Johnny Chan to Build Poker Hotels Worldwide

Poker legend Johnny Chan is partnering with Las Vegas hotelier Liko Smith to create 5th Street, "The World's First Poker Hotel." The first location will open in Los Angeles county in 2007. Other sites under development include: California, Illinois, New York, Florida and Macau.

The creative team for the hotel concept includes, Johnny Chan, Liko Smith of Rogue Hospitality and Matt Savage, Jeff Brausch and Kelly Flynn of THE DIVISION Poker. The team has been developing the concept for nearly 2 years. You may know Rogue Hospitality as the exclusive management force behind THE BLOCK "The World's First Snowboarder Hotels."

"When we first approached Johnny about our plans to create a hotel that would cater exclusively to poker in his image, he was 100% for it," said Liko Smith, President of Rogue Hospitality.

"5th Street is going to for poker players everywhere and set a new standard of service, quality, and game that you can't get online, or in any casino in the US today," he added.

Kelly Flynn, 5th Street Partner, said, "The time has come for a concept such as 5th Street to grace the felt for poker players- a hotel for poker players by poker players. It will be a home away from home, the cure for the common casino that most poker players are forced to find themselves in now."

All 5th Street hotels will offer highly designed exteriors and interiors, state of the art room amenities. Daily services will include fully licensed Poker Tournaments in the best Poker rooms on the planet. 5th Street Hotels will create a "high-roller" experience for guests from reservations to check out.

As such, plans call for rooms to include: 70-inch plasma screens, in-room safes, free wi/fi, 500 watt custom sounds systems, full service computers, fax machines and high-quality case furnishings with complimentary fine cigars and hi-def wall art of the greatest poker photographs ever taken.

Hotels planned will be full service with valet, fine dining restaurants, rooftop bars, spa and massage treatment and an exclusive full service men's salon as well as a 24-hour cafe. Poker will be the primary game at 5th Street- no slots, keno, craps or roulette.

The hotel along with its multi-million dollar poker rooms, will feature monthly celebrity poker tournaments and social events.

Johnny Chan's 1998 World Series of Poker win was immortalized in footage included in the movie Rounders. He is a legend in the Poker World. With two World Series of Poker championship titles (1987 and 1988) under his belt and impressive ownership of 10 WSOP bracelets, his career achievements far surpass what most players can only dream about.

Nicknamed the "Orient Express," Chan is the first international great Asian poker player and serves as an inspiration and role model to many. Since he broke into the game, there has been overwhelming surge of great Asian players among the professional tournament circuit today.

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