Here in Harris County, we know a thing or two about cards. We’ve three of the best poker rooms in the state running along Katy Freeway at Empire Poker Club, 101 Poker Club and Ace City Poker Club. But if we’re stretching our legs a little, there’s plenty of poker across the country that can make for an evening’s entertainment alongside a business or pleasure trip. It’s an essential part of the American landscape.
While some states don’t have legal cards, others have gone all in. We’ll look at locations which don’t require you to be a member of a club before playing, in order that if you do find yourself in these necks of the woods, it’s just a case of taking your seat.
Las Vegas
Sometimes the best choice is the most obvious one. There are nineteen poker rooms to pick from in Vegas, so where and how you want to play is entirely up to you. Resorts World is the new kid in town, opened in June 2021, with a reputed build cost of $4.3bn. The Hilton property features three separate hotels in its confines, you can book your space at the card table with an app, and a 30-table room runs two tournaments daily. If you’d rather go low-key with the locals, the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas is a longstanding legend. The $1/$2 cash game is somewhat sedate by Strip standards and conveniently located for Fremont Street attractions.
Los Angeles
From Sin City to the City of Angels, it feels like L.A.’s poker scene plays its cards close to its chest. It doesn’t get the publicity of its nearish, noisier neighbor, but Los Angeles poker rooms are some of the best in the West. The L.A. metro area has the two biggest card rooms on the planet at Bicycle Casino (aka “The Bike”) in Bell Gardens and The Gardens Casino in Gardena. Both are within a half hour of LAX should your luck be good in L.A. traffic (which is way harder to get a read on than opponents at the poker table). Bicycle Casino is a seven-story complex with a 100,000 square foot card room, and you can get a look before you go in – they live stream tournaments daily on their ‘Live At The Bike’ YouTube channel. Do check ahead before you book a cab – they’re reportedly about to undergo some renovations.
Miami
Like most things in Miami, poker can be a little chaotic. While there are tribal casinos a little north of the city at Hard Rock in Hollywood and on the eastern tip of the Everglades at Miccosukee, cards in the city itself are subject to some local by-laws. You can play at sporting venues – so the Hialeah Park racetrack and the Jai-Alai courts at Magic City Casino host games a card’s throw away from each other on either side of the airport. South Florida’s a fairly transient place, and the card room culture reflects that – cash games are king, with only Casino @ Dania Beach going all in on tournament play. Miami is also very much focused on Texas Hold’em, so if you play different styles of poker, such as Omaha, then the aforementioned tribal cardrooms might be your perfect pairing.
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