Today at 10:30 am Caesars Palace opened its long awaited poker room to the public. Caesar himself would be proud. The poker room at Caesars Palace is truly colossal. Check out the early report and exclusive pictures from All Vegas Poker.

Less than four hours ago Caesars Palace opened the doors to its brand new poker room. All Vegas Poker was invited inside the poker room before the public was allowed inside. I was permitted to snap pictures of the opening preparations while management was announcing break tables, checking the microphone system, and doing chip fills at the tables.

Then, at 10:30 am, when the doors finally opened, a large crowd of at least 75 people waiting outside immediately poured into the poker room.

Managed chaos best describes the scene.

A large mass of die hard opening day poker players swarmed the list management desk. Management called out available games over the microphone system, as players rushed to take their seats. Poker chips were distributed to players literally still inside the boxes in which they were originally packaged.

At first it was a bit chaotic, as expected. But only a few hours later the environment settled down, and things appeared to be running very smoothly by opening day standards.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon a steady stream of poker players walked into the new poker room. When I left there were at least 12 tables going, which is pretty darn good considering representatives from Caesars Palace told me that no advertising was done prior to opening.

Most of the players I spoke with learned poker room was opening today from either reading a recent article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, or just walking by. I am proud to say however that several people admitted they read the news on All Vegas Poker, which is extremely cool.

A few things I liked right away about the poker room:

• Really classy, upscale environment.
  
• High quality furnishings
(tables, chairs, lighting, etc.). Comparable to the best poker rooms in Las Vegas.

• Outstanding spacing between tables. Even $3/6 players have plenty of room.
  
• Best plasma screen televisions of any poker room in Las Vegas.
  
• No outside casino noise; only the sweet sounds of friendly poker action.
  
• Dealers are experienced, fast, and mistake free.
  
• Waitresses brought drinks quickly
(10 minutes per round, maximum).

• Red Bull served in can.
  

A few things I did not like (there really were not many complaints; these are minor issues and should be easily resolved):

• 20+ players waiting on $3/6 list within 30 minutes after poker room opened. At least 20 empty tables, but no dealers.
  
• Player comp cards can not be made inside poker room yet. Players must go to the main casino to have their comp cards made. Nobody inside poker room offered to transport the information. Players had to walk over themselves if they wanted a comp card made.
  

Four players were sitting at the $40/80 high limit table within five minutes after the poker room opened, although I do not think they ever got that particular game going. Seven other tables were going within 15 minutes after the poker room opened. When I left around 2:00 pm the following games were going:

Limit Texas Hold’em
$3/6: (3) tables
$6/12: (1) table
$10/20: (1) table

No Limit Texas Hold’em
$1/2 No Limit: (1) table
$2/5 No Limit: (2) tables
$5/10 No Limit: (1) table

Other Games
$4/8 Omaha Hi/Lo w/ ½ Kill: (1) table
7-Card Stud: (2) tables (unsure of limit, monitor said $15/30)

I only played $3/6 Texas Hold’em for about an hour, which is not long enough to justify a complete poker room review. I will return soon to properly evaluate the poker room. In the meantime, please check out the exclusive pictures from opening day.

If you have played poker at Caesars Palace, please consider contributing a poker room review or trip report.

Special thanks to management at Caesars Palace for making sure All Vegas Poker had access to the “behind the scenes”, and opening day activities.