Tuscany Poker Room.

The Tuscany Suites and Casino located just off the Las Vegas Strip on Flamingo receives high marks on the list of Las Vegas Poker Rooms. The recently opened poker room at the Tuscany offers players unique options to make their visit the best it can be.

The Tuscany Suites and Casino is a pleasant surprise for most first time guest. The all-suite rooms are some of the largest and most comfortable in Las Vegas. The central pool area is filled with plush tropical plants that provide an atmosphere of quite inviting luxury, a great place to shed the stresses of reality.

Locals have long known that the Tuscany is a hidden gem offering outstanding accommodations, great food, a modern full service casino and old Vegas service. The 24/7 coffee shop offers all the standard Las Vegas diner fare along with a great oriental menu. A Mexican restaurant provides the more adventurous hungry guests a full menu of dishes straight out of the desert southwest. Casual, elegant dinning straight out of Tuscany can be had at the Tuscany Gardens; where diners are afforded a menu filled with Italian specialties. The intimate Tuscany Gardens dining room has a view of the tropical gardens surrounding the hotel's inner open-air atrium.

The casino under the direction of Kevin Beaton, Director of casino Operations, is a softly lit spacious and modern facility with plenty of your favorite slots, video poker and table games. Ample parking is convenient and close to the action or you may take advantage of the free valet service. The Tuscany is within easy walking distance of the Las Vegas strip and many of the major strip properties. Convenient to McCarran International Airport, the Tuscany is an oasis of tranquility on Flamingo Avenue just off the Las Vegas strip. The Tuscany slogan says it all, "Escape to the Tuscany." The recently opened Tuscany Poker Room is easy to spot in its central location marked by a brilliant red neon 'Poker Room' sign. The room currently has 5 tables that will be increasing to eight tables in the very near future. Poker Room Manager, Bob Sanders, a veteran of 28 years in the poker industry, knows what the player wants and has planned his poker room to fill those needs. The Tuscany has a full service sat down bar right in the room. The bar tender comes on duty at 5:00 pm to provide players with free drink service until 2-3:00 am, every night. Tables set up along one wall are loaded with finger foods for players. The food items change through out the day from breakfast items in the morning to sandwiches and treats in the afternoon and evening. The snack table is a twenty-four hour offering located inside the poker room.

The Tuscany Poker Room is currently spreading Hold'em games with $2/4, $4/8 and $6/12 limits. No-limit Hold'em is offered in two varieties: $1-$2 blinds and a $40-$200 buy-in plus a higher limit $2-$5 blinds with a $100-$400 buy-in. In addition to the Hold'em games the room offers an Omaha Hi/Lo game. A daily high hand promotion pays a bonus to players for high hands and two bad beat promos are currently running in the room. The Jackpot bad beat and the House bad beat pay players for losing with specific hands. Details of the high-hand and bad beat jackpots are available in the room.

The Tuscany Poker Room has a daily Hold'em tournament at noon appropriately called 'Nooners at the Tuscany.' Entrance into a monthly $2,500 Freeroll Tournament can be had by players for fifteen hours of play during one of the qualifying periods.

The Tuscany poker room comp policy is typical of today's Las Vegas poker rooms offering players $1 for every hour of play. The comp credits can be used almost everywhere in the Tuscany including the restaurants, hotel and the gift shop. Bob Sanders, Manager of the Tuscany poker room, can be reached by e-mail at: bsanders@tuscanylasvegas.com. The direct telephone line into the poker room is 702.595.0959. Hotel reservations are available at 702.893.8933.

Tuscany Poker Room's free bar.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phil Gordon will be at tonight's final table.

Two events from the 2005 World Series of Poker are scheduled on ESPN tonight beginning at 7:00 pm East Coast time. Tonight's two events are event #7, a $1,000 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament followed by event #9, $2,000 buy-in No-limit Hold'em.

The first hour brings the $1,000 No-limit Hold'em match with $1,000 re-buys. A record (unofficial) number of re-buys (28) was made by Daniel Negreanu in this event in 2004. He had $29,000 invested in the prize pool of $1,261,700. Daniel then outlasted all but two of the 538 players to finish third and receive $100,940, giving him a net gain of just over $71,000, not bad pay if you can do it. Maybe that is why we watch and Daniel plays. Tonight's 2005 edition of the same WSOP re-buy tournament doesn't break Daniel's record of re-buys; but, it did set another record, 826 players showed up making it the largest re-buy tournament in the history of the World Series of Poker. The following list namers the players making the final table, with their seat assignment and chip count going into tonight's show:

Chuck Thompson (9) $544,000
CT Law (4) $516,000
David "The Dragon" Pham (1) $323,000
Shae Drobushevich (2) $248,000
Pascal Perrault (7) $225,000
Mike Gracz (5) $173,000
Shane Schleger (6) $134,000
Phil Gordon (3) $91,000
Meng La (8) $71,000

You can be there for much more of the final table action than tonight's hour broadcast by clicking over to Tao of Poker and read Dr. Pauly's live blog from his ring-side seat. Get the full illustrated story behind event #7 as experienced live by Pauly and Flipchip. Be sure to read Dr. Pauly's Wrap-Up of event #7 on the Poker Prof's Las Vegas & Poker Blog. The complete list of finishers and prize money for event #7 is available in the Poker Player Newspaper's tournament library.

The second hour of tonight's 2005 WSOP offering is the $2,000 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament, event #9. The event set a record for players with 1403 players competing for a total prize pool of $2,581,520. The final table players with seat assignment and chip count are listed below.

Morgan Machina (6) $1,050,000
Paul Sexton (7) $362,000
Erik Seidel (3) $354,000
Cyndy Violette (2) $305,000
Soulier Fabrice (4) $224,000
Perry Friedman (5) $219,000
Harry Demetriou (9) $184,000
Chris Wunderlich (1) $110,000
Bill Blanda (8) $46,000

To be there for all of the final table action beyond the hour of TV, go to Tao of Poker's record of event #9 blogged live as it happened from Dr. Pauly's perspective sitting within a few feet of the table. Read Pauly's Wrap-Up of event #9 on the Poker Prof's Las Vegas & Poker Blog. Get the complete results of event #9 and all the WSOP events from the Poker Player Newspaper tournament library. Don't forget that broadcast times may vary so check your local listings for ESPN in your area. Look beyond the players at the final table and you can probably see Dr. Pauly sitting behind the glowing screen of his laptop. LasVegasVegas offers the 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery by Flipchip with more than a thousand images of all the sights from the 2005 World Series of Poker.

Cyndy Violette's side table.

Posted by flipchipro at 2:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

J. Santos' Muck It cartoon.

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Back entrance into the Super Book at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

Today is one 'hot damn' day here in Las Vegas. The next couple of days will see temps go to 110 degrees or more; but, this will probably be summer's last gasp. The triple digit weather gets traded for some nineties weather and Las Vegas is definitely headed into the 'perfect weather' season. Just the opposite of living in a cold zone where autumn days are a promise of shoveling snow soon.

This week's Nines List is courtesy of the Poker Geek. I so appreciate the Poker Geek giving me the day off I decided to take the time and get reaquanted with Las Vegas.

We stopped by the Las Vegas Hilton late last evening and saw the almost complete Hilton Poker Room. It is indeed in the same space, only less of it, than the original and the new decor does not match the former elegance. In days gone by directly across from the room was massive sized restrooms built to handle the multitudes of sports bettors that would assemble daily at the Hilton's then-new Super Book, the first joint to offer a wall of video including movie size screens. Enough of the old feel is there to warrant a serious look come the September 2nd grand opening. One major difference is the buffet now directly across from the card room, which reminds me of the old Trop Card Room that was just outside the buffet, but that's another place, another time.

The Poker Geek shares with us the Top Nine things he's learned this year. And now, courtesy of the Poker Geek, this week's Nine...

The nine most important things I've learned this year (in honor of Las Vegas Vegas):


9. When in doubt, call for Razz.

8. Listen to Hank and Bill, for they are wise in the ways of poker.

7. If you get your money in when you're ahead, you have no reason to whine.

6. Blogger tables are +EV (when EV stands for Entertainment Value).

5. Moving up in limits is usually not the solution to any problem.

4. Never make a prop bet with Perry Friedman.

3. You should have listened to Hank and Bill, you moron.

2. A scary table image is worth my weight in poker chips (Though I don't weigh that much).

1. It's now a proven fact...Chicks Dig Poker Geeks!

And now...on to Year Two---Chris

The Las Vegas Hilton.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Center Strip Las Vegas.

The photos that were intended to run with the Harrah's purchase of the Imperial Palace article below somehow got misplaced. The photos I used came from my stock of Vegas photos. The photos I shot to illustrate the piece have finally been found and I have decided to offer them in a mini-gallery today. A good way to end the week with some fresh (taken on Tuesday) photos of Las Vegas.

Other news around Las Vegas of interest is the reopening of the Las Vegas Hilton's Poker Room. The "new" room will be in the exact area of the Hilton's sports book as the "old" room that was closed many years ago. I have always said that the Hilton's card room was the finest I have ever played. The decor was old English country manor and the atmosphere was plush, professional and comfortable. The cavernous Hilton sports book was the perfect backdrop for the room. The card room management insisted on a set of house rules that left little room for interpretation so rules were applied fairly and consistently, a rare thing for the day. The first royal flush I ever had in a live game was at the Hilton, in hearts in a $5-$10 seven card stud game.

I played at the Hilton almost every day, enjoying the hushed elegance of the 28 table room. In fact, I won $500 in one of the grand opening promos when my name was drawn. The tournaments there were always great and the Hilton was where I developed my basic tournament skills. Incidentally, the Hilton's Tournament Director back then was Dick Gatewood, the current Manager of Sam's Town Poker. The tournament action was great and well attended. I once was at a final table with four former world champions. The prize pools would often be over $50K for some of these weekly tournaments. The comp policy was the best. Food comps could be had to most of the restaurants if you were a regular, even VIP show tickets to the Hilton's main showroom were available.

The beginning of the end of the card room was the closing of the back parking lot to erect an outdoor boxing ring. Many of the regulars quit the room when the convenient parking went away. The final blow was the opening of the Mirage and its' card room. The crowd quickly deserted the Hilton and the card room was unceremoniously closed and turned into executive offices, while the room staff was turned into the street. I will follow the opening of the room and get some photos of the new room with all of the old memories.

Harrah's on the Strip in las Vegas.

More Harrah's on the Strip in las Vegas.

The Venetian on the Strip in las Vegas.

The Wynn on the Strip in las Vegas.

Posted by flipchipro at 2:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Heavyweight Championship of Poker was officially announced today in the latest copy, Vol. 9 Number 5, of Poker Player. The tournament is the brain child of Northern California professional poker player, Jerry Reed, whom tried for six years to organize the event into reality. Jerry finally realized he needed a channel to this market and brought his idea to Poker Player's publisher and founder, Stanley R. Sludikoff. Stanley immediately recognized the potential of such a tournament venue, partnered with Jerry and started implementing the necessary steps that would turn the idea into a Holiday Tournament.

Stanley realized this unique poker tournament structure, patterned after the successful championship boxing format, was destined to take its place alongside the two existing major poker tournaments, the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. Shopping around for a location lasted more than a year before Stanley arrived at Carl Icahn's Straosphere in Las Vegas to meet with Bob Dunning, Director of Poker Operation. Bob immediately agreed that the event would be exactly what Icahn wanted for his facility. The time line was set for the tournament to take place at the Stratosphere just before Christmas, December 18th to the 22nd of this year. The Heavyweight Championship of Poker is now being billed as the "highest stakes poker tournament at the highest card room in the world."

The highest card room in the world is easy to figure out since the Stratosphere is the tallest structure in the western US; but, the highest stakes poker tournament? Yes, that's exactly right since the buy-in for the event will be $100,000 + $5,000. The 2005 inaugural tournament will be limited to 100 players vying for the $10 million prize pool. The winner of the 2005 Heavyweight Championship of Poker will receive a $5 million purse; then, after three months, the boxing format comes into play again. The Champion will be required, after three months, to take on challengers, not less than one per month, that put up the $1,120,000 to the champs' $1,000,000. The loser of the challenge match receives a $105,000 buy-in into the following year's Heavyweight Championship of Poker while the challenge winner is required to defend his championship within thirty days.

The tournament has finally gone public after receiving the blessing of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and acquiring the additional permits and signatures required in making everything legal. Stanley Sludikoff was quoted as saying,

"The most surprising aspect of this event is the way it has been received by top players in the poker community, most of whom were informed during the 2005 WSOP. Knowing that $100,000 is not small potatoes for nearly everyone, I was flabbergasted that virtually everyone that I have spoken to so far have indicated that they will play."

The first group of ten players will include Carl Icahn, Stratoshere owner, and Lyle Berman, World Poker Tour owner, playing with eight other household-name gaming industry people. The second group of ten will be well known professionals staked to their buy-ins by the public, and the public backers will own 60% of the group's winnings. Included in this group are Doyle Brunson, T.J. Cloutier, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Phil Gorden, Antonio Esfandiari, Marcel Luske, Jennifer Harman, Mike Sexton and a to-be-named-later pro. Twenty additional players will be on the invite list including most of the who's who of poker. Sixty players will join this elite group by winning their way into the tournament through casino (Land & Internet) satellites. Forty players will come from land based casinos and the final twenty from internet card rooms. Players coming into the tournament from these satellites will only own 68% of themselves, since each will be giving the property where they qualified 5% and the lucky nine at a satellite winner's table get 3% each. And logos? Not only can the players wear a logo, they must wear the logo of their qualifying casino. This arrangement will allow for the greatest number of players and properties to have a vested interest in the Heavyweight Championship of Poker. Television rights to the tournament series are currently in negotiations and their progress will be announced. We will provide additional details as we get them, and details will be available on the Poker Player Newspaper website.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Harrah's Entertainment owns most everything you see.

The latest news from Las Vegas is the sale of the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Harrah's Entertainment announced on Monday that they have purchased the property for $370 million. The Imperial Palace sits on 18.5 acres between Harrah's and the Flamingo, both owned by Harrah's Entertainment. The purchase price for the aging Imperial Palace was basically a vacant land deal amounting to $20 million an acre, the going price for center strip frontage. Harrah's now controls more than 270 acres of Las Vegas strip frontage real estate, more than enough to allow Harrah's to design many future projects. The recently announced MGM Mirage project, City Center, being built on 66 acres of west side strip frontage may now have some serious competition from Harrah's. Harrah's now has the land and location to design and build an even bigger project on the east side of the strip. Harrah's also owns the property directly across the strip from Harrah's/Imperial Palace/Flamingo, Caesar's Palace Resort, which was acquired from Caesar's Entertainment in June of this year in a $9 billion deal. Just down the strip they have ownership of another major parcel with Bally's and the Paris casinos. Of course, as everyone in the poker world knows, Harrah's owns the off-strip Rio Hotel and Casino, home to the World Series of Poker, also owned by Harrah's.

Harrah's officials issued a press release announcing the sale and a time table for the completion of the transfer was listed as the end of the year. The Imperial Palace hotel has 2640 rooms and was built by transplanted North Dakotan, Ralph Engelstad. Engelstad purchased the old Flamingo Capri property and built the Imperial Palace. Engelstad and the IP gained international notoriety in the late 1980's when he was fined a record $1.5 million and his gaming license was placed in probation after the Nevada Gaming Commission found that he had damaged the reputation and image of the states gaming industry due to some rather bizarre behavior. Ralph held parties at the Imperial Palace every April 20th celebrating the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Additionally, he had amassed a large collection of Nazi war memorabilia which was housed in a large private room in the IP Auto Collection area. A lifesize painting of Hitler giving a speech showed Ralph Engelstad in a Nazi uniform standing along side the infamous figure. Apparently Engelstad enjoyed hosting parties at the hotel. He held birthday parties for his dogs with mandatory attendance of selected IP employees. Generally, the party goers left with a nice gift.

Although Ralph Engelstad died in November 2002, the IP continued to operate under the guidance of his wife of 48 years, Betty Engelstad. She managed the property through the Ralph and Betty Engelstad Trust. The IP employs 2,500 plus people whose futures with the property are unknown. Rumor says Harrah's will implode the buildings once the future project development of the property is decided. The only strip frontage on the block that is not owned by Harrah's is the small, 4.4 acre, Barbary Coast Casino, which is held by the Boyd Gaming Group.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A 2005 World Series of Poker Bracelet and a pile of cash await the winners tonight.

The 2005 World Series of Poker begins broadcast tonight on the ESPN Network. The first hour brings you the final table of event #2 (Event #1 was limited to casino employees), a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em contest. The second hour will be event #3, a $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em tournament. Enough quality poker action to satisfy the most jaded fan of poker.

The No-Limit Hold'em event features the result of three days of play. A record 2,305 players were seated for the tournament, the second largest crowd (at that time) to do so, right behind the 2004 WSOP main event that attracted 2,576 players. Early into the first day tournament officials realized the event could not be completed in the two days allotted and issued a press release announcing that an extra day would be added. This was a pattern repeated throughout the tournament because of the record numbers of players in every 2005 event. I was there, along with Dr. Pauly, for every hour of every event including this one. Even though the television series compresses it into something less than one hour, there was many hours of very competitive play before the final table was decided. The following roster lists the all-star players making the spotlight. Seat assignment ( ), hometowns and chip counts follow each name:

Allen Cunningham (4), Marina del Rey, California, $728,000
Scott Fischman (2), Las Vegas, $707,000
Charlie Huff (5), Geneva, Ohio, $509,000
Can Kim Hua (7), Rosemead, California, $440,000
An Tran (9), Las Vegas, $337,000
Devilfish Ulliott (3), England, $270,000
Richard Boutwell (1), Duluth, Georgia, ( $204,000
Liz Lieu (8), Los Angeles, $177,000
Randy Edmunson (6), Columbus, Michingan, $89,000

The event had a prize pool of $3,180,900 and offered the winner $725,405 plus a gold 2005 WSOP championship bracelet. Tao of Poker's Pauly live blogged the final table so if you want to know more including the actual details, Dr. Pauly's close-up view and hand-by-hand go to Pauly's Tao of Poker Blog. The complete results can be found at Poker Player Newspaper.

The second hour of 2005 WSOP action tonight will be the final table of the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit event #3. Another record crowd of 1071 players began play on the first day. The event collected a prize pool of $1,477,980 paying out $369,545 for first place plus another of the coveted gold WSOP champion bracelets. The final table nine complete with seat assignments and chip counts follows:

Seat 1; Arash Ghaneian 87,000
Seat 2: Ernest Patrick 118,000
Seat 3: Gavin Smith 73,000
Seat 4: Mario Valenzuela 116,000
Seat 5: Pierre Nasr 118,000
Seat 6: Tony Ma 48,000
Seat 7: Thom Werthmann 265,000
Seat 8: David Bach 130,000
Seat 9: Layne Flack 391,000

The final table action was live blogged by Dr. Pauly from his ring side seat at the media table. Complete results of this event can be found at Poker Player Newspaper.

A 2005 World Series of Bracelet on an official 2005 WSOP table.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

J. Santos' Muck It cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Steve Lipscomb, head of the WPT.

Rumors are flying around that the WPT will begin allowing players to wear logos (probably only one logo) at the final televised table of World poker Tour events. This has to be, if true, some of the best news to come down the pike for the professional players trying to make a legitimate living from the sport. This latest development will open the floodgates for big-time sponsorship of players. Corporate sponsors will gladly pay out the big bucks for the exposure of their brand on national TV. The poker community can now join with other professional sports figures reaping the benefits of sponsorship money. Players can even stay in hotel rooms instead of their cars when on the road and eating regularly too, just like other professional sports figures.

Its rumored that Steve Lipscomb, founder and CEO of the WPT, has been trying to work out an agreement that will make the players and the Travel Channel happy. The travel Channel has been adamant in their refusal to allow televised final tables to show any logos, whither worn by players or stenciled on the table, they are not allowed. The players blame this problem on the WPT for not negotiating with the network to allow them to wear sponsor logos. Apparently, Mr. Lipscomb has been negotiating with the network to find a compromise that pleases both sides.

The increased competition for viewers and players has quickly become a fierce battle fueled by the ever increasing popularity of the sport. The 2005 World Series of Poker televised series on ESPN includes final tables from the WSOP Circuit tour and the WSOP and does permit players to display a sponsor's logo. This factor could pull many of the top players away from the WPT should scheduling conflicts occur. The WPT, sans Shana Hyatt, must continue to draw the top name pros to their tournaments in order to remain on top of the poker show rating's heap.

Rumors heard in the street say the WPT tournament scheduled for mid September at the Borgata Resort will be the first event allowing the players making the final televised table to wear sponsorship logos. This turn of events will be remembered as the sport's quantum leap to the next level of legitimacy.

I have carefully considered what effect this latest move will have on poker in general and I have assembled a list of changes to expect. This week's Nines...

Top Nine changes to poker as a result of allowing logos on TV.

9. Vandals tattoo WSOP logo across Lipscomb's head.

8. No longer easy to tell if you are watching Poker or Nascar.

7. Isabelle Mercier receives huge checks for her Butt Board.

6. Great excuse to get fat, more ad space to sell.

5. Fidel Castro offers huge sponsorship to Amir Vahedi.

4. The Chicken Ranch agrees to sponsor players going all-in.

3. Only Phil Hellmuth is good enough to sponsor Phil Hellmuth.

2. Play suspended when two beer sponsored players get into heated taste great, less filling argument.

1. Blinking neon Full Tilt hats!

Posted by flipchipro at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Isabelle Mercier.

I've taken note of all the queries and requests for photos and information for Isabelle Mercier, the petite professional player from Canada. Isabelle was a fixture at most of the events at the 2005 World Series of Poker and fortunately for us, Isabelle is not camera shy, nor does she shun the media's request for photos and interviews.

I first took notice of Isabelle and her trademark denims during the Bellagio's Five Star. Not only is Isabelle a great looking lady; but, she is a very capable tournament poker player. I have selected a few photos I've shot and offer them here in a Isabelle Mercier mini-gallery.

Isabelle Mercier playing at the 2005 WSOP.

Isabelle Mercier goes all-in at the 2005 WSOP.

What's on Isabelle's iPod?

Isabelle chats with fellow player.

Isabelle flys by.

Isabelle leaving.

Isabelle Mercier takes an apple break.

Isabelle playing in the 2005 WSOP women's event.

Isabelle Mercier's trademak denims.

Isabelle takes a break during the 2005 WSOP.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Mirage Resort's volcano erupts on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Mirage Resort sitting amid a rain forest of palm trees, exotics and wild beast will always be remembered as the first ground-up super resort created by Steve Wynn. Opened in 1989, the Mirage was the first property to be billed as a destination unto its' self.

I still remember those simple billboards around Las Vegas with one large word, "Mirage" in white on a black background.

The Mirage is truly a world class resort offering the guest every possible amenity. Luxuriously landscaped grounds surround equally luxurious hotel accommodations. Constructed for a cost of $650 million, early speculation ran high about the survival over/under of such a costly resort. Needless to say, $650 million for a 3,049 luxury resort sounds rather cheap in today's multi-billion dollar projects.

The modern, plush casino is the resort's core area surrounded by a dozen restaurants and snack bars. A mix of bars and lounges are conveniently located throughout the resort. The Mirage is probably most famous for the erupting volcano sitting serenely in a lagoon out front surrounded by tropical plants and valet parking. The original volcanic eruptions were spiked with a Pina Colada fragrance personally chosen by Wynn. The erupting of the volcano is a traffic stopper with it's great special effects. Inside the hotel is the white tiger habitant providing luxurious accommodations for these regal animals. It's always a crowd pleaser to watch these huge rare cats just being cats, and when you tire of the felines you can visit the Mirage's unique Dolphin Habitant. Just being close and watching these high intelligence aquatic creatures is simply fascinating.

The Mirage is convenient to everything center strip. A short stroll takes you to many of the other major properties on the strip. Shopping is always close with plenty of shops located right on the property. The Forum Shops are next door and the Fashion Show Mall is easy walking distance along the strip.

The Mirage Poker Room has become the industry standard that other rooms are measured against. The room supports 31 tables, most with auto card shufflers, spreading everything from low-limit games all the way up to "How much you got?" Limits vary from $3-$6 up to structured buy-in, No-Limit formats. The games spread include Texas Hold'em, Omaha 8 or Better and 7 Card Stud. Favored by professional players since opening day, the Mirage Poker Room is one of the most popular in Las Vegas. Expertly managed by the Director of Poker Operations, Donna Harris, the Mirage Poker Room is the results of Donna's twenty-five years of experience with the organization, having started her gaming career at the Original Wynn property, the downtown Golden Nugget. Donna listens closely to what the players are saying and responds to make your visit to the Mirage Poker Room as enjoyable as possible.

The comp policy for the room is currently being revamped and computerized. The room has practiced a manual comp policy until now, much like the Las Vegas of old. Additionally, the room is experimenting with a few six-handed hold'em tables and early player feedback indicates the players love them, especially the more sophisticated player, so additional six handed tables with a variety of limits are on the way.

The Mirage Poker Room runs the Mirage Poker Zone Tournaments every Sunday through Thursday evenings with details as follows:

Sunday...A 5:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $330 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $200 buy-ins during first hour and 1 add-on.

Monday...A 7:00 pm start time Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $100 buy-ins during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Tuesday...A 7:00 start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. Unlimited $100 buy-ins during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Wednesday...A 7:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $130 + 0 buy-in. One $100 rebuy during the first hour and 1 add-on.

Thursday...A 7:00 pm start time No-Limit Hold'em with a $230 + 0 buy-in. One $200 rebuy during the first hour.

The Mirage Poker Room also hosts two major tournaments during the year. The Poker Showdown in late May is a WPT sanctioned event that attracts large numbers of professionals and amateurs alike. The Heads-Up tournament is also a crowd pleaser and is scheduled to coincide with the Poker Showdown.

I have always enjoyed the amenities and comforts of the Mirage Poker Room. Easy parking, a short walk and you are in one of the premier poker rooms in the world. If you enjoy playing poker in plush surroundings located in the heart of a major Las Vegas resort; then, the Mirage Poker Room is the one for you.

You can contact the Mirage poker room by e-mail at: dh@mirage.com or call 702.791.2290. The toll free reservations number is 800.374.9000.