Venetian’s Real Deal Poker Show Cancelled
- Comments: (1)
- Published January 31st, 2009 in Poker
The show "The Real Deal" seems to have disappeared from site with little to no mention of its demise. Its website no longer exists and there has been no official mention of the shows closure anywhere on the Venetian’s website. But, thanks to a recent blog entry by poker legend Doyle Brunson has finally shed some light on the fact that the poker stage show has officially closed its run in Las Vegas. Its final show took place at The Venetian on December 19, 2008 and in its place, the casino is debuting comedian, David Spade.
The Real Deal kicked off its short run at The Venetian on October 21, 2008. The premise of the show was to pit two rotating poker celebrities against audience members who would use handheld devices. A sellout crowd of 750 people attended the opening night which featured Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth, both of whom are amongst the most recognized faces in the poker industry. Though people crowded to the show to see Negreanu and Hellmuth, the biggest lure was the chance to win $1 million offered by the show.
Before The Real Deal’s sudden closure, some of the poker players who were slated to participate on the show were Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Gavin Smith, Eli Elezra, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Jennifer Harmon, Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, Todd Brunson and Scotty Nguyen. The fact that most of poker’s elite poker players call Las Vegas home allowed show organizers easy access to the top players.
Due to the fact that the show ended with very little notice or comment, there is much speculation as to the exact reason why it closed. The most likely culprit is the downturn in the Las Vegas economy. Revenue from Las Vegas Strip casinos including The Venetian, plummeted by 16.02% in November 2008 in comparison to November 2007 according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
- Posted in: Poker
- Comments: 1
I attended a show in November and it was a blast! I was fortunate enough to get to watch Doyle Brunson, and Antonio Esfandiari play. I thought the concept was great and I liked the fact that the entire audience was included in the show(I placed 2nd), even if you were not picked to go up on stage and play. It was to my disappointment to find out that the show was cancelled, when after 12 weeks I still had not received my prize. I called the Venetian and was informed that the show no longer existed, and instead of getting the $250.00 GPS system, I would be receiving a $50.00 Ipod shuffle….all I can say is even though I enjoyed the show…what a rip off!!!!