for winning the MSPT main event at Venetian’s Deep Stack Extravaganza in September. 

Richard Schneiderman of the United Kingdom took second for $50K and Jason Gooch of Texas was third for $36K. The $1,100 event drew 377 players, creating a $367K prize pool, crushing the $250K guarantee.

The $1,600 main event of the next DSE has two starting flights, beginning Nov. 20, and a $400K guarantee. Players start with 30K chips and get 60-minute levels. Players can enter or re-enter as late as Level 13, which is 3:30 p.m. on Day 2.

The series runs through Dec. 1. The last big event is a $400 Monster Stack (Nov. 29) with a $100K guarantee. Players get 30K chips and 40-minute levels.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD: The WSOPC returns Nov. 15-26. The $1,700 main event, which has a $1M guarantee, begins Nov. 23 and has two starting flights. Players get 30K chips and 40-minute blinds until Level 16 (60 minutes).

HARRAH’S: The WSOPC returns Dec. 12-22. The $250 opener (Dec. 12) has three starting flights and a $50K guarantee. A three-starting-flight $600 event with a $100K guarantee starts Dec. 13. The $1,700 main event has two starting flights beginning Dec. 19 and a $500K guarantee.

THE ORLEANS: The off-Strip poker room revised its tournament schedule. The morning event runs daily at 11:05 a.m. It’s a $100 Super Stack. Players get 25K chips, 20-minute levels and a $5K guarantee.

The evening tournaments start at 7:05 and offer a variety of disciplines. Sundays feature a $125 HORSE tournament. Monday is a $100 Omaha/8-stud/8 mix. Pot-limit Omaha runs Tuesday for $100. The $100 eight-game mix is Wednesday. Thursday features an Omaha/8 tourney. All events have 20-minute levels 15K stacks.

The $130 Friday night event is one of the most popular regularly scheduled tournaments in town. Players get 15K chips, 30-minute levels and a $15K guarantee. A $150 bounty tournament runs Saturday evening. The bounty is $50 and the levels start at 20 minutes, increasing to 30 minutes at Level 7.

The cash games are always busy. Multiple tables of $2-$4 and $4-$8 limit always are going, the minimum buy-ins are $20 and $40, respectively. 

Orleans is the place for Omaha/8. Both $4-$8 with a $40 minimum and $8-$16 with a $80 minimum run around the clock.  And, of course, the $1-$3 NLHE game ($100-$500) is spread over multiple tables 24-7. 

High hands and bad-beat jackpots for hold’em and Omaha are offered. Tournament players are eligible for the Tournament Player of the Month jackpot.

BELLAGIO: The WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic runs Dec. 5-22. The $10,400 main event is Dec. 16. There are two $1,100 seniors events (Dec. 5 and 10).

HEARTLAND POKER TOUR: The HPT returns to Vegas, this time at the M Resort. The series runs Dec. 5-16. The $1,650 main event begins Dec. 12.

THE STRAT: That’s the name for the old Stratosphere. Also, the poker room moved to the retail level. High hands pay $300 for a royal, $150 for a straight flush and $75 for quads. There’s a $50 high hand paid every even hour. The room also offers a $100 High Hand Game Starter. The highest hand during the 11 a.m.-noon hour receives $100.   

EXCALIBUR: The NFL promo covers the Sunday morning game as well as the Monday and Thursday night games. High Hand of the Hour starts two hours before kickoff and runs to 3 p.m. on Sunday and 11 p.m. on Monday and Thursday. During the game, a random seat gets $50 for a field goal, $100 for touchdown and $200 for a safety.

GREEN VALLEY RANCH: The tournament schedule features a $45 tournament daily at 10 a.m. Players get 5K chips and 20-minute levels. There’s a $5 dealer add-on for 5K chips.

The $1-$2 hold’em game always runs with a $100-$300 min-max. A $2-$5 game ($200-$500) runs, too. Limit games are popular with $2-$4, $3-$6 and $4-$8 all offered.

Among the promos is Poker Payday. Players get $100 for playing 20 hours of live poker in a week. The Quad Floppers promo awards players $500 for flopping quads on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday (10 a.m.-10 p.m.), there’s a random drawing every half-hour awarding a player $50. There’s a progressive royal jackpot that starts at $250 and increases $100 each week. The Golden Goals promo hits during Vegas Golden Knights games. Every time the home team scores, two players are selected for a $50 prize and their tables get a $50 splash pot.

Vegas Football Promos -- October Ante Up Column

Here's my latest column for Ante Up, which features the Vegas football promos.  As side note, each year I do this it seems like fewer and fewer rooms are doing football promos.  For whatever that's worth.  The link to find my column on the Ante Up site is here.  Remember I only write the Vegas portion of that post.

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The NFL season is under way and many of the poker rooms around town have promos to encourage poker players to watch the games in their rooms. Here’s what is available.

ORLEANS: For Sunday morning and evening NFL games, seat drawings are held after every score. Field goals and two-point conversions are worth $25, touchdowns by the offense are worth $50 and TDs by the defense or special teams pay $75. Safeties are $75. There will also be a $25 splash pot after any score.

For the Monday and Thursday night games, the promo is Escalating High Hands of the Quarter. The best three hands of each quarter are awarded prizes: $100 for first, $50 for second and $25 for third.

An additional $25 is added to each prize for every field goal, TD or safety scored during the quarter. There are separate jackpots for hold’em and Omaha, same prize amounts for each game.

WESTGATE: Football squares run for three games Sunday as well as the Monday and Thursday night games. Players need a flush or better to earn a square and the payout is $50 for each quarter. There’s a high hand of the quarter worth $50.

SAM’S TOWN:  There are football squares for the Sunday morning game, as well as the Sunday, Monday and Thursday night games. The payout is $50 for each quarter. A flush or better is needed for a square.

STRATOSPHERE: For three games Sunday, and the Monday and Thursday night games, the high hand of each quarter wins $50.

MGM: The promo revolves around high hands and leads to a $25K invitational in January. On gamedays, the best hand of each 15-minute period will receive a cash prize, the size of which depends on how many cash games the room has going at the time.

If it’s seven or fewer, it’s $50; if it’s eight of more, the prize is $100. The best hand of each gameday earns an entry into the Invitational. The promo runs Mondays and Thursdays 4-midnight and Sundays 9-9 p.m. The promo will run during the playoffs, times to be determined.

The Invitational will be Jan. 26. Every qualifying player who registers for it will receive $200 and the winner of the tournament, which will be using a shootout format, gets $5K.

MANDALAY BAY: During the Sunday, Monday and Thursday night games, between 5-9, high hands hit are worth an extra $100. High hands start at jacks full or better. The regular payouts for high hands are $500 for royals, $300 for straight flushes, $100 for quads and $50 for jacks full or better, so the $100 bonus is on top of that.

SOUTH POINT: During NFL games, a random player in a cash game will be selected for a cash prize after every score. It’s $50 for a field goal, $100 for a TD and $200 for a safety. 

The promo runs during the Sunday morning, afternoon and evening games, as well as the Monday and Thursday night games.

Additionally, for the Sunday, Monday and Thursday night games, a player will be selected at the beginning and the end of each game and will choose a prize. 

These winners will receive a football square for the Super Bowl, where the payout will be $2,500 for each quarter and $5K for the final score.

MIRAGE: High hand of the quarter is paid for three Sunday games as well as the Monday and Thursday night games. The first quarter pays $75, second quarter is $125, third quarter is $150, fourth quarter is $200 and overtime is $100.

When the Raiders are playing, there will be splash pots every time they score: $50 for a TD, $25 for a field goal and $100 for a safety.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD: The new promotion is super jackpots. Every day, for a different eight-hour period, high hands get the super-jackpot payout. Royal flushes pay $5K between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Straight flushes pay $2K between noon and 8 p.m. Quads pay $500 between 4 a.m. and noon. The rest of the day, royals are worth $500, straight flushes are $200 and quads pay $100.

Additionally, there’s a royal-flush room-share bonus, which runs 24-7.

Any time a player gets a royal, every active player in a live game receives a payout, the amount depends on how long it’s been since a royal was last dealt in the room. It’s a sliding scale that starts at $25 and increases a maximum of $500 if it’s been at least 15 days since the room has seen a royal.

VENETIAN: The $225K Lucky Shot series and drawing runs Oct. 21-27. It’s a combination of a tournament series and promotional drawing. Each tournament has a fixed prize pool, regardless of the number of entrants. On the last day of the series, a drawing will be pay cash. 

Players earn one drawing ticket for every $250 in tournament entries they make. On Oct. 27, the first 21 tickets drawn will pay $2K. The last ticket drawn will be the grand-prize winner and that player will receive $10K.

The main tournament is a $250 event with six starting flights beginning Oct. 21.

Players start with a 25K stack and play 30-minute levels on Day 1, 40-minute levels on Day 2. The prize pool will be $150K. A maximum of 81 places will be paid.

The evening events include two $125 superstack tournaments with a $4K fixed prize pool, a $200 bounty tournament with a $9K prize pool and a $125 bounty tournament with a $6K prize pool.

Vegas Poker Scene—September 2019

Here's my latest column for Ante Up.  Guess what?  The Ante Up website has finally been updated, and they just posted my latest column on it last night.  You can find it embedded in the entire West region report here.  This is the actually column as is printed in the magazine, not my draft version as it has been for the past few months.

Enjoy!

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Andrey Pateychuk of Russia won the Deepstack Championship Poker Series’ $5K main event on July 20 at the Venetian Las Vegas for $547K. Yake Wu of China received $336K for second and Stephen Chidwick of the United Kingdom earned $245K for third. The event drew 564 entrants for a $2.6M prize pool.

The room hosts the DeepStack Showdown series Oct. 14-20. It features a $400 Monster Stack with a $250K guarantee and five starting flights beginning Oct. 15. Players start with 30K chips and play 30-minute levels on the first day, 40 minutes on Day 2. The top 15 percent of each Day 1 flight will be in the money, with the top 5 percent advancing to Day 2.

Also in October, the cash-game promo is a high-hand giveaway. Every half-hour between noon and midnight, the best hand receives $600. If a player matches the winning hand, that player will receive $1K.

GOLDEN NUGGET: The $600 championship event of the room’s Grand Poker Series finished June 30 and had 1,313 entrants. Michael Policastro from Pennsylvania won the title and $90K. Jeffrey Colpitts of New York took home $80K for second and Israel’s Oren Orly earned $78K for third. The prize pool was $677K.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD: Ben Farrell of the United Kingdom won the Goliath main event for $162K in early July. Ignacio Molina of Andorra won $154K as runner-up and Remi Castaignon got $152K for third. The $1,700 event had 744 players and a $1.1M prize pool.

BELLAGIO: Turkey’s Akin Tuna won the Bellagio Cup in July for $430K. Houston’s Greg Back grabbed $254K for second and Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov took home $166K for third. More than 140 players paid $10,400 to enter, creating a prize pool of nearly $1.4M.

ORLEANS: The final four in the $400 championship event in late June agreed to a deal with Brett Murray of California taking the top prize of $30K. Michael Plaxco of Alabama, Kazuki Sasaki of Japan and Evan Biscow of California each took home $20K. The event had 583 entrants and the prize pool was $200K.

WYNN: Connecticut’s Justin Adams and Virginia’s Sang Ku Kim chopped the Wynn Classic main event in July for $345K each, with Adams declared the winner. Clifford Goldkind of Maryland received $246K for third. The $1,600 event drew 2,300 players for $3.3M prize pool, smashing the $2M guarantee.

ARIA: Tom Marchese added to his nearly $20M of career winnings by taking home $1M for winning the PartyPoker Millions event in early July. Jeremy Ausmus took home $650K for second and Ana Marquez earned $445K for third. The event had 536 players and a prize pool of $5.3M.

SOUTH POINT: Qualifying for the holiday freeroll runs Sept. 1-Nov. 30. Players must log 120 hours of cash-game play to qualify for the freeroll, which runs in December.

Players earn double credit between 9 a.m.-noon, 4-7 p.m., and 10-midnight. You’ll receive cash-bonus payouts for playing more than 120 hours during the qualification period. First place for the freeroll receives $40K. All players who qualify receive $120.

CAESARS PALACE: The room runs five tournaments daily. At 10 a.m., it’s $100 for 12K chips with a $1.5K guarantee. At 2 p.m., it’s $150 for 15K chips with a $2K guarantee. The
6 p.m. tournament is $125 for 12K chips and a $1.5K guarantee. At 9 p.m., the $150 tournament starts with 15K chips and has a $2K guarantee. The midnight tournament is $100 for 10K chips and a $1K guarantee. All events have 20-minute levels except the midnight tourney (15 minutes).

RIO: Tournaments run four times a day at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 and 9. Each has a $65 buy-in and starts players with 5K chips. An optional $5 dealer add-on gets players 5K more. The levels are 20 minutes and there’s a $500 guarantee for each.

FLAMINGO: Six tournaments run daily, except Fridays when there’s no 10 a.m. tournament. A $65 tournament runs at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 9 and midnight. These start with 20K chips, have 15-minute levels and offer a $500 guarantee. At 6 p.m., an $80 bounty with a $700 guarantee is offered with $25 bounties. A $55 turbo with 10-minute levels runs at 4 p.m.

Limit hold’em still thrives here with a popular $3-$6 game (minimum $30 buy-in) that’s always running. A weekly freeroll is available for 12 hours of live play. There are high-hand bonuses.

COMINGS AND GOINGS: Mark Selby has returned to Westgate to manage the poker room after a four-year stint running the room at the Stratosphere. Selby opened the poker room at Westgate when it was known as the LVH and ran it for two years before leaving for the Stratosphere. He once managed the poker room at Riviera, too.

Andrew Simon is the manager at the Stratosphere. He has been there for more than 10 years and has been a supervisor for four years.