Texas hold'em tournament? where to play for newbies...

Hi my husband and I like to play Texas Hold em with friends at home, thinking of trying a tournament when we go to Vegas April 9-15. Where is a good place for newbies looking for low limit etc. Any tips would be appreciated.

Texas hold'em tournament? where to play for newbies...

While out there in Feb. I played Texas Holdem for the first time at the Excalibur poker room. They had a $20 tournament at 9 a.m. (?) and a $30 (?) tournament in the afternoon.

The play was at Pokertech.com electronic tables, which I think made it easier for a novice.

For the $20 buy-in, a player received about 5,000 chips. There were about 30 players signed up for the tourney I entered. I am pretty sure the top 4 finishers were in the money. It was an entertaining way to kill a few hours with the possibility of winning a few hundred dollars and no chance of losing more than the $20.00.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Texas hold'em tournament? where to play for newbies...

you can find a list of all the poker tournaments in LV at http://www.allvegaspoker.com/tournaments.php

The Venetian has the best tournament structures in Las Vegas. Binion%26#39;s has good low buy in tournaments as well.

Hi Tlm,

That link in above reply is a great place to start. You should be able to find a tny at just about any hotel on or near the strip.

$65 seems to be the average for low Tny entry fee. I would stay away from anything lower as the level of play is bad enough at the $65 level.

For your LV poker experience you probably want to play in a decent room. My first tny was at the Flamingo. Maybe 40 players, some good players, many novices - just an ';ok'; room, tho. I like playing at Caesers. Great room, management, etc. They have $65 tnys with $5 addon (you get extra 500 chips on top of 2500). I like the 9:00 am tny as not everyone has awaken by then. Usually 35-45 players. Lasts about 4-5 hours. Play tight-aggressive and you may get lucky and find yourseves at the final table!

Have fun, whatever you do.

GM

The Sahara had great low buy in tournies that would be nice for a newbie....11am, 7pm and 11pm....around $60. 4k in starting chips and 20 min levels.

Harrahs is another room that is nice for newbies, friendly staff and the players are welcoming and not intimmidating for the most part. They have great cash games and a fun 11am tourney for $80.

If your downtown....at 2pm Binions runs a fun tourney. 2k starting chips.

Caesars has a midnight tourney. $80 2k starting chips and 30 min levels and has a fun feeling.

Venetian, MGM, Bellagio, Wynn and Caesars also run nice tourneys of course and the V in particular excellent structures...ranging from 20 to 40 min levels and up to a whopping 10k in starting chips....but....but as a newbie, you may find the atmosphere and players a little intimidating and the entry fee a little high.

If you really want to have a laugh and play with some people who have never played before and get hammered drunk and no one will care if u make a mistake....head to Osheas....the room is rubbish but the dealers are friendly, the players a scream, the drinks come fasr as lightening and the whole atmosphere is one of anything goes!

cheers

shirl%26#39;

Imperial Palace has daily low buy in tourneys, I think $50-60. All are pretty avergae players who some are just beginning and just looking for a good fun game. You won%26#39;t feel %26#39;out of place%26#39; is what I mean, my wife even sat down and played there and loved it, she%26#39;s no expert by any means, but knows the game and often wins. I know how some can be intimidated sitting down for the first time, but the smaller poker rooms like Imperial, Excalibur, Tropicana are pretty laid back and really fun to play at. Have fun!

I%26#39;m surprised nobody mentioned the Planet Hollywood for their daily tourneys. They run 3x a day, usually 3-5 tables, and the buy in with dealer add on is around $60.

The Venetian is a great tourney, but it is $150, which might be a little steep if you just want to play and have fun. I also have played in the TI evening tourney with my wife, and she found it fun (and outlasted me).

All the major card rooms have their tourney schedules posted on their web sites too.

Enjoy

I too have been wondering which poker rooms were the best and how long the average tournament takes. I was thinking of a tourney with a buy in of about 65-100 dollars. Thanks for any help you can give.

The few times I%26#39;ve made it to the money (top 3 or 4) with 30 - 45 players the tnys took 3.5 - 4+ hours to complete. 10 minute break every hour.

Oshes,s has a good one in morning Dealer and all

Think it was 35 dollars only took till 1130 am from 900am \

Drinks and harrahs card for points included.

More important than the atmosphere is the structure of the tournament. You need to know whether a tournament allows re-buys and/or add-ons - personally I prefer to avoid those. You also want to know roughly how many players are expected and how quickly the blinds go up so you know how much time to allow. Finally, you want to play a tournament with a low overhead, so that the prizes reflect as great a percentage of the entry money as possible. Anything over 75% is good.

The first tournament I played in was the Thursday 6 PM at Mandalay Bay, 3 tables, buy-in was something like $60-$70, payback percentage 88%. It%26#39;s a smaller room but the dealer was very patient as there are always newer players. I didn%26#39;t come close to winning but it was a good experience.