Where to Join the Poker Crowd

In addition to stud poker, the Aviation Club offers a number of unusual variants to spice things up, like Aviation and Courchevel, giving the feel of a home game in a museum-quality setting. The club offers baccarat, backgammon, Parisian-style blackjack and rami, a French version of Tarot. Still, poker is the main draw, so be prepared to plunk down some money to play if you want to swim with the big fish -- buy-ins run as high as 5,000 euros ($6,090) for a pot-limit game and 8,000 euros ($9,745) for a limit game. Those with smaller budgets can buy-in for as little as 50 euros ($61).

And while the Aviation Club lacks a hotel, the club is more than willing to help customers with a discounted rate at one of more than a dozen nearby places, whose prices range from 63 euros ($76.75) to 350 euros ($426) a night. To top off the opulent experience, be sure to make a reservation at the Aviation Club's gourmet restaurant as well, where head chef Serge Langevin begins serving four-course meals at 7:30 p.m.

Pack your fineries, take your passport and brush up on your French -- at the Aviation Club, instead of the word "call" you'll often hear "suivi."

"It's just got a completely different feel than any other place," said Negreanu. "For us, poker rooms are no longer smoky; no longer have that connection to the past. In Paris, everyone is well-dressed at the casino. It has a real European flavor -- everything is done differently there."

The House That Poker Built

Celebrities live in Hollywood. Writers live in New York City. And professional poker players live in Las Vegas.

And when the poker pros look to sharpen up their card skills, they're often ensconced at one of the Bellagio's 30 tables. Professionals flock to the Bellagio for its attention to detail and high standard of service, but even more so because the casino attracts people who are willing to lose big, if only to gamble with professionals.