What surprised us while in Las Vegas was the growth in an already saturated environment that has an abundance of poker rooms.

The 35 million people who visit Las Vegas every year have more options than ever before. 53 card rooms with almost 700 tables make Las Vegas the metropolis based on the game choices and volume of play.

Being the envy of the rest of the Strip is Caesars Palace with 62 tables, making it the biggest room in Las Vegas.

Following closely behind is the Bellagio and The Venetian with 39 tables and Binion’s with 38 tables. Binion’s began hosting the World Series of Poker in 1970 and up until 2005 it was the largest poker room in Vegas.

Further down the list we have The Orleans with 35 tables, the Mirage with 30 and Wynn with 26.

The Green Valley Ranch and the MGM have 22 tables each and with the Red Rock currently at 20 tables.

Just to give you all the facts though, the undeniable king of poker is the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. With a total of 240 cash game tables and tournament tables make this poker room the biggest in the world.

 If you are looking to gain some much needed experience before heading to a European Poker Tour or a World Poker Tour event or a even the World Series of Poker, Las Vegas is the place to be.

The Strip is the ideal location as large buy-in tournaments with relatively small fields can be the steppingstone as you play against seasonal players with long blind levels and with the chances of finishing in the money extremely high.

Coming up with a shortlist is a very difficult task, but here are four poker rooms in Las Vegas that offer some good action right through the weekend.

You can start off the weekend by heading down to the Wynn Las Vegas and the $540 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. This tournament takes place every Friday at noon and it usually averages about three tables. Players start with $5,000 in chips with blinds starting at $25/$50 and go up every 45 minutes. This tournament will give you some high level action but won’t have you playing all day.

If you are looking to spend more time at the tables The Venetian is the place to be. Already with a poker room renowned for its “deep stack” tournaments, this $550 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event usually attracts four or five tables and starts at noon every Saturday. The blinds start at $25/$50 and increase every 40 minutes but with $10,000 in starting chips expect to see a lot of action.

On Sundays, you can head towards one of the most beautiful casinos on the strip, the Mirage where a $430 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event takes place at 5pm. Players receive $4,000 in chips to start with and blind levels increase every 30 minutes.

With pros like Daniel Negreanu and Jennifer Harman playing high stakes poker at any given time, the Bellagio is definitely worth checking out. There is a $540 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament running from Sunday through Thursday and starts at 2pm.  Players receive a lower $3,000 in chip stacks and the blind intervals change every 40 minutes.

Finally if you can afford it, there is a steep $1,080 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event every Friday and Saturday. It starts at 2pm with the blinds starting at $25/$50. Players receive $5,000 in chips with blind levels increasing every 40 minutes.

The combination of new players trying their luck, rounders and the presence of poker professionals make the Bellagio Poker Room a must try.

At the end of the day, win or lose, no matter which poker room you choose to visit while in Las Vegas one thing is for sure, you are going to have the time of your life.