Poker Near Las Vegas Strip
The Orleans
The Orleans Poker Room is the biggest of the off strip poker rooms, with 35 tables. A favorite for many locals living on the West side of the Las Vegas Strip and I-15, the Orleans poker room has been around much longer than most. The Orleans Casino is located on Tropicana Ave. just West of I-15. It is a huge place with an enormous events arena which attracts big name concerts and other events. The poker room is located way in the back, near the rear entrance.
The Rio
The Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino opened a new poker room next to the sports book in late 2004. Similar to the Mardi Gras themed Orleans, the Rio is quite a place, attracting more tourists than locals to their poker room and catering to those out for a good time. They feature $3-$6 Texas Hold Em and No Limit Texas Hold'em as their main games and will be hosting, for the first time, most of the World Series of Poker in June/July, 2005. The Rio is owned by Harrah's Entertainment which bought out Binion's Horseshoe downtown and bought the WSOP name along with it. Here's an interesting tidbit. If you're headed for the strip, but don't want to navigate the sometimes treacherous traffic, park at the Rio and take the free shuttle to Harrah's which will put you at the north end of the new "poker mile" where you will more or less find casino after casino from Harrah's to Aladdin with poker rooms, all without crossing the street. The Rio is located on Flamingo Rd in a cluster of poker roomed casinos just west of I-15.
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is a nice place, and like its neighbors, the Rio and the Palms, has taken upon itself to add a poker room to its large casino property. With 8 tables featurning $2-$4, $4-$8, and No Limit Texas Hold'em, among other games, they are the only casino in the area to have a cheap morning tournament. $20 buys you into a cute little 10 AM freeze-out limited to around 40 players where you can dabble a little in no-limit action if you make it past the first hour of limit play and even if you last till the end, you'll be out of there by 12:30 or so. I can't think of a better way to spend part of a morning. The staff are fantastic and they'll serve delicious doughnuts in the morning. Gold Coast is located next door to the Rio, on Flamingo just West of I-15.
The Palms
The Palms is a bit smaller than its neighbors and its 2 poker rooms are a little cramped, but very playable. You'll find $2-$4, $4-$8 and No Limit Texas Holdem there and you might see movie stars and other famous people there because this is the place they hang out. They are active in TV events such as the Celebrity Poker Showdown. The casino itself is not as glamorous as the Rio, but the poker room attracts a good crowd. The Palms is located across the street from the Gold Coast on Flamingo just West of I-15.