Írta: Tim Lavalli
 LAS VEGAS/2007.09.21 [08:11]

The poker room at The Venetian opened in April of 2006, since that time it has been one of the great mysteries of poker in Las Vegas. First of all there simply is no better facility for a poker room anywhere else in Las Vegas or beyond. The room at the Venetian is beautiful. There are 32 tables in the main room and another 5 in the high limit area with another couple of special limit tables in the Salon. Plasma televisions are everywhere. The room itself stands alone within the casino. If you are a fan of poker rooms that are part of the casino you will love the Venetian room and if you like stand alone private rooms, you will love the Venetian room. It really is amazing that this much space (11,000 square feet) was dedicated to this truly unique venture.

Now the bad news. There are a lot of poker rooms competing for players in Las Vegas and in particular, there are a number of high stakes, high-end rooms on this stretch of the strip. Walk outside the Venetian and you can see Bellagio, Mirage, Wynn and Caesar’s Palace; not to mention Treasure Island, Paris and several more casinos with poker rooms. The Venetian Poker Room has been struggling to find its place in the desert sun. This is surprising because it is a completely unique room but perhaps there are enough of the high end rooms and just too many low limit rooms for the Venetian to find its way.

There has been lots of speculation on why the room has failed to take off, much of it centered on high level corporate interference with the operation of the room but if anyone is going to make the Venetian Poker Room run it will be Director of Poker Operations Kathy Raymond. Kathy knows her way around a poker room and knows how to make players feel welcome, so back to the good news.

Every chair in the Venetian is fully adjustable and on wheels, you cannot be more comfortable at a poker table then when you are playing here. Lots of room between tables and good beverage service. In the high limit areas there is gourmet food service, safe deposit boxes for the players and VIP valet parking.

Through the end of 2007 there are reduced rakes on all games $8/$16 and above. A truly once in a lifetime promotion that all mid-limit players should take advantage of.

The regular games offered will include Texas Hold 'em (limit and no-limit), stud, and Omaha, with regular game limits ranging from $4-$8 to $4,000-$8,000.

There are 13 tournaments every week at the Venetian. A noon event Sunday through Thursday for $340 and 6,000 chips (on Friday and Saturday make it $550 and 10,000 chips). In the evening there is a single rebuy tournament at 8 PM, which will get you 4,500 chips for $170; on Friday night you get 4,000 for $205 in a bounty tournament.

I personally find the dealers at the Venetian to be of the highest quality. The floor personnel on the other hand are inconsistent and at times inattentive. I have asked for several rulings while playing in their tournaments and found particularly the late shift to be less than interested in the players or the tournament.

So with the Venetian Poker Room, we are left with the question: If you build the perfect room will they come. The current answer is: maybe. The second answer is: the room needs an equally great staff, hopefully that will come. But for now, the reduced rake promotion should draw bankroll conscious players to the most comfortable room on the Las Vegas Strip.