Bodog Beat

The Second-Annual Binion's Poker Classic gets underway today in Las Vegas. (Image Courtesy binions.com)

Binion's used to be the absolute center of the poker world back when poker wasn't the international phenomenon that it is now, the Binion family actually ran Binion's Horseshoe, as it was called back then, and the World Series of Poker was held there every year all the way through 2005. Nowadays, the WSOP is a multi-million dollar operation hosted at the Rio and Binion's is left scrambling to grab some of the summer poker attention focused on Las Vegas.

To that effort, last year Binion's introduced the Binion's Poker Classic, a summer poker tournament series designed to attract players who don't have quite the bankroll to play the WSOP. Unfortunately, they are also now competing in this space with the Venetian Deep Stack, The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget, the 2008 Orleans Poker Classic and, to some extent, the Bellagio Cup and it's WPT championship event. Needless to say, the summer poker schedule in Las Vegas is packed, but Binion's distinguishes itself with history and the Poker Hall of Fame, giving players the chance to toss some cards under the watchful gaze of some of poker's greatest legends.

Now in its second year, the Binion's Poker Classic gets underway today with the $100 Casino Employees tournament and wraps up on July 7 when the $2,000 Championship Event kicks off. During this five-week span there will be 43 events covering a multitude of buy-ins and versions of poker. Satellites will be running regularly at Binion's for the larger buy-in events.

For more information, visit http://www.binions.com. However, don't forget that there are still plenty of opportunities to qualify online for the 2008 WSOP through Bodog Poker and the chance to play in THE biggest poker tournament in the world.