Grand Victoria in Rising Sun, IN; Trip Report

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I was happy to learn that a Cincinnati-area casino was offering poker. After eating entirely too much at Thanksgiving, I took my little brother down to the Grand Victoria so that he could enter a casino for the first time and I could play poker.

I live in Chicago and usually play at Harrahs and Trump near Gary, IN. The poker room at Grand Victoria was not quite as large - it was simply a roped off area off to the side of a room. There were probably 8 tables - 6 were full. The only games offered were 5/10 and 10/20 Hold 'Em; the sign indicated Stud was offered but it wasn't on this night. The most noticable difference from Trump and Harrahs to me was that this poker room allowed smoking, which I could do without. Also, one dealer dealt the whole time, occasionally taking breaks. Our dealer was fine (and so were the subs - although one did misread a hand, but corrected himself quickly when it was pointed out to him). If you were stuck with a bad dealer, however, I could imagine that this would kind of suck.

The game was very soft; full of terrible players. I would estimate of the 10 people maybe 4 including myself had really any idea what they were doing. At least 2 people had simply never played before, and it showed. (One person asked me if players were allowed to look at their cards more than once.) I caught a run of good cards and turned $300 into $700 - so it was all in all a good night for me.

All in all, I was pleasantly suprised with how nice it was. Everyone was very friendly. My brother, who had never been to a casino before, took $50 to the slot machines and bars and seemed to have a nice time. One drawback - you can't call ahead and get on the list. I had about an hour wait to get a seat - during this time I played blackjack and won $50, so again it was a good night for me.

All in all, given that it's the only place to play near Cincinnati, Grand Victoria is a fine poker room. I sort of liked the atmosphere a little more than Trump or Harrahs (though that could have more to do with the cards they were dealing me).

Hope this was helpful, have a happy holiday.