The Las Vegas poker scene for the summer of 2017 has more to offer than just the World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. Several series around town, at casinos such as Wynn, Aria, and Golden Nugget, offer promising alternatives to players who travel to Sin City.
With so many tourists in town for the WSOP come June and July, other poker rooms do their all to lure customers away with their own poker series. The Rio isn’t the only casino reaping the rewards of the city hosting the world’s largest annual poker series. Even cash games all around town often have long wait lists.
Prestigious Events, Lower Buy-ins
For those who can’t afford the pricier WSOP buy-ins, Aria Resort and Casino, home of the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, is hosting a WPT500 event.
Sponsored by the World Poker Tour, this poker series begins June 2 and concludes July 9. The Main Event is a $565 buy-in tournament (versus WSOP’s $10K ME), and starts on June 26 with the first of seven Day One flights. There will be at least $1 million in prize pool money awarded.
Wynn Resort and Casino opened a new poker room last summer. The casino is hosting its annual Wynn Summer Classic starting on June 2. Daily tournaments will be available, with buy-ins ranging from $360 to $1,500. The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Championship kicks off on the Fourth of July.
The 10th edition of Golden Nugget’s Grand Poker Series will get underway May 30 and end July 3. This series draws thousands of poker players who prefer not to spend over $1,000 on a tournament. All daily events range from $150 to $570 in entrance fees.
Rio Grande Events
While many other poker rooms will see an increase in traffic over the summer due to the WSOP, none will host as many players as the Rio. The convention center within the casino will open three large conference rooms for cash games, daily tournaments, and WSOP events beginning in late May, and continue to offer events until the November Nine is decided in mid-July.
On top of the 74 bracelet events and 24/7 cash games during the series, the Rio will have four daily Deep Stack tournaments until the Main Event starts. The tournaments draw large fields and cost $135 to $365 to enter.
Las Vegas is the place to be this summer for poker players.
