Venetian hosts 37 poker tables. That is the largest in Las Vegas, tying Bellagio. Venetian once spread 57 tables. A 2016 downsize removed about one-third of those tables. However, many of those tables and more return for special events, like the Deepstack Extravaganza.

The poker room at Venetian introduced a jackpot drop and rake increase after that remodeling. This turned off some players, while others already avoided the Venetian poker room due to its parent company’s stance against online poker. Las Vegas Sands owns Venetian. Sheldon Adelson is its CEO.

Answer 1 of 21: I have been going to Vegas pretty regularly for the past 4 years. It's becoming harder and harder to find the 9/6 machines in any one casino either on the Strip or on Fremont St. I am not a huge gambler but like to sit for awhile and put $100.00.

Many live poker players do not care about any of this. That is why Venetian is still a top-five poker room in Las Vegas. That is still quite a change from the days when it competed with Bellagio for the top spot.

Best and Worst Features of the Venetian Poker Room

Parking is free at Venetian and its sister property, Palazzo. There is a decent level of action. Dealers and floor people are experienced. The Deepstack Extravaganza is a great tournament series that runs several times a year.

It became a jackpot-chasing room that created some tight games during promo hours. The high rake and jackpot drop are negatives when compared to other rooms.

The regular games at Venetian are 1/2 and 2/5 no-limit Hold’em. The 1/2 game has a buy-in range of $100 to $300. The 2/5 game is $200 to $1,000.

Weekends may bring about a 5/10 no-limit Hold’em with a buy-in of $800 to $5,000 or 1/2 pot-limit Omaha game with a $200 to $500 buy-in. Promo periods often generate a 2/4 fixed-limit Hold’em.

Venetian rakes 10% up to $5 per hand. It drops up to $2 per hand to fund promotions operated by the room.

Venetian pays cash game players $1 an hour. Comps may be spent throughout the property and on poker tournament buy-ins. Comps expire after one year of inactivity.

Venetian offers two tournaments each day. The times are noon and 7:05 pm. All tournaments have a guaranteed prize pool.

Mondays offer a pair of $150 tournaments. The noon has 12,000 chips to start with 30-minute limits. The 7:05 pm tournament starts with 15,000 chips and has 20-minute levels. The early tournament has a $9,000 guarantee, while the evening one has a $5,000 one.

Tuesdays have $9,000 guarantees. The early tournament has a $150 buy-in. The evening event has a $200 buy-in. The difference is a $50 bounty. Both have 12,000 starting chips and 30-minute levels.

The early Wednesday tournament is the same as the early Tuesday one. At night, there is a $125 tournament with $100 re-buys. The starting stack is 12,000 with 20-minute levels. The guarantee is $7,000.

The Thursday noon tournament is identical to the early ones on Tuesday and Wednesday. The 7:05 pm event has a $125 buy-in with $25 bounties. Its guarantee is $7,000. Players start with 12,000 chips. Levels are 20 minutes.

There are two $200 tournaments on Fridays. The early one offers a 15,000-chip starting stack. It has 30-minute levels and a $15,000 guarantee. Players may add on for $100 at the first break. The late tournament has a $17,000 guaranteed prize pool. It has unlimited $100 re-buys and 12,000 starting chips. Levels go up every 30 minutes.

The early Saturday tournament has a $340 buy-in and $25,000 guaranteed prize pool. Players start with 24,000 chips. Levels go up every 40 minutes. The Saturday evening tournament has a $150 buy-in and $5,000 guarantee. Players start with 15,000 chips. Levels go up every 20 minutes.

The early Sunday tournament has a $200 buy-in with unlimited $100 re-buys. Players start with 12,000 chips. Levels are 30 minutes. The guaranteed prize pool is $20,000. The late tournament has a $150 buy-in with a $5,000 guarantee. The starting stack is 15,000 chips. Levels are 20 minutes.

The Venetian poker room offers a bad beat jackpot. It triggers when a player loses quads or better. Both the winner and loser must use both hole cards. The losing hand wins $10,000. The winner gets $5,000. The table share is $5,000.

Other promotions include splash pots and high hands. There is also a royal flush promotion from time to time.

Venetian is an upscale, five-star resort. Its hotel rooms are among the nicest on the Las Vegas Strip. Poker players can receive discounts for the rooms when giving an average of six hours of cash game action a day.

This is something to consider if you plan on playing in the Venetian poker room, as you will have a hard time finding a better standard room in Las Vegas than you will receive at Venetian or its sister property, Palazzo.

There are more than a dozen restaurants at Venetian. Many are upscale. These options include Bouchon, Buddy V’s, Chica, Cut, Lavo Italian Restaurant, Morels Steakhouse, Sushisamba, and Tao Asian Bistro. There is also a food court at the top of the escalator by the table game pit and a deli on the main casino floor. There are several shows and concerts nightly on the property.

If you need a change of scenery, there are several poker rooms within a short walk of the Venetian.

The best is the poker room at Encore. It is connected to Wynn. You will find 1/3, 2/5, and 5/10 no-limit Hold’em running nearly 24 hours a day there. 1/2 and 5/5 pot-limit Omaha are also standard games. The Wynn poker room at Encore is also known for its mixed games. There is one daily no-limit Hold’em tournament there at noon with a $140 buy-in.

The other higher-end poker room near Venetian is at Caesars Palace. It spreads 1/2 and 2/5 no-limit Hold’em. There are five daily no-limit Hold’em tournaments at Caesars Palace.

There are several smaller poker rooms near Venetian. Mirage spreads 1/2 no-limit Hold’em and 3/6 fixed-limit Hold’em. Harrah’s always has a 1/2 no-limit game. Flamingo offers 1/2 no-limit and 2/4 fixed-limit Hold’em.

Nevada’s cash game poker market is on a five-month-long winning streak.

The state’s poker rooms raked $8.7 million from the games in September, according to figures released this week by gaming regulators. The amount was the best September for the rooms since the $8.9 million in revenue generated four years ago, according to data compiled by the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ Center for Gaming Research.

Nevada had 62 poker rooms with a combined 598 tables in September 2017. There were 80 rooms with a combined 755 tables in September 2013. That was the month that the WSOPkicked off its online poker site in the Silver State. These days it’s the state’s only i-poker operator.

The $8.7 million was a 3.5 percent increase compared to the $8.4 million raked in September 2016. Nevada poker rooms have posted year-over-year revenue gains since May.

Casino Poker Rake

The last time the rooms had a winning streak that long was between June and November in 2013.

The best September ever for Nevada’s poker industry was back in 2006, when the rooms raked $12.6 million. That was around the height of the poker boom in the Silver State.

Casino Poker Rake Las Vegas

Over the 12 months prior to Oct. 1, 2017, Nevada poker rooms took in $118.2 million, just a third of a percentage point better compared to the same period the previous year.

In July, rake of $12.4 million was the best for the rooms for that month in six years.

The WSOP, which ran from May 30 to mid-July, set a participation record in 2017 with 120,995 entries. The number of entries was also up 12.2 percent year-over-year. There were a record 74 tournaments on the schedule, paying out an all-time high $231 million in prize money.

Nevada poker could soon get a boost thanks to a three-state liquidity sharing deal with New Jersey and Delaware. Furthermore, Pennsylvania’s online poker bill became law this week, and the Keystone State could provide even more players to the combined player pool.