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If you were to seek out the Texas holdem poker world’s mecca, it would surely be Las Vegas. The biggest games, biggest tournaments, and World Series of Poker are all based in Las Vegas.

This booming desert town has a large variety of Texas holdem poker games for all levels of players and at just about every limit you can think of. You’ll also be able to find a large variety of game types other than holdem including, stud, Omaha, draw, and 2 7. Games run 24 / 7 in this town and you won’t have to walk far on the strip or downtown to find a juicy table.

If you’re starting out in Teas holdem, you’ll be able to use this list to find the best games for you. If you want to take your game to the next level and are struggling to do it through standard play, consider becoming a dealer in Las Vegas. If you have no dealing experience, you’ll need to start at a smaller off strip or downtown casino before being able to land a gig in a strip poker room. Some of the world’s best poker players started out as dealers. Just think; you can hone your game and skills while getting paid to do so.

We’ve outlined all of the major poker rooms for you below with information on what games are commonly running, what stakes they run at, and also how well the poker room fares in relation to players and hospitality.

List of Las Vegas Poker Rooms

Here is our compiled list of all the poker rooms you can find
in the state of Las Vegas:

Aria Resort and Casino

• Location: City Center, center strip
• Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Tables: 24
• Games: Aria poker room mostly offers no limit Texas holdem games starting at $1 / $3 and going all the way up to high stakes in the Phil Ivey room. They also offer a $125 daily no limit holdem tournament which is considered one of the best on the strip. On top of this you’ll also be able to find limit games and pot limit Omaha. Most nights there’s a 300 / 600 mix game running for high stakes players.
• Ambience: This is a truly unique and nice poker room. It’s based in its own section in the casino and has deep and dark colors that suit the rest of the casino nicely. It’s never too loud or smoky and is a really nice environment for the player.
• Hospitality: You’ll get excellent food and drink service while playing at Aria. If you’re an MLife member, you’ll get $2 per hour in comps. Most drinks are complimentary while playing, including bottled water and premium spirits.
• Players: Generally speaking you’ll find better poker players at the Aria poker room. This is where the real players come to play. Although you’ll still come across tourists and amateur players, you’ll mostly experience decent play in this poker room, which is a good thing if you want to test yourself against other experienced players.

Arizona Charlie’s Casino

• Location: North West Las Vegas, 10 minute drive from the strip
• Hours: Open at midday, 7 days
• Tables: 3
• Games: This small poker room offers no limit Texas holdem games and some limit games of the same type from time to time. Starting with $1 / $2 stakes they will raise these only if there’s demand in the room at that time. We’ve heard that a $4 / $8 half blind limit game usually runs at busier times also.
• Ambience: This is one of the only poker rooms in Las Vegas that allows players to still smoke cigarettes at the table. This isn’t a great thing in our opinion however if you’re a smoker it may appeal to you. The poker room is just three tables placed next to the craps tables in the casino.
• Hospitality: Comp points can be earned at $3 for every 2 hours at the table. You won’t get served food at the table and may on the odd occasion get cocktail service, however this is very patchy.
• Players: Mostly comprised of regulars and the odd bad player. You won’t be folding very often here if you have a decent hand.

Bally’s Las Vegas

• Location: Center strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 14
• Games: Starting at $1 / $2 and heading up to $3 / $6, you’ll find limit and no limit Texas holdem cash games running frequently at Bally’s. This was once the hot spot for some of the most fun and entertaining games on the strip. Although the place has calmed down a bit since its glory days, you’ll still find some juice games at pretty much anytime of the date. If tournaments are your thing, then you should definitely visit Bally’s. They run three to four $60 no limit holdem tournaments every day, depending on demand.
• Ambience: It’s all about the player at Bally’s. The poker room is plain and is purely focused on delivering great games in a simple environment.
• Hospitality: The table service is pretty good at Bally’s and you won’t have to wait long for a drink. You can also order food at the table. Comps are awarded at $1 per hour with the property running the Total Rewards program as part of the Caesar’s entertainment group.
• Players: You’ll find a good mix of experience and new players in Bally’s poker room, mostly with a focus on having a good time rather than grinding it out in a serious and boring way. Although they focus on the player and don’t go overboard with how the room is colored and designed it’s still a very fun poker room, particularly on weekend evenings.

Bellagio Las Vegas

• Location: Center strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 37
• Games: The Bellagio poker room is one of the biggest and oldest in Las Vegas and offers a huge number of games at all limits. From high stakes action in Bobby’s room down to $1 / $2 no limit tables pretty much all stakes are available in limit and no limit Texas holdem. On top of this you’ll also find stud tables, Omaha, and mixed games. The main tournament that’s offered in the Bellagio poker room is the daily $125 no limit Texas holdem event. A range of other special tournaments are also held here throughout the year.
• Ambience: This is a beautifully decorated poker room which is separated from the rest of the casino by a half height barrier. You’ll find some really nice chandeliers and art in this poker room plus all the high end conveniences you’d expect in a five star resort.
• Hospitality: MLife players earn comps at $2 per hour. It’s free to join so you may as well to get your comp points. Table service is excellent with bottled water and premium drinks provided for free. Table side food service is also available to all players. You can use your earned comp points to pay for this.
• Players: You’ll find a good mix of players in the Bellagio poker room. Many of the best players in Las Vegas will sit here in the high stakes games and at the same time a lot of visitors want to play poker in Las Vegas at the Bellagio. It’s an iconic place and as such attracts a good mix of social, experienced and professional players. This always makes for a fun and welcoming environment.

Binion’s Casino

• Location: Downtown, Freemont Street
• Hours: Open at 11am, 7 days a week
• Tables: 10
• Games: Binion’s runs a range of game mostly focused on no limit and limit Texas holdem poker. Stakes can range from $1 / $2 up to higher stakes upon request. They also run a series of tournaments ranging from $75 up to $125 buy in. Usually the tournaments are no limit holdem games, however sometimes they run a 7 2 triple draw tournament which is a really neat inclusion.
• Ambience: You could not sit down in a casino poker room with more history than this one. The poker hall of fame adorns the entrance to the poker room pit. It really does feel like you’re playing poker in the glory days of Las Vegas. Binion’s casino is smoky, cramped, and old, yet that all adds to the charm of this little poker room. Tournaments are held in a separate and open area at the very back of the casino.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $2 comps per hour while playing at Binion’s poker room. Table service is quite good and you won’t have to wait long to get a complimentary drink when you’re playing.
• Players: Binion’s is really trying to go back to poker roots and offer games for genuine lovers of the game. Because of this you’ll come across so grizzly regulars in this poker room who will be willing to grind it out day after day. You won’t get as many soft players in this room, although the location downtown means you’ll come across the odd drunk who is just throwing those chips away.

Boulder Station

• Location: Boulder Highway, South East Las Vegas, 15 minute drive from the strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 11
• Games: Focusing mainly on no limit and limit Texas holdem you’ll be able to find games at a good variety of low to medium stakes. On top of these they also sometimes run some stud and Omaha games. This poker room is associated with the online poker offered by station casinos, meaning if you play online you can deposit and withdrawal chips to your account in the casino. On top of this you can satellite in to tournaments online. This has seen this poker room rise in popularity recently, particularly amongst locals.
• Ambience: This poker room can get quite smoky at times and is exposed to the rest of the casino. It’s still nicely appointed and has relatively new furnishings, which is always nice.
• Hospitality: Drink service is excellent here and you’ll receive most drinks for free. We’ve heard that the cocktail waitresses really do seek out those that are looking to hit the drinks hard so if you’re after a lot of free drinks while you play then check this place out.
• Players: Most players here are regulars and have been known to be quite unfriendly to new players and tourists. This is a shame as if they chase off all the new money then the poker room will eventually die out. One of the best picks is the Omaha high low game which is juicy and friendlier than the limit and no limit holdem games.

Caesars Palace

• Location: Center strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 16
• Games: Caesars Palace poker room offers a huge number of games mostly focused on no limit Texas holdem. Some limit games are also offered plus Omaha and Stud. The poker room also usually offers three or four daily tournaments starting with the cheapest buy in in the morning and progressively increasing from there. The tournament buy in’s will be around the $100 to $200 range meaning you’ll get some good value and a great cross section of players.
• Ambience: This poker room is partially contained within the huge Caesars Palace casino. It’s dedicated and quite large and open which adds up to a great playing environment. You’ll be able to see a TV broadcasting sport no matter where you sit and the decor is very nice and matches in with the rest of the Caesars theme well. The space doesn’t absorb sound well though and is a bit noisy compared to some other poker rooms on the strip.
• Hospitality: Service is generally quite good in this poker room although like the rest of the Caesars Palace casino drink service can sometimes be patchy. You can order food at the table also which is always nice if you’re going to put in a long session. You’ll get awarded with $2 in comps each hour you play and this is managed under the Total Rewards program.
• Players: You’ll find a good cross section of players in this poker room and it certainly isn’t dominated by professionals and regulars. It’s always got a good vibe and people are having fun even if they are taking their poker seriously, which is a great thing for the game. The players in this poker room will be similar to those you’d find in the Bellagio poker room.

Cannery Casino

• Location: North Las Vegas
• Hours: Open daily at 9am
• Tables: 3
• Games: Only Texas holdem games are played at the Cannery Casino poker room. However, they do offer both limit and no limit games usually at the smaller stakes.
• Ambience: This poker room isn’t really a room. It’s just a few poker tables in the main casino area. You won’t be immune to the usual slot machine sounds or the smoke that comes with pretty much every Las Vegas casino. Despite this the tables and chairs are nice.
• Hospitality: Table side cocktail and food service is available for players and most drinks are provided for free. You can earn comps at $1 per hour and these can be used throughout the casino.
• Players: You’ll mostly find older locals playing poker here, given it is a Las Vegas locals casino. This may mean the play won’t be as juicy. If you’re after something a bit softer head closer to the strip.

Club Fortune Casino

• Location: Henderson
• Hours: Open daily at midday
• Tables: 5
• Games: Focusing primarily on Texas holdem the Club Fortune casino poker room offers up a mix of limit, no limit and spread limit games. You’ll also find some low stakes tables here that offer 50c / $1 limits, which is the lowest in the entire city. This poker room also runs lower end no limit tournaments with buy in’s ranging from $40 up to $65 depending on the time of the day.
• Ambience: The poker room at Club Fortune Casino is in a separate non smoking room to the rest of the casino, which is a real positive. It’s decorated nicely in dark colors and has a lot of TVs around the room so you can watch your favorite sport while you play.
• Hospitality: Players are well serviced in this poker room. You can earn $5 in comps per hour during happy hour times and $1 per hour at other times. Drink service is decent and you can get food also.
• Players: You’ll mostly sit down at the felt with locals at this casino; however, the vibe is friendly and certainly welcoming so it’s not like some other local’s casinos which drive away guests and tourists. The games are very player friendly and are low stakes which always attracts a more comfortable atmosphere at the table.

Excalibur Casino

• Location: South Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 10
• Games: Generally, this poker room features Texas holdem no limit and spread limit games. Very rarely they will run other games, but only if demand arises. Tournaments are held daily with buy ins between $40 and $45 depending on the time of day. Usually they’ll get to three tables max in these tournaments and the structure isn’t very player friendly.
• Ambience: This poker room is based in the middle rear of the Excalibur casino and is enclosed with a half-height wall. This does enough to give poker players a bit of space and blocks out most of the noise and cigarette smoke from the rest of the casino. Excalibur is one of the older casinos on the strip and needs an upgrade.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 in comps per hour here. Cocktail service is decent and you’ll be provided with most drinks free of charge.
• Players: Generally, you’ll find weaker players in this casino who are just playing poker for a bit of fun. You may come across some Las Vegas local teams who will be trying to fleece visitors, but don’t worry too much about this. If you play decent poker, you’ll be ahead of the pack most of the time in the Excalibur poker room.

Flamingo Casino

• Location: Center strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 11
• Games: Flamingo casino poker room offers up some of the best low limit games on the strip, especially for limit Texas holdem players. They also run some no limit games and usually have three or four tables going at a time. They hold $60 no limit holdem tournaments throughout the day so you usually won’t have to wait long to enter one.
• Ambience: The poker room is part of the main casino floor along the wall with a slight barrier. You’ll be in the thick of things in the casino but still feel somewhat segregated from the madness. It’s all about the pink here which is nice and unique.
• Hospitality: You can get food at the table here and will be comped drinks when playing. Cocktail waitress service is pretty poor based on our experiences but others claim it’s decent, so it probably just depends on when you’re playing. Flamingo uses the total rewards program and members can earn $1 in comps per hour of play.
• Players: Because of the poker room location you’ll get a lot of tourists and visitors playing in the Flamingo casino. This is a good thing and the relatively low stakes mean there is always a good vibe in the room. You won’t find many sharks here and it’s all about having fun while playing poker in Vegas.

Golden Nugget Casino

• Location: Downtown, Freemont Street
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 13
• Games: It’s all about Texas holdem at the nugget. You’ll find the usual no limit and limit games at medium and low stakes. They also run daily tournaments usually for a buy in of $50 or $65.
• Ambience: This is a really cool poker room in the gold rush theme. Gold colors adorn the rooms and tables and the poker room is set in its own section in the casino which is nice. This is by far one of the nicest poker rooms in Las Vegas, and is the best downtown.
• Hospitality: You’ll get great food and drink service here with most alcoholic beverages being free for players. You can earn comps at $2 per hour which is double that of most casinos.
• Players: This poker room is loved by many professional and amateur players, and as such the play can be quite tough at times. Given it’s located downtown you’ll get the odd drunk player who’s playing poker like it is craps. It’s a great room and is always a lot of fun to play at.

Green Valley Ranch Casino

• Location: Henderson
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 22
• Games: The poker room at Green Valley Ranch offers a good range of games at limit and no limit stakes and will always be running a $1 / $2 no limit Texas Holdem game. They also sometimes run an Omaha table when there’s demand for it from the players. They also have a daily $45 no limit holdem tournament which starts at 10am.
• Ambience: This is a really nice poker room which is well designed and offers players a decent amount of space. Sports will also be on the wall mounted TV’s so you can watch while you aren’t in a hand.
• Hospitality: You’ll get good food and drink service here with most alcoholic drinks provided to players free of charge. Comps are earned at $1 per hour of play and the casino uses the station casinos rewards program, known as the boarding pass.
• Players: Due to the low limits and tournament buy in’s you’ll find some pretty soft games here which is very nice for the amateur player and those that just want to have fun without risking loads of money somewhere on the strip. A lot of locals play here and are friendly to new players and visitors for the most part.

Hard Rock Las Vegas

• Location: Paradise Road, East of the strip, 5 minute drive
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 3
• Games: Hard rock offers two $70 buy in tournaments a day at midday and 8pm. On top of this they usually run a couple of no limit Texas holdem tables at low stakes.
• Ambience: It’s just a few tables in the middle part of the casino. Which is a nice change and the Hard Rock is never too busy so it’s always a relaxed environment which is good for poker.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 per hour in comps here, and will get very good cocktail service with food also being served at the table side.
• Players: Only offering 3 poker tables would usually mean a quiet and dreary affair, however, this is not the case at the Hard Rock Casino. The tables are usually mostly full with happy and welcoming regulars, which mean if you can get a seat you’ll have a good time whether or not you win or lose. They understand the game here and realize that fun and good conversation is what it’s all about playing poker in Las Vegas.

Harrah’s Las Vegas

• Location: Center Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 11
• Games: Tournament play at Harrah’s is available every day with $65 no limit holdem competitions taking place at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 7pm and 10pm. Cash games are always running with mainly $1 / $2 no limit Texas holdem games dominating the room. You’ll usually be able to also find a $2 / $3 no limit game most of the time.
• Ambience: This poker room is now situated on the front wall of the casino near the north entrance to the strip. It’s quite basic in nature and is separated from the main casino area by a half wall. One downside of this location is the thoroughfare alongside the poker room which can mean a lot of distractions, especially on hot days when everyone cuts through Harrah’s while walking up and down the strip.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 in comps per hour of play and the poker room and Harrah’s casino is on the Total Rewards program. You can get food at the table and the cocktail service is pretty good here.
• Players: A good mix of players will grace the tables at Harrah’s. Given the traffic and visibility the poker room gets it means you get a lot of tourists and visitors who are here to play for fun and as such the atmosphere at most tables is great. You’ll find some juicy games if you’re a decent player.

Luxor Casino

• Location: South Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 9
• Games: Depending on the time of the day you’ll find $45 and $65 no limit Texas holdem tournaments at the Luxor poker room. Generally, the main cash games will be $1 / $2 no limit holdem tables with the odd $2 / $4 limit game running from time to time.
• Ambience: This poker room isn’t that great, it’s near the back of the casino and is separated by a half wall and is partially in its own room. It’s old school poker and not much money has been put in to the decor by management. As such the room is a bit tired, but don’t let that dissuade you, it’s all about the people at the table, and Luxor has great games in this respect in spades.
• Hospitality: If you’re playing in a limit game you’ll get $3 in comps per hour and in no limit games it’s $2 per hour. This is a bit better than other places on the strip. You’ll get food served to you at the table and the cocktail service is on par with most other strip properties.
• Players: This poker room is truly great for tourists and visitors to Las Vegas. It’s probably one of the most under rated rooms on the strip and offers up great play with lots of fun, laughter and drinks to go with it. If you like to have fun while you play and are decent at the game, then this is the poker room for you on the strip.

Mandalay Bay

• Location: South Strip
• Hours: 24 hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 11am 4am on Monday through Thursday
• Tables: 11
• Games: You’ll only be able to find no limit Texas holdem games at the Mandalay Bay poker room. Generally, they will always have a $1 / $2 game running and from time to time will have $1 / $3 and $2 / $5. Tournament wise they run a few throughout the day with buy in’s ranging from $45 through $60 depending on the time of day that you play.
• Ambience: This is a really nice poker room in a very nice casino. Often a bit quieter than the rest of the strip casinos Mandalay Bay has a relaxed vibe and this follows through in to the poker room. The room itself is set in a side room from the casino floor and is quite close to the entry point from the connecting Mandalay Shoppes.
• Hospitality: Unfortunately, you can’t order food at the table in Mandalay Bay, however you can get complimentary drinks and the service is quite good. On top of this you’ll earn $1 in comps per hour of play which will go on to your MLife rewards card.
• Players: This poker room usually has a good mix of amateur visitor players and local regulars. The play is quite good and a little bit better than you’ll find in poker rooms closer to the center of the strip. It’s a friendly poker room where you’ll undoubtedly have a great time playing at relatively smaller stakes.

MGM Grand

• Location: South Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 13
• Games: Generally, it’s just no limit Texas holdem being played at the MGM grand poker room. Every now and then they will run a limit game if there’s demand for it. You’ll always find a $1 / $2 no limit table and most of the time a $2 / $5 table will be running also. For tournament players they offer four tournaments a day ranging between $50 and $70 for the buy in.
• Ambience: This isn’t a great poker room, compared to some of the other on the strip. It’s located alongside the south wall in the main casino area and is only separated by a standard rail. The chairs and tables are standard and tired and no real effort has gone in to design.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 comp points per hour played, unless you play $2 / $5 no limit holdem in which case you’ll earn $2 per hour. Food service table side is available and cocktail service is decent with most drinks provided free of charge.
• Players: It’s a real mixed bag at MGM Grand. Sometimes you get tables with all regulars and sometimes with nothing but tourists who want to string bet and make deals like they see the pros do on TV. Generally, you’ll find softer games in the evening with the odd shark gracing the felt. It’s generally a friendly environment although being in one of the largest casinos on the strip it attracts some unsavory characters at times.

Mirage Casino

• Location: North strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 12
• Games: For the tournament players Mirage poker room offers up 4 tournaments a day all of them no limit holdem with a $65 buy in. Cash games are always running with a $1 / $2 no limit and $3 / $6 limit tables on 24 / 7. On top of this you’ll sometimes find a $1 / $3 and $2 / $5 table running.
• Ambience: This new poker room is quite nice and is separated from the rest of the casino by Perspex walls and barriers. It still feels a part of the action though and the deep colors are a nice touch. The casino is well ventilated and not that loud which makes for a nice playing environment.
• Hospitality: You can earn $2 in comps per hour of play in the Mirage poker room which is double that of most other strip poker rooms. On top of this the cocktail service is good and drinks are complimentary for players. You can also order and get food at the table which is a nice little bonus.
• Players: As with most strip poker rooms you’ll find a good mix of local regulars and tourists in the Mirage poker room. It always has a good vibe and players are generally friendly and welcoming. This is a great choice for the entry level player who is looking to play poker in Las Vegas for the first time.

Monte Carlo Casino

• Location: South Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 8
• Games: Tournament wise the Monte Carlo casino poker room offers up four $40 no limit Texas holdem tournaments each day, making it a very affordable place to play for new players. On top of this they also offer no limit Texas holdem cash games with a $1 / $2 table always running. Sometimes they will run a $1 / $3 no limit game. On top of this they also sometimes run a $3 / $6 limit holdem game.
• Ambience: This poker room is tucked away from the rest of the casino, which is usually always quiet. So you’ll be able to focus on your game in a nice environment. It’s somewhat partitioned from the rest of the casino and has standard tables and seating. This is nothing too special but enough to be able to give it a bit of a poker room vibe.
• Hospitality: Running on the MLife rewards program you’ll earn $1 per hour of play in comps. On top of this they offer complimentary cocktail service for players and also offer food at the table.
• Players: You’ll find more beginner and intermediate players in this poker room. This is a result of the relatively low buy in’s in the tournaments and the obscure and hidden away location that the poker room is in the casino.

Palace Station Casino

• Location: Sahara Avenue, west of the strip, 5 minute drive from the strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 9
• Games: Palace station poker room offers up a $2 / $6 spread limit game and a $2 / $4 limit game, both Texas holdem. They don’t offer any tournaments at this point in time.
• Ambience: This poker room is situated near the front entrance to the casino off to the side in its own room. It’s a bit older but has a nice bright vibe and a lot of energy from the players and dealers. It’s simple with basic tables and chairs.
• Hospitality: You can earn $1 in comps per hour of play and the cocktail service is complimentary and frequent. You can also order and receive food at the table which is nice. As this casino is part of the palace casinos group they use the boarding pass rewards program.
• Players: This is definitely a local’s hangout and a lot of players are regulars and know each other very well. That doesn’t mean that visitors aren’t welcome, we have played in the limit games a few times here and everyone is very friendly and welcoming.

Planet Hollywood Casino

• Location: Center Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 10
• Games: Planet Hollywood poker room offers four daily no limit holdem tournaments with a buy in of $80. The play in these tournaments is quite good and you won’t have to rush as the structure is somewhat relaxed. On top of this they offer no limit holdem cash games with a bunch of $1 / $2 tables always running. On weekends they will usually start a $2 / $5 table as well.
• Ambience: The poker room in Planet Hollywood has never really been a room in itself and has moved around a bit recently. It’s now located back in the middle of the casino near the heart bar and is only separated from the main casino floor by rails. This is a good thing though as Planet Hollywood is always loud, fun and has a great overall atmosphere which crosses over in to the poker room.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 in comp points per hour here on the Total Rewards program. They also offer food at the table and the cocktail service is very good and most drinks are provided free of charge.
• Players: Planet Hollywood poker room always has a good mix of regular and visitor players with a great vibe and lots of laughter. The games are juicy and if you have a bit of knowledge and experience you can do very well here.

Poker Palace Casino

• Location: North Las Vegas
• Hours: Friday and Saturday from 6pm
• Tables: 7
• Games: On Friday and Saturday night they offer a $20 buy in no limit Texas holdem tournament, probably one of the cheapest in Las Vegas. They also run a $1 / $2 no limit Texas holdem tables during opening hours.
• Ambience: This isn’t a very nice place and is quite run down. They do have TV’s around the place showing sport, and we’ve heard that the place is always filled with smoke. Not a great poker room but the cheap play might be a draw card for you.
• Hospitality: Food isn’t available at the table however you can get a cheap all you can eat meal in the casino itself. On top of this you’ll get standard cocktail service at the table with most drinks provided for players free of charge.
• Players: This is a hot spot for local regulars who want to play cheap poker and have fun. This means it’s good for the visitor although you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. If you’re on vacation in Las Vegas, it’s probably not worth the trip all the way up if you’re staying on the strip.

Red Rock Casino

• Location: Summerlin
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 20
• Games: Two $60 no limit Texas holdem tournaments take place here each day. On top of this they usually have $1 / $2 and $2 / $5 no limit holdem tables on. Sometimes they run some Omaha games and also a $5 / $10 no limit holdem table. Limit wise they offer $2 / $4 and $4 / 8 holdem tables almost all the time.
• Ambience: Like the rest of red rock casino, this is a very nice and pleasing poker room on the eye. The building is new and fresh and the poker room is very welcoming for players. Most report that they really enjoy this room and the tables and chairs are very comfortable.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn $1 in comps per hour here on the boarding pass rewards program. On top of this you can order food at the table and complimentary drinks are provided for players quite frequently. This is certainly a casino that focusses on excellent customer service.
• Players: A good mix of players is gracing the felt at Red Rock poker room. Given the location in Summerlin you don’t get a lot of the weaker intoxicated players that the strip rooms get, but you do get a good cross section of players meaning all round better poker play.

Rio Casino

• Location: Flamingo Road, west of strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 10
• Games: Tournament wise you’ll find four no limit Texas holdem $40 buy in competitions each day. On top of this they usually have a $2 / $3 no limit table running all the time and sometimes they open up $1 / $2 and $2 / $5 tables if there is demand.
• Ambience: This poker room really is run down and poor. If you’re in town and want to play where the World Series is held then don’t get your hopes up. The standard poker room is noisy, crowded, dark, old and not great on the eye. If you’re visiting during the WSOP then the cash games and tournament area is in the convention center and this is a much nicer environment to play poker in.
• Hospitality: Comps are earned by players at $1 per hour through the Total Rewards program. You’ll get decent cocktail service and you can order and eat food at the table.
• Players: You’ll get a similar strip type group of players here at the Rio. The play won’t be spectacular and you’ll get the odd tourist who wants to try out poker after a full day of drinking. Players here are usually there to have fun and the atmosphere is OK in this respect. It’s not really worth the trip of the strip though.

Sam’s Town Casino

• Location: Boulder Highway, South East Las Vegas
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 11
• Games: Offering up three tournaments a day of mixed and no limit Texas holdem the buy ins range from $23 to $35. On top of this they offer $2 / $6 spread limit holdem and $3 / $6 Omaha 8s or better most of the time. They will also open up $1 / $2 no limit holdem and $10 stud if there’s adequate demand for it.
• Ambience: The poker room is at the very end of the casino and is only separated from the rest of the casino floor by a rail. This means you’ll hear all the slots noise and general casino sounds. It’s still a nice room and is designed well, although the tables are packed in a little bit tightly.
• Hospitality: Drinks are provided free of charge for players and you can earn comps at $1.25 per hour. They don’t serve food here at the tables but it can be easily purchased at outlets nearby.
• Players: The play is always quite soft at Sam’s Town and if you do well in poker at other establishments you should cash in here. It’s a good local’s casino which has good action and players that are there for entertainments sake rather than to win a lot of cash.

Santa Fe Station Casino

• Location: North Las Vegas
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 14
• Games: Two $40 buy in no limit tournaments run here each day. Additionally, they offer $1 / $2 no limit holdem, $2 / $4 and $3 / $6 limit holdem, and $3 / $6 limit Omaha 8s. Most will have a few tables going with at least one running all the time, except maybe in the graveyard hours. On Friday and Saturday nights they’ll run $70 buy in tournaments as well.
• Ambience: This isn’t a very nice poker room and is only separated from the casino by a rail. It’s old and run down with standard seating and tables. The decor definitely won’t keep you coming back.
• Hospitality: You can earn $1 per hour in comps on the boarding pass rewards program. They also serve complimentary cocktails for players frequently. You can get food at the table as well which is nice. The dealers and staff have been known to make mistakes from time to time.
• Players: You’ll find older strong players who have been frequenting this poker room for years. The play isn’t too soft, unless you find a juicy late night weekend no limit holdem game. Generally, the vibe is friendly for new players even though there’s a bit of a regular’s clique going on.

Silver Sevens Casino

• Location: Paradise Road, west of the strip (5 minute drive from the strip)
• Hours: Daily from 12pm
• Tables: 2
• Games: Usually limit holdem is the only game you’ll find at Silver Sevens, at stakes of $2 / $4. Sometimes a no limit table will run if there’s demand for it. You won’t find any tournament poker here.
• Ambience: Although they play poker here it can’t really be called a poker room, more just two tables in the middle of the casino where poker is played. It’s smoky and run down and certainly isn’t the nicest place to play poker.
• Hospitality: You can earn $1 in comps per hour played through their rewards program and you’ll get decent cocktail service with drinks provided free of charge. You can’t get any food while at the table.
• Players: Mostly older regular players take to the felt here. They won’t be too friendly or welcoming and as such the game is never that good. It just has a depressing vibe which isn’t what Las Vegas and poker is about at all.

Skyline Casino

• Location: Henderson
• Hours: Thursday to Sunday from 5pm
• Tables: 1
• Games: No tournament poker is played here and the only game you’ll find is $2 / $4 Limit Texas Holdem.
• Ambience: The casino has just the 1 poker table on the main floor. So the ambience at Skyline is standard and in line with the Skyline Casino, which is OK but similar to most local’s casinos in Las Vegas.
• Hospitality: No comps are available for players, however you’ll be provided with cocktails free of charge and food can be ordered and consumed at the table.
• Players: Mostly regulars playing and the game fills up quite quickly as there’s only 1 table. We wouldn’t really recommend going here to play specifically, but it’s worth a look if you happen to be there for some reason.

South Point Casino

• Location: South Las Vegas
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 22
• Games: Three tournaments take place at South Point Casino poker room daily. These are all $60 buy in no limit holdem games. They run $2 / $4 limit holdem and $1 / $2 no limit holdem cash games all the time with a $2 / $5 no limit game running during busier times. Every now and then they’ll run a deep stack tournament on weekends.
• Ambience: The poker room is very nice and not as run down as others in Las Vegas. It’s gold and coffee colors which is always nice in a poker room. It’s smoke free and has plenty of TVs around the room for you to watch between hands.
• Hospitality: Cocktail service is decent and complimentary while you’re playing and you can earn comp points here at a rate of $1 per hour. You can’t get food at the table here which is a shame.
• Players: Mostly regulars play poker at the South Point casino and the vibe isn’t that great. Although the staff are good people don’t seem to be here to have fun and just go through the motions with the play. You can find better action and more exciting places to play all across Las Vegas.

Stratosphere Casino

• Location: North strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 12
• Games: Daily $50 or $70 poker no limit holdem tournaments take place at the Stratosphere poker room. You can also find $1 / $2 no limit holdem cash games running all the time. Very rarely they will open up some lower stakes limit holdem games if there’s demand.
• Ambience: This is a nice and open poker room which is roped off from the rest of the casino. It has TV’s a plenty for your viewing pleasure in between hands and nice chairs and tables. It’s simple yet effective in terms of how they have laid out the poker room.
• Hospitality: You’ll earn comps at a rate of $1 per hour and drink service is complimentary and frequent for players. On top of this you can also get food at the table to push out your sessions.
• Players: This poker room has a good mix of tough regular players and tourists that have over indulged in the alcohol. This makes for a good mix and means you can change up your play effectively depending on who you’re in a hand with. Players are generally friendly and welcoming here.

Suncoast Casino

• Location: Summerlin
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 10
• Games: Suncoast casino poker room offers up two tournaments daily. A $45 no limit holdem tournament at 10am and a $60 one at 6pm. They offer rings games also featuring no limit holdem, limit holdem, stud, and Omaha. Stakes vary depending on the time of the day but you’ll pretty much find $1 / $2 no limit and $2 / $4 limit games during the busier times and on weekend.
• Ambience: This is a bit of a diamond in the rough; however that shouldn’t be a big surprise considering the casino is in Summerlin. The room is open and clean with standard tables and chairs a little to no smoke around. It’s just a good place to play poker, and the nice red and beige colors make it very warm and welcoming.
• Hospitality: Table service is excellent with drinks provided free of charge and food is also available. You’ll earn comps at $1.25 per hour which is a bit better than most poker rooms in Las Vegas.
• Players: Mostly regulars play here but the vibe is good and they are very welcoming of new players. The standard of play is quite good and loose, which means if you do play well you’ll cash in and get value. The rake here is low and the comps high, which is great for the players out there.

The Orleans Casino

• Location: Tropicana Avenue, west of the strip
• Hours: 24 hours
• Tables: 35
• Games: The Orleans poker room runs two no limit holdem tournaments a day ranging from $75 to $125 to buy in. On top of this you can find a good range of limit and no limit holdem and Omaha ring games from small to medium stakes.
• Hospitality: With $1.25 in comps earned per hour and a $3 maximum rake, it’s all about the player at the Orleans. You’ll get complimentary drink service also and food is available to order at the table.
• Players: Many of the players here are older folk who are a bit stuck in their ways and think poker is a grumpy game that must be played in silence. You can still find some lively and fun tables, although you’ll need to pick the right time to play. Weekend evenings are your best bet for the Orleans casino poker room.

Treasure Island TI Casino

• Location: North strip
• Hours: Opens from 1pm Monday to Thursday and 10am Friday to Sunday
• Tables: 7
• Games: Treasure Island poker room offers three no limit holdem tournaments a day. They have a 2pm for $75, a 7pm for $50 and a 10pm for $75. On top of this they offer $1 / $3 no limit Texas holdem cash games and the odd limit game when there’s demand for it.
• Ambience: The poker room is comfortable, quiet and smoke free. It’s well separated from the casino floor and you won’t have to deal with a lot of noise or smoke. It really is a nice room which they keep well updated with nice chairs and tables.
• Hospitality: Cocktail service is regular and complimentary for players in the TI poker room. On top of this you can also get food at the table and you’ll earn $2 in comps per hour that you play.
• Players: Players are generally pretty friendly, fun and welcoming here. You’ll get a good mix of regulars and visitors, which is always good. The room stays open if they have at least five people playing so it’s usually open 24 hours which is another good thing. This is a great room for players that want to have fun while taking their poker kind of seriously.

Venetian Casino

• Location: North Strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 59
• Games: The Venetian Casino poker room is the biggest in Las Vegas and it offers up players a huge variety of games. You’ll find $1 / $2, $2 / $5 and $5 / $10 no limit Texas holdem, plus also $4 / $8 and $8 / $16 limit holdem. Omaha tables also run with $4 / $8 and $8 / $16 stakes. They will also run a HORSE game and a mixed game during the busier times, at medium stakes. On top of all the cash games they run two no limit holdem tournaments a day ranging from $125 to $250 to buy in.
• Ambience: This is a really nice and huge poker room which is themed like the rest of the Venetian casino. The browns, clays and burgundy colors come through really nicely and it’s a nice open and bright room that makes it very easy to play in. You won’t have much smoke or noise to deal with in this room as it’s mostly closed off from the rest of the casino.
• Hospitality: Cocktail service is great at the Venetian poker room and drinks are free for players. You can also get food at the table which is a nice little bonus. Comps wise you’ll earn $1 per hour while playing which is quite standard for strip poker rooms.
• Players: It’s all about variety at the Venetian. The room is just huge and the players are random as such. You’ll find some super tough tables with regular pros and some super soft tables with intoxicated players who are just gambling. It really depends on what table you draw when you join a game. It is great though and a real poker player’s environment which is nice. Unfortunately, we hear rumors they are downgrading the size of the poker room soon which is a real shame.

Wynn Las Vegas Casino

• Location: North strip
• Hours: 24 hours, 7 days
• Tables: 28
• Games: Wynn poker room offers up one or two tournaments a day with buy ins ranging from $300 to $400. Cash game wise you’ll find $1 / $3, $2 / $5 and $5 / $10 no limit holdem games every day, and also $1 / $2 and $5 / $5 pot limit Omaha. During busier times they also run $10 / $25 no limit holdem tables.
• Ambience: It’s all about luxury at the Wynn and this is certainly the case in the poker room, which is technically now inside the Encore casino. It’s bright, open and fresh with luxury chairs and tables to cater to all your poker comfort needs.
• Hospitality: Comps are earned at $1.50 per hour and cocktail service is frequent and complimentary. On top of this you can get quality food table side and TV’s are everywhere. You’ll also find USB charging ports on most tables which is a nice little bonus.
• Players: The Wynn Casino poker room attracts a good mix of players from regulars, high rollers to tourists. The play is decent here and the slightly higher stakes means you can rely on better quality poker when you play. The odd intoxicated player will still sit down and call everything, which can be nice if you have a good table of decent players together. The vibe is fun and relaxed which is good, especially on weekends.

Conclusion

That finishes up the most complete page to be found online covering Las Vegas Texas holdem poker. Browse through the list to find three or four different poker rooms to try on your next visit to Sin City. It doesn’t matter if you stay downtown or on the strip, your Texas holdem options are many and varied.

Unless you permanently live under a rock, you’ve seen that Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity over the past few years. The allure of this exciting and action-packed game can be attributed to many things. This cliché phrase says it best: “It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.” The game is one that you can pick up in a matter of minutes, but to be good requires a life-long quest.

On top of the excitement factor and the never-ending ability to get better, the game can also be extremely lucrative. Anyone can make a ton of money from playing Texas hold’em. Whether you’re playing at home with friends and family for pennies and nickels or you’re playing in Vegas at the World Series of Poker for millions, the amount of money you can win is endless.

You’re in for a real treat with this guide. We’re going to start by walking you through the basics of the game. We’ll talk about why the game is important, how to play the game and the differences between the different ways you can play Texas hold’em.

After that is where we get into the fun stuff. We’ve created a section fully dedicated Texas hold’em strategy that will cover everything from beginner strategies like starting hand requirements to advanced strategies like floating, three and four betting and more. Our team of professionals will be revealing strategic content that you normally should have to pay for completely free. You can consider this our donation back to the poker community.

If you’re ready to get learning, let’s dive into the world of Texas hold’em poker!

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Some of you action seekers might already be crushing your local games and are ready to jump to the next level. If you’re ready to try your hand at online Texas hold’em, we’ve got you covered. One of the most important decisions you can make in your poker career is where you choose to play. You need to be playing at a trustworthy and secure site that understands the importance of an easy to use interface, player bonuses and keeping the easy to beat recreational players around.

We’ve done the heavy lifting for you and put together a list of the best sites in the business. If you’re ready to start raking in cash, check out one of these amazing sites now!

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It’s important that we let you know that we do not allow any online poker sites to pay for better reviews, ratings or recommendations. We feel that allowing that would be a disservice to you, our reader. For that reason, you can trust that the sites we recommended above (and anywhere else on our site) are actually the best options available. We refuse to waiver on this. All we care about is that you have the best online poker experience that you possibly can.

In This Guide…

This comprehensive guide was put together by a team of past and present professional poker players. These players have extensive experience in all facets of the game as well as professional experience with instructing poker players of all levels. The beginning sections of the guide will focus on information important to those brand new to the game. We’ll walk you through a general overview of the game, how to play the game and then the different variations of the game that you need to be aware of.

After that, we’ll dive into our strategy section which is the real treat of this guide. The section has invaluable information for players of all levels. Unlike some resources online that only give you generic poker strategy, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty details and specifics about the different formats of hold’em and how to beat them.

As a game of skill, poker is not in the same gambling category as games like blackjack or craps. In those games, you compete against the house and will always be at a statistical disadvantage. With Texas hold’em, though, you’re competing against other players in a game of skill where the best player will reign victorious in the long run.

If you’re brand new to the game, we highly recommend that you work through this guide from start to finish. If you’re not, though, we’ve left some convenient links to jump to the specific sections that you’re most interested in. Take your time and try to absorb as much of this information as you possibly can. Remember, the game can be learned quickly, but it takes a lifetime to master it!

The Importance of Texas Hold’em

We touched in the intro about the growing and exploding popularity of Texas hold’em poker. What we’d like to do now is go more in-depth into some of the reasons why the game is so popular and, more importantly, why you should play Texas hold’em. Understanding why you should learn something is crucial to keeping the motivation to push through the mountain of knowledge we have for you here.

Why is Texas Hold’em So Popular?

It really is no secret that Texas hold’em is one of the most popular games in the world. People of all ages from the old to the young are picking up the game. The game is shown on TV networks worldwide, has dedicated magazines and publications, monster forums and websites dedicated to it and is played at the majority of casinos in the world.

So why is this game so darn popular? As we’ve already mentioned, it’s a game that doesn’t take long to learn. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, and you can have a fairly firm grasp on them in no time. This means that you’re not spending a lot of time preparing before you can jump into the action and give it a shot. For people that love action and excitement, this is a huge draw.

The game also allows anyone to ascend to the highest ranks. Imagine if you decided today that you wanted to play professional football. Could you realistically see yourself in the Super Bowl next year? Unless you’re some freak athlete, there is probably about a 0% chance of that happening. Even if you were a freak athlete, you’d still have a million different hoops to jump through, and that percentage wouldn’t be much higher.

With poker, though, anyone can play at the highest level as long as they have the cash to cover the buy-in. The Texas hold’em Super Bowl is the World Series of Poker Main Event played in Las Vegas every year. Do you have to go to tryouts, qualify and make the team to play? Nope! As long as you have the $10,000 buy-in to play, you can take a seat and play with the best.

Does this mean you’re going to win? The answer to this question is another reason that Texas hold’em is so popular. If you went out and raced against the best sprinters in the world 100 times, you would lose 100 out of those 100 races. You would win zero times. But, if you play poker against the best in the world 100 times (and you aren’t that great), you’d probably end up winning a few of those times. Sure, they would beat you most of the times, but poker includes a small element of luck to go with the skill side.

This means that, on any given day, an amateur could beat the pros. In the long run, the better players are going to prevail, but in the short term, anything is possible. This makes it exciting for amateurs to take their shot against the pros. This coupled with the other reasons we’ve mentioned are just a few reasons why Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity and shows no signs of lightening up anytime soon.

Why Play Texas Hold’em

Some of the reasons you should play Texas hold’em might already be clear to you, but we want to mention several of them in case you are considering getting in the game and are still on the fence. This is not a complete list of the reasons to start playing, but they are some of the main ones that most people would list as the reason they got started or that they continue to play.

The Fun

The Money

The Camaraderie

Even though you will be competing against everyone else at the table, Texas hold’em still makes for a great social experience. Whether you’re playing online and chatting in the chat box or playing live and chatting face to face, the Texas hold’em community is a great one to interact with. Sure, there are some bad apples in the bunch, but for the most part the game attracts some of the brightest and most interesting minds in the world.

It’s not rare to be sitting at the table with billionaire businessmen, famous Hollywood actors, comedians, athletes and more. The greatest part about poker is that, at the table, everyone is an equal. No one gets special treatment once the cards hit the felt which makes for a great environment to let your guard down and make some new friends.

The Brain Workout

Yes, poker is an easy game to learn, but that does not mean it’s easy to beat. Have you ever played golf? It’s easy to learn that the game involves you hitting the ball and getting it into the different holes. Does that mean golf is an easy game? Definitely not. There is a big difference between “easy to learn” and “easy.”

Texas hold’em will test your mind, wit and resolve as you work to conquer the game and defeat your opponents. It’s important that your mind is always pushed to the limits and worked out just like any other muscle in your body. You can rest assured that this game will always push you to those limits. If it ever starts to get easy, you can always move up in stakes to play at the higher limits. There can only be one “best player in the world, ” and if that’s not you, you’ve still got room to grow.

Listings Of All Online Texas Holdem Poker R Game

How to Play Texas Hold’em

The first step to being the best Texas hold’em player in the world is learning how to play the game. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, so they shouldn’t take you long to learn. If you’re brand new to the game or looking to brush up on the rules, we’ve got you covered.

Below, you’ll find a link to our dedicated guide on the rules of Texas hold’em and how the game is played. When you finish that guide, you’ll be ready to try your hand at the game. Should you, though? Well, we recommend not getting ahead of yourself. After you get through learning the rules, come back here and learn everything else you need to know to get started on your journey to the top.

Cash Games vs. Tournaments

All Texas hold’em games are not created equal. In fact, every variation of the game is light years different from the others. What we’d like to do is start by introducing you to these different variations. Texas hold’em games can be divided into three main types: cash games, tournaments and sit and go’s. Within each of these subsections, there are more variations that we will go over as well.

Remember, while these different formats are in fact different, they are still just variations of classic Texas hold’em. The rule sets are going to be the same. The same hands that beat other hands will not change. The order in which you play along with the flow of the game will be the same. The only things that will be different will be the format of how the game is set up. Let’s take a look at each, and it will make much more sense to you if you’re currently confused.

Cash Games

A cash game is a poker format where you can play for as many or as few hands as you want. A cash game has no definitive end, and the blinds and antes never go up. Players will come and go from the game as they please and are never required to play a certain number of hands.

When you buy-in to a cash game, you are given chips that represent the exact amount of money you used to buy-in with. If you buy-in with $200, then you are given $200 in chips. If you take those chips back to the cashier, you can get $200 in cash back. Cash game chips are effectively the same as cash. They hold a cash value.

You’re free to sit down and play one hand in a cash game and leave if you want or you can sit down and play for 20 hours straight. Every other player at the table has the exact same right as well. Cash games come in varying stake/blind levels, but they will always stay at the stake/blind level that is posted. They will never increase as they do in some of the other formats we will mention.

For example, if you were to sit down in a $1/$2 cash game, the small blind would be $1, and the big blind would be $2. At no point will these ever increase. During hand 1, the blinds will be $1/$2…at hand 8,479, the blinds will be $1/$2.

As we mentioned, you are free to leave a cash game at any point in time that you want to. When you leave, the value of the chips you have in front of you is the amount of money you will get back from the cashier. If you started with $200 in chips and get up when you have $300 in front of you, you’ll get $300 in cash back. If you start with $200 in chips and cash out when you have $150 in front of you, you’ll get $150 in cash back.

Also, if you lose all of your chips in a cash game, you are always free to buy back in. You are not eliminated from the cash game. You’re free to purchase more chips and get right back into the action.

Free Texas Holdem Online Practice Poker

Tournaments

Tournaments are much different than cash games. A Texas hold’em tournament is a poker competition where players compete until one player has all of the chips in play. The blinds and antes continue to rise on a fixed schedule until the tournament is completed.

Players pay an entry fee for a set number of chips instead of buying chips that match the amount of money they put in. This means that technically tournament chips have no cash value; they are only tournament units. Players are not permitted to ever cash out of a poker tournament, but must play until they are out of chips or until they have all of the chips in play. Players are awarded prize money based on what position they finish in the tournament.

Let’s break this down a bit more to make it clearer. Let’s say that 100 people sign up for a $100 Texas hold’em poker tournament. Each player is given 10,000 in chips. Obviously, these chips do not equal $10,000. They are just units for the players to work with to see what place they finish in.

The tournament will start, and the blinds will rise to help force the action along. When a player is out of chips, they are out of the tournament (with exceptions we will cover below). The play continues until 1 of the 100 players has all of the chips in play.

So, how does the money work? Well, 100 players each put in $100, so the total prize pool is $10,000. This prize pool is usually distributed based on what position the players finish in. While this can vary, the industry standard is for the top 10-15% of players to receive money with the amount increasing the higher you finish. The remaining players receive nothing.

The payouts for this tournament might pay the top 15 players with first getting much more than 15^th. The level at which the payouts increase will be determined by the site or poker room putting on the tournament.

Different Types of Tournaments

Just as all Texas hold’em games are not created equal, all tournament formats are also not created equal. There are a multitude of different popular formats that you will encounter at some point along your poker journey. Are you required to know how to play and beat all of these to be a successful Texas hold’em player? Of course not! You can make your whole career out of only playing one of these formats and do just fine.

Freezeout Tournaments

Rebuy and Re-entry Tournaments

Satellite Tournaments

A satellite tournament has nothing to do with NASA or anything like that. A satellite tournament, sometimes referred to as a satty, is a tournament where the winners receive an entry into a bigger tournament. Typically, the top prize will only be the value of the buy-in to the bigger tournament. If there is additional prize pool money, it will be paid out to the remaining places as additional seats to the bigger tournament.

Satellite tournaments are a great way to get involved in bigger tournaments without having to put up the full buy-in amount. If you’d like to learn more about satellite tournaments and how to dominate them, click the button below now.

Bounty Tournaments

A bounty tournament can come in one of two styles. The first is where every player has a bounty on their head. With these, a portion of the buy-in goes to the main prize pool while another portion goes to the bounty. If you knock a player out, you get their bounty money regardless of how you finish in the tournament. The other style is a tournament where the people running it will add money to the prize pool to put bounties on specific players. If you knock one of these players out, you get their bounty money no matter how you end up finishing in the tournament.

Bounty tournaments can be a lot of fun, but can change a lot when it comes to proper strategy. We break everything down for you for both styles in our special bounty tournament guide below.

Sit and Go’s, Shootouts, Steps and Heads Up Tournaments

A sit and go (SNG) is a tournament that has a fixed number of entrants. In some of the other styles of tournaments, anyone that wants to enter can enter, and they usually won’t cap the entrants. A SNG, though, will be a set number of entrants. It won’t have a start time either, but will begin as soon as the correct number of players have signed up.

The most popular type of SNG’s are single-table tournaments. These are 9 or 10 handed tournaments that usually pay the top 3 players. It’s not rare to see multi-table SNG’s as well with any amount of players (usually in multiples of 9 so they have full tables). You may also see tournaments where SNG’s are played in a bracket-style with the winner of each table moving on to play the winners of the other tables. These are known as shootouts. A variation on this style is the step tournament that we will cover more in depth in the dedicated guide.

Single table SNG’s can also be run with two players only where the players battle it out against only the other player. These are known as heads-up SNG’s or heads-up tournaments. These can be one table only or can also be done in a shootout format, although they aren’t usually referred as shootouts in those situations.

To learn more about all of these types of tournaments that fit in the same format family, click the button below.

Guaranteed Tournaments

A guaranteed tournament is a little different than everything else on this list. Basically, any one of the tournaments on this list could be a guaranteed tournament on top of their own style. A guarantee simply means that the poker room is guaranteeing that the prize pool will be a certain amount no matter how many players enter.

For example, if a poker room says that a $100 buy-in tournament has a $10,000 guarantee, this means that no matter how many players show up to play they will be giving out $10k in prize money. If 90 players show up, that means the poker room only collected $9k, but they are still going to pay out the prize pool as $10k. The poker room will have to put up the extra $1k out of their own pockets. If 200 people show up for this tournament, the poker room will collect $20k from players and the prize pool will then be $20k.

The poker room does not get to keep any extra money just because they met and exceeded the guarantee. When the poker room falls short on a guarantee, it is called having an overlay. As you can guess, an overlay is extremely good for players and means they’ll be playing for more money than they really should be.

Pot Limit vs. No Limit vs. Limit

If you aren’t already overwhelmed with all of the different options with Texas hold’em yet, we’ve got more for you! Within each of the different formats we listed above, you have three more variations of the game that can be played. These variations have to do with the style of betting and the amount that you are allowed to bet on each street.

No Limit Texas hold’em

This is by and far the most popular form of Texas hold’em there is. This is the style that is played during the WSOP Main Event and most likely the style you’re accustomed to playing. For that reason, most of the rest of this guide and the strategy sections deal with no limit. In no limit Texas hold’em, you can bet as much or as little of your chip stack as you want at any point in the hand. There are no limitations. Your entire stack is always in play.

This makes for a much wilder and more exciting format of poker. The pots are usually bigger, the action is faster and the chance to make a fortune grows.

Pot Limit Texas hold’em

This version of Texas hold’em is “no limit lite.” In this format of the game, you are only allowed to bet as much as is in the pot. If there is $100 in the pot, then the maximum you can bet is $100. If there is $800 in the pot, then the maximum that you can bet is $800. You are limited in your bet size by the pot, hence, why it is called pot limit.

Limit Texas hold’em

Sometimes referred to as an old man’s game, limit Texas hold’em is a structured betting game where you can only bet or raise a fixed amount on each street. While this may sound like a buzz-kill and somewhere you can’t make a lot of money, that’s definitely not the case. Limit games will sometimes play very big with the chosen limits being in the thousands per bet.

Even though limit Texas hold’em is technically similar to no limit Texas hold’em, the strategic implications are so different that some regard it as a totally different game. These people are somewhat right and somewhat wrong. The strategic theory is similar, but it just is altered due to the limits in betting sizes. You have only one bet size to react to instead of interpreting a lot of different bet sizes as you do in pot limit or no limit.

Texas Hold’em Strategy

Welcome to the fun part of this guide! This is the section that we are the most proud of and the section that will certainly bring you the most value in helping to grow the success of your Texas hold’em career. Our team of past and present poker professionals have spent countless hours putting together a fully dedicated Texas hold’em training and strategy section.

You’ll find tips, tricks and strategies that you normally would have to pay for completely free. If you’re ready to elevate your game to the next level, click the link below and enter our fully dedicated and completely free strategy portal. We know you won’t be disappointed.

Luck vs. Skill

It’s crazy for us to think about how widely this is debated and how often people are misinformed about the topic. Is there luck involved in poker? Yes. Is it predominantly luck? Definitely not. Poker is a game that can be beat long term. There is a reason the same people always seem to find their way to the top of tournaments. There’s a reason that certain people are able to play cash games for a living for many years.

Are these people just the luckiest people on the planet? No. These people understand the strategy of the game and how to exploit their opponents properly. They know how to get maximum value when they have the best hand and lose the minimum when they have the worst hand.

Since we know that many people are stubborn, we’ve put together a dedicated guide to walk you through this debate. This guide is perfect for those who aren’t sure whether to believe that the game can be beaten long term. This guide is also perfect for those that “have already seen the light” and are looking for an eloquent way to share this information with their friends, families and significant others.

Click below, and you’ll see that we’ve finally settled this debate once and for all.

Online Texas Hold’em vs. Live Texas Hold’em

One of the biggest choices you’ll have to make once you start playing Texas hold’em is whether or not you’re going to play live in a brick and mortar poker room or at home on the Internet. In the older days, you were limited to only playing in a brick and mortar poker room or at a home game at a friend’s or someone you knew.

While this could work, it ended up being fairly inconvenient for a lot of folks. This only worked if you lived close to a poker room or you happened to know someone that was running a game. Even then, you had to travel to the game, and security was a real concern if it was a home game. In the late 1990s, though, Internet poker blasted onto the scene giving players a convenient option to get their poker fix on.

In the sections below, we’ll dive into the differences between live Texas hold’em and online Texas hold’em. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each to help you make a much more informed decision about where you might want to play. This will be great if you’re brand new to the game or maybe if you’re someone that has played live for many years and is considering the switch to online play.

Live Hold’em

This is the most classic form of Texas hold’em. If you watch any old movie with gambling in it, you’ll most likely see a table of cowboys in the background playing poker. While they probably weren’t playing Texas hold’em, they were playing live poker. Live poker is any time that you play the game in a brick and mortar setting. This could be going to the local card room to play, going to the poker room at a casino or even playing in a home game at your friend’s house.

Live poker is a favorite of a lot of people because they can see their opponent. A lot of times they feel like they can get a much better read on their opponent based on their facial expressions, body language and the way they speak. This is definitely one of the biggest pros that live poker has over online. The second pro of live poker is that it’s much more social than online poker. You’re able to chat face to face with other players, the dealers and the floor staff. For a lot of people that use poker as a recreational hobby, it’s a great reason to get out of the house and get some human interaction.

On the flip side, there are some downsides to playing in the brick and mortar setting. First, convenience is much lower than it is with online poker. You’re forced to put your pants on, get a babysitter for the kids or your significant other, drive to the game location and then finally start playing. This takes time and costs money. This is time you could be already playing and money that you could be saving.

You’re also only able to play one game at a time. A lot of poker players who like action or play to make money like to play more than one game at once. This is possible online with the click of a button, but in a live setting, you are limited by the fact that you can’t physically be in two places at once. For some, though, they’re content with playing one game at a time. Yes, live poker is slower than online poker, but for a lot of recreational players looking for social interaction or to pass the time, that’s fine.

If you do decide to play Texas hold’em in a live setting, you need to make sure that you follow a lot of general etiquette rules when you get to the poker room. Following these will ensure that you don’t make any costly mistakes and that you have a much more enjoyable time.

Online Hold’em

It’s funny that we still refer to online poker as a new innovation when, in fact, it has been around for over 20 years now. In its infancy days, it had issues that were legitimate concerns for people interested in trying it out. In the past 20+ years, though, the kinks have been worked out, and online poker is now a legitimate and viable way for you to play poker. Some would argue that it’s more legitimate, safer and better structured and organized than any live poker room in the world.

Let’s talk about the pros of online poker. First, it’s much more convenient. You don’t have to leave your house, and it takes just a few seconds to get logged on. All of your transactions can be done digitally including cashing out your money. This saves you an enormous amount of time, hassle and most of all, money. It officially takes $0 in gas money to get to an online poker room.

Secondly, it’s much more conducive to improving your game quicker. You’re able to see hands faster, play more games if you want, study your hand histories easier, use software to help you get better and most importantly, you can start playing at much lower stakes than you can playing live. If you go to play Texas hold’em in a local poker room, the smallest game that you’ll most likely see will be $1/$2 no limit hold’em. The standard buy-in for this game is $200.

When you play online, though, they will have tables as low as $.01/$.02 where the standard buy-in is $2. This means that you can start playing for real money without risking much in the beginning. You can then slowly and strategically work your way up the stakes as you improve and are ready. This could be reason enough to play online if you are new to the game and looking to improve at a gradual and safe pace.

The third major pro of online Texas hold’em is that there are MUCH more players. Because you’re able to play with players from around the world, you’re always going to be able to find a game. If you want to play on a random Tuesday morning, you might not be able to get a game at your local card room. Online though, there are always people ready to play. They might not be from the same country as you, but their money cashes out and spends just the same!

There are some limited drawbacks to online poker that are more preferential thoughts. First, some people don’t like the fact that you can’t see your opponents face to face. They like to stare down the table when they’re making a tough decision (or sometimes any decision…insert eye roll), and it’s just not the same when you’re starting at a small avatar or a screen name. Secondly, some people like to use poker as a social outlet. While you can still chat with people online, it’s definitely not the same as talking to someone face to face. As a culture that stays buried in our phones now anyway, this may not be a big deal.

Overall, we are big proponents of online poker versus live poker especially for Texas hold’em. It’s convenient for the casual player and strategic for the serious player looking to improve their game. As an industry that’s now been around for over 20 years, it has really turned into an amazing product and industry that you definitely need to check out!

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about Texas Hold’em

Is Texas hold’em hard to learn?

Is Texas hold’em the same as poker?

What does “no limit” mean?

Are tournaments the same as cash games?

Should I play online or in a poker room?

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