Green Valley Ranch



The first of Station Casinos' fancy megaresorts, Green Valley Ranch is an enormous casino/hotel/spa complex on the south side of Las Vegas. Situated right next to one of those ubiquitous spawling Western malls that has no indoor area, the area attracts locals day in and day out. GVR fits right in with the large upscale stores next door like REI and Sharper Image.

GVR's poker room was moved and completely remodeled in October 2006 and is no longer the small room it once was - instead, it's now one of the larger and more pleasant places to play poker in Vegas.

Games and Info
Limit hold 'em: 2/4, 4/8 half kill. Killer acts last unless raised in front of them. Cap is at four bets (bet and three raises).

No-limit hold 'em: 1/2 blinds (100-200 buyin). 3/5 blinds (300-1000 buyin).

Rake on all games = 10%, max $4, plus an additional $1 for the jackpot drop. No flop, no drop.

Game Character: As one of the more attractive places to play poker in Vegas, GVR attracts its share of reasonably good regular players, who tend to frequent the 3/5 NL and 4/8. The lower limit games attract beginners and gamblers who are just curious and want to try the game - and with the size of GVR, there are a lot of them. There are regularly 15-18 tables in use here.

Wait Time: Not generally too long except at peak times (Fri/Sat nights). The large number of tables keep the lists moving quickly. Expect to wait 5-15 minutes.

Posting: New players need not post unless they want to "buy the button" and come in between the button and small blind. In that case, they must post a big blind (and are the only player to do so on that first round), and then they get the button the next hand.

Tournaments
none.

Jackpots and Promotions
Standard Station Casinos "Jumbo Jackpot" bad beat. Also their current "High Hand promotion" is in effect for certain high hands that get hit. Plus, $500 bonus for hitting a royal flush.



Atmosphere
The new room is gorgeous and almost unbelievably spacious. They could easily fit another five or six tables in here without even getting crowded! 14 large LCD TVs adorn the walls, in addition to five large monitors that let you see the list software running (so you can track your table change request, for instance). Chips are bought and cashed out in the room. The room uses the same Bravo list software and table-card-swiping system found at all Station Casinos.

Tables and Chairs: Standard Vegas 10-seat tables with soft brown vinyl armrests with inset cup holders, a wood staging ring, deep green felt, nice padding, and a clean commit line. The seats are quite nice, well padded fixed-leg chairs that have nice brown vinyl upholstery that matches the brown vinyl of the tables.

Smoking: Non-smoking, and separate enough that no real drift occurs from the main casino floor.

Parking: Tons of parking in multiple multistory parking garages. Best bet for playing poker is to park in the Paseo Verde parking garage in back (on the south side), as that is closest to the poker room. GVR is huge, so parking elsewhere can mean a longish walk.

Service and Comps
Moderately frequent service that brings smallish drinks. Standard free casino cocktails.

Decent comps earned using the same standard Station Casinos player card system where they swipe your card at the table.

Notes and links

 * Mark T visited in Mar 2006 and Mar 2007.
 * All Vegas Poker review

Discussion threads:


 * Whoa! GVR : Green Valley Ranch Poker Room is OPEN (2+2, August 2005)