Joseph Smith

Fitzgeralds opened during downtown's pre- Fremont Experience era of prosperity. Back when Fremont Street was filled with bumper to bumper 'look-at-me cars' cruising along only a few short feet from slot machines players, separated by only an invisible air-curtain. Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas was one of the great American cruising experiences of the era. Downtown Vegas was jammed night and day with players, lines of taxis, long limos, exotic hot rods, throngs of pedestrians and crowds of cops.

Located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip the TI, formerly Treasure Island, opened in the fall of 1993. Steve Wynn designed and built the TI adjacent to his Mirage Resort. The pirate themed resort was primarily marketed to family vacationers as an upscale alternative to the adult oriented resorts. With a full size pirate sailing ship permanently docked in Buccaneer Bay, TI guests enjoyed free shows nightly when a British frigate sailed into the bay only to be hit by cannon fire and sink with all hands.

Shuffle Up and Deal! With those four magic words Robert Daly, 2006 World Series of Poker Tournament Director, officially opened the 2006 WSOP at the precise hour of Noon. The Rio Resort in Las Vegas welcomed the thousands of fans and players to this year's big poker show located in the Amazon room of the Pavilion Convention Center.

Party where the stars party, at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The Palms is the Vegas home for celebrities from around the world. Movie stars, rock stars, sports stars, poker stars all flock to the Palms, its' like a red carpet event every night. The Palms Resort was the brainchild of George Maloof, one of four brothers from the New Mexico Maloof family, the family worth an estimated billion dollars.

Red Rock Casino-Resort-Spa sits on 70 choice acres of land approximately 10 miles west of the Las Vegas strip at Charleston and I-215. The natural backdrop of red rock cliffs dictated the design of this newest and most expensive resort project from Station Casinos and becomes their fifteenth property. Built at a cost of almost a billion dollars, the Red Rock Resort has been received with raves from the guest and visitors during the first few weeks of operation. My first jaded impression of this $925,000 project was genuine surprise. This place is plush, elegant and appointed.

Sunset Station Resort is located on the southeast side of the Las Vegas valley in Henderson, Nevada. In the center of the shopping district Sunset Station is surrounded by hundreds of shops and one of the premier shopping malls in Nevada, the Galleria. A high-rise hotel tower visible from all around the valley offers 457 recently remodeled oversize rooms and suites to accommodate the guest in a Spanish themed luxurious room. Amenities include high-speed Internet connectivity and 24 hour room service plus the convenience of an airport shuttle service for registered guest.

And on the fourth day it came down to a five of diamonds for a first place prize of more than a million dollars. Stan Weiss was holding a King of spades and the five when he declared all-in. Harry Demetriou was holding a King of hearts and a Six of clubs when he decided to call after an hour of heads up play with Stan Weiss who was holding a slight chip lead. Harry was ahead by virtue of a Six and he stayed in the lead when the flop brought a 9d, 9s, Js. The turn was a 3s and Stan was down to catching a spade or a five for the win or anything over a six for a split pot.

Located in the heartland of America, Caesars Indiana, has taken the world-renowned Caesars' brand of casino/resorts to the middle of America. Caesars Indiana is a luxurious casino resort located on the banks of the Mississippi River as it flows through Elizabeth, Indiana. The casino is actually on a barge permanently anchored in the river, you are boarding a vessel when you go into the casino.

The romance from the early years in America history when the riverboats transported people up and down the mighty river many of them passed the time playing casino games.

The top ten 'poker boom' list has been published on the Poker Prof's Blog. I've selected my personal favorite (Phil Hellmuth) from poker's good and bad list of ten.

One of poker's most colorful characters died Wednesday at his home in Las Vegas. Puggy Pearson was one on the legends of the game and is generally credited with developing the concept of modern tournament poker. While playing in some marathon games in Reno he proposed the format and coined the term "freeze-out" to describe his idea of all players starting with the same amount of chips and playing until only one player remained holding all the money. The idea was carried south to Benny Binion and his Horseshoe Casino and the World Series of Poker was born.