Cantor Gaming will open a new poker room at the Palms, and hopefully get new felts for Pokerati's signature game.
The poker room at Palms Casino Resort will close on May 2, with a new room, in a new location, under new management opening May 5.
Cantor Gaming confirmed recently that an 8-table poker room will be part of the Palms’ redesigned sportsbook (currently under construction) and say the new room will be state of the art in style and technology. Sources at Palms tell me that one of the tables will be equipped with hole card cams, a la Live at the Bike.
“We are honored that Palms has chosen us to manage their poker area,” Lee M. Amaitis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor Gaming said in a press release. “By situating poker within the sports book we can offer customers maximum entertainment and convenience.”
Because of the partnership, the current staff at Palms must re-apply for new jobs with Cantor if they want to stick around. A spokesman for Cantor did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking further details about the new poker room, and the cost of the project was not disclosed.
Late last year, the Las Vegas-based gaming company unveiled a new sports book at Venetian, the first phase of $30 million in renovations. Cantor has been taking over sportsbooks across Las Vegas — including the Venetian, Tropicana, Hard Rock, M Resort, and Cosmopolitan — but Palms will be the first location to open with a poker room as part of its design.
“Our decision to relocate the poker room to the new race and sports book was a natural one given the synergies that exist between poker players and sports bettors,” said Joseph A. Magliarditi, President of Palms.
“We are confident that a sleek new poker room will be a spectacular addition to our resort and one that offers poker fans the ultimate in poker playing experiences.”
Dan Michalski, who runs this site and has hosted a weekly half no-limit hold’em, half pot-limit Omaha game at the Palms for the past year, wouldn’t say much about the future of Pokerati’s relationship with the casino. (And he acts surprised when I can’t get a corporate casino flak to answer my questions!)
“Stay tuned,” Dan said in a text message.
So I guess that means there may only be a few more weeks to take his money in the Pokerati game — at least at the current past-its-prime Palms poker room.
