Nov 09, 2010 Has anybody since the introduction of server based control of slot machines tracked the best day and time to play slots for greatest payout. This last year I have unofficially noticed slots appear to pay better on Friday and Saturday night and aweful on Friday morning and all day Sunday/Monday. Dec 12, 2018 John Matarese reports on which casino games give you the best chance of winning. Bean said novices are best off passing on the poker tables, where yes, the competition can be tough.
It has been said that poker is the hardest way to make an easy living. The one thing we can say for sure is that its a lot harder to make a living at it in a state with limited options for plying your trade.
That means if you want to play poker for a living you’re probably going to want to do it in a state with a lot of casinos or legal cardrooms. Playing in underground games every day may sound like a thrilling lifestyle. However, it’s a tough one to maintain when your bankroll is constantly under threat from local law enforcement and opportunistic thieves.
Essentially, what we’re saying is the best states to try to make a living playing poker are the ones with the most action. Legal, regulated and above board action.
Want to know where they are? Check out US Poker’s list of the five best states to make a living playing poker below:
Nevada
There’s no better place for a poker pro to call home than the state of Nevada. Probably because if you fall down just about anywhere inside the state, you’re a favorite to hit a poker room on the way to the ground.
In fact, there are more than 60 poker rooms operating across the state, which is probably six times more than the amount required to make a state a decent place to make a living playing poker.
Of course, the biggest and best action goes off on the Las Vegas Strip, where there are 18 different poker rooms hosting big-time cash game action and daily tournament schedules all within a few miles of one another.
The World Series of Poker
Big-time tournament action comes in the form of the annualWorld Series of Poker held in Las Vegas for six weeks every June and July. Thousands of poker players from all over the world descend upon Las Vegas for the events of the WSOP. However, it’s more than just the tournaments they come for. Cash game revenues at rooms across the state jump big time throughout the WSOP.
It’s a poker pro’s dream for six weeks. In fact, there’s so much poker money in Las Vegas during this time, whether they are playing cash games or tournaments, the WSOP can make or break a Nevada-based pro’s year.
The rest of the year brings a steady stream of big-time tournaments including regular World Poker Tour stops. Plus, as the gambling capital of the country, there’s always a good number of tourists filling the cash game tables from Las Vegas to Reno and Lake Tahoe.
There’s also legal and regulated online poker. Although the action is mostly limited to the WSOP site during the WSOP.
Regardless, Nevada is far and away the best state to make a living playing poker. The only issue might be that so many pros have moved there, the competition can be pretty stiff at times.
California
There are more than 90 licensed cardrooms that offer poker in California. They also offer player-banked versions of certain casino card games like blackjack.
Additionally, there are somewhere around 60 Tribal casinos in the state, many of which host poker rooms.
Between the cardrooms and Tribal casino poker rooms, there’s probably more action in California than there is in any other state across the country. The only thing that makes it a step below Nevada is most of that action is spread out across the state, instead of in one small area like Las Vegas.
Commerce and the Bike
However, the Los Angeles area does host two of the largest poker rooms in the world in the Bicycle Casino and Commerce Casino. The amount of cash game action in either of these cardrooms is enough for the average pro to make a sustainable living.
Plus, the World Poker Tour makes annual stops at both properties, if tournaments are where you’re looking to make big bank.
Getting lawmakers, cardrooms, Tribal casinos and potential online poker operators to agree on what legal and regulated online poker should look like in California has proved difficult. In fact, after a decade discussing it, the state seems no closer to passing online poker legislation than when those discussions started.
However, there’s a lot of big-time live tournament and cash game action up and down the coast all year long. And that’s enough to make California one the best states to make a living playing poker.
Florida
It wasn’t that long ago that poker in Florida was limited to home games at seniors centers and not much else. The game spread to dog tracks and Jai alai frontons in 1997. However, a $10 maximum on all pots rendered the game unrecognizable by today’s standards. The laws changed a couple times in the early 2000s, but the betting limits, limits on the number of bets and a $100 maximum buy-in still didn’t make any sense.
Poker soon spread to the state’s first tribal casinos. However, except for a brief period of time where the tribes allowed multiple rebuys to skirt around the maximum buy-in laws, the poker scene in the Sunshine State remained small.
Most of the caps were removed in 2009 and Florida suddenly became a destination for poker.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood
A big-time tournament scene emerged, particularly down south at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, which put up some major guarantees to attract players. There were overlays at first, but the Hard Rock in Hollywood now boasts some of the most well-attended tournament series in the country. The World Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker Circuit have even made it a regular stop.
The cash game scene has also thrived, from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale.
Atlantic City and Las Vegas may have the market cornered on check-raising tourists. However, there’s no better place to get called down by a wealthy retiree who just had to see it than Florida.
Add it up and for pro players who want to play lucrative cash games year round and major tournaments on a regular basis, Florida has become one of the best states to make a living playing poker.
New Jersey
The casino business in Atlantic City has had its share of ups and downs over the years. However, the seaside resort town has long maintained its status as the home of poker on the East Coast. Casinos became legal in the late 1970s, but poker didn’t get the thumbs up from lawmakers until the summer of 1993.
The Trump Taj Mahal launched a 50-table poker room that year that immediately became the center of the poker universe. There were other rooms, but no one really emerged as real competition until the Tropicana opened up a 40-table poker room in 1998. It was a pretty fierce rivalry between the two.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
In fact, it was all about either the Taj or the Trop for poker players in AC until 2003, whenBorgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened up in the city’s marina district.
The Borgata opened with a modern 34-table poker room that immediately became market leaders. A big boom in poker’s popularity soon followed. Suddenly, Borgata established itself as the East Coast’s premier poker destination.
The property started hosting events on the burgeoning World Poker Tour right from the outset. Its WPT events are still breaking tour entry records on a regular basis.
In 2006, poker’s popularity peaked and Borgata underwent a $200 million expansion. The poker room was expanded to 85 tables and revenues kept on rising, even as the growth of the game slowed.
The Taj has since closed and poker at the Trop moved to a much smaller space. However, there are other poker rooms around Atlantic City with action, and certainly plenty of it at Borgata to this day.
When it comes to major tournaments, the WPT is still huge at Borgata and the property runs seasonal festivals that draw big numbers with or without the WPT’s name on the marquee. Plus, Harrah’s Atlantic City has emerged as a regular stop on the WSOP Circuit.
The state also opened up a legal and regulated online poker market in 2013, with major operators like PokerStars, partypoker and 888poker opening shop to offer real-money games. It’s still a rather small market. However, New Jersey did sign on to share player pools with other states in 2017, so it should grow from here.
Put it all together and New Jersey is clearly one of the best states to make a living playing poker.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is one of the more recent entries into the casino gambling game. Slot machines were legalized in 2004. Table games, including poker, were legalized in 2010.
Then, in just the first three years of full casino operations, Pennsylvania surpassed New Jersey as the country’s second most profitable gaming market.
There are now 12 casinos in the state and 10 of them have poker rooms. In fact, poker has become quickly become a big part of what several casinos are doing to bring people in.
Parx Casino
Parx Casino has long been the poker room revenue leader in the state. It had an 80-table poker room that hosted a ton of cash-game action, daily tournaments, and the popular Big Stax tournament series five times annually.
Now it has moved poker into a sleek and modern 48-table room inside the main building. Nothing about the amount of action at Parx should change, and to be honest, there’s probably enough of it at Parx alone to make PA one of the best states to make a living playing poker.
However, there’s more.
Sands Bethlehem’s 30-table poker room also hosts a big cash game scene and the somewhat regular DeepStack Extravaganza tournament series. Harrah’s Philadelphia has a room affiliated with the World Series of Poker, which means WSOP Main Event satellites.
Plus, The Poker Night in America Poker Room at SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia has all kinds of action and is affiliated with the “Poker Night in America” TV show, regularly hosting televised events.
The 30-table room at Rivers in Pittsburgh shares the same affiliation. Plus, the Pittsburgh-area’s Meadows Casino started hosting a Heartland Poker Tour stop in 2017.
Additionally, there’s a ton of great cash game promotions at the other smaller rooms across the state. Put that together with all the big time tournament action, plus the fact the state just green lit online poker, and there’s little doubt Pennsylvania is the kind of place a pro can make a living now and for years to come.
Honorable mention
Honorable mention has to go to a state like New York. The New York poker scene used to be all about underground cash games in New York City and underage tournaments at Tribal casinos upstate. However, the state has seen four new commercial casinos open up over the past year and they all have poker action.
Connecticut deserves some love on this list as well. The rooms at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have enough cash game action to sustain the average pro and they host some big tournaments as well.
Finally, a shout out goes to the District of Columbia. Folks from the capital region used to have drive three hours or take the train to Atlantic City to play poker. Now, there’s an emerging poker scene including more than 100 tables at Maryland Live!, Horseshoe Baltimore, and the MGMjust outside of DC.
On weekends they come from across the country. They pack a light handbag, kiss their loved ones goodbye, and get on a plane.
Destination: Las Vegas.
Some come for the dazzling shows. Others for the food or the Vegas experience.
But most are here for one thing only:
To play poker.
They are the poker pilgrims, and the poker rooms of Las Vegas are the ultimate adventure.
If you’re interested in playing poker online, check out our top recommendations below!
The casinos of Las Vegas have always had an affinity to poker. From the Bellagio and MGM Grand all the way to the small poker rooms in the narrow alleys off the alluring Strip, the poker tables are set, and the games are on almost 24 hours a day. Tourneys and cash games never stop. Nor does the endless line of players streaming in the casinos.
But the question on everybody’s mind who’s planning a trip to the Sin City is this:
Which is the best poker room among the dozens that fill the Strip and the areas around it?
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Whether you’re a casual player looking for some fun and entertainment or a dedicated player who takes your game seriously and plays to win money, it all comes down to one thing. Which poker room offers more action, has friendly dealers, and — maybe most importantly – has the softest competition.
Does this mean that you should avoid the famous casinos with their luxurious ambiance and great atmosphere because of sharks?
Not necessarily.
In fact, if you’re going to Vegas to make some money at the tables, then there’s a type of player you should worry about more than sharks. I’m talking about the ones chasing freerolls. They are attracted by promotions, and they won’t be playing many hands or putting a lot of money in the pot.
In other words, these are the players to avoid. These tables are neither fun nor are they worth your time.
Which brings us back to the main question:
Which rooms are the best both for recreational and career poker players as well?
And which ones should you avoid?
Here are 7 poker rooms in Vegas that made the cut.
1. The Aria
This visually-striking hotel and casino is one of the newest additions to the Strip. Despite that, it has attracted a decent clientele who love the poker room’s swiveling chairs, which make you feel like you’re sitting on a cloud. Any time of the day or night, the Aria is teeming with players.
And there’s never a shortage of tables.
Apart from the beautiful poker room, with its dark shades of red and brown, the Aria offers a lively atmosphere and lots of action. They feature lots of cash games spread throughout the peak hours. The Aria also runs decent tourneys (even on weekdays), including their popular $125 buy-in tournament at 7pm.
You can expect to find $1/$3, $2/$5, $5/$10 NLHE games as well as $1/$3 and $2/$5 PLO.
For higher stakes, they have Ivey’s room, named after Phil Ivey. There you’ll find famous players competing in the $300/$600 mixed game.
The Aria’s dedicated poker room, with about 24 tables, is among the few places where you can find games running in the morning hours between 7am and 12pm. There you can expect to find a wide range of skills, which is great if you’re looking to improve your game.
Besides the experienced rounders who play for high stakes, most of the players who frequent the Aria are recreational players with a lot of money.
And with such lively action, you always have options to move tables if you need to.
2. The Venetian
The Venetian Resort is one of largest hotels in the world. It stands to reason that they should have a dedicated poker room to match. The 59-table poker room is well-managed, with two separate high-limit areas. It’s more spacious and laid back than most poker rooms on the Strip, even if the action is more subdued.
Cash games run from $1/$2 to $5/$10 NLHE. They also offer low stakes LHE and Omaha. They also have some good deep-stack tourneys, as well as two big daily tournaments at 12:05 PM and 7:05 PM.
Competition-wise, you can find many soft games, even though the daily tournament schedule attracts local players. You can recognize the locals from the tourists quickly. The locals are the ones the dealer calls by name.
3. The Bellagio
The Bellagio is always lively and full of all popular cash games and tournaments. The poker room is not as big as the Venetian, but it still looks opulent and luxurious.
Just because it’s a big and a relatively old casino frequented by famous players doesn’t mean you should shy away from it. You can find easier competition there. Plenty of tourists play recklessly there.
If you want to find the best action and softest games, you should play there between Wednesday and Sunday. These are the major fly-in days for most out-of-towners. Tourists tend to go far too hard the first day they hit the Strip. They drink like fish and play accordingly — like fish.
You’ll find all limits of cash games in the Bellagio. Starting from $1/$2 NLHE all the way to $20,000 buy-in games in Bobby’s Room. You also get other games like Omaha and stud.
4. The Wynn
Conveniently located near Encore Players Club, this spacious room has 28 tables.
Entertainment is not in short supply with the 37 TV screens and the nearby restaurants offering a variety of foods.
Some people who play at the Wynn claim the competition is tougher than most. The Wynn Casino also has one of the busiest poker rooms in Vegas, with anywhere from 10 to 30 games going on at any given time.
You can even find a game running at 5am here. Most poker rooms slow down after 1am. This says something about the Wynn and its customers.
The stakes for cash games range from $1/$3 NLHE all the way up to higher stakes games with no maximum buy-ins. Besides the daily tournaments, there are seasonal tournaments which are always popular because of the high guarantees.
But perhaps the things players like most about the Wynn are the laid-back atmosphere, prompt service, and sharp and friendly dealers. They all make for an enjoyable experience in that beautiful and artsy room.
5. MGM Grand
The poker room at this illustrious hotel is grand and smoke-free all the time, which says a lot about the management of the room. Perhaps because of its proximity to Centrifuge Bar, the room always feels lively as the drinks, always free for players, keep flowing. It’s easy to walk in and mistake it for a party.
The level of play is similar to that at the Aria. There’s a real mix of players here, and the games can be profitable depending on your skill level.
That said, on Friday and Saturday late night, this can be a great place to find some tipsy players. They’re mostly people staying at the hotel playing $1/$2 stakes in soft games. For the most part, they don’t know what they’re doing.
They offer daily tournaments and cash games at $1/$2 and $2/$5 NLHE.
If this is your first visit, the MGM poker room is the best place to introduce you to the game in Las Vegas. The chances of meeting a serious player here or a professional-hopeful are slim.
6. Caesars
Caesars is another non-smoking poker room with a great atmosphere. They focus on providing a good place to play. For starters, the room is completely separated from anything else at the casino. You also get free drinks, and the buffet offers outstanding food.
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But there are 2 things not going for this room:
- The players are mostly good, making the competition here stiffer than elsewhere.
- The blind structures are not to the players’ advantage.
Because let’s face it, even if you’re going to the casino to throw away chips at the poker tables, you still want to have some fun with like-minded players. The last thing you want is to play in a room full of sharks who’ll take your money before you even have a chance to finish your first dry martini.
The untold secret which every player who’s visited Vegas knows, but won’t talk about aloud, is that the more luxury resorts have the nicest rooms, but also the toughest competition. On the other hand, most of the rooms that run a $1/$2 game will have a lot of recreational players.
Of course, this isn’t always true. There are good and bad places in all parts of town. But it stands to reason that the high rollers would love to play at big casinos on the Strip. That’s where the big action is. Also, they’re looking to bust up the weekend players coming to town.
Caesars offers a standard low-stakes spread of $1/$2, which runs every day, and $2/$5 every night and on weekends. You can play in four tournaments every day with buy-ins between $125 and $150.
7. Excalibur
Excalibur is not as big a room as the other ones on this list. Despite that, it seems to attract mainly tourists and weekend warriors.
Located in the back of the casino, the Excalibur’s cardroom might be the softest room on the strip. If you know what you’re doing, you can turn a quick profit here.
From midnight to 6am, you’ll always get loose and soft play. However, during the day, the games get tighter.
The tournaments on offer have buy-ins between $40 and $45 and play four times a day. Cash games are usually $1/$2 NLHE with a few tables every now and then for $2/$6 LH.
Conclusion
If this is the first time you’re playing poker in Vegas, then you should play tight and conservative at first. You want to get a good feel for the game, the players, and the skill levels at the table. Despite what you may have heard, the games in Las Vegas are softer than you might think.
Also, it’s worth noting that the game gets even softer on big convention times. Special occasions like the National Finals Rodeo, Super Bowl, Final Four, and CES Show are the best times to plan your poker trip to the Strip.
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