I am just curious about the poker landscape before the "Moneymaker" explosion. I, like so many others started to play poker shortly after 2003.

I am just wondering what poker in Vegas was like then. Did every casino have a poker room then? I know that the Mirage was the room for high stakes games before the Bellagio and others. Where else was hot?

I read a ton of strategy books, but really enjoy the books that tell the Vegas stories also.

Thanks

Parm

PS-9 weeks till my next Vegas adventure!

I'm not sure if you're actually looking for reading recommendations, but I enjoyed "Positively 5th Street" by James MacManus. While it focused specifically on the WSOP (and the Binion Trial), it still gave a general feel for poker in 2000 (3 years before Moneymaker, although momentum was already kinda building). An even better read was "The Biggest Game in Town" by A. Alvarez. It's been a while, but IIRC it was written in the early 80s. It focuses a little more on the players and personalities, but it all builds towards the WSOP so you get plenty of Vegas there. And the author is just a fantastic writer. A third book that I haven't read but have on my list is "Tales of Old Las Vegas" by Sam O'Connor. It looks like he focuses primarily on Vegas in the early 60s and includes plenty of poker even though it's not specifically a poker book. (Sam is also an occasional contributor to AVP and has his own forum if you haven't seen it.)

Have a great trip!

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Just a deck of cards and a jug of wine...

Awesome stuff!!!

I have read "Positively 5th Street" and enjoyed it very much

I will have to check out the "Biggest Game in Town"

I just enjoy hearing the poker stories and to live vicariously through others!

The Biggest Game in Town" by A. Alvarez. is an excellent read. It details Stu Unger and Jack Strauss and how they were true gamblers, putting their entire bankroll on the line day in and day out.

Anthony Holden's Big Deal has a bit about Vegas and the WSOP in the late 80s, as well as some of the other international poker events that were running then.

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"Just because you're crazy and we're crazy, that doesn't mean we're related."

In my limited exposure to Vegas poker pre-2003, (circa 1990-2000), here are a few things I encountered.

you definitely did NOT find a poker room in every casino

from the age of 25-30 yrs, whenever I sat down at a poker table, I was ALWAYS the youngest at the table by at least 20+ yrs. When I hit 40 and sat down at a table and realized I was the OLDEST at the table by at least 10-15 yrs, I knew things would never be like they used to. (that night was a real eye opener)

the Fremont used to have a 4-5 table room - now closed

the Golden Nugget did NOT have a room - it was closed up when all the business was moved to the Mirage poker room. This was back when Steve Wynn owned both places and the Bellagio wasn't even an artist's rendering yet

the Union Plaza had a room that spread pan as well as poker - I never learned pan, so I wasn't able to join in

You could usually find a small stakes 7-card stud game running at every room - I played $1-$4 or $1-$5 stud at the Fremont, Union Plaza and Binion's Horseshoe

Small stakes hold'em games were usually always LIMIT games - sometimes spread limit. I think I played a $1-$5 spread limit HE game at the 'Shoe a few times - $1 bets on 5th street/the river always got a few laughs, especially when people folded to that

Don't forget RAZZ!!!!!there was always one table with old men sitting around looking like they wanted to kill the next person that looked at them.

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To err is human said the Rooster as he climbed off the duck.

bowlingfool, thanks for sharing.

I didn't play poker pre-2003, but here's some of my take.

Pre-2003, hold 'em wasn't the game, it was mainly stud and the median age of players was 50-55. Also most of the name poker rooms AVPers frequent today didn't exist pre-2003. Wynn, Venetian, Aria, and Treasure Island (as it was known then) didn't have the poker rooms they do today. I'm pretty sure the first three casinos didn't even exist. I'm pretty sure Caesar's huge room opened post-2003, possibly 2006 or 2007. Bellagio and Mirage (not sure about MGM) are really the only two rooms that were "big" poker rooms pre-2003 and are still big today.

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Don't tap the glass!

even though I love to play razz myself, I almost never saw a razz game going in Vegas during that 1990-2000 time frame. keep in mind, I only hit about 5-6 different poker rooms during that entire 10 yr span - Fremont (played a lot of 7-card stud with QUARTERS in use!! YIKES!!), Binion's Horseshoe, Flamingo Hilton, Santa Fe (before it was a Stations casino), Luxor. Nowadays, I'll hit 5-6 different rooms in a 3-day visit.

this is spot on!! pretty much what I encountered every time I sat down in a Vegas poker game. I when I was still under 30, I usually got some strange looks from the old geezer regulars when I sat down at a table. Now that I'm the old geezer (at 40+) at a table of 25 yr olds, I get ignored pretty much every time I sit down.