New poker options in time for World Series
We are now officially to the point where we can say the 2025 World Series of Poker is this month. The highlight of the festival is, of course, the 100 gold bracelet events, but the WSOP is also fantastic for cash game players, as there is tons of action. For those poker players who want to hit the felt but also want to get away from the WSOP crowds sometimes, there is good news: two new poker rooms are getting set to open on the Las Vegas Strip this month.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood both expect to open their poker rooms in May, before the May 27 start of the World Series of Poker. Perhaps coincidentally, or perhaps not, both casinos are operated by Caesars Entertainment, the same company that operates Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas, the homes of the WSOP.
Both casinos used to have poker rooms and neither has been without them for very long. Planet Hollywood closed its poker room on July 11, 2021, one of the many poker room casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. As casinos tried to recover from closures and the following partial-capacity reopenings, poker rooms were among the first to go, as they provide little profit in relation to the amount of floor space they take up, floor space that some casinos opted to pack with the more lucrative slot machines.
Bigger and better
But now Planet Hollywood’s poker room is returning, larger than the previous one and on the mezzanine level where the London Club used to be.
“Featuring 23 tables and perched on the mezzanine with breathtaking views of the casino floor, it’s the perfect setting where the ultimate drama unfolds one hand at a time,” said Ken Ostempowski, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Planet Hollywood.
The previous poker room was right next to Pleasure Pit table game, which has go-go dancers and female dealers wearing lingerie. It was certainly an interesting location, not always loved by people who wanted to concentrate on poker.
The new WSOP-branded poker at Caesars Palace will be in the Appian Way Shops. This is just a temporary location, though the permanent spot has yet to be announced.
Caesars’ poker room closed last August as part of a gaming floor shuffle. The high-limit slot area was being renovated, so slots needed to be relocated for a while. The poker room ended up getting pushed out in favor of the gaming machines.
The closure was always intended to be temporary and sure enough, it was.
