Grand Opening of the Venetian Poker Room

Venetian Poker Room

Recently, I was one of the many pro poker players who attended the grand opening of the brand-new Venetian poker room, and I must say, the Venetian sure went all out with this room! It is lavishly furnished with comfortable, roomy seating, tons of tables (including a private high-limit section,) more plasma TV screens than you can shake a stick at, and tableside dining for the serious gambler (or at least the seriously hungry one). The only suggestion I have for the whole place is to build a bathroom closer to the poker room, as you're likely to miss a whole round trying to find the closest one.



The grand-opening party started out on a red carpet with a lot of the press in attendance. I like doing the whole red-carpet thing; waving and smiling at the cameras is always fun, but at the same time, I feel pretty self-conscious while I'm up there. It's exhilarating and weird, and awkward and awesome all at the same time. It is the kind of experience that never really gets old, just as I'm sure the feeling of winning a tournament will never get old for me. Heaven forbid if you ever do get tired of winning tournaments, because if you do, you're probably in the wrong profession – or your name is Gus or Ivey or something. After the red-carpet activity, the party moved up to the Venetian's nightclub, Tao, and I mean "up" literally, as the only way to get to the nightclub is via two golden elevators. I was very impressed with Tao. It reminded me of a roomier version of one of my other favorite Vegas nightspots, Tabu at the MGM Grand. Tao has a great mixture of open dance floor, open seating, and also some secluded private seating. I couldn't even tell you how many bars there are throughout the joint, but getting a drink was definitely easy.



The Venetian really brought together an impressive group of pros, nonpoker celebs, and various media to make the grand opening a kickin' party. There were too many pro poker players for me to even name, but a few of the bigger celebs I recognized were Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Tilly, James Van Der Beek, and Jason Biggs. A Venetian employee actually confused me for being in Jason Biggs' entourage, and started talking about how much fun "we" had partying it up the night before. Biggs then mentioned that they had lost a bunch of money at the tables the previous night, and joked that the Venetian was going to break him. I'm curious about how much money he was talking about, because I have a feeling that it wasn't much compared to what some of us wager on a daily basis. I have hung out with many celebrities and also some extremely rich people, and few of them gamble like some of the young, up-and-coming poker pros I know. These poker pros will routinely win or lose six-figure amounts in a given poker session, or on a sports game or in the pits. I have known several to run their bankrolls up to the millions and then be in debt within months. I find it pretty ironic that those who can afford to gamble big rarely do, while others so often gamble far beyond their means. Fortunately for these young, reckless gamblers, they don't seem to be greatly bothered when they devastate their million-dollar bankrolls, while a lot of richer folks seem to get bent out of shape when losing trivial amounts of money (trivial in relation to their net worth).



At any rate, it was a very fun evening. I just wish I had driven off with the grand prize of the tournament – a beautiful yellow Lotus sports car – instead of going home with my tail between my legs after one of the "nonpros" called me all in with 6-2 and made two pair. For the record, calling all in with 6-2 for all of your chips while getting miserable odds when two people are in the pot from early position already is a bad play! The very nice gentleman to my left also made a few plays that really shocked me. The first play he made was folding to a pot of $6,000 or $7,000 with one $100 chip left on the turn against one opponent. Now, I don't really see how this could ever be a good play, but just for kicks, I'll let you know that the board was K-Q-9-7 and he later told me he folded A-Q, as he was sure his friend who put him all in had him beat. If you're going to commit 95 percent or more of your stack on one hand, a general rule is that you had better be willing to put your remaining chips in, as well, even if it means the end of the tournament for you. And he folded on the turn while getting better than 60-1 on his money when, assuming his friend had a king, he was drawing live to an ace or another queen. The second play he made was what I like to call the dreaded check-fold. He reraised someone preflop from out of position and then checked to his opponent on the flop. His opponent asked how many chips he had left, and he just immediately folded his hand. The dealer gave him a confused glance and finally said, "You fold?" He then mucked the player's hand and pushed the pot to his opponent. Now, granted, his opponent may have bet after getting a chip count, but at least make him put in a bet before you muck!



Check out the Venetian poker room next time you're in Vegas. You won't be disappointed.

Thomas "Thunder" Keller is a 25-year-old professional poker player and one of poker's young and rising stars. He can often be found playing at UltimateBet.com under the name thunderkeller. To learn more about him and to enlist in his new squadron, go to his website at http://www.thunderkeller.com/. Also, feel free to contact him at [email protected].