Sure. You can find complete listings of all the daily poker tournaments in Las Vegas right here on this site. Just click on the "Tournaments" link under "Gambling Info" on our home page and that takes you to a page where you can search for all tournament types, including poker. Select "Las Vegas" and "Mini" and it'll bring up a list of all the current tournaments offered at every poker room in town, which we update regularly (they're all subject to regular change, so still call ahead to the poker room before you make a special trek somewhere, just in case).
You'll see that the cost to enter one of these poker tournaments is usually listed as something like "20+5." This means that it costs a total of $25 to enter, with $20 going into the prize pool and $5 taken out by the casino for expenses or profit. This take-out necessitates an equity consideration: If $5 of every $25 paid in by participants is taken out of the prize pool, that means that only 80% ($20 divided by $25) is given back. Given this structure and assuming you're a player of average skill, over time you'll lose 20% of all the money you invest to play. Put into context by a comparison with house advantages in other gambling games, you can see that this isn't a great deal.
So why do people play? First, many don't understand what they're facing with this take-out. Second, the dollar amount subject to the equity disadvantage is usually low —- the $5 in this example. Third and most common, many players simply believe that they're good enough to overcome the "underlay." Some are. But a good way to view these tournaments is to assume that you aren't, then seek out those where you give up the smallest percentage.
We also have a function where players can comment on the tournaments they've played -- if you see a "Yes" next to one you're interested in, it means someone else has already played it and related his or her experience, good or bad, of the tournament, the room, the staff, etc. Check it out and when you play somewhere, remember to revisit our site and let everyone know how it was.
