Pete DeMonte was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on July 7, 1954. He graduated from Bullard Havens High School in 1972 followed that up with a couple years at Norwalk Technical College.

In 1977 Pete joined the local fire department as a full time fire fighter until his retirement in June 1998. In July 1998 he and his wife, Diane moved to Las Vegas.

That move was something that they had planned on doing for years. Pete and Diane spent their honeymoon in Las Vegas back in 1982 and from that time on they vacationed in Las Vegas about twice a year.

They liked Vegas so much they vowed to make it their home when Pete retired. The first couple of months after their move to Vegas were spent relaxing and enjoying their new surroundings. Pete frequented the Stardust on his vacation trips to Vegas and then began playing poker on a regular basis after the move.

He became friendly with some of the dealers at the Stardust and they told him he should apply for a dealing position at the Bellagio, which was scheduled to open in October 1998. He explained that he had no experience dealing but they told him that would not be a problem because the Bellagio had their own training program.

Pete applied for the position at the Bellagio and was hired as a poker dealer on graveyard. About a month later he left the Bellagio and signed on as an extra board dealer at the Stardust where he knew everyone. Not long after that he was put on full time and then moved up to a Relief Shift Boss. In May of 2004 he was promoted to Cardroom Manager and held that position until they closed the doors of the Stardust on November 1, 2006.

After the Stardust closed Pete was transferred to the Sun Coast to manage their 12 table cardroom and a staff of 40.

The main live action at the Sun Coast is $2-$4 and $4-$8 limit hold'em and $1-$2 no-limit hold'em. The no-limit game has a minimum buy-in of $100 and a maximum of $300. Pete assured me they will spread anything the players would like to play.

The poker room is spacious and has a very friendly staff. The tables are equipped with Shuffle Masters and it's a nonsmoking room. Live game players earn $1.25 per hour in comps for the first four hours then .50 for each hour thereafter, up to $9.00 a day. Comps are redeemable throughout most restaurants and the buffet.

The room is conveniently located to self parking and valet parking. The room is next to the movie theater, the buffet, restrooms and within steps of the Bagel Express. The poker room offers 21 progressive high-hand jackpots. A four-of-a-kind jackpot with 13 possible four of a kinds (deuces through aces), and eight possible straight flush jackpots. The four of a kind jackpot starts at $50 and the straight flush jackpots start at $100 with no cap on either.

Players can also get a free jacket with 50 hours of live play from January 1-February 11. Players can win more than one jacket.

The Sun Coast has daily tournaments every day of the week. Sunday through Saturday at 10 a.m. they are spreading a $40 buy-in nolimit event with no add-ons or rebuys. Players receive $1500 in chips with blinds starting at $25-$50 and 20 minute rounds. They repeat the same event at 7 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday with the exception of a $60 buy-in and players receive $2000 in chips. The events have been drawing between three and five tables daily.

The Sun Coast and their sister properties, Sam's Town, Gold Coast and the Orleans, held a freeroll last year that was very successful. Players needed 75 hours to qualify and drew more than 500 players. The event was held at the Orleans and will most likely be repeated again later this year.

Pete expects to have some new promotions in the near future and is looking into the possibility of adding a ladies event to his daily tournament schedule.

If you're looking for a friendly room with a friendly staff drop by the Sun Coast poker room and ask for Pete, he'll be glad to take care of you.