The poker room at The Strat, formerly known as the Stratosphere, closed Friday, October 18. The four-table poker room recently moved from its downstairs location near the tower escalators where it had been for more than a decade. Its new location was on the second level at the top of the escalator near the table games pit.
- Westgate Bowling Poker Room Poker
- Bowling Poker Games
- Westgate Bowling Poker Room Chairs
- Westgate Bowling Poker Room Rules
The Strat downsized the poker room in 2018. It went from twelve tables to four during the property’s renovation.
The poker room at the Westgate is a hidden gem. Located in the sports book this poker room is a small room, but has a big heart. The floor Johnathan Celaya, is professional, friendly, and courteous, and runs a great operation. An added compliment to the room is that it is located in the sports book, so all sporting events can be viewed while. Due to occupancy restrictions in the poker room and surrounding areas, the poker room will temporarily be closing. We will return on December 26th. Th Westgate Poker Room wishes you all a very merry Christmas and we look forward to being back with you as soon as possible.
- The Westgate poker room is temporarily closed from December 1 through at least late December. The Westgate poker room reopened on September 10. It opens at 10am on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and 10am on weekend days. It is dark Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Westgate poker room is located in the sportsbook area. Tables are eight.
- Westgate Poker Room West Michigan, Comstock, Michigan. Rounders Poker Room is a Charity Gaming room offering tournaments and cash games Monday Thursday for money. Located at the Westgate.
The news was first reported by Rob Solomon:
Haven't seen anyone report this. The Strat closed its poker room a few days ago.
— Robvegaspoker (@Robvegaspoker) October 20, 2019
A note on the poker room podium at The Strat tells players that the casino is no longer offering poker. The phone number to the poker room no longer rings. The poker room was quickly scrubbed from The Strat’s website.
Golden Entertainment removing tables from its Las Vegas casinos
This is the second Las Vegas poker room Golden Entertainment closed after its acquisition of American Casino and Entertainment Properties (ACEP). The other was Arizona Charlie’s Decatur. The poker room there closed in August 2018.
The company also removed table games from the Arizona Charlie’s on Boulder Highway in the past year. Stratosphere and two Arizona Charlie’s casinos were a part of the ACEP transaction.
Strat poker room struggled
The poker room at The Strat struggled in recent years. The only game it typically offered was 1/2 no limit Texas Hold’em. The game was often shorthanded, if it ran at all.
Stratosphere once spread three daily tournaments with times of 11am, 7pm and 11pm. These tournaments, particularly the 7pm one, would draw 60 to 80 players some nights in the year or two after Sahara closed. The tournament and its structure moved from Sahara, as well as many of its players and dealers.
Towards the end, the 11am tournament was removed from the schedule. The 11pm one was dropped, except on weekends, if it managed to get off the ground. The 7pm tournament only drew a table or two most nights.
The 7pm tournament featured free pizza during the first break. All tournaments offered a good structure with a reasonable rake and a $20 add-on.
SLS Las Vegas recently rebranded back to Sahara. The property is expected to open a poker room in the next year.
Las Vegas poker rooms closed since 2012
The Strat’s poker room became the 27th to close in Las Vegas since 2012. The others are listed below:
- Arizona Charlie’s Decatur: August 2018
- Treasure Island: August 2018
- Suncoast: April 2018
- Luxor: June 2017
- Monte Carlo: April 2017
- Hard Rock: March 2017
- The Linq: August 2016
- Eastside Cannery: April 2016
- Plaza: March 2016
- Aliante Casino: March 2016
- Westgate: June 2015 (Reopened August 2017)
- Hooters: March 2015
- Texas Station: August 2014
- Palms: June 2014
- Sunset Station: May 2014
- El Cortez: December 2013
- Circus Circus: September 2013
- M Resort: August 2013
- Riviera: June 2013
- Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall: February 2013
- Jokers Wild: October 2012
- Ellis Island: September 2012
- Tropicana: September 2012
- O’Sheas: April 2012
- Fitzgeralds: January 2012
- Silverton: January 2012
Westgate Bowling Poker Room Poker
The Heartland Poker Tour has a history as one of the most highly respected “mid-major” tournament circuits in the poker industry. It’s recent stop at the Westgate Las Vegas, however, has become mired in controversy over a decision regarding the buy-in for the tournament and the guarantee that was set.
Making its first return to Las Vegas since 2014, the Heartland Poker Tour was looking to make a big mark on the tournament poker scene with their $1650 buy in Main Event. That tournament featured three Day Ones that looked to build a prize pool that would eclipse the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool that was put on the event. With those numbers in mind, 334 entries had to be registered for that guarantee to be met.
The issues began late on Saturday afternoon at the Westgate. In a tweet from Jeremy Smith, the tournament director for the Heartland Poker Tour, it became known that there were only 300 or so players on the tournament clock counter with late registration running out (opened until 7:30PM Pacific Time). That meant that, with slightly more than an hour left in late registration, the Westgate and the Heartland Poker Tour were looking at about a $70,000 overlay.
The next move, allegedly by the Westgate, is what has set the controversy off. While the players were on dinner break – and late registration was technically still open until the players returned from that break – it is alleged that the Westgate offered to allow players to buy into the tournament for slightly more than half the original price ($850 instead of $1650). The resulting turmoil drew in several names in the poker community debating the issue and, additionally, Tweets on the subject that were alleged to have been deleted by people with a stake in the game.
Noted poker curmudgeon Allen Kessler brought the subject up on his Facebook page, bringing up the alleged deleted Tweets and the discounted tournament. Surprisingly World Series of Poker bracelet winner and runner-up to Greg Raymer in the Championship Event of 2004 David Williams backed whomever made the decision to offer the discount, saying “If the prize pool is accounted for, who f*****g cares?”
Bowling Poker Games
Other members of the poker community didn’t agree on who to lay the blame for the “discounted” entry. At first many were dismissive of the Heartland Poker Tour but, as more info came out, it shifted over to the Westgate. It was alleged that the Westgate made the decision to offer the reduced buy-in to reduce the overlay that they would have been on the hook for.
So why the hubbub over the alleged issue? There apparently were over 300 players who had to pay the whole entry fee – $1650 – to enter the event and have a shot at the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Then along comes a smaller group – let’s say there were enough that the guarantee was met, 30-35 players or so – who only paid $850 to have the same shot at the $500,000 guarantee. That seems to be the crux of what much of the complaints have been about.
One thing that poker players tend to forget – and tournament poker players also – is that the host casino can pretty much change the rules at any time when it comes to their operations. House rules can deviate greatly from poker room to poker room and, when it comes to tournaments, many events have a sweeping “cover” for its actions. Normally it in small print near the bottom of a flyer – “casino retains the rights to change and/or cancel events as they see fit.” This little clause is what allows many casinos the right to make massive adjustments to their tournaments – such as offering discounted buy-ins to meet a guarantee – or cancel those events outright if there aren’t enough people entering the tournament.
Westgate Bowling Poker Room Chairs
As of press time neither the Heartland Poker Tour nor the Westgate Las Vegas has returned overtures from Poker News Daily regarding the situation. There also has been no contact with the public over their respective Twitter or Facebook feeds to offer an explanation. Poker News Daily will continue to watch the situation and, if a communique is received from either entity, update accordingly.
UPDATE: Approximately 3PM (Pacific Time) on Sunday afternoon Smith, the tournament director for the HPT, issued a quasi-statement over Twitter in reply to several people who asked him about the decision to allow players to buy in for less than the stated amount. “This has never happened before (in the history of the HPT),” Smith stated to one person. In replying to World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director Matt Savage, Smith expressly stated that, “I had no say in this…it was a Westgate decision.”
Westgate Bowling Poker Room Rules
The Westgate Las Vegas also decided to issue a statement at roughly the same time as Smith. In their Twitter statement, the Westgate stated, “(At the) end of registration for the HPT Main Event, we chose to pay a portion of the entry fee for select VIP. Full $1,650 entries accounted for in the $500k main event…Westgate is upholding all prize packages & guarantees are being upheld. Good luck to the participants.”
Finally, the tournament reached 316 full $1650 buy ins, falling short of the $500,000 guarantee.
