Downtown Poker Rooms


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Downtown Las Vegas is home to the Fremont Street Experience. The Fremont Street Experience includes the Viva Vision in its canopy, where shows on massive TV screens are presented at the top of each hour. Fremont Street was converted to a pedestrian mall in 1994. Besides Viva Vision, there are concert stages, a zip line, and many unique shops. Just east of the experience is an area known as Fremont East. Fremont East includes several one of a kind restaurants, bars, and clubs.

While Downtown Las Vegas is redeveloping, the poker scene is slowly dying. In each of the past two years a downtown poker room has closed. The Plaza offered a small poker room. After a $35 million remodeling project that closed the hotel and casino for months, the poker room did not reopen with the grand reopening. Fitzgerald’s also closed their poker room recently. The entire casino was rebranded into The D. Neither poker room was a major factor in the poker world, but any time a poker room closes it leaves fewer choices for poker players. There are currently three poker rooms operating in downtown Las Vegas. While the Nevada Gaming Commission recognizes The Stratosphere as a downtown casino, we have included it in our North Las Vegas Strip report.

Binions – The Binion’s Poker Room offers players 10 cash game tables. There are an additional 30 tournament tables located in a separate area of the casino. The tournament tables are only used during the Binion’s Classic. The main games offered at the poker room at Binion’s are 1/2 No Limit Texas Hold’em and 2/4 Fixed Limit Texas Hold’em. Binion’s offers three tournaments each day. Start times are 10am, 2pm, and 7pm. Each summer, the Binion’s Classic kicks off with games that include No Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha High/Low, HORSE, Seven Card Stud High/Low, and Omaha High/Low.

El Cortez – El Cortez is home to a tiny 3 table poker room. This poker room offers no tournaments, only cash games. The main cash game is a 1-6 spread limit game. One highlight of the El Cortez Poker Room is the presence of Jackie Gaughan most mornings and afternoons. Jackie Gaughan helped build Downtown Las Vegas. He currently calls the top floor penthouse at El Cortez home.

Golden Nugget – The Golden Nugget Poker Room is the most active poker room in Downtown Las Vegas. With 12 cash game tables, it is also the home to the largest cash game room downtown. The Golden Nugget only spreads one game, a 1/2 No Limit Texas Hold’em game. There is no buy in cap at this game. The poker room at Golden Nugget offers six tournaments each day at 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 10pm, 1am, and 4am.

The Golden Nugget is also home to the summer Grand Poker Series. The Grand Poker Series offers two tournaments each day in the $200 buy in range. One daily tournament is No Limit Texas Hold’em, while the other game is always a non hold’em event. These non hold’em events are typically Omaha, Stud, and draw games.