Dave Ferrara
Journalist and Grinder
Writing, grinding and digging around for the best stories at the tables and in the card rooms across southern Nevada and beyond.
Posts by DFerrara:
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Howard Lederer Re-emerges Just in Time for Fall Classics
11 Oct 2012Ah, the Las Vegas fall. It’s that time of year when the high temperatures finally drop into the 90s, pool season ends, barbecues begin and we enjoy a brief respite from the melting cars. But the live poker scene around Las Vegas is starting to heat up again, after the summer break from the WSOP. […]
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Hidden In Henderson
10 Oct 2012Out in Henderson, deep in the southeast edge of the Vegas Valley, there’s a competition between a pair of lesser known casinos for small-stakes cash-game action and low buy-in tournaments. As Aria, Venetian and other monsters of the Strip try to lure in the most tourists, Jokers Wild Casino and Club Fortune Casino clamor day […]
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Brad Garrett plays MGM, PokerGives Keeps on Giving, Bellagio Raising (Low) Stakes
21 Sep 2012Celebbing it Up @MGMGrandPoker Brad Garrett has been a character around the poker scene for a while — pretty much since everyone in poker started loving his fictional brother and real life home-game buddy. On Saturday, Garrett hosts a $250 buy-in charity tournament at the MGM Grand, with a top prize of $10,000. Fellow sitcom […]
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Turn out the Lights?
14 Sep 2012If you didn’t arrive by 8:30am, you didn’t get a seat. (The room wasn’t even supposed to open until 10.) The last day at the new Tropicana Poker Room, this past Tuesday, may have been their busiest ever, as they gave away nearly $16,000 in leftover jackpot cash before closing down to make room for […]
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Out with a Fizzle? New Trop Poker Room Closing
10 Sep 2012I went to the Trop poker room Wednesday night, about 10:30, to see if a few friends might be working or playing. The room was totally dark but for a single flickering light. No dealer in a box, no suit at the counter. It seemed odd, but the room had been growing noticeably quieter in […]
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Ellis Island Poker Room Stripped
08 Sep 2012The Ellis Island poker experiment has apparently come to an end. What was briefly the newest poker room in Las Vegas — two tables in the back of a locals dive casino a few blocks off the Strip — shut down this week after being open less than three months. With little fanfare, tables were […]
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The Restoration of Venetian Poker
07 Sep 2012Let’s hope it’s an omen. I picked up pocket Aces on my first hand in the new-and-improved Venetian poker room. My good friend and fellow Pokeratier Andrew raised into me, then called my three-bet “just in case” before check-folding the flop. $10 Million Rebuy: The Venetian poker room has expanded to add 50 percent more […]
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Gimmick Mixed Game or New Way to Play?
31 Aug 2012So you’ve played hold’em, Omaha, 7-card stud, razz, badugi, badaci, baduci, razz-dugi, 2-7 triple draw, Chinese poker, Taiwanese poker, Indian poker and every hi-lo variant there is. What’s next? In a new game being spread at the Palms, using three 7s in his hand, Bruce Paul turned quads and paused the action after scooping a […]
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Tobacco Station
26 Aug 2012Open the locomotive-handled doors, weave through the slot machines between the bingo hall and Burger King, and step into the past. The poker room at Boulder Station, an off-strip casino opened in 1994, is one of only two poker rooms in Las Vegas that allow smoking at the tables. (The 3-table Arizona Charlie’s on Decatur […]
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Venetian Poker Room Overhaul Underway
16 Aug 2012The long-awaited redesign of the Venetian Poker Room is in full gear, creating a major, albeit temporary, shift in big-room action on the Vegas Strip. In a couple weeks, the renovated room will have 59 tables with bigger and better TVs — mounted on the walls and in pillars — and cushier chairs. The newly […]
