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Harrah’s, on its quest to dominate the central corridor of the Las Vegas strip, recently acquired the Imperial Palace. Within a year or so, Harrah’s will probably blow up the Imperial Palace, to make room for a modern casino resort. Until then, the new management at the Imperial Palace is shaking things up. They started by moving the poker room downstairs. They’ve also dropped some of the great comps and freebies that made the Imperial Palace poker room such a killer place to play low limit poker.
The new location might be an improvement over the former location. Until recently, the poker room at the Imperial Palace was tucked away upstairs, off the main-casino floor, and near the buffet. The poker room was admittedly difficult to find up there, but it was quiet. Now, the poker room is at the very front of the casino, where the Kabuki lounge used to be. It’s right by the main entrance to the casino floor, so you can’t miss it. However, it’s also very close to the “champagne pit”, and there is a lot more casino noise. Of course, there is also more traffic passing by, and this certainly seems to benefit the low limit sharks.
Regulars there tell me that the new location draws even more inexperienced players than before to the poker room. I didn’t think it was possible for more suckers to swim around inside the fish tank better known as the Imperial Palace poker room. But last week, the rumors were confirmed. On my recent visit I decided that the players at the Imperial Palace poker room are indeed worse than ever, and there are more of them. Lots more of them.
Unfortunately, the new management at the Imperial Palace poker room decided to stop serving the sandwiches and delicious little cookies that poker players there had grown accustomed to. Management also reduced the hourly comp rate from $3 per hour to $2 per hour. Yes - this sucks. Sure, $2 per hour is still better than any hourly comp rate among poker rooms on the Las Vegas strip, but it never feels good to have something you liked taken away. I loved the $3 per hour comps. So did a lot of other players. I guess the bean counters at Harrah’s have to keep a closer eye on the bottom line. After all, now that Harrah’s owns the joint, public shareholders are watching. The Imperial Palace used to be privately owned.
You can read my full updated review of the Imperial Palace poker room, complete with updated pictures. I will also post the updated Imperial Palace poker tournament schedule soon.
If you have any additional information about the Imperial Palace poker room, or news about any other poker room in Las Vegas, please send an e-mail to info@allvegaspoker.com. All sources are confidential.
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