Poker News

Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel in downtown Las Vegas

The 2005 World Series of Poker broadcast on ESPN is airing the final two days of the main event played at the downtown Las Vegas Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, now named Binion’s. I thought it a good idea to review the pokerroom so readers will have some advance background in the properties poker rich history. If you’re coming to Vegas and plan to play some cash game or tournament poker then stop downtown and test your skill and luck where it all started.

Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel located at 128 East Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas has more poker history than any casino poker room in the city. The original small casino sat on a corner on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Opened by gaming legend Benny Binion in 1951, the Horseshoe offered gamblers the best odds for whatever game they played and his way of doing business drew the players. Binion’s Horseshoe was proabaly the most profitable casino per square foot in Nevada; but, the likely rumor couldn’t be substantiated since the Horseshoe was privately owned and didn’t have to make public the accounting books.

Bronze statue of Benny Binion in downtown Las Vegas.

Benny Binion is one of the true Las Vegas pioneers and architects of modern Las Vegas. He moved from his home near Dallas, Texas to Las Vegas in 1951 when a booming post-war economy made the downtown train station a busy place. All of the downtown gambling joints were small with sawdust covering the floors and low, $50, maximum bet limits designed to protect the house from going broke if someone got lucky. The most you could win at keno was fifty bucks, the most you could bet at any of the casino’s games was fifty bucks, fifty bucks and that was it. Benny opened his casino on a corner of Fremont Street a block from the busy train station and named it Binion’s Horseshoe. He set his maximum limit at $500, ten times higher than the bet limit of other downtown gambling joints, and the gamblers flocked to his games. Benny continued to improve the Las Vegas gaming landscape making it player friendly for the first time. He was the first to offer slot players free drinks, he was the first to provide limousines to transport players to and from the airport and he replaced the sawdust with carpet, just like the new uptown joints on the strip, another first for downtown Las Vegas. Read more of Benny’s history here.

Binion’s poker room early in the morning.

Binion’s Horseshoe bought the next door Mint Hotel in 1988 for $27 million, knocked a hole in the wall and went from an 80 room hotel with a small casino to a 362 room hotel with enough casino floorspace to open a permanent poker room. The room was placed up front in the old Mint’s casino with a view of car clogged Fremont Street a few short steps away. Benny built it and they did come including one of his oldest friends, poker legend Johnny Moss. Go to the Horseshoe’s poker then on almost any day back then and you would find the Grand Old Man of Poker, Moss, there in the thick of things at the highest limit game. He was Benny’s Ambassador of Poker. Johnny and his wife maintained a residence at the Horseshoe.

The Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas had been the only home of the World Series of Poker until 2005, for the first time in WSOP history the event was not held at the downtown landmark. The property had fallen into a state of neglect after the death of Benny Binion and the forced departure of Benny’s son, Jack Binion. The property was closed in 2004 for two months before Harrah’s bought the property, the Horseshoe name and the World Series of Poker Tournament. The new owners quickly cleaned, painted, staffed and opened with only a few days to spare before hosting the 2004 WSOP. The poker room was also reopened and expanded to serve the large crowds of players attending the 2004 WSOP. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Harrah’s sold everything downtown except the Horseshoe name and the WSOP Tournament, to current owner, MTR Gaming. MTR renamed the property Binion’s.

Gallery of Champions in the back of the poker room.

Binion’s poker room has 18 tables. The adjacent tournament area has another 28 tables plus Benny’s Bullpen upstairs has an additional 50 tables. Binion’s poker room is managed by long time poker room manager Jimmy Delorto. His 25 plus years of experience go all the way back to the old Mint Hotel’s poker operations.

Binion’s poker room spreads $2-$4, $4-$8 and $3-$6 Texas Hold’em. The room also offers a $1-$2 No-limit Hold’em game with a $100 minimum to no limit maximum buy-in. The downtown poker room always has action games and, remaining true to a Benny tradition of feeding players, Binion’s offers one of the more liberal comp policies in Las Vegas. Play four hours for an $8.00 food comp that can be used at most of the food outlets in the hotel.

Benny’s Bullpin, the room where the WSOP Championship final table was played, survuved the ownership transistion and now holds an additional fifty tournament tables.

Binion’s Horseshoe had a long history of tournament poker and the tradition continues today with Binion’s poker room. No-limit Hold’em tournaments at 10:00am, 2:00pm, 8:00pm and 2:00am every day. The tournament action is managed by Binion’s Tournament Director, Chuck Bliane. The buy-in for the tournaments is $60.00 for all except the 8:00 pm Friday thru Sunday tournaments which are $125.00. All tournaments have a one time bonus chip buy for $10.00 ($25.00 for $125.00 buy-in) and one optional rebuy for $40.00 ($50.00 for $125.00 buy-in). Registration for the tournaments begins 2 hours before the scheduled start times. This is your first opportunity to use our new Tournament Information Page with an ultra easy search function. Type your info into the Tournament Search box for up-to-date results.

First floor tournament area adjacent to the poker room.

Learn to play poker at Binion’s, call the poker room at 702.366.7397 for complete the complete poker lesson details. The poker room also offers promotions and special events for poker players. Binion’s is currently offering Las Vegas taxi drivers a free poker tournament with a $1,000 purse on November 7th at 4:00pm. In the planning stages is another major tournament, the Binion’s Classic Poker Tournament slated for October, 2006. Binion’s poker room has the Gallery of Champions on one of the red flocked walls with photos and stats for every winner of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event from Johnny Moss to 2005 World Champion, Joe Hachem.

Binion’s Poker Room is a must visit for players and fans alike. The place is filled with the memories of some of poker’s most historic moments and the air is thick with the spirits of the game’s great players. Walking through Binion’s where so much poker genius sat and played the game is an experience unto its self. All of the world champions in those gallery photographs played in this house and won the coveted WSOP World Champion’s bracelet.

Call Binion’s Poker Room direct: 702.366.7397. Room reservations toll free at: 1.800.937.6537. Website: www.binions.com

The sign says it all about downtown Binion’s poker legacy.

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