Where to play tourney's in Vegas

[coolmoedee]

Hey guys, thought you would be the best to ask this....I'm going to vegas for 5 days and im staying at a friends timeshare a few miles off the strip. I play a lot of tournaments but everytime i go to vegas I play at the Mirage or Bellagio or the Wynn. While they are nice hotels they usually only have large buy in tourney's....I would like to know some good places to play in $50 to $200 buy in tournaments? I would prefer a nice room as well but beggers can't be choosers. thanks guys.

[BigAlK]

Arnold Snyder's site has a listing of regular low to medium buy-in tournaments in Vegas. Also there was a post in the last week or so in MTTc (cross posted from B&M) that had a pretty nice list. Depending on when you'll be there the Orleans and Binions are each running a series of tournaments this summer, some of which IIRC are in your range. They've got some nice (slower than normal) structures.

[PantsOnFire]

I tried to find the tourneys with the best structures.
This is a repost:

I just went to Vegas and did some research. Here is a table I brought with me to decide what to do each day. I found Ceaser's and The Venetian to be the best.

There were no good SnG games I could find. Almost all tourneys and SnGs start with 25/50 blind level. Most SnG start with 1000-1500 chips and 15 min levels. And the blinds double every level. For me, this is complete crap and the best cards win these.

Ceasar's has 40 minute levels which is great. Both Ceasar's and Venetian have good starting chips for their MTTs. If you can manage one big MTT ($300-$500), you really get the feel of a big tourney with tons of starting chips for lots of good poker.

The noon weekday at Ceasars was my favourite and when they get more than 60 entrants (happened every time for me), they pay all nine places at the final table.

Ceaser's also runs satellites on Saturday to their big tourney at 3:30.

(Note: some of my buyin numbers are off because I was confused by addon/rebuy/staff option structures but they are in the right ballpark)


Time Day Casino Buyin BB Level Time
11:00AM Sa Su Bally’s 100 + 40 rebuy 90 30 (4-5 hours)
12:00PM M-F, Su Caesers 80 + 40 rebuy 90 40 (6-7 hours)
12:00PM M-T, Su Venetian 380 120 40 (8-9 hours)
12:00PM F Sa Venetian 600 200 40 (8-9 hours)
3:30PM M-Su Harrahs 115 60 15 (2-3 hours)
3:30PM Sa Caesers 370 150 40 (6-7 hours)
4:59PM M-Su Caesers SnG 70 and 140 30 15 (1-2 hours)
6:00PM M-T, Su MGM 150 60 30 (3-4 hours)
7:00PM M-Su Harrahs 115 60 15 (2-3 hours)
7:00PM M-Su Caesers 143 + 100 rebuy 90 40 (6-7 hours)
8:00PM M-T, Su Venetian 150 50+ 30 (6-7 hours)

[namespace]

Venetian 8pm was my favorite.
I found lots of tourists at the table who were there to have a good time and drink.

[SonofDjugashvili]

I know you said you like a nice room :-), but Binions 2pm and 7pm is a $70 + $40 one-time re-buy, and has a very nice and gradual blind structure that definitely allows for skill to show through. 20 minute blind levels and 3500 chips to start.

[TFGoose]

For a nice cheap buy-in event, you could also try the Sahara at the end of the strip. They have a $42 tournament 3 times a day at 11:00am, 7:00pm, and 11:00pm. It has one optional $20 rebuy/addon that most people tend to take right away. I believe that gets you a total of 3500 in chips and you start at the 25/25 level with 20 minute rounds. They usually get a decent turnout for all of these, with the 7:00 pm tourney having 100+ players on any given night.

Anyway, it's a fun little tourney, and has the best structure of any cheap buy-in tournament I've seen in Vegas.

--TFGoose

[APipeDream]

For decent buy-ins, I love the Venetian. For a good time and tons of beginners, Sahara's tourneys are easy to cash in. $40 or so and a one-time $20 add-on.

[DonkeyChip]

Regarding the 'nice room' and the Binions tourneys...I stayed at the Nugget in 2004 and the room was fine...but for me downtown isn't an option with the WSOP @ Rio.

Not to derail this thread too much but how much are people willing to give up in terms of the juice vs. a better structure? On the allvegaspoker site the far right column shows the % of the buy-in that goes into the kitty...some are close to 90% and some are @ 60%. I played the little Flamingo morning tourney almost everyday last year and the structure is really bad but it's only $60+$10.

[coolmoedee]

Ok, thanks guys but here is my other problem...I am Canadian, and therefore will be subject to tax on any winnings over $1200 I think? Can anyone clarify that for me and if that is the case is it even worth my while to play in a tourney that pays over $1200 when I will lose 30% before I get paid? I got third in a tournament in AZ a few years ago and it paid $1700 but i only got $1200, seems like im losing too much value for my money. Thoughts?

[coolmoedee]

maybe i'll start a new thread for that one.