2025 Las Vegas Summer Series - non-WSOP

Two weeks before the start of the Aria and Golden Nugget series, and they still haven’t managed to publish the structures. What a disgrace. It’s not like these are last-minute surprise events — they’re held at the same time every year. Can’t they plan ahead just a little? What a lack of respect for people traveling from far away and trying to organize their schedules…

I hear you.

I'm not here to make excuses for us at the Nugget, but the reality is that this is a year of massive transition for us here and there are a lot of moving parts getting ironed out. Almost an entirely new staff (I'm part of that), and we're working hard behind the scenes to put out a fantastic product.

That said, I hear your concern, and I'll do what I can to get them out sooner to everyone next year.

Ours for this year have just completed their 3rd round of revisions and proofreads and should be published today, maybe tomorrow at worst. I'll be sure to link them here as soon as they are completed.

Thank you very much for your response, and please accept my apologies for using such harsh words. I’m glad to hear that the Golden Nugget is working on this issue and that you’re attentive to your customers, especially those who travel over 12 hours by plane to visit you and for whom planning is crucial. Can’t wait to be there!

Well the new staff has some big shoes to step into for the Summer Series. While the tournament room is "okay" the staff during the WSOP time has always been in my experience very good, very friendly and helpful to we "tourists" Rec players and is one of the reasons I try to make 2 or 3 events there each year. You messed with timing for me personally with the earlier Senior events since I book my hotels 6 months in advance. But at least your modified schedule picked up the Super Senior for June 23rd.

But if your championship series has a GOOD structure I will give that a shot instead. Historically your structures have been so so to fair for the buy in levels and somewhat comparable to what The Orleans puts out but definitely on the lower end of the various tournament structure spectrum. Guess I will find out soon.

The shoes are so big that we won't even try to fill them, instead we're going to focus on forging our own identity, one in which I'm confident will be well received. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about the outgoing staff, it's a major reason why I fell in love with working the Nugget. Kurt is one of the best TD's in the industry, and one of the most respected for a reason. Patrick and Kate were both top notch as well, I thoroughly enjoy working with them at other stops around the country.

That said, I'm very happy with the team we've assembled, and being "very friendly and helpful" was at the top of my list when choosing people to fill spots.

Being a transition year I didn't have a TON of input on the exact forming of the schedule since we had so many other staffing things in the works, but plan to take any and all concerns into consideration for future years. We genuinely care about putting out a great product for our guests, and taking in feedback is going to be a vital part of doing that. I'm hopeful that my being here and willing to engage is proof of that commitment. We care, and we WILL improve year over year, even if it's just 1%.

Can't wait to get out there and see everyone this summer!

Just to keep everyone in the loop, expect our (Nugget) structures to release tomorrow. They will be submitted to marketing in the AM (Vegas time) and should be up by afternoon.

Don't want to keep anyone hanging who might be looking for them today as I had previously mentioned we'd release them. We just want to go over them one last time with a fine tooth comb this evening. Rather measure twice and cut once 😉

Please keep the rake 20% or lower. Those years where they were at 25% were soul crushing

It’s the time

Thx

We're getting slow rolled

Not slow rolled. I promise you that.

The problem with putting out a date something will be out is that if something happens to mess that up I have to stand here and try to save face. It's 4:15 pm in Vegas right now, so the day is not yet over!

They just got sent to marketing in the last hour, when they'll get them posted I'm unsure.

They were supposed to get sent to marketing this morning, but it ultimately was my fault that didn't happen. Late last night I took a look and found a few spots where I think we're gonna get nailed in the court of public opinion on these. I put the bug in everyone's ear about it last night, and then this morning was spent trying to figure out potential fixes for it. Frankly, I'm still gonna be here and take in the feedback when they are in fact released.

I'm here (and anywhere else) ready to take on the criticism and see what we can do to improve this thing year over year. What sucks this year, we'll try and improve for next year. I don't do things to suck at them, I want to put out the best product I possibly can. I'm not going to hide behind the "it's a transition year, there's a lot going on!". I'm gathering info on what people want to see improved and will make actionable changes wherever I can. I take this TD role very seriously, and I'll be there ready to hear any and all feedback in person as well. Please, if anyone wants to talk about anything, don't hesitate to pull me aside and tell me what you need to.

Can you just tell us how much the rake is gonna be for the opening mystery bounty tournament? Is it gonna be $60 to make it 20% out of prize pool? I haven't booked hotel yet as rates are staying low, but if it's anymore than that I might stick to the strip

Is GN offering free parking for tournament players? I saw on X they said they have free parking validation for poker players but is that just cash game players?

I can't give exact details before anything is released, but we look forward to seeing you at this event 😉

Yup! Our cashier's will validate you in the Grand

Much respect for actively posting on here, taking feedback, and answering questions. It's not something you see many TDs do. And FWIW, the Nugget is my second favorite place to play in the summer behind (of course) the WSOP. I'm usually only in town for four or five days, but I'll try to get down there for an event.

Just be aware that they parking validation does not work with valet parking. I tried last year and they will not validate that no matter how much you play cash or tournaments.

This is correct. Just garage parking

Thank you for your involvement and courteous answer to the multiple questions. But this continued delay by marketing in releasing the structures has to be as maddening for you as it is for us. Frankly it doesn't speak well for a poker room that has a history of excellent customer treatment for their tournaments

Seems like great expectations from poker community about GN series.
How many tables will be available for any given tournament during the series?

What I'm about to tell you isn't an excuse, although I know it will definitely be seen as such. The main person in marketing who publishes these things is currently on a cruise, and whoever is working in his place is obviously not near as timely in finishing requests for us. If the main person was available we would have had them out last night, even if it was 4 am.

As for customer treatment during the tournaments themselves, I wouldn't use this issue to judge that as it's totally different people involved. This exact scenario is why most TD's stay silent and don't engage with people. But I'm not most TD's. You're not going to see me go radio silent in the face of adversity. It's not fun to sit here and explain away why a timeline that I put out publicly was missed (not once, but potentially twice now). But full transparency is what you can expect from me, and I'm going to stand here and answer to it.....even though it sucks to have to do. It sucks all around. I wish I could have put them out weeks ago and everyone loves them and we generate tons of excitement for this summer. Unfortunately that isn't where we're at.

I'm sitting here hitting F5 on the page more often than anyone hoping to see it pop up as being published so I can share it here.

Unfortunately this one is out of my hands at this current point in time. And yes, it's a bit maddening.

As many as 60.

I say "as many as" because during the Bar Poker Open, we'll have a couple of tables out of play because their stage for the livestream will take up that space.

We also are having talks to remove the tables that historically have sat in the center of the aisle where most foot traffic occurs when they are not planned to be in use. This has been a major pain point in the past, and if we know we're not going to be using them, why not get them the heck out of the way?!?!

So on any given night you can expect to see a minimum of 54 tables ready to go, with our busier nights adding a handful more to the count.

Looking forward to it!

Lovely.

And I am fine with this taking it's time. I am very happy you are answering questions, open for feedback and it seems like you really want to give a fantastic customer service. Love it!

One question on the document just released, what does this mean on page 18 and 19 ((Omaha Hi/Lo and Hi)?

"Table will play 8 handed. Games will change every 8 hands"

(8 handed I know, but the last part... unfortunate copy&paste?) 😀

Big Jay, for the $300 mystery bounty event, what’s the lowest bounty one can get?