The much-anticipated City Center project is finally open in Las Vegas and the poker world has been turning out in droves to check out the 24-table poker room in the new Aria Casino.  Aria is one of the six major buildings within the City Center complex and the only one to house a casino.  The multi-billion dollar complex also includes Vdara, a 57-story hotel and condominium complex, Mandarin Oriental, a smaller hotel and condo complex, and Crystals, a 50,000 square foot shopping and entertainment center.

City Center officially opened its doors to the public on December 16th and, within minutes of setting up shop, players were lining up for the poker games inside.  The main poker area consists of 18 tables that spread games like $1/$3 and $2/$5 No Limit Hold’em and $3/$6 Limit Hold’em.  The early nights in the poker room also saw $4/$8 Omaha High-Low and other mixed games being played.

The remaining six tables are divided between a high-limit gaming area in the back of the poker room and a one-table VIP lounge that is housed in its own room.  The high-limit area is located in a raised area with curtains used to drown out the sound of the casino machines and passers-by.  In the early goings, the high-limit area has been used for $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em and other bigger limit games.

Fans of Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio will be happy to hear there is an equivalent in the Aria poker room and it has already been put to use.  Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, David Benyamine, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Patrik Antonius were all spotted playing in the secluded VIP lounge on Thursday evening, the day after the casino opened.  While the room is semi-private, ogling railbirds can get a peek at their favorite high-stakes players through the glass front door.  According to one of the employees at Aria, Phil Ivey is currently in talks to loan his name to the room in the same fashion that Bobby Baldwin did at the Bellagio, so news of big games being played in “Phil’s Room” could be on the horizon.

A number of poker pros have taken time to check out the new poker room, including Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke and UB.com sponsored pro Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire.  Both had generally positive remarks about the new room and they took the time to relay their sentiments to Poker News Daily.

“I was impressed,” Devonshire admitted.  “I felt like I was in a cozy, futuristic lodge.”  Devonshire is referring to the somewhat space-age design of the Aria Casino.  The casino was built with the intention of being as green as possible and, unlike other properties on the Strip, Aria utilizes available natural light during daytime hours to cut down on energy consumption.

Fricke also had positive things to say, noting, “The poker room is pretty good.”  He did have one small complaint: “The one big problem I have is that the cell service is terrible.”  Others voiced similar frustrations with reception in the room, but the problem appears to be specific to certain carriers.

Another frustration voiced by players is the noise level at the tables in the main area of the poker room.  While the poker area is set off from the rest of the casino with a low fence-like wall and large columns decorated with gold playing cards, the foot traffic and noise from the slot machines made it slightly difficult to hear the action.  The poker room staff is aware of the situation and is already taking steps to mitigate the volume.

When Poker News Daily paid a visit to the new room, the emphasis on service was apparent.  There was a short wait for $1/ $3 No Limit Hold’em, but everyone was being seated in a relatively short amount of time and the use of chip runners helped to speed up the process even further.  Beverage service is currently available and food service is said to be coming in the near future.

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