We played poker at Binions on Wednesdsay, after eating a couple more deep fried twinkies at The Mermaid, naturally. They don’t seem to cater too much to the professional crowd now that The Strip casinos have taken over. Binion’s spread 1/2NL, 2/4, and a single table of 3/6, so we played 2/4 to avoid a wait. Even the tables and dealers seemed old fashioned. The dealers all looked like they’ve been in Vegas way too long and the tables had old, rough felt with no lines or marking or anything anywhere. I’m not sure I’ve seen any felts without at least a oval line to show you where to place your bets.
I’ve only played at one table, but from my experience, only degenerates play at Binion’s. There was the middle aged woman who was trashed to the point of slurring her speech, repeating herself, and talking about her mother-in-law with her husband sitting right beside her. She had him copy her drink orders so that she could get twice as many drinks in half the time. If that fella in the picture above wasn’t standing at the rail you would be able to see this lady on the far side of the table and my empty seat on the near side. Seat one was very much a redneck and terrible at poker, seat two went wrong with me by wearing a Michigan hat (coach thieves), you can see Anand there in seat three, seat four was another of those slightly brain-damaged seeming Vegas burnouts, and the dude on the right with the glasses looked just like Peter Griffin from Family Guy. It was uncanny and also very unfortunate for him. I kinda wish I had a picture of just him. Anyway, the game was loose and awful and I lost like I always do against maniac tourists.
The table hanging on the right is signed by tons of pros. Binion’s began the World Series of Poker began in 1970, and apparently the casino also made poker popular in Vegas in a more general way. “The Place that Made Poker Famous” reads the signed table.
Tags: Binion's, Fremont Street, pros
November 12, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I have enjoyed my few visits to Binions poker room, if for no other reason than the history of the place. It’s lost a bit of that old-school atmosphere since they remodeled it, but I always have fun there. I only get to Vegas once a year though, so maybe I’ve just been lucky to have a friendly dealer and a decent table. Sure it’s not the best room around, but it’s ok in my book.