The WSOP isn’t the only place with exciting poker action in Las Vegas during the summer. The Aria is just one of several casinos offering big action this summer, including the ever-popular Mystery Bounty tournament. (Photo: courtesy of Hochgepokert.com)
It was not all that long ago when the other casinos in Las Vegas looked like they were shut down during the World Series of Poker. As little as 15 years ago, the WSOP sucked the air from the room as poker players descended first on the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino and now, the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Today, it seems as if we’re back in the days of our youth, when summer camp saw us gather with our friends without regard for WHERE it was, if we were together for the fun and frivolity! Poker’s summer camp fling is seeing other casinos in the Las Vegas area firing off with their own massive tournament series running right in step with the grandaddy of them all.
If a poker player gets disillusioned with the way things are going at Horseshoe or Paris Las Vegas, they can get a change of scenery by heading downtown. The former home of the WSOP used to be at what is now Binion’s, but it is an old contemporary that is seeking poker players to participate in their offerings. Underneath the canopy on Fremont Street is The Golden Nugget, which will be hosting its Grand Poker Series from now until July 2.
This is not the first rodeo for the Grand Poker Room, either. During the heyday of the WSOP on Fremont Street, the Golden Nugget served as an overflow outlet for the Series when necessary. After the WSOP headed to the Strip in 2005, the Golden Nugget languished for a couple of years before creating the Grand Poker Series in 2008. Save for the COVID pandemic, the Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget has been active, with 2025 marking the 20th anniversary of the event, which caters to a clientele that might not be able to make it to the WSOP.
The Grand Poker Series traditionally features buy-ins that are significantly lower than those found at the WSOP. Tournaments start off at $120, or what is usually the vig for WSOP events. The lower buy-ins don’t mean that players can’t make significant money, however. The minimum guarantee on a tournament is $5,000, ranging up to the $1 million guaranteed prize pool for the “Goldenaire Mystery Bounty” event (a $1,200 buy-in), and all disciplines of poker (including Omaha Hold’em and mixed game tournaments) will be offered.
Taking a page from the Grand Poker Series, the Orleans Poker Room will play host to its own lower buy-in series. The 2025 Orleans Summer Open joins the parade of poker’s summer camp offerings with a massive 199-tournament schedule that runs until July 13.
Lower buy-ins rule at the Orleans, which has an $800 Main Event (scheduled to start July 2) and prize pool guarantees of over $3.8 million.
If the Fremont Street Experience or The Orleans aren’t up to your liking, there are plenty of other tournament schedules on the Strip that might entice a poker player.
Perhaps the biggest competitor for the WSOP will be the schedule at ARIA Resort & Casino. The ARIA Poker Classic is underway as we speak, running until July 13 at the namesake casino. There are 47 tournaments on the massive schedule, but none bigger than the BetMGM Poker Championship, which begins on June 30 as a part of the ARIA Poker Classic.
The $3,500 buy-in tournament will feature a $3 million guaranteed prize pool, and it should be populated by a phalanx of top tournament professionals and online qualifiers looking to make their mark.
“We are preparing to use our brand ambassadors, Darren Elias and Abby Merk, as well as our media partners, to engage with the poker community in new ways throughout the summer,” said Angus Nisbet, vice president of gaming for BetMGM.
The final table will be livestreamed through the PokerGO Studios.
Another “tournament within a tournament series” also bears mention. The World Poker Tour will look to take over part of the schedule at the 2025 DeepStack Championship Poker Series with a $5000 buy-in tournament from July 17-22.
The WPT Venetian Las Vegas Championship is only a small portion of the action for the 2025 DeepStack Championship Poker Series, which will run to the end of July on its 102-event roster at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
Finally, if you’re simply looking to play poker for the money and the glory, the Wynn Summer Classic at the Wynn Las Vegas is the place to play.
From now until July 14, the Wynn Summer Classic is hosting a 90-tournament schedule of events, with the Main Event featuring a $10 million guaranteed prize pool starting on June 26. In addition to that huge Main Event, several “High Roller” tournaments, with buy-ins up to $25,000, make up a huge portion of the schedule.
As you can see, the “big money” isn’t just at the WSOP in Las Vegas this summer, it’s all around town for poker players across the country and around the world who want to go to poker’s “summer camp.”
Over the past two decades, Earl has been at the forefront of poker and casino reporting. He has worked with some of the biggest poker news websites, covering the tournaments, the players, and the politics, and has also covered the casino industry thoroughly. He continues to monitor the industry and its changes and presents it to readers around the world.
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