The Orleans Poker Room is one of the best kept secrets in Las Vegas. There are several reasons for this, all of which will be covered below. Prior to getting to the fun stuff, I would first like to state that I stayed at The Orleans for one week for my annual trip to the World Series of Poker.
I never stay longer than one week because I’m not just a poker player; I’m also a writer. On top of that, while the WSOP is intriguing because of the energy level, networking, social aspect, and big prize pools, there is no requirement for a poker player to be there. Many poker pros feel it’s an obligation, but at least half of them want to leave after one week. These people fail to realize that they’re not sleeping or exercising much, and they’re likely not eating well while paying exorbitant prices for their food.
You might be wondering why I’m bashing poker in Las Vegas. Look closer, though. I’m not bashing poker in Las Vegas. I’m semi-bashing the WSOP. It’s not their fault. It’s just such a big ordeal that it drains a person.
If you’re going to stay in Las Vegas during the WSOP and play poker, then be smart about it. Not many people can afford to play all the high buy-in bracelet events throughout the entire summer. If they’re doing that, they’re likely being staked, which means they don’t keep much of their winnings after taxes. It’s more about reputation.
If you want to play in Texas Hold’em poker tournaments during the series in the summertime, then look elsewhere. If you understand basic poker strategy and you really want to dominate, look at the daily poker tournaments on The Strip. But there is another option.
If you don’t want to pay exorbitant prices for food, you desire a comfortable room, you don’t want to be around drunks and rudeness, you would like to play in lower buy-in poker tournaments, and you want access to cash games with plenty of action, then you should strongly consider playing at The Orleans Poker Room.
The Orleans Offers a Free Shuttle
This is one of the most often overlooked factors for staying at The Orleans and playing in The Orleans Poker Room. There is nowhere else in Las Vegas that I know of where you can spend time on The Strip all day, then take a free shuttle back to a calm environment at night. The shuttle runs until midnight and leaves from behind The Linq. It’s a very short walk to The Strip from there.
The Orleans Poker Room: Cash Games
The cash games at The Orleans Poker Room are juicy. They aren’t juicy in the traditional sense, where people are throwing money around. At least half the players here are older locals. They don’t play as many poker hands. That might sound like bad news, but it just means you need to apply a different poker strategy than when you’re playing in a loose game. These players are tighter, and they’re much easier to move off hands.
The Orleans Poker Room is the kind of place you go when you feel like steamrolling a table. You can’t steamroll a table as much as you could in the past. Too many people will fight back now, but you can still find these opportunities. I would put The Orleans Poker Room as one of the best places to go if that’s what you’re seeking. Your wins won’t be as big as usual, but if you play here often enough, then your win rate will be higher.
This relates to reduced variance. When you can apply pressure every time you sense weakness and get a ton of folds, you are reducing variance. If I lived in Las Vegas, I would consider playing here on a regular basis. Then again, that might present a problem for me, which relates to the games that are offered.
The Orleans Poker Room offers a better variety of poker games than any other poker room in Las Vegas. It’s not even close. The only problem for someone like me is that I prefer Hold’em and the 2/5 game here only runs on weekends. I especially prefer Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, but I will play cash at times, especially when I need to pick up some cash. The average cash game in any poker room is softer than any WSOP Circuit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments.
Below are the cash games offered at The Orleans Poker Room:
1/3 NL
Buy-in Range: $100-$500
Runs: Always
2/5 NL
Buy-in Range: $200-$1000
Runs: Weekends
2/4 FL
Buy-In Range: $200-No Max
Runs: Always
3/6 FL
Buy-In Range: $30-None
Runs: Occasionally
4/8 FL
Buy-In Range: $40-None
Runs: Always
4/8 Omaha 8/b
Buy-In Range: $40-None
Runs: 1-2 tables
4/8 Limit Omaha Hi
Buy-In Range: $40-None
Runs: Occasionally
8/16 Limit Omaha 8/b
Buy-In Range: $80-None
Runs: Always
15/30 Limit Omaha 8/b
Buy-In Range: $80-None
Runs: Always
Before moving on to the daily poker tournaments at The Orleans Poker Room, let’s first take a look at the amenities at The Orleans. Consider this a short intermission from poker, but it’s still important information for poker players.
Amenities at the Orleans
As far as The Orleans Poker room goes, you will find 35 tables, $1.25/hr. comps, a $4 max rake (very good), bad beat jackpots, high hands, adjustable padded leather seats, and quick and efficient cocktail service.
Sticking with the poker room, there are no massage therapists. This is because its off-strip and the massage therapists like to move around from one property to another to find clients.
Moving to The Orleans property itself, there is a movie theater, a bowling alley, 15 restaurants, a big gym for a casino, a spa, a pool with a hot tub, and free live bands Thursday through Sunday. This is a unique property in the sense that it’s much more laid-back than other Vegas properties, but you can still find entertainment if you go searching for it. For example, the Movie Theater and bowling alley are upstairs, away from the casino. You must go seeking for them.
A very important note here. If you play at Boyd properties and have a B Connected card, it’s possible to get a comped room for your stay. The Orleans is much more lenient with this because they have so many off-strip rooms to fill. They want you spending money in their casino. A great bonus to the comped room is that you don’t have to pay a resort fee, which is usually the case at other properties when you’re getting comped.
Now let’s get to poker tournaments at The Orleans Poker Room. We’ll begin with their dailys that take place off-season (not in the summer during the WSOP).
Daily Tournaments at the Orleans Poker Room
The information below is not exact. It’s a sample taken from one week for their poker tournaments. There will likely be slight variations for whenever you visit. This is to give you a basic idea of what to expect for poker tournaments at The Orleans Poker Room.
Monday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 FL (Fixed Limit)
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL (No Limit)
Tuesday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $11 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 PL (Pot Limit)
Wednesday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $125 ML (Mixed Limit)
Thursday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 FL
Friday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $130 NL
Saturday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $125 NL
Sunday
12:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $100 NL
7:05 p.m.
Buy-in: $125 NL
These are the tournaments you want to play in if you’re looking to grind your bankroll higher. You won’t have any big scores, but if you’re a good player and keep yourself from playing too many poker hands, you should coast to the money much more than average.
Now let’s take a look at the Summer Poker Series at The Orleans Poker Room, which guaranteed $2 million in prize money this summer.
The Orleans Poker Room: Summer Poker Series
Once again, this isn’t exact. If you play here in any summer, the schedule is likely to be similar, but it won’t be exact. It seems to be against the poker rules for venues to host the same exact schedule as the previous year. This is to give you an idea of what to expect.
May 28
11 a.m.
$150 Super Stack NLHE
GTD (Guaranteed): $10k
6 p.m
$150 PLO
GTD: $10k
May 29
11 a.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $10k
6 p.m.
$150 8-Game Mix
GTD: $10k
May 30
11 a.m.
$250 Triple Draw Mix
GTD: $20k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $10k
May 31
11 a.m.
$150 Super Stack NLHE
GTD: $15k
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 1
11 a.m.
$400 Omaha-8 Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$200 Short Deck NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 2
11 a.m.
$400 HORSE Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m. $200 ROSE
GTD: $20k
June 3
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $15k
June 4
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE $25K GTD
6 p.m.
$150 PLO
GTD: $15k
June 5
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Dealer’s Choice
GTD: $10k
June 6
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $15k
June 7
11 a.m.
$300 Big Bet Mix
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 8
11 a.m.
$400 8-Game Mix Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$250 Big Bounty NLHE
GTD: $15k
June 9
11 a.m.
$400 Stud Mix Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$150 HORSE
GTD: $15k
June 10
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD$25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $15k
June 11
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 PLO-8
GTD: $15k
June 12
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 8-Game Mix
GTD: $10k
June 13
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $15k
June 14
11 a.m.
$300 Triple Draw Mix
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 15
11 a.m.
$400 Seniors Poker Tour Championship NLHE
GTD: N/A
6 p.m.
$200 Triple Stud Mix
GTD: $20k
June 16
1 p.m.
$400 PLO Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$150 HORSE
GTD: $15k
June 17
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $15k
June 18
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$200 LIPS NLHE Shootout
GTD: N/A
June 20
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $15k
June 21
11 a.m.
$300 LIPS NLHE Championship Day 1A
GTD: N/A
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 22
11 a.m.
$300 LIPS NLHE Championship Day 1B
GTD: N/A
6 p.m.
$250 Big Bounty PLO
GTD: $15k
June 23
1 p.m.
$400 PLO-8 Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$150 HORSE
GTD: $15k
June 24
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $15k
June 25
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 PLO
GTD: $15k
June 26
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Triple Draw mix
GTD: $10k
June 27
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $15k
June 28
11 a.m.
$300 Omaha-8 Mix
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
June 29
11 a.m.
$400 NLHE Championship Flight 1A
GTD: $200k
6 p.m.
$400 NLHE Championship Flight 1B
GTD: $200k
June 30
11 a.m.
$400 NLHE Championship Flight 1C
GTD: $200k
6 p.m.
$150 HORSE
GTD: $15k
July 1
11 a.m.
$400 Omaha-8 Championship
GTD: $50k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8/Stud-8
GTD: $15k
July 2
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 PLO
GTD: $15k
July 3
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 8-Game Mix
GTD: $10k
July 4
11 a.m.
$150 NLHE
GTD: $25k
6 p.m.
$150 Omaha-8
GTD: $15k
July 5
11 a.m.
$200 PLO
GTD: $20k
6 p.m.
$130 Friday Night NLHE
GTD: $20k
July 6
11 a.m.
$150 Super Stack NLHE
GTD: $15k
6 p.m.
$250 Big Bounty NLHE
GTD: $15k
July 7
11 a.m.
$150 Super Stack NLHE
GTD: $15k
6 p.m.
$150 HORSE
GTD: $15k
Final Thoughts
It should be easy to determine that The Orleans Poker Room is the joint. That is, of course, if you’re a die-hard poker player seeking all kinds of action. You will find many different types of poker games here, from mixed games with different poker rules to traditional Texas Hold’em poker tournaments. Enjoy your visit.
♠ pokerjournal.org
Orleans Poker Room – FAQ
Does the Orleans in Vegas have a poker room?
Yes. The Orleans is off-strip, but it's one of the best poker rooms in Las Vegas.
How do you win poker at the Orleans?
The Orleans has a lot of regs (regulars), which means locals. You can pick up on the passive players based on how others regs react to them. Once you find those players, attack them. Otherwise, you want to play relatively tight here.
Does the Orleans have poker tournaments?
Yes. In fact, the Orleans offers more different types of poker tournaments than any other poker room in Las Vegas, including Texas hold'em, O8/S8, Horse, PLO, FL Omaha8 and ML 8-Game.
How much money do I need to play poker at the Orleans?
The Texas hold'em poker tournament is $100. You can play 1/3 NL for $100. And you can play 2/4 FL for as low as $20.
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