Planet Hollywood Opening New Las Vegas Poker Room Next Month

Nearly four years after shuttering its Las Vegas poker room, Planet Hollywood is set to open a new and bigger poker room next month.

The new poker room, which officials expect to open in early May, is located on the second floor of the on-Strip casino. Though it’s still under construction, the new room will feature 23 total tables — including 12 cash game tables — in a gothic setting equipped with 21 flatscreen TVs and a balcony overlooking the casino’s Pleasure Pit.

PokerNews toured the space that will hold the Planet Hollywood Poker Room from veteran Las Vegas poker operators Anthony Mink, Andy Rich and Anthony Moody, hired as the poker room manager.

Private Rooms, Stunning Balcony

The setting for Las Vegas’ newest card room is a spacious area supported by stone-resembling pillars and with walls lined by red ambient lighting. It’s adjacent to a ballroom space that previously hosted Planet Hollywood’s the Phamous Poker Series GOLIATH.

The space includes two side rooms that will hold a total of 12 tournament tables that will host low-stakes daily tournaments, as well as a private backroom with all the ambiance of early High Stakes Poker episodes and lined by photos of iconic Las Vegas movies like The Hangover and Ocean’s Eleven that Mink envisions hosting private games and potentially even live-streams.

Pending approval, the room will also feature a full-service bar just a few steps away from the tables.

Another perk? The poker room has an attached bathroom accessible through a back hallway. “So that’s a huge convenience,” said Mink.

But arguably the most appealing aspect of the new room is the scenic balcony overlooking the brightly lit casino floor, allowing players to step away from the action and take in the fresh casino air.

“I don’t think there’s a poker room on an elevated level like this that has an overview of everything going on below you,” Mink said.

“Bring the Action Back to the Strip”

Poker rooms in Las Vegas struggled to recoup after the COVID pandemic, and many closed down altogether. Moody, who also works with the Horseshoe Poker Room and World Series of Poker (WSOP), said opening the new room was a way of “trying to bring the action back to the Strip.”

“There’s no fun rooms left,” Moody said. “So we’re trying to bring that back a little bit. Whether it’s low-limit PLO or bomb pot games or mixed games.”

He added that “we’re not going to try to go toe-to-toe” with bigger Vegas rooms like Wynn, ARIA and Bellagio. “We kind of know what lane we should be in, hopefully we’re going to create a new lane or bring back the old lane of just action, fun, nobody’s too serious.”

With Horseshoe and Paris just down the street, Mink said they expect the room to fill up during the summer as they offer four $100 buy-in daily tournaments “to attract anyone who may be coming from the series or to the series that just kind of want to get their feet wet.”

Additionally, the room will host two WSOP Circuit stops Circuit stops and other poker festivals.

Kicking Things Off With CMSOP Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker

Not long after the official opening, the new poker room will host Allen Kessler’s third annual Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker (CMSOP).

The series is set to run May 12-20 and will feature variants including Omaha 8, Stud 8, H.O.R.S.E., Big O, 2-7 Triple Draw and a $1,100 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship, a variant that will make its WSOP debut this summer.

Mink told PokerNews he hopes to break in the new room with a ceremony involving Kessler and a toy chainsaw. He said Kessler was all for the idea.

The full schedule for the CMSOP Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker is available in the table below.

CMSOP Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker Schedule

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

Follow on