subject: Casinos and Poker Rooms [print this page] At one time, the only place where folks could legally gamble in the United States was in Nevada. Then Atlantic City legalized gambling in an attempt to rebuild itself as a tourist destination once again. Then came the loosening of the gambling rules and the expansion by the various Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized tribes.
Nowadays, casinos are all over. Some are located on reservations, others on land owned by specific tribes. Some are located on "riverboats" anchored along the Ohio River, Mississippi River or Missouri River. Some have a full complement of "casino games and slot machines" others just a sub set.
Most all of the various casinos do have Poker Rooms for the people who want to play their cards face-to-face. No longer is the image of the Poker player the table in the back room of the pool hall with smoke swirling around and a single bright fluorescent light over the table trying to cut through the smoke. It's no longer Amarillo Slim or Doyle Brunson as the face of Poker. Now it's Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Phil Ivey. It's the baseball cap and shades over the cowboy hat (though Chris Ferguson and a few others still wear their cowboy hats).
Different casinos operate under different state rules. Some states, such as New York, do not allow "Vegas" style slot machines. One work around is a pseudo slot machine tied to bingo somehow. New York does allow video poker games though. Connecticut does allow the "Vegas" style slot machines and the state gets a standing cut of the slot revenues.
But no matter what other games are allowed at the various casinos, poker is almost universally allowed. The casino Poker Rooms seem to be busy most of the time and often have waiting lists for sign up for games. Especially for Texas Hold Em. Hold Em has become the game, thanks to the explosion of televised poker tournaments. The tournaments may be at the Foxwoods or Mohegan Suns casinos in Connecticut or they may broadcast from the Turning Stone in upstate New York. Florida has recently passed a law that will allow the big money tournaments to be held at the Seminole Hard Rock casinos now.
Some nights on television, folks can surf the channels and come across three or four different tournaments being broadcast. ESPN has broadcast the last few "World Series Of Poker" tournaments and the last two years has separated the "final table" from the rest of the tournament, taking a four or five month break after the final table has been set before play resumes.
Poker is out of the back rooms and into the front rooms so shuffle up and deal.
