Vegas Offers Big-Time Tournaments for CheapWith a Little Research, Players Can Find Great Deals |
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Hundreds of tournaments of a wide variety are playing around the clock in Las Vegas. Finding a good tournament to play with great structure and lucrative prize pools can be quite a task, especially for lower-limit buy-ins.
Players should look for buy-in amounts, rebuys or add-ons, starting chips, structure and the percentage of the tournament fees that is taken out of the prize pool. The juice in these tournaments tends to be high at these stakes, so a little research could be worth a few hundred dollars. Here are a few tournaments that take place towards the weekend that are worth a gander:
The legendary Binion's Casino is home of the Poker Hall of Fame and popular tournaments. Every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., there is a $10,000-guaranteed tournament. The $70 buy-in will get players $2,000 in chips and an extra $1,500 can be bought for a $40 rebuy or add-on throughout the first hour. There is an average of 140 to 170 players each day. A hefty $20 is taken out of each $70 buy-in but 100 percent of the $40 add-on or rebuy goes into the prize pool.
Caesars Palace runs an $80 buy-in at noon every day of the week that features one of the most generous blind levels for lower buy-in tournaments, which is 40 minutes. The initial buy-in will get players $1,500 in chips but there is a rebuy or add-on for $50 that will get players an extra $3,000 chips. The percentage of the tournament fees returned to the prize pool is 81 percent. On the weekends, there is an average of around 100 to 140 players.
Players looking for a freezeout with a smaller tournament field can go to Harrah's. It offers a $100 buy-in tournament at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. every day with an average of 40 players on the weekends. The tournament rake is $15 of every buy-in. Players begin with $3,000 chips and blinds increase every 15 minutes.
The Orleans Friday 7 p.m. $65 buy-in tournament is one of the most popular in town. At the beginning of the tournament, players can pay a $5 dealer add-on to add $250 to their $1,250 starting stack. A $40 rebuy or add-on for $2,000 is available throughout the first hour. There is a 200-player max and there's always a waiting list of about 50 alternates.
The blind structure includes antes but goes up in very small increments. Levels are 20 minutes long. The top 25 players get paid, with first place usually over $5,000. The same tournament is played on Saturday and Sunday at the same time, but turns out significantly fewer players of about 100 to 150.
The Sahara tournaments turn out large numbers for its $42 buy-in event that runs every day at 11 a.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m. On the weekends, there are over 100 players at the 7 p.m. tournament and nearly that at 11 p.m. Players begin with $3,000 chips but can add on or rebuy for $20 to get $2,000 more chips at any point within the first hour. The blinds increase every 20 minutes and begin at $25-$25. The tournament structure allows for a lot of play; however, only 66 percent of the tournament fees are put towards the prize pool.
Contrary to the Sahara, the Riviera has one of the highest percentages of fees returned for low-limit buy-ins, at 85 percent. At 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 8 p.m. every day except Saturday (10 a.m. only), there is a $47 buy-in tournament. However, the structure is very quick, since the blinds are raised every 15 minutes and nearly double every level. Players begin with $1,500 in chips but can add an extra $500 for $3, which goes to the staff.
For more choices, pick up a copy of Card Player at any of the cardrooms in Vegas. Tournaments are listed in the back.
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