This Week in Vegas – Sign Up for the Signature Series

Tournament players should rejoice this week, as a bumper week of action at the felt comes in events designed for those who prefer a longer structure.

Deepstack action is everywhere over the next seven days, with The Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas going head-to-head to woo you over to their big value series. I’ll sort out which of the two venues you should plan your week around while casting an eye at action elsewhere, including a unique dining experience that is literally ‘lights out’, an August promo to avoid, and a weekend warrior event that won’t hurt your wallet.

Playing The Board: The Wynn or The Venetian?

At the Wynn Las Vegas, their Signature Series is well under way too, with tournaments costing between $200 and $600 to play this week and up to $1,100 over the series. With guarantees going into the low six figures, this week’s $600-entry $250,000 guaranteed event should really fill up. 

With three standard flights and one turbo flight taking place from Thursday through the weekend, there should be no excuse to avoid taking your shot. That’s my recommendation for the best value this week in Las Vegas. It’s a huge guarantee for a relatively low buy-in, and player feedback about the series has been great to date.

The Venetian’s DeepStack Showdown continues as it works its way through a tournament series with $1.1m in guarantees on offer. A heads-up deal meant their most recent winner, Sergei Saakian took home $19,371 after David Chau won $18,000 as runner-up. Saakian, a Las Vegas resident, proved the local hero in the $400-entry event, which I tipped those who were local to play last week, and I’m delighted for him that he did, also winning a DeepStack Showdown Event bronze coin and trophy. 

I’ll return to The Venetian in future weeks as they are launching a ‘Mystery Bounty’ style cash game bonus for anyone preferring to lock in for a session rather than a one, two or three-day event, but suffice it to say that it’s exciting, and with a dash of gamble you might not be able to resist if you enjoy a mystery prize.

Take a look at the remaining schedule of Venetian DeepStack Showdown events right here. The $300 DeepStack Showdown event with a $100,000 guarantee is my pick of the action, taking place from Friday at 11.10 am local time.

Here are this week’s offerings from Las Vegas and when you need to be in your seat.

Around the Rooms: Orleans and South Point Continue to Deliver

The Orleans have confirmed their four main tournaments, and the Saturday NLHE is the highlight if you’re not of the mixed games persuasion. Costing $150 to play, you start with 30,000 chips, and while the blind levels are 20 minutes, the ‘AM Monster Stack’ event pays out big top prizes.

In regular cash game play, The Orleans’ Weekday Hold’Em High Hands promo pays out every half hour or takes $50 forward as ‘rollover’. 

Over at South Point, their weekend NLHE daily tournaments are great value. Costing $120 and starting at 10.10am each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, each weekend event has a $15,000 guaranteed prize pool, and if you bust, then there are three more NLHE tourneys kicking off at 2.10pm, 6.10pm and 10.10pm respectively.

Those are in Chip Chop, Deep Stack and Turbo Bounty format, but I’d start with the regular one as it has the same guarantee on its own as the other three events combined.

One to Swerve: Westgate’s Awful August Promo

Westgate Las Vegas purport to be one for the Vegas regulars, yet in terms of August promotions, they’re scraping the poker barrel. Paying out $100 for quads, $200 for a straight flush, and $400 for a Royal Flush, the high hand promos at other casinos are way bigger and are either refreshed more regularly or more accurately reflect the odds of getting each hand.

If I was dealt a hand that was part of a Royal Flush and only got $400, I’d consider mucking my cards out of respect for the odds… that’s simply way too cheap! 

Off the Felt: Dining in the Dark

Want a break from the bright lights of the Strip? So hungry you could make it through a seven-course dinner? Then you need to try the Dining in the Dark experience at the BLACKOUT dining experience in Las Vegas. Costing a lofty $99.95, it’s on the high side, but you hand in your cell phone on entry, and you are then treated to a stunning menu in complete darkness as a waiter escorts you through the lightless dining room to your seats.

All phones must be handed in and locked away before you eat, and there’s a strictly enforced 24-hour pre-dinner cancellation policy, but I’d suggest if you’re on the back of a bad beat and can afford to take out one of your senses to experience a sensory reboot, this is the way to do it. 

Whether you go deep in a DeepStack event this week or stick to the shallow end, good luck at the Vegas felt in the next seven days.