Affordable "real" holdem poker in Vancouver BC and Las Vegas [closed]

I'm going with my younger brother and some friends I haven't seen in years to Vancouver, BC (Canada) for a couple days, and Las Vegas afterwards, before we go back to Greece and Luxembourg.

One thing we really want to do is some "real" Holdem poker. The casino variant is boring, since we all play against the dealer, and not each other, and the dealer gets a free "out" with a garbage hand (people can actually show each other their cards), and it's just boring to play a gambling addict's variant of the game where smarts and strategy doesn't help.

Is there any place in Vancouver or Vegas where we can play real Holdem poker, without:

1. Having to pay $200 for the entry fee to a tournament that's no limit.
2. Have to pay $600 large blind.

We're mainly interested in the game with some money involved (willing to lose up to $500 as a group per hour), but can think of better ways to spend a $20,000.00 travel budget. It'd be a bit more "authentic" if we weren't playing with a store-bought chip set in the hotel, but I've no interest in giving away my money, and can't find any private table options without the casino raking $1000/hour for the privilege of a private table.

Thanks.