Top Aussie Live Poker Rooms
Online poker is great fun, and we enjoy playing on many of the top real money poker sites available to Australian players. However sometimes you just want the ambience that can only come with playing at a land-based poker room. Here are 10 of the best that Australia has to offer.
1. Crown Melbourne
8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, Victoria 3006
Home to the biggest poker tournaments in Australia, the Aussie Millions and the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific, Crown Melbourne also holds regular smaller tournaments and cash games in its poker room. As well as regular weekly tournaments for all budgets, there are satellites to the larger events where you could end up playing against some of the top pros from Down Under.
2. The Star Casino
80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009
The famous poker room at the Star is home to the Sydney Poker Championships, as well as hosting regular Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) events. There are also weekly $300+30 tournaments every Wednesday, giving players the chance to earn a nice payday, as well as regular cash games.
3. Crown Perth
Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6100
Open 24 hours Thursday through Sunday (and 18 hours a day Monday through Wednesday), Crown Perth has a tournament schedule to suit everyone, from $50 freezeouts all the way up to the $4,000 ANZPT High Roller tournament which this year awarded a $120,000 first prize. Cash games run round the clock, while every last Sunday of the month sees a $330 deepstack tournament.
4. Lasseters Hotel Casino
93 Barrett Drive, Alice Springs NT 0870
For poker players in Northern Territory, there are fewer options since Darwin was taken off the ANZPT schedule, but live poker games are still easy to find at Lasseters. With Texas Hold'em and Omaha cash tables, as well as tournaments taking place all year round, poker players can find something to suit them.
5. Adelaide Casino
North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5001
The 'Poker Zone' at the Adelaide Casino (formerly Skycity Adelaide) is only open from Monday to Saturday, but that does not stop it from having a wide range of cash games and tournaments. The venue hosts frequent guaranteed prizepool tournaments, while the most recent Adelaide Poker Championships handed out more than $200,000 across its various events.
6. Jupiter's Gold Coast
Broadbeach Island, Gold Coast QLD 4218
Jupiter's is one of a handful of Queensland casinos, and it offers No Limit Texas Hold'em cash games seven days a week. Players can buy in for as little as $100, while the casino is happy to accommodate high rollers at the tables on its gaming floor. In the past it hosted the largest event of the 2012 World Professional Poker Tour (WPPT).
7. Treasury Casino
Top of the Queen Street Mall, Brisbane QLD 4000
Brisbane might not host the biggest poker tournaments in Australia, but it has some of the most diverse events in the country at Treasury Casino. Players can choose from the $90 'Super 90' and 'Bounty Hunter' tournaments, as well as the $250 Deepstack events and regular cash game tables.
8. Reef Casino
35-41 Wharf Street, Cairns QLD 4870
The only casino in Cairns isn't huge on its poker, but it has a few tables at a picturesque location not far from the Great Barrier Reef. There are also plenty of pokies, a TAB facility and a choice of several fantastic bars and restaurants.
9. Casino Canberra, 21 Binara Street, Canberra ACT 2601
Poker players heading to the capital will find weekly tournaments at Casino Canberra, with a $115 event every Thursday at 7.45pm. The casino has hosted ANZPT events in the past, with the 2011 main event generating a prize pool of more than $250,000, though the casino is not currently part of the tour's schedule.
10. Wrest Point Casino
410 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay TAS 7005
Tasmania's oldest casino is also the first casino to be established in Australia, and it celebrated its 40th birthday in 2013. The casino, near Hobart, plays host to the annual Tasmania Poker Championships, with the 2014 version boasting a $25,000 prize pool for casual players from all across the island.
