Strip Poker: Summer Tourney Series to Play Main Events

The flurry of smaller buy-in tournaments series running alongside the World Series of Poker are all winding down with the start of their championship events.

Note: All buy-ins in this story include the tournament entry fees.

Golden Nugget

The Golden Nugget’s Grand Poker Series debuted this summer and included 30 events, which averaged around 100 entrants per tournament. On Saturday, the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em Grand Finale will begin noon.

Mega-satellites are running tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The buy-in is $135, and one entry into the Grand Finale is awarded for every 10 entrants.

Players can also win their buy-ins by competing in the last preliminary event.

• Friday, July 4 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em

For more information, contact the Golden Nugget at 702-385-7111 and ask for the poker room.


Binion’s

The other downtown casino running a tournament series is the legendary Binion’s, former home to the WSOP. The Binion’s Poker Classic offered a total of 43 events, including a wide variety of games. Most events boasted fields of around 200 entrants. The championship event begins on Monday at noon and has a $2,000 buy-in.

Mega-satellites are running July 5-6 at 5 p.m. The buy-in is $220, and one seat is being awarded for every 10 players. Also, on both nights, $220 buy-in single-table satellites will run beginning at 7 p.m., and they are winner-take-all.

The following are the remaining events on the schedule leading up to the main event:

• Friday, July 4 -- $200 buy-in limit Omaha eight-or better
• Saturday, July 5 -- $100 buy-in no-limit hold’em casino employees event
• Sunday, July 6 -- $150 buy-in pot-limit Omaha eight-or better

For more information, call 1-800-937-6537 and ask for the poker room.


Caesars Palace

The largest poker room in Las Vegas decided to fill its space with tournament players by introducing the Mega Stack. All 43 events featured deeper starting stacks than anywhere else on The Strip. Most all events were no-limit hold’em and attracted an average of 500 entrants, generating huge prize pools.

Tournament officials are expecting around 1,000 players for the $1,060 buy-in championship event that begins Monday at noon. Single-table satellites are running from now until the start of the event. There are $125 buy-in winner-take-all satellites and $230 buy-in two-winner satellites. There will also be a $130 buy-in mega-satellite on Sunday, July 6 at 4 p.m.
The following are the remaining tournaments on the schedule leading up to the main event:

• Friday, July 4 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Saturday, July 5 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Sunday, July 6 -- $540 buy-in no-limit hold’em

For more information, call the poker room at 702-785-6566.


Venetian

The Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza was introduced last summer and welcomed with huge success. It put the Venetian on the map for deep-stacked tournaments, and halfway through this year’s series, the poker room decided to make the starting stacks even deeper because of player demand.

The championship event doesn’t begin until next Sunday, July 13, so there is plenty of time to qualify for the biggest buy-in main event on The Strip besides, of course, at the WSOP. The Venetian’s Deep Stack Extravaganza final event has a buy-in of $5,000, and it begins at noon. A $540 super-satellite is scheduled for Saturday, July 12, at noon.

Single-table satellites are running around the clock for a variety of buy-in amounts. The buy-in for the satellite offering a $5,000 seat is $540. It is a winner-take-all satellite, but players can also accumulate tournament chips by playing in any of the other satellites offered.

The following are the remaining events on the schedule leading up to the main event:

• Friday, July 4 -- $1,060 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Saturday, July 5 -- $540 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Sunday, July 6 -- $1,060 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Monday, July 7 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Tuesday, July 8 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Wednesday, July 9 -- $330 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Thursday, July 10 -- $540 buy-in no-limit hold’em
• Friday, July 11 -- $540 buy-in no-limit hold’em

For more information, call the poker room at 702-414-7657.