When is the latest I can book hotels for the WSOP before they get filled up? I'm planning on going in the first week of June. Do the nicer hotels like bellagio, venetian, wynn, get filled earlier than the others?

day of. it's not a busy time of year.

The latest would be shortly after you plane lands at McCarran airport.

I think you are overestimating the draw that the WSOP is for Vegas. It's pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things, it's not like it's some convention that draws 100,000 people to town. I'm not even sure the Rio gets filled.

Book when you land, play your event and bust, and book after you bust.

Uusally 2 months before are some of the better advance booking rates, but with the economy, I wouldnt worry.

This past year there were rooms avail. at the Rio when I arrived 3 days pre-ME, FWIW.

You do realize that there are 115,000 hotel rooms in Vegas right? And when the WSOP is in town, the main event doesn't get even 7% of that number. Rooms are easy as hell to get, it's not busy in Vegas and the WSOP is NOT a big event to anyone but a poker player.

So when is high season in Vegas and what are the bigger events that do fill it or close to.

Certainly no reason to panic at the moment, although the Rio is currently showing some extremely low rates for the Main Event week, whereas the MGM has unbelievably high "rack rates" just now.

High season runs from Jan 1 through Dec 31. You can expect the town to be full (or close enough to where you can't see the difference) on just about any weekend, with particular emphasis on holiday weekends and Super Bowl.

People will say it's deader in August and December which it is, but if you're there on a weekend in those months the difference will only be visible to someone who goes to Vegas a lot.

Really? I had the feeling June/July were noticeable more crowded than November. And in November the first (Halloween) and third (Paquiao vs. Cotto) weekends looked way busier than the second weekend, but I could be wrong there and people just went more crazy because of those two events.

I want to stay on the strip, preferably venetian, bellagio, wynn, or aria, and want to get reasonable rates before the prices skyrocket. I'm planning on going in early June.

the point others itt are making is that prices wont skyrocket. If anything, booking early will get you a higher rate. The bellagio, aria and wynn aren't packed with WSOP players during the world series for the simple reason that there arent enough wsop players to pack them, or even make a significant dent in their number of vacant rooms.

On the strip, just book a couple of weeks in advance. Even this isnt necessary though. As has been noted elsewhere, hotel prices at wsop time of year are low, and especially with the new hotels that have gone up, they will be nowhere near capacity. If you book the day you get into town youre not apt to pay significantly more. If you book now, or really any time before mid may, expect to pay more not less.

the notable exception to this has been the rio and GC the past couple of years. Rates have spiked in these two hotels during and immediately before the world series.

Also notable, this is not true if youre looking for something like a rental house or condo. If this is the casem, you should be starting your search sometime in the next month imo.

I would suggest booking well in advance through the hotel directly. A couple months prior, use the travel sites and the hotel rate calendars and find the deal you like best. Book it directly through the hotel's web site. Then check again about a month before your trip, and if rates have come down, cancel and rebook. Then check again about two weeks before your trip, and again a few days before your trip.

This way you lock in the rates and are protected against them going up. But if they come down, you can take advantage of them.