Written by Tim Lavalli
 LAS VEGAS/Thursday, 25 October 2007

Players looking to compete in the richest events in the world, like those on the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker, can find great stepping-stone tournaments in Las Vegas every week. The Strip is a great place to find bigger buy-in tournaments with fairly small fields. These kinds of tournaments can help players gain experience with accomplished competitors, long blinds levels, and a great chance to finish in the money.

To kick off the weekends, those who have jobs can skip out of work early to make the noon $540 buy-in no-limit Hold’em tournament at the Wynn. Players start with $5,000 in chips. Blinds begin at $25-$50 and go up every 45 minutes. Attracting an average of about three tables, this tournament is perfect for players who want a high level of competition but don’t want to be playing all day.

For players who would rather sacrifice a day at the poker table for a more generous blinds structure and deeper starting stacks, the Venetian is the place for them. The fairly new room has already gained a reputation for running some of the best “deep-stacked” tournaments around. Every Saturday at noon, the Venetian poker room has a $550 buy-in no-limit Hold'em event where players receive $10,000 in starting chips. The blinds start at $25-$50 and increase every 40 minutes. This tournament usually attracts around four to five tables.

To round out the weekend, players can head to the Mirage. There is a $430 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament at 5 p.m. Players get $4,000 in chips and the blinds increase every 30 minutes.

Known for high-stakes poker, Bellagio provides another option every day of the week. The poker room runs a $540 buy-in no-limit Hold'em event on Sunday-Thursday at 2 p.m. It features a $3,000 starting stack and 45-minute blinds levels. On Friday and Saturday, the famous $1,080 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament takes place. Since a number of big-name poker pros call Bellagio their second home, they can often be found playing in this tournament. It starts at 2 p.m., and there are generally about four to five tables. The players get $5,000 chips with blinds starting at $25-$50 that go up every 40 minutes.