Custom Poker Tables » city

Poker City Spotlight: San Jose, California

knup — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:32:13 +0000

San Jose is the third largest city in the state of California, and the tenth largest in the country. As of 2008 just over 948,000 people called San Jose home. Located near the south edge of the San Francisco Bay area, San Jose was once known for it’s farming. Founded back in 1777, the city was the first town in a Spanish colony. Currently, San Jose has one of the highest costs of living in the country. The city has over 35% of all the venture capital funds in the United States. With those reasons, and others, the city is experiencing a boom in citizens enjoying the game of poker.

Popular Casinos

Although lumped in with other bay cities such as San Francisco and Oakland, San Jose boasts several top notch casinos. These casinos offer various levels of competition, along with varying buy-in minimums and maximum’s, along with blinds. Bay 101 in San Jose hosts a tournament each year called the Shooting Star. For this tournament, they bring in a professional poker player, and players seek to eliminate them from the tournament. Bay 101 holds regular tournaments of the $100/$200 level. They have a featured tournament daily. Garden City Casino is just seven miles down the road from Bay 101 and also has varying games. They also feature a daily tournament, with varying pay-outs.

Professional Players

Humberto Brenes lives in San Jose, and has been a regular in the game of poker since 1994. Brenes has not been heard from much since the early 90’s, but the Shark has two WSOP bracelets. Chantel Mcnulty is not just a poker player, but also an online favorite as a “poker babe”. Possibly known better for her good looks, Mcnulty, 25 years old, has pictures all over the internet, but has also been known to compete well in poker tournaments.

Poker City Spotlight: New Orleans

knup — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:05:03 +0000

The city of New Orleans is historically known as one of the first places in the United States to have poker games played in it. Dating back to the early 1800’s, the game was originally played with just 20 cards (10 – A). Just years later, with the popularity of poker increasing, the game moved to 52 cards and added the flush and the draw. As the continued to grow even more it made its way up Mississippi River following the Civil War. With connecting flights daily and some of the best hospitality in the country – New Orleans is one of the top destinations in the United States for a quick weekend stay, and some quality poker.

Popular Casinos

Harrah’s Casino is New Orleans most popular places. Harrah’s is at the foot of Canal Street, just minutes from the Mississippi River. The Casino boasts over 2,700 slot machines, 90 table games and has a fantastic poker room.

Boomtown Casino has a poker room in which players can choose from Texas Hold’em, Omaha or Seven Card stud, as the room opens everyday at 11:00am. Seven Card Stud is played from $1- $5, while they have all sorts of different hold’em tables.

Professional Players

Paul “Eskimo” Clark is one of the best known poker players from the city of New Orleans. Clark, who served in the Vietnam War, finished in the money of the 1988 World Series of Poker. As of 2008, Clark had won over $2.6 million, including over $600,000 via the WSOP.

James Van Alstyne is a professional poker player that was born and raised in New Orleans. As of 2010, Van Alstyne has amassed over $3.4 million in earnings from professional poker. He has finished in the money 13 times via the World Series of Poker.

Poker City Spotlight: London, England

knup — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:31:57 +0000

London, England is one of the most famous cities in the world. It is a great vacation destination with many sites to see and things to do. Individuals that plan on visiting London and are interested in playing poker while in the city will find that there are lots of options. Natives of London are likely already aware of many of them. Poker games are available in card rooms, and pubs. Home games are also pretty popular.

Notable card rooms in the city include, Equal Chance, Casino At The Empire, Gala Casino at Russell Square, Loose Canon Club, The International Victoria casino, River Card Club, The Big Slick Club, Mint Casino, The Royal Surrey and Chiswick Poker Club. It is important to note that some poker clubs are private and thus will not let just anyone it.

Playing pokers at pubs is another option. The atmosphere is generally more relaxed then at a card room. Individuals can play in sit n’ go games or participate in tournaments. There are numerous pubs that offer poker. Some of which include Railway, 5B Urban Bar, Steel and Star Urban Bar, Riley’s, Firefly Bar and the Perseverance. Each of these hosts poker games with buy-ins as low as £5. They offer No Limit Hold’em and Freeze Out games.

The last option for poker players is to participate in home games. These games or tournaments will be played at different people’s homes. There are web sites, which list upcoming home games with all of the relevant details. Individuals can find out where these games are being played and are able to sign up for them. It is important to note, that while this is an available option it does pose a certain amount of risk. Going into someone’s home that one does not know really know can potentially be dangerous. There are so many card rooms and pubs which host’s poker games, that unless a person has a thing for home poker games, they really don’t ever have to consider this option.

Poker City Spotlight: Boston, Massachusetts

knup — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:56:42 +0000

There are no casinos in Boston. Subsequently, the only poker games which can be played are illegal home games and those for charity events. If you are going to Boston and are hoping to get in a few games, you will be forced to choose one of the above options and most likely either of the first two.

A couple words of advice, stay away from illegal games which are mostly hosted in homes around the city. These games have the potential to end very badly. Being thrown in jail on account of illegal poker play would be a waste of bail money, time and comfort. Home games should also be avoided, unless you are well acquainted with the host and the people that will be there. There has been a rash of poker game robberies across the country, so be careful even if you decide to participate in a home game hosted by someone you know and trust.

Many Bostonians who have the itch to play poker will drive to Foxwoods, which is located in Connecticut and is about an hour and 45 minute trip by car. Foxwood is a mega casino and well worth the trip. It is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and has been open since 1986. They have more then 6000 slot machines and nearly 400 tables for games, 100 of them are designated exclusively for poker.

Individuals within the city limits of Boston who want to play poker will find it a bit difficult to do so. Home games and charity games are about the only two options. Due to this, many Boston residents will travel to Connecticut to play poker at Foxwoods Resort and Casino.

This is a really nice casino with lots of opportunity to participate in poker games. One hundred tables in the casino are set aside for poker play. Individuals will also be able to play 16 other table games as well as slots.

Poker City Spotlight: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

knup — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:03:44 +0000

Philadelphia is a great American city. It has a great deal of historical significance to the country. Visitors have the opportunity to take in some of our country’s most notable monuments, for example the Liberty Bell. This is not only a lot of fun but can also be quite educating. Playing poker is another excellent way to enjoy the city, especially for those who like to gamble. Most of the poker games available in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are home games. This is because it wasn’t until just a few years ago (2006) that he Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board gave the OK for two casinos to be built. They are the Sugarhouse casino, owned by HSP gaining LP and Foxwoods, which is owned by Philadelphia Entertainment and Development. Neither has been completed.

Individuals who are interested in playing poker can find various web sites online that will refer them to home tournaments and games. Individuals should exercise a bit of caution because going into the home of someone unknown, as this can be dangerous and the person doings so will be assuming a big risk.

The two casinos in development, Foxwood and Sugarhouse, promise to be excellent ones. Foxwood Development Company is owned by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. They also own a casino in Connecticut which is one of the biggest in the world. It is scheduled to be built on the South Philadelphia riverfront at Columbus Blvd and Reed Street. It will contain slots and tables for other popular casino games, such as poker.

Sugarhouse Casino will be built on 20 acres in Northern Liberties. The group who owns this casino has built and operated casinos around the world. The in in Philadelphia will cost more than $400 million and there are plans to have 3000 slot machines, table games, restaurants, bars, multipurpose event areas and a 500 room hotel.

Custom Poker Tables spotlight: Detroit, Michigan

knup — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:03:58 +0000

Detroit is known as Motor City. However, with the collapse of the automobile industry this title no longer seems fitting. While the city is definitely experiencing its problems, it is still possible to get in a few good games of poker in and around Detroit. The three primary places to play poker in metropolitan Detroit are Motor City Casino, Greektown and Casino Windsor.

Greektown: Greektown was one of the first facilities to offer public poker games in Detroit. For a while, it was the only place to play poker in the city. It is still a big draw and is one of the area’s biggest public poker rooms in. Games can be played for as little as $5/$10. Tournaments start at 10 am. During the work week (Monday thru Thursday), tournaments require a $125 buy-in. That price drops during the weekend to a $65 buy-in. This discounted price is also available on Wednesday evenings for those who want to participate in a bit of mid-week gambling.

Motor City Casino: Motor City Casino is another good option for public poker play in Detroit. Though the poker room in this casino is a bit on the smaller side, some of the city’s biggest games are played here. There are routinely $300/No maximum games played here. The waits at this casino are pretty minimal, which means no waiting around for hours, which tends to be the case at Greektown. Those looking for comps should forget about it because they do not flow freely here, nor do they at Greektown.

Casino Windsor: Casino Windsor is actually across the river. It is more plush and comfortable then the aforementioned casinos. Their tournament schedule starts at 10:00 am, Monday thru Friday. Buy-ins during this time are $100. On Wednesday, this drops to only $50. The casino hosts a NLHE tournament the final Friday of each month.