The last time I interviewed Gary Dewitt he was the Poker Room Manager at Palace Station in Las Vegas. A lot has happened since then and I thought it was time to have another chat with him. Back in June of 2005 Gary was asked to take on the task of opening the new poker room at Green Valley Ranch and the position of Cardroom Manager. Gary not only accepted the position but build the room to the number one Station Casino poker room in Las Vegas. He opened the room with 11 poker tables and within six weeks increased the room to 14 tables, at the time it was also the largest Station room in Las Vegas. Gary was very successful in keeping the room number one in business until Red Rock opened in April of 2006. Unfortunately for Gary, Station's underwent some major managerial changes in October of 2006 and he was asked to return to Palace Station as Cardroom Manager. Gary considered the offer but thought it best to decline the offer for what he believed would be a better opportunity. That opportunity came from Binion's, they offered him the position of Director of Poker Operations/Poker Room Manager and he accepted. Gary couldn't be more pleased with his new position, he said, "Binion's is like no place I've ever worked, the Director of Poker Operations and Manager of the poker room is not a robot, they actually let me make the decisions and run the room." Gary continued with, "Upper management is awesome when it comes to poker, whatever I ask for or need I get, they are so pro poker and it's terrific to work with these people." Gary hasn't made a lot of changes in his short time as Director of Poker Operations but he informed me of several upcoming events and promotions that will take place in the next few weeks. Binion's is now the new home of the nationally televised Ultimate Poker Challenge. All final tables are filmed every Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 4 p.m. on the newly built stage in the poker room. The new schedule of events will begin on December 1. They will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. The buy-in for Friday and Sunday is $340 and the Saturday buy-in is $660. Single table satellites for these events run continuously from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. The Satellites range from $45 to $150 with $1500 to $2500 in starting chips. Beginning December 20, Binion's will be will begin filming two tables of live nolimit poker with a $25,000 buy-in that will include name players for television. Starting the second week in December may begin signing up for a $10,000 freeroll to be held on December 28, this event is free to anyone who signs up and Gary suggests signing up early even though they can handle up to 800 players. There is another freeroll in the plans and this freeroll is on the live side. Players can qualify by playing 60 hours of live poker in two months, qualifying period will begin the middle of December. This is a total freeroll, the money does not come out of the pot, Binion's is putting up the entire $10,000.
Also beginning the middle of December will be a Fourof- a-Kind or better Special. Any player making fourof- a-kind or better will win either a hat, T-shirt or lighter. There is no limit to how many times you can win. Binion's offers players $2 per hour comp with no maximum of hours played and can be used in every restaurant, including the World Famous Binion's Steak House.
The rake on all no-limit games and the $4-$8 limit hold'em is only 5%. The Sportsbook has reopened and is located right next to the poker room. The location of the poker room is literally within steps of valet and close to selfparking. Poker players also receive room rates of $29 on weekdays and $49 on weekends.
Attention, dealers! Don't forget the World Poker Dealers Championship will be held again in the fall of 2007. Contact Gary Dewitt for details on all poker events at the "Place That Made Poker Famous," Binions.
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