Las Vegas Vacation Blog Blog

• 1972 - Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston won the third WSOP event beating Johnny Moss the previous two year’s winner. He took home $80,000. The tournament had only 12 participants.
• 1973 - CBS Sports televised the World Series for the first time.
• 1974 – Johnny Moss beats 15 other players to again win the main event and $160,000
• 1977 - Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson backs up his 1976 win to make it back-to back WSOP wins.
• 1978 – Place prizes were introduced for the first time with the 2nd to 5th finishers of the main event sharing in the prize money for the first time.
• 1989 – Benny Binion, the father of WSOP, passes away this year.
• 1991 – Prize money for first place in the main event tops $1 million for the first time.
• 1997 – Stuey “The Kid” Ungar makes a comeback and wins the main event for the third time after his previous back-to-back wins in 1980 and 1981. And the main event was played outdoors.
• 2003 – Unknown rookie Chris Moneymaker qualifies for the main even by winning his entry to the tournament though an online qualifier, paying only $39 and went on to become the champion winning $2.5 million dollars.
• 2004 – The WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino for the last time, after the Horseshoe was bought by Harrah’s Entertainment.
• 2005 – Johnny “Orient Express” Chan wins his 10th WSOP bracelet setting a new record for the most bracelets won with his victory at the Pot-Limit Omaha event. Four days later, Doyle Brunson also won his 10th WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 No Limit Short Handed event.
• 2006 – College student Jeff Madsen becomes the youngest winner ever of a WSOP event. Aged 21 years, one month, and nine days, he won event #22 taking the $660,948 prize.

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Before the casinos, before the mob, before Steve Wynn, Las Vegas was a dusty stop on a trail primarily used by settlers and for monthly mail service from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. A series of natural springs provided water to support the Paiute tribes in the area and to refresh travelers taking the route.

Those springs and the surrounding vegetation prompted early Spanish explorers to name the area Las Vegas, “the meadows” or the fertile valleys. In 1855, the Mormon Church saw the location as the perfect spot for a settlement. The adobe buildings of the Old Mormon Fort comprise the oldest non-Indian structure in Southern Nevada and the oldest historic building still stands today.

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See the White tigers at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden: The Mirage

“Long ago, Roy and I realized that everything that happens to this planet is man’s responsibility. Our responsibility,” says Siegfried. “After living and working with some of the world’s most magnificent creatures, we have felt the threat of their loss. So we felt compelled to create a safe environment – an environment in which these animals could live in serenity,” says Roy.

An exotic, enchanting and wondrous world full of adventure lies before you. The rare and exquisite animals enjoy relaxing in their tropical environment, painstakingly modeled after their natural habitats.

1 See the White tigers at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden: The Mirage
2 Lake of Dreams at Wynn. 140 foot mountain covered with 1500 trees, waterfall and three-acre lake.
3 Get face to face with sharks at Shark Reef, Mandalay Bay
4 Animated birds and animals: Sam’s Town atrium
5 One of my favorite things to do in Las Vegas: Be entertained by strolling mimes: Canal Shoppes, Venetian
6 Classic car collection: Imperial Palace
7 High impact motion simulator rides at Luxor.
8 Don’t miss the $70 million Fremont Street Experience, downtown.
9 See “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” at the Tropicana
10 Visit the Dolphin habitat at The Mirage
11 See the world’s largest atrium: Luxor
12 Visit the glitziest museum in the world: Liberace Museum (1775 E. Tropicana)
13 1,200 feet off the ground roller coaster: on top of the Stratosphere Tower
14 View an exquisite collection of fine art: Bellagio
15 Love hamburgers and Harley’s?: Harley-Davidson Cafe
16 There are Flamingos and African penguins at the Flamingo Hilton
17 X-Scream thrill ride 900 feet above the strip at Stratosphere.
18 Visit Madame Toseau’s wax museum: Venetian
19 Watch the dragon battle against the magician: Excalibur’s moat
20 Ride the roller coaster: New York-New York
21 Submerging yourself in a magnificent garden of fragrance and color at the Bellagio is another of the things to do in Las Vegas.
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So you’re new to Texas Holdem poker? Not a problem. Texas Holdem poker is by far the best game for a beginner to learn. Instead of other poker games like Omaha High or 7 card stud which entail a great many more possibilities for calculating odds and perhaps even trying to count cards, Texas Hold em can be learned in a few minutes by anyone, and you can be playing fairly well with a few hours practice. In order to learn the game, however, you must play and you must play fairly often. As the saying goes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.

1.   The betting structure can vary. Sometimes antes are used, but most games start with two players to the left of the dealer placing out a predetermined amount of money so there is an initial amount to get things started. This is called posting the blinds. Check out our page on blinds and antes.
2. The dealer shuffles up a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
3. Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole or pocket cards.
4. Then there is a round of betting starting with the guy to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to by the term pre-flop.
5. The amount a player can bet depends on what kind of game it is. (Check out our page on betting structures)
6. Much like most games of poker, players can call, raise, or fold.
7. After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card. This is done to prevent cheating.
8. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop. These are communal cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand.
9. There is another round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
10. After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and flips one more onto the table. This is called the turn card. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five card poker hand.
11. The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. In many types of games, this is where the bet size doubles.
12. Finally, the dealer burns a card and places a final card face up on the table. This is called the river. Players can now use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five card poker hand.
13. There is one final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
14. After that, all of the players remaining in the game begin to reveal their hands. This begins with the player to the left of the last player to call. It’s called the showdown. Players use a combination of their pocket cards and the community cards to form a poker hand. For more about that, go to our forming a five card hand page.
15. The player who shows the best hand wins! There are cases where players with equal hands share the winnings. Go to our page about split pots for more info about who wins.

Once you understand this basic structure of the game, you can play texas hold ‘em and even some of the many texas holdem variants out there. Texas Hold em is an easy game to learn, just difficult to master. The “mastering” part is the costly part, especially in the traditional setting of a casino poker room. Thankfully, you can practice all you want for free in online poker rooms.