Amazing Wynn Poker Room

I have yet to meet a poker player who doesn’t like the Wynn Poker Room. If you love poker and you’re seeking comfort, action, and feeling as though you’re in paradise, go straight to the Wynn Poker Room.

I might come across as a relatively strategic fellow, but I’m not strategic enough. I recently went to Las Vegas for my annual summer trip. Despite this being a week-long trip, I didn’t play one cash game session or any poker tournaments at the Wynn Poker Room. I regret this. Whenever the Wynn Poker Room is brought up in conversation and someone asks me their opinion, I rave about it, yet I didn’t find time to get there this past summer. Then again…. that’s not exactly true.

I only had about six hours on my last night in Vegas. Spent that night walking up and down The Strip so I could take the city in prior to leaving. I was staying at The Orleans, which is Off Strip. I knew once I took an Uber back to The Orleans, my annual Vegas summer trip was over. Therefore, I had no interest in taking an Uber back to The Orleans.

Who wants a good time to end? Even though this was a losing trip, any time in Vegas is a good time for me. This is as long as I don’t get mugged or arrested, neither of which have happened to date.

During my walking adventure up and down The Strip, I entered almost every casino. This included several casinos I had never entered before because they didn’t have any poker games. The Cromwell especially stands out because of the lounge, where I ordered a beer, kicked back, and happened to have good timing because I was able to enjoy a solo guitarists for about 30 minutes.

As I was saying, that last night in Vegas, I was ducking into casinos, and I decided to trek down to the Wynn so I could at least see and hear the Wynn Poker Room prior to leaving. That’s how much of an appeal this room has for me. I did see and hear it, and I considered buying-in, but I knew that buying-in to a cash game when your hotel is across town and your flight is in six hours is a bad idea. Every single time I have attempted to rush a cash game, it has failed. I tend to do well in cash games, but there are several reasons for that.

One, I make sure I have at least three hours to play, but I usually aim for a minimum of six hours. This allows me settle in, not rush my play, observe my opponents, and fall into a comfort zone. Two, I always look around the room for the softest table. Three, I play more pots against soft players and fewer pots against stronger players. Remember, Ego is your number one enemy in this game, but if you send Ego packing, it will become your ally because it will search for a different victim at your table.

You can apply these rules at the Wynn Poker Room. As always, I’m also going to list the poker tournaments you will find at the covered poker room. Most of them are Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, bet let’s begin with the cash games at Wynn.

Cash Games at Wynn Poker Room

The rake here is $5, which is average. The comps are $1.50, which is also average. What you’re really getting here is action, atmosphere, and higher stakes than most poker rooms in Las Vegas. As you will see below, you will even find high stakes cash games with no maximum buy-in.

1/3 NL
Buy-in: $100-$500
Runs: Always

2/5 NL
Buy-in: $200-$1,500
Runs: Always

5/10 NL
Buy-in: $1k-No max
Runs: Always

10/25 NL
Buy-in: $2,500-No max
Runs: Weekends

1/2 PLO
Buy-in: $200-$1,000
Runs: Always

5/5 PLO
Buy-in: $500-$2,500
Runs: Always

9/18 Mixed
Buy-in: $90-No max
Runs: 3 times per week

There are restrooms in the Wynn Poker Room, which is a rare convenience for poker players. And they’re not too close. The high limit area is also separate from the rest of the room, providing more comfort for high rollers. Regardless of what stakes you’re playing, if you want your best shot at winning in any of the poker games at Wynn Poker Room, then I highly recommend playing on a Friday or Saturday night.

Friday night is a big party at Wynn/Encore (the poker room is actually located in Encore). You will find many people drinking too much and playing poker, which is good for you. Saturday night is a little tamer, but only on a relative basis. And if you’re staying here, you might want to take a break and get involved in the pool party. It’s one of the best you will ever experience, and life is all about experiences.

Let’s take a look at the poker tournaments at Wynn Poker Room followed by a sample schedule of the Wynn Poker Classic. The latter is different than most tournament series in Las Vegas because it runs in the summer, fall, and spring, not just the summer. We’ll get to that soon. First let’s cover the daily Texas Hold’em poker tournaments.

Daily Poker Tournaments at Wynn Poker Room

If you want to play poker tournaments at Wynn on Monday-Thursday, then it’s an easy schedule to remember. There is a $140 NL tournament every day at noon. That’s it. If you play on Friday or Sunday, it’s a $200 buy-in at noon. The Saturday tournament is a $230 buy-in at noon.

If you play in the daily poker tournaments at the Wynn Poker Room, remember that the competition here will be stronger than at most poker rooms in Las Vegas. When the competition is stronger, you must play fewer poker hands. If you play more poker hands against tougher opponents, you’re giving them the edge. When you play fewer poker hands against tougher opponents, you’re taking away their edge.

If you happen to be an elite player, then you know that the higher levels requires a little more activity. You can’t just sit back and wait in those games because your opponents will slowly pick you apart. But you must understand that these are dailys. You need to use a poker strategy that fits your current environment, and in this environment all you need to do is implement basic poker rules for winning.

These poker rules for winning primarily mean applying pressure vs. soft opponents and waiting for active players to make errors. They will make errors.

Once in a while, there will be special poker tournaments. When these tournaments run, the dailys don’t. For instance, there is a Wynn Seniors Monthly, which obviously runs once per month. The buy is $400 ($360 + $40), and there is a $25k guarantee. This tournament usually runs on a Wednesday at 11 a.m. You must be 50 years old to enter. You receive 15,000 chips and the blind levels are every 30 minutes. It’s going to be a while before I can play in this one, but if I’m still around, I’d love to take a shot at it. No rush, though.

Wynn Poker Classic

If you’re seeking bigger poker tournaments, then look at the Wynn Poker Classic. The buy-ins for this Las Vegas poker tournament series range from $400 to $2,200. The guarantees in these poker tournaments range from $50,000 to $750,000. This doesn’t mean you take home $50k-$750k if you win one of these tournaments. That’s the total prize pool.

Since these are higher buy-ins, you’re going to have to implement a different poker strategy than the dailys. You basically want to take a TAG approach (Tight-Aggressive). In tournaments like these, you don’t want to put yourself in too many vulnerable spots. Play position poker to the best of your ability and practice extreme patience. That sounds Nitty, doesn’t it? That’s the point.

You want your opponents to see you as Nitty in the early levels of a poker tournament. This creates the image you want because it allows you to fire more bluffs (consistently small bluffs though) when the blinds are higher and the pots are bigger. If your opponents have seen you play super tight for 2-3 hours, then they have pegged you as a Nit/Rock. Use that to your advantage.

As long as you have the guts to fire in the right spots—mostly when you’re in position and you sense weakness-you will likely find yourself accumulating a lot more chips than you possibly could have expected. And if you run well, forget about it. You’re going very deep.

Below is a schedule for last year’s fall Wynn Poker Classic. This schedule will likely change, but not by much. I’m always posting summer schedules, so I figured I’d switch it up. Some people want an option to play a Las Vegas poker tournament series in the fall as well. I’m considering it myself.

Note: You might find it strange to find a European Poker Open at the Wynn Poker Room in Las Vegas, but this relates to the Wynn Poker Room partnering with Unibet Poker. 200 players qualify online to play in the European Open.

September 27
11 a.m.
NLH Seniors
Buy-in: $600
GTD: $60k

September 28
12 p.m.
NLHE
Buy-In: $400
GTD: $50k

7 p.m.
Super Satellite to European Open
Buy-in: $200
GTD: N/A

September 29
10 a.m.
Super Satellite to European Open
Buy-in: $200
GTD: N/A

12 p.m.
European Open Day 1A
Buy-in: $1,100
GTD: $400k

September 30
European Open Day 1B
Buy-in: $1,100
GTD: $400k

October 1
12 p.m.
NLHE
Buy-in: $400
GTD: $50k

October 2
12 p.m.
NLHE Day 1A
Buy-in: $600
GTD: $200k

October 3
12 p.m.
NLHE Day 1B
Buy-in: $600
GTD: $200k

October 4
12 p.m.
NLHE Day 1C
Buy-in: $600
GTD: $200k

October 5
10 a.m.
Super Satellite to NLHE Championship
Buy-in: $300
GTD: N/A

12 p.m.
NLHE
Buy-in: $400
GTD: $50k

7 p.m.
Super Satellite to NLHE Championship
Buy-in: $300
GTD: N/A

October 6
Super Satellite to NLHE Championship
Buy-in: $300
GTD: N/A

12 p.m.
NLHE Championship Day 1A
Buy-in: $1,600
GTD: $500k

October 7
NLHE Championship Day 1B
Buy-in: $1,600
GTD: $500k

October 8
NLHE
Buy-in: $400
GTD: $50k

Final Thoughts

You can pretty much find anything you’re looking for at the Wynn Poker Room. The only exception is consistently soft play. You want that, then you need to go to Flamingo, Bally’s, or Planet Hollywood. If you want to experience different levels of play at one table, the Wynn Poker Room is your destination.

If you’re seeking poker tournaments of all different levels while enjoying a comfortable atmosphere, then the Wynn Poker Room is also the answer. The dailys here bring softer competition than the bigger tournaments (not as soft as the poker rooms mentioned in the above paragraph), which gives you an opportunity to play more poker hands and potentially win a tournament outright. Even if you don’t win it outright, the dailys here usually sell a lot of seats, so the prize pool will be good for a daily.

Then you have the Wynn Poker Classic, which is three times per year. This is unique as well as enticing. The competition will be relatively tough, but not as tough as the WSOP bracelet events. If you choose to play in the Wynn Poker Classic at any time of year, I would recommend staying somewhere else on The Strip for cheaper accommodations.

You also don’t want to spend too much time in the same place where you’re playing. Sometimes you don’t even realize that you’re not seeing the sun and getting fresh air for days. So … I would recommend the Wynn Poker Room, but even though the action is great, the prize pools are big, and you will experience top-notch comfort, consider staying somewhere else so you can see the sun and breathe some fresh air.

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