Ecrit par Tim Lavalli
 LAS VEGAS/25-10-2007

There are many poker players who would say that the poker room at Bellagio in Las Vegas is the best card room on the planet. There is no doubt that Bellagio is the most well known poker room, infamously rivaled only by the Aviation Club in Paris. But is it the best room in the world? The debate goes on.

The Bellagio room has 39 tables, including an elevated high limit area in the back corner and the famous “Bobby’s Room” elegantly glassed in and guarded by its own podium. The Bellagio certainly is a destination room for many poker tourists, just as Binion’s (original home of the World Series of Poker) downtown is for others. For some reason one side of the room (the low limit side actually) is more tightly packed then the rest of the place, being seated there can become a bit claustrophobic and a tad too warm.

The games at Bellagio begin at $4/$8 and head up hill from there to the famous and long running $4,000/$8,000 “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room. Unlike many games that show on the ‘interest’ list only, the Big Game goes many nights a week and you can see Doyle, Phil, Eli, Patrik, Lyle and many other ‘names’ sitting at the table. For the regular player, the games are mostly Hold’em at limits up to $400/$800. They do spread Omaha8 and of course No-Limit Texas Hold’em at a variety of blind structures.

Everyone should be aware that the Bellagio is a “working room” for many local professionals’ at all blind levels. When I first played there I was seated next to a very nice lady, who I have seen playing there literally dozens of times in my many visits over the past five years. She lives in Las Vegas and she plays at Bellagio four days a week; while she may not pay the mortgage with her winnings, I would venture to say the Mercedes keys she hands the valet are a perk of her devotion to the game.

Tournaments at Bellagio run seven days a week. Sunday through Thursday there is a $540 NLHE event with 3,000 starting chips. Friday and Saturday the buy-in is $1,080 for 5,000 chips. These are all no rebuy events, they all begin at 2 PM and single table satellites for each day’s event begin at 9 AM. All the STS are two winner tables; $130 for the $540 and $240 for the $1,080. Be prepared, you will definitely be playing with professionals in the Bellagio events.

The regularly scheduled daily tournaments are not held during the four big events currently on the Bellagio schedule. These include:

The Five Star World Poker Classic (WPT) a spring (April) event the past few years.

The Five Diamond (WPT Championship) $25,000 Doyle Brunson Classic held in December.

Festa Al Lago Poker Tournament, which has been an October event the past several years but is being rescheduled for this year.

The Bellagio Cup (WPT) which ran opposite the World Series of Poker this past summer.