At long last, the Wynn poker room in Las Vegas is almost ready to resume operations. For the first time since mid-March, the luxurious resort will bring back its poker tables, effective Sep. 30.
Additionally, Bally’s, another Las Vegas Strip property, will reopen its card room on Sep. 25, a casino employee confirmed with CardsChat News. Wynn is set to bring poker back at the end of the month and will become the 18th poker room in town to reopen.
Bally’s has a popular poker room among low-stakes grinders, including locals who play the monthly freerolls. The Caesars Entertainment-owned casino has 14 card tables, most of which spread limit games and $1/$2 no-limit hold’em.
Wynn Poker Room Another Step in Right Direction for Las Vegas Poker
The live poker scene in Las Vegas took a nap during the early days of COVID-19. Every casino closed in mid-March and none reopened until June 4. Wynn-Encore was one of the mega resorts to reopen that weekend, but left out its world-class poker room.
With the Wynn poker room to soon reopen, that means all of the top card rooms in Las Vegas will be back in business. Aria, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Red Rock, Golden Nugget, and Venetian are already spreading poker games.
On Sep. 30, Las Vegas will have 18 poker rooms in operation. Prior to COVID-19, 31 casinos offered live poker action. A few of those properties — namely, Mirage, Harrah’s, and Binion’s — have since removed poker tables completely. At Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb, the poker tables have been replaced with comfy chairs for football fans to watch games on the weekend. Mirage replaced its poker room with a smoke-free slot area.
Some of those casinos may reopen the poker rooms one day. They certainly haven’t ruled that out. But it likely won’t happen until the global health pandemic fades and tourism demand returns to normalcy in Las Vegas.
For the time being, there are still plenty of places to play in town, including some of the most popular poker rooms in the world (Aria, Bellagio, and soon Wynn). The Wynn poker room features 28 card tables and attracts players at all stakes, from low stakes all the way up to the high rollers.
The poker room will be permitted to spread eight-handed games, maximum. Safety dividers will be in place at every seat, and all players are required to wear a face covering. At first, only cash games will be available. According to Wynn’s website, daily tournaments won’t be offered right away, but may soon return.
