Harrah's Winning Hand

"The poker room at Caesars is extremely competitive with Bellagio," says Strow, the Harrah's spokesman. "Obviously word of mouth needs to build up."

Bellagio's poker room draw has been helped by the fact that it's the clear favorite of the pros. It plays host to the Big Game, the biggest regular high-stakes cash poker game in town, where pros such as Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu trade hundreds of thousands of dollars on any given night.

Wynn was able to build up its poker room when it opened last year by hiring Negreanu as the casino's poker ambassador, but Negreanu ended up leaving the gig so he could play elsewhere, especially in the Big Game.

Strow says Caesars has not hired a poker ambassador but does have an advisory council of poker professionals, such as pro Howard Lederer, who provide input but are not held under exclusive agreements.

Of course, even if Harrah's poker rooms aren't the biggest draws in Vegas, it might not matter. The Rio and the flagship Harrah's property are the most efficient of all Strip casinos because of the company's stellar marketing program, Jacob says.

One of the metrics Majestic Research tracks is a property's share of market game usage divided by the property's share of market gaming positions. For the entire Las Vegas market, the metric has to equal 100%.