Vegas Poker: Santa Fe Station's Poker Room

If you're looking for someplace to play poker in Las Vegas that has a relaxing atmosphere and is off the strip - head over to Santa Fe Station. Santa Fe Station is located on North Ranch Drive, just off of Highway 95 in North Las Vegas. It's about a 15 minute trip off the strip.

The room is located in the center of the casino - which is large and new. There are a ton of restaurants near the poker room including a Wing Stop and Tides Oyster Bar. There are a number of other restaurants as well ranging from barbecue to Mexican. Besides the sit down restaurants, there is a food court that has a Fat Burger and a Quizno's.

The Santa Fe Station poker room has 14 tables and is open 24 hours. I stopped by there at about 1 in the morning on a Tuesday and there were plenty of tables going. Like it's sister casino Red Rock, Santa Fe always has some action going on. The players in the room were mostly locals, and the it was evident that the casino catered to them by offering a number of different promotions designed to bring the local players in.

The bad beat jackpot at the Santa Fe Station poker room is part of the large Station Casino's jackpot which starts at $150,000. If you have quad tens or better beaten in a game of Texas Hold 'em you receive $45,000 dollars and the guy who beat you gets $30,000 for his efforts. The players throughout all the Station Casino poker rooms split the remaining money receiving what they call the player's share which is usually a few hundred to a couple thousand each depending on when it gets hit and how many players are playing at the time.

Besides the bad beat jackpot they often have other promotions including high hand jackpots. Every few months the Station Casino's hold a freeroll tournament for their loyal players. If you accumulate 75 hours of playing time in the poker room, you win a free entry into a freeroll with a prizepool of $500,000 dollars. Not a bad deal - put in some time and receive a free entry into a giant tourney. You're going to be playing anyways - might as well take advantage of some bonus benefits.

Games at the Santa Fe poker room include 4/8 limit Texas hold 'em and Omaha Hi/Low Split. They also feature a 4/8 Omaha high only game. The no limit games available are $1 and $2 dollar blind no limit, and $2 and $5 dollar blind no limit. Those are the most popular games played at this poker room, though they will spread whatever you like if their is enough interest in a game.

Because it's not a giant room, it's easy to get to know the staff who are extremely nice and accommodating. The dealers are quick and professional and there is usually never a long wait for a seat into a game. The room has a number of plasma's on the wall so you can watch football or basketball while you're at the poker table.

So if you're looking for a nice relaxing atmosphere to play some poker in, check out the Santa Fe Station Casino's poker room.

For more Vegas info, check out my blog Free Vegas.