OT: Any good card rooms on Illinois river boats?

I'm looking for some card rooms on Chicagoland river boats, as I'll be up during Christmas. Any places available? What stakes can I expect? Any info would be helpful

Thaks in advance,


whodatdare

[krimson]

You'd probably get a good response in the B&M Cardrooms forum.

I would recommend 2 casinos: Hollywood Casino in Aurora or the Trump in NW Indiana. I personally prefer Hollywood because I can ride the Metra train out to Aurora and walk 3 blocks to the casino... no traffic, no tolls, and a reasonable $5 each way ($5 roundtrip on weekends only). Hollywood also has a lunch and dinner buffet, a snack bar, and a gourmet restaurant on the property if cuisine is part of your gambling equation. The downside to Hollywood is that the number of games spread and selection isn't great. It offers only $5/$10 and $10/$20 limit games, with an occasional $20/$40 game spread. Though it has 6 or 7 poker tables, rarely will more than 4 games be going at once (2 of each $5/$10 and $10/$20). Hollywood offers a $160 buy-in NL tourney on Wednesdays, but you must arrive at the casino around 8 or 9 AM and sign up for a bracelet-style raffle to determine who gets the 60 or 70 seats into the tourney. Another downside to Hollywood is that they casino closes around 4 AM and doesn't reopen until 9:30 AM, with the poker room reopening at 10AM.

If you have access to a car and don't mind paying $6 in tolls, take the Indiana Tollway on the south side of town to the Trump Casino. Trump has more tables (approximately 17) and spreads a variety of games, ranging from as little as $3/$6 holdem up to $10/$20 holdem, as well as a $500 max buy-in NL game. Occasionally, Omaha and 7-stud are spread, but usually only on Friday and Saturday nights by request. As of last year, Trump also allowed players to call ahead, providing that they arrive at the poker room within one hour of calling, to get their name on the list. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the poker room, and the casino itself, never closes. Finally, Trump offers some form of "comp" system for its poker players, but I haven't read up on it and don't know how long you need to play or whether it'd be worthwhile for you, since you'll only be around for a short while.

Hope this has been helpful in assisting you choose which casino to visit while you're in town.

Has anyone heard anything about Empress in Joliet? My friend up there tell me its a super long wait, and not that many games spread. Just wondered if anything has changed.


whodatdare

I'm staying in Plainfield so, either one is OK by me. Just want to go where the better game is.