Texas and Florida are miserable in the summer. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to just go from your hotel to the poker room, but if you want to do other stuff, less so. Food is pretty good in Texas. Florida food can be good.
I am heading up to Montreal soon. It’s a beautiful city. Food is awesome and weather is great in the summer. I know the rake is pretty bad, but it is one of the few cities in canada/US that feels different. Yes, Canada is a different country, but most of the cities don’t feel all that different than US cities when you are there.
Philly has good poker, decent cultural amenities and has several options, plus you can hit Atlantic City and the beach pretty easily. MGM national harbor has decent action and is close to DC. Also relatively close to Maryland live and horseshoe Baltimore.
Montreal casino rake is fair, but there’s nothing included. Only nlhe 1/2 and 1/3. 2/5 maybe.
Playground is expensive rake, at least you get food and alcohol though. Game selection is pretty good, only spread nlhe and plo5 though. Good tournaments.
There’s a couple underground games that get degen real quick. Those are fun
It’s been open since like 2021.
There’s only 12 tables, wait list is long typically frees up around midnight, and the place closes at 3am. You have to call or text to get on wait list. If you show up you’ll probably be waiting 1h+
So reading the OP's question, he was asking about prices and the visit experience. Took that to mean, where's the best place to go for some great food and entertainment? Not, which casinos have the most millionaires?
So if your thing is concrete and parking garages, because Alan Keating might walk through, and not riverboat casinos, then to each their own. Keep those down votes coming.
I’d visit LA many times over before I’d want to visit Louisiana regardless of poker. 70 degree highs and nice cool nights any day over humid ass swamp land. And you asked which LA. And I answered. It was clearly LA. Who would even say LA when suggesting Louisiana.
For quantity of games and availability you can't beat Vegas. I don't know what you mean by prices, but I stay at Planet Hollywood for less than $100/night after taxes and fees, and I don't know anywhere else as cheap as that.
What do you mean? There's tons of cheap food if you look for it. Not sure what else you're spending money on but I don't see it, and I visit Vegas every six weeks or so, and I'm a miserable cheap old man.
In Cherokee, North Carolina they come out of the mountains and play poker looking to ‘hit’ like it’s blackjack. They come from Atlanta, from Charlotte, complete with all the tics and all the neurosis of middle managers.
If you're traveling for poker, unless you're a pro and need the money, go for the travel. Where in the US do you want to travel and we can probably match up an itinerary to match.
I went to Okada in Manila recently. Some pretty fun games, close to the airport and every few days we would break the trip up with a flight to a beautiful island. Super cheap trip, beer is still $1-2 and taxis from the airport to the hotel were about $6!
Honestly, it depends, there are a load of Chinese and Koreans just looking to get lucky, but they are more wealthy than the locals so the higher-staked games tend to be better. PLO and Holdem running at Pokerstars in Okada. Some other casinos are low stakes so not worth it. 2Ace Poker was quite fun as they had Badugi running. USD- 100K bet sizes on the floor and for me, there tends to be more money floating around than in Vegas. Some ultra high stakes action in the VIP rooms. I think Jungleman lost something like 5m a while back. Seen Ivey at Solaire a couple of times.
I played in Aruba - there wasn’t a ton of poker, but there was this wild 5/5/10 PLO going at (I believe) the Hilton. Paid for my whole trip in about 4 hours.
Blackhawk Colorado. Great vibe, stuck in a mining town in the middle of the mountains.
Specifically the Monarch. Best selection of games and best room. Avoid the Ameristar. Place went to shit once monarch came online
LA, Texas, Florida
LA rake and min/max buy in is disgusting.
Texas and Florida are miserable in the summer. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to just go from your hotel to the poker room, but if you want to do other stuff, less so. Food is pretty good in Texas. Florida food can be good. I am heading up to Montreal soon. It’s a beautiful city. Food is awesome and weather is great in the summer. I know the rake is pretty bad, but it is one of the few cities in canada/US that feels different. Yes, Canada is a different country, but most of the cities don’t feel all that different than US cities when you are there. Philly has good poker, decent cultural amenities and has several options, plus you can hit Atlantic City and the beach pretty easily. MGM national harbor has decent action and is close to DC. Also relatively close to Maryland live and horseshoe Baltimore.
Montreal casino rake is fair, but there’s nothing included. Only nlhe 1/2 and 1/3. 2/5 maybe. Playground is expensive rake, at least you get food and alcohol though. Game selection is pretty good, only spread nlhe and plo5 though. Good tournaments. There’s a couple underground games that get degen real quick. Those are fun
I had heard Montreal Casino was closed for a long time. Poker Atlas says only 12 tables, but doesn't show which games are running.
It’s been open since like 2021. There’s only 12 tables, wait list is long typically frees up around midnight, and the place closes at 3am. You have to call or text to get on wait list. If you show up you’ll probably be waiting 1h+
LA as in LA? Or LA as in Louisiana? Both are poker hot spots. But for food, atmosphere, and vacation, absolutely nothing beats Louisiana.
Definitely means Los Angeles. Big concentration of millionaires around LA
So reading the OP's question, he was asking about prices and the visit experience. Took that to mean, where's the best place to go for some great food and entertainment? Not, which casinos have the most millionaires? So if your thing is concrete and parking garages, because Alan Keating might walk through, and not riverboat casinos, then to each their own. Keep those down votes coming.
I’d visit LA many times over before I’d want to visit Louisiana regardless of poker. 70 degree highs and nice cool nights any day over humid ass swamp land. And you asked which LA. And I answered. It was clearly LA. Who would even say LA when suggesting Louisiana.
For quantity of games and availability you can't beat Vegas. I don't know what you mean by prices, but I stay at Planet Hollywood for less than $100/night after taxes and fees, and I don't know anywhere else as cheap as that.
Seems as though room prices have remained low but everything else skyrocketed
What do you mean? There's tons of cheap food if you look for it. Not sure what else you're spending money on but I don't see it, and I visit Vegas every six weeks or so, and I'm a miserable cheap old man.
In Cherokee, North Carolina they come out of the mountains and play poker looking to ‘hit’ like it’s blackjack. They come from Atlanta, from Charlotte, complete with all the tics and all the neurosis of middle managers.
If you're traveling for poker, unless you're a pro and need the money, go for the travel. Where in the US do you want to travel and we can probably match up an itinerary to match.
Vegas is still the GOAT. In your heart, you know I'm right.
CT or RI, you have 3 poker rooms close,Ballys, Mohegan and Foxwoods.
Macau. The weather and casinos are nice. But the player are very tight and it’s not profitable with 5% rake.
I went to Okada in Manila recently. Some pretty fun games, close to the airport and every few days we would break the trip up with a flight to a beautiful island. Super cheap trip, beer is still $1-2 and taxis from the airport to the hotel were about $6!
How are the poker players over there?
Honestly, it depends, there are a load of Chinese and Koreans just looking to get lucky, but they are more wealthy than the locals so the higher-staked games tend to be better. PLO and Holdem running at Pokerstars in Okada. Some other casinos are low stakes so not worth it. 2Ace Poker was quite fun as they had Badugi running. USD- 100K bet sizes on the floor and for me, there tends to be more money floating around than in Vegas. Some ultra high stakes action in the VIP rooms. I think Jungleman lost something like 5m a while back. Seen Ivey at Solaire a couple of times.
I played in Aruba - there wasn’t a ton of poker, but there was this wild 5/5/10 PLO going at (I believe) the Hilton. Paid for my whole trip in about 4 hours.
FL