The Orleans Poker Room Revamps Tournament Schedule and Cash Game Promotions

Those looking to get more out of their poker dollar should check out The Orleans card room, which has recently revamped its operations to include the most player-friendly daily tournament schedule and cash games promotions in Nevada.

The spacious 35-table poker room is located just off the Las Vegas Strip and caters towards a dedicated clientele of players who value exceptional customer service, top-notch dealers and staff, as well as a variety of game options.

“We’re a no frills card room for poker purists,” said Poker Room Manager Garrett Okahara. “Our players like the convenience of our room’s location, they like the selection of games we offer, but most importantly, they like the value they get back when they choose to play here.”

The Orleans poker room features a wide variety of games and limits, offering no-limit hold’em, limit hold’em, Omaha eight-or-better and even the occasional stud or mixed game. Players are greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable staff, have access to complimentary cocktails and other beverages and can stay up to date on the latest in sports thanks to over 20 flat-screen TVs located around the room.

Players benefit from the recently introduced Bravo Poker Live app for their smart phones or tablets, which allows them to get a live look at the number of live cash games running, the current waiting list, and the daily tournament schedule.

The Orleans was already home to one of the premier card rooms in the city, as evidenced by being voted 2012’s Best Poker Room by the readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but Okahara, the room’s manager for the last ten years, is a staunch advocate of always looking for new ways of being competitive, as well as ongoing efforts to accommodate his clientele.

Here’s a look at some of the upcoming improvements.

Cash Game Promotional Structure

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the poker room is Okahara’s changes to the cash game promotions structure. The popular bad beat jackpot has been changed to a $25,000 single table bad beat, which means the prize is shared among eligible players only at the table in which it hits. The remaining player drop funds will be distributed in multiple promotions, including five days each month where $60,000 is up for grabs in the “Make It Rain” cash drawing promotion. Players simply log hours each month and earn drawing entries for their play. On the last Sunday through Thursday of each month, $500 will be awarded to the winning ticket drawn every hour of the day for five days straight.

“We found that our old progressive bad beat jackpot was not rewarding our players often enough,” said Okahara. “Players spend days, weeks, and months, contributing to the jackpot and some may never benefit from it. We strongly feel that the “lottery” type promotions are not beneficial to regular, “session-oriented” players. We want to offer more attainable ways to win, and award prize monies more often. We still have a bad beat jackpot in place, but we’re also guaranteeing that our players have a shot at over $100,000 per month without a rare, random occurrence of two huge hands having to take place on the same deal.”

Okahara has also introduced new promos such as the $500 “Big Hand of the Day” (daily high hand), as well as “Bonus Hand” payouts (quads or better) in which players are awarded $50 for 4 of a kinds, $100 for Straight Flushes, and $200 for Royal Flushes.

A Look At The Tournaments

In an attempt to be more competitive, Okahara has made some tweaks to the already popular weekly tournament schedule. In addition to moving the 12:05 p.m. start times back an hour, the Orleans will now host an all new Omaha High tournament at 11:05 a.m. on Wednesdays. Another Omaha eight-or-better tournament was added at 11:05 a.m. on Fridays, bringing the total number to three. The Orleans will also offer ten brand new bounty tournaments throughout the week. These changes are due to take place beginning March 1st.

Though he has revamped many of the daily tournaments, Okahara was careful not to disturb the weekly Friday night $125 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, which has proven to be the most popular Friday tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament features 12,500 in starting chips, with 20 minute levels before registration closes and 30 minute levels the rest of the event.

“We wanted to give players more options when it came to tournaments,” said Okahara. “They wanted more Omaha events and we gave it to them. They wanted bounty tournaments, and we delivered. We molded our weekly tournaments to our weekly players and our weekend tournaments to our weekend crowd. The Friday night $125 buy-in tournament, which averages 250 players each week, is the best tournament in town.”

Monthly Tournament Promotions

The Orleans has also decided to continue its Tournament Player of the Month (TPOM) promotion which gives a cash bonus to the top performers each month. Additionally, they have instituted a prize for Tournaments Played in the Month (TPIM), which will reward those who have played in the most events, regardless of their results. Simply put, the more you play, the more you’ll get back.

“There are three ways to win when you play tournaments at The Orleans,” said Okahara. “You can cash in the tournament, you can be one of the top players each month, or you can simply play a lot of tournaments.”

Todd Thompson, a 50-year-old local gold and silver dealer, has won the TPOM contest three times, including in January for the top cash prize of $3,946.

“I’ve played pretty much everywhere, but I play at The Orleans because they have the most reasonable juice and structure,” said Thompson. “A guy like me, who is mindful about finding the best value in town, can do really well if he’s willing to put in the hours. The Orleans does a good job of taking care of their players.”

The Orleans Open

Those looking for a nice warm up before this summer’s World Series of Poker should keep an eye out for the upcoming 2013 Orleans Open, a nine-event series featuring deep stacked no-limit hold’em, Omaha eight-or-better and H.O.R.S.E contests that starts May 18th.

The highlight of the series is the $540 main event, which will feature a 25,000 starting stack and begins on May 26th. Players wishing to play in the series can benefit from poker room hotel rates of $35 midweek and $75 on weekends.

For more information on The Orleans poker room, check out www.orleanscasino.com/play/poker-room.

All proposed changes mentioned in this article are due to take effect on March 1st, 2013. Please frequent The Orleans’ poker webpage in the coming weeks for the revised tournament schedule and promotional offerings. ♠