Venetian Adopts Slide Dealing In Las Vegas Poker Room
The Venetian has become the first poker room on the Las Vegas Strip to fully switch to slide dealing, a technique in which cards are slid across the felt rather than pitched through the air to players.
Venetian's 50-table room made the change across the board, with players reporting the new method in use on October 14, two weeks before the room hosts one of its biggest tournaments of the year.
Why Venetian Made The Switch
Tommy LaRosa, Venetian's Director of Poker Operations, said the standard pitch method used in most U.S. poker rooms can let dealers toss cards high enough for other players or hidden cameras to catch a glimpse of a hole card as it is dealt.
Slide dealing keeps the cards moving along the table surface instead, which LaRosa said reduces the chance of cards being exposed and adds another layer of protection to the game.
He said Venetian's team had been evaluating the move since earlier this year as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen game protection, and retrained its full dealer roster on the new technique, giving staff time to practice before it was introduced on the floor, before rolling it out across every table at once rather than phasing it in gradually.
Part Of A Wider Industry Shift
South Point, a 30-table room a few miles off the Strip, had already begun training dealers on slide dealing before Venetian's move, and the change has sparked discussion among Las Vegas players about whether other casinos on the Strip should follow.
Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu said on a recent PokerNews Podcast episode that the method would make it considerably harder for cheaters to operate during a deal, a view echoed by several professional players, including Matt Berkey, who praised Venetian's decision publicly.
LaRosa said the adjustment period for both dealers and players has gone smoothly so far, with a mostly positive response from regulars at the tables, and that his broader goal for Venetian's poker room is to create an environment where players feel confident in the integrity of the game whenever they take a seat.
The change comes two weeks before Venetian hosts the $5,000 WPT Venetian Las Vegas Fall Championship starting November 5, when its poker room will be under heavier scrutiny than usual.
