OK, I think I got at least half of this thing figured out … here are the rest of the pics, taken by yours truly. I think the bar area is pretty cool.

Oops, I missed all the fun at the soft opening of the Hard Rock Poker Lounge yesterday. Supposedly it was wild fun with lots of great food to go with one sit-n-go after another. But the emptiness did give me a chance to take some better photos of the inside, and the cleaning crew didn’t even try to stop me!

Click below to have a look:

UPDATE: Argh, I am having trouble resizing and such. Bear with me as I learn Mac button-pressing … I swear this is supposed to make everything easier …

In the meantime, as I’m fiddling/flickring … these shots just came in over the transom from the Hard Rock:

The above shot is the main room — you can see the little VIP/private rooms along the back wall … and below is the room for whatever big-big game materializes:

The PR people at Hard Rock are trying to keep a tight lid on the unveiling of their new “Poker Lounge”, which opens to the public tomorrow — they don’t want any bad pictures getting out that fail to capture the venue in all its glory, nor any inaccurate information being spread widely for many to misconstrue. Er … ok, but that’s kinda what we do, ya know?

I’ve heard two numbers about how costly this new construction was — $12 million and $30 million. While there’s a big difference between the two, and at least one of them is probably wrong, either way, you get the picture … it’s a really nice place — built from the ground up and the inside out. Brian from the Poker Atlas and I swung by yesterday, where they were busily at work in their final stages of preparation, and we got a little tour from the Director of Poker Operations, Houston Waldie, who was brought to HRH after his success turning the Golden Nugget’s rinky-dink room into arguably the best game downtown. No cameras allowed as he pointed out features he was most proud of, but I did manage to sneak a few pics from behind the ropes to give you a sense of the space we’re talking about here.

I gotta say … Fuckin’ A …

Go Hard Rock. (General info and future reviews here; official site here.)

The luxe tables, couches, chairs, flatscreens, etc. were all expected, maybe a tad nicer. But the art, the architecture, the vibe — all created specifically to be a poker room, the most well thought out and well funded since the Venetian — make me miss living on the east side of town, where the Hard Rock was the most convenient casino to my old pad. And though I suspect it may take some time to build up a player base (perhaps when the new hotel rooms at the Hard Rock open?) that should make it one of the premiere poker destinations in LV, at least the set-up for the action seems pretty sweet. Here are a few tidbits I picked up without the benefit of tape recorder or notepad:

More…

After much talk and some anticipation, Dan notes that the Hard Rock poker room will open sometime in August. Evidently, poker pro Joe Awada got a sneak peak at the room and wrote an article about it for Gaming Today.

1. Who knew that Joe Awada wrote articles?
2. Decent stuff, but he could use an editor.

The $12 million Poker Lounge (yikes) will not only have some swanky features and its own bathrooms, but the room can be reserved for parties, as they claim two dozen divorce parties are already lined up. There will also be a poker league with various teams of employees and open groups, such as radio stations and gentleman’s clubs. Sounds intriguing as more information comes out, no?

For instance, the 7,500-square-foot poker lounge will start with 18 tables (expandable to 25) and will feature five roped-off, high-limit tables.

The lounge will have its own bar with tables, comfy chairs and couches, five high-end slot/video poker machines and its own bathrooms.

The room will also have its own cashier and safety deposit boxes for the players.

There will also be a dedicated host staff, massage therapists, bottle service at the tables, a race and sports writer and a kiosk for placing bets. Players will be entitled to a full comp system, with extra goodies like concert tickets, backstage passes, cabanas at the adult pool and other benefits.

As happens with so many openings in this town (and LA and NYC, presumably) … the unveiling of the Hard Rock’s new poker room has been delayed (um, like four years late?) and delayed … but we could tell they were moving forward with things — whether it was the dealer auditions being held in June or the HRH Poker Lounge attire sported by Jeremiah Smith (and another guy — I forget whom) during the WSOP main event. Anyhow, am now hearing it’s set to open-open by the end of this month … and here’s what the Hard Rock will be saying about the poker component of the hotel-casino’s $760 million revamp:

Poker Lounge - The Poker Lounge is the only poker room in Las Vegas with a full bar and lounge, but don’t get the wrong idea—this is the real deal for poker players of every level. New to the game? The Poker Lounge offers free lessons. Want to find you hand with your own music? Bring your iPod and plug it in to one of our private VIP tables. This isn’t your old man’s poker party. It’s everything you’ve come to expect from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and a world-class poker room—18 tables, great music, a full service bar and lounge in signature Hard Rock style.

Well actually, for the most part, poker is shrinking here. But just because some rooms are shutting down doesn’t mean new ones aren’t gonna pop up to see if they can’t succeed where the others failed. And one previously hip Las Vegas spot is finally getting on the poker bandwagon. Though not yet officially announced, August 15 is the opening date we’re hearing for the Hard Rock poker room. They’re smart, of course, to be doing dealer auditions now, with so many card-pitching job-seekers in town for the Series.

Perhaps unrelated perhaps not, Sully Erna is doing a solo concert at the HR tomorrow eve – presumably trying to earn himself some WSOP buy-ins, though no word on whether or not he’s requested to be paid in lammers.