Midwest Gaming Journal

Wisconsin: Good Blackjack - Bad Poker

I've been traveling in Wisconsin over the past month and stopped by some of the state's biggest, and smallest casinos. Overall I found most casinos offer double-deck blackjack games that pay the critical 3:2 on a natural 21. I've also played cards at some grubby so-called card rooms. Here's a list of the best and worst for card games.

BEST BLACKJACK

1. Menominee Casino & Bingo - Keshena This game is identical to downtown Las Vegas tables with one exception: Great penetration. Up to 66%. $10 min with at least one table going at all time. Yummy.
2. Ho Chunk Casino - Baraboo $10 minimum tables on the main floor. No doubles after splits seems to be the biggest drawback. Very nice and new floor. 
3. Oneida Casino - Green Bay The double deck games are green chippers and are located in the high limit area. Sightly better than Potowatomi, only because of the penetration (55%-65%)
4. Potowatomi Bingo Casino - Milwaukee A handful of games on the main casino floor. Penetration sucks at barely over a deck. If there's more than one person sitting with you it's almost pointless.

         BEST POKER

1. Potowatomi Bingo Casino - Milwaukee The 20+ table room is brand-new. Spacious and friendly, albeit busy. Games that are spread are a little weird: No $1/$2 no-limit, just a $3/$5 no-limit $600 max. Usually the only limit games run are $2/$4 and $4/$8.
2. Menominee Casino & Bingo - Keshena A dozen of the most underused poker tables in Wisconsin. Not a bad room for the area, but cash games are lame - mostly low stakes limit games with an Omaha game on Thursday. Frequent tournaments look appealing.
3. Oneida Casino (Mason Street) - Green Bay This grubby room has a handful of tables and a friendly staff. $3/$6 limit and $1/$2 no-limit seem to run perpetually. There are a few weekly tournaments.
4. Ho Chunk Casino - Baraboo The poker room is just a section of the horse book (I think so all of the degenerate gamblers can be kept in one area). It's smoky, dingy, oddly-lit, and you have to play cards next to those damned horse-bettors. One point of note: There was a $6/$12 limit mixed game of Hold'em and Omaha Hi/Low (sometimes referred to as a HO game, but be careful how and with whom you use that terminology.)   

I was only able to sample a handful of the 27 casinos in the great state of Wisconsin. Many of the gambling joints are slots only, the ones I hit are the larger ones with tables. While none seemed overly crowded, they were far from dead.

New Poker Room Coming To Elgin

You say poker is so 2005, and that the game's popularity bubble has burst? Well, while some card rooms in Las Vegas are closing and others are cutting staff it's a different story in Illinois. Sure the numbers aren't what they once were, but most rooms are still busy - albeit not packed.

The Grand Victoria in Elgin is going to open up a small table poker room soon, according to their web site. The Grand Vic is a nice place, and sorely in need of poker. The area should support it with very few other options near by. TMGJ will post a review of it as soon as we get out there.

Aces Up in Hammond

Even though I bubbled out on a bad beat, I had a really good time playing in Event #7 at the WSOPC at the Horseshoe in Hammond. The event is being held in the Venue (the casino's main theater). I felt the event was run very well, and smoothly. The tournament directors squashed petty quibbles quickly, and the dealers were top notch. The competition was good, too.

The only local tournament of this magnitude run locally is the Heartland Poker Tour's stops at the Majestic Star, and they're worlds apart. To compare the HPT on the Gary boat to the WSOP in Hammond would like comparing watching the elephant parade at Ringling Brother's Circus to watching your uncle Melvin making his coon hound lap beer from his cavernous belly button.

Tales from the Felt

"Why do I always sit next to this guy?" I asked myself, sidling up to the $10-$20 limit table at the Hollywood casino in Aroura, IL. For a while, it didn't matter when or where I'd play poker I'd sit next to the strangest or smelliest (often both) person at the table. This time was no exception.

They guy looked 90, but was probably in his 50's or 60's. He had shoulder length dirty white hair that was matted in patches. He was wearing a filthy powder blue down jacket, and it was 85 degrees outside. He smelled of vinegar and bile.

I knew he was in worse shape than it first appeared when he picked his cards up off the table and held them centimeters from his bulging, cloudy blue eyes. 

"I can't see anything anymore, Tony." he said to the dealer as he squinted at his plain to see Jack-duce. "My eyes are blown out." He tossed his cards into the muck and continued talking to no one in particular.

"Last month I was at the Majestic Star, and I won two grand. Two grand! I was pretty pleased with myself leaving there," he laughed a little at his fortune. "When I was pulling out of there I had a stroke. Right there on the Skyway. Blew my eyes out. I can barely see. I can't drive, I can't dress myself, I bump into stuff trying to go to the bathroom. And at my age I don't always make it."

His hazy gaze turned downward as his chin sunk into his bony chest. There was a weird silence at the table, we were all contemplating our health and mortality I assumed.

Finally, the dealer spoke: "Did you win that money in a cash game or a tournament?"

A few of us laughed, but what was Tony supposed to say? Besides, we were all wondering the same thing.

"Cash game," the old, smelly, blind guy responded as he folded pocket 8's.

Tourney Time

The battle for lakeside tournament poker players has begun, and it looks like the Horseshoe has the early advantage.

At the end of the month the Horseshoe will hold the area's first World Series of Poker Circuit event. Starting tomorrow the Majestic Star will fire up their Deep Stack Challenge, running through the 26th.

The main event for at the MS conflicts with the WSOPC. Obviously, the newer Horseshoe has a huge advantage - especially with the World Series of Poker branding, but the standards for success at each poker room is different. It will be interesting to see who wins this round in the battle between the two biggest poker rooms in the Chicago area.

Don't Bet On PokerTek

PokerTekhas expanded in the Midwest. After having a dealer-less and chip-less poker room at the Four Winds Casino, the new Horseshoe has put in a pair of tables.

The electronic poker tables are located just outside the new poker room in the Horseshoe. They seem to be there as a novelty, to get passers-by interested in cards. Most poker novices are less intimidated by the e-tables because there's no chance of acting out of turn or making the wrong bet. With the reception the new poker room has gotten I'd be surprised to see the PokerTek tables expand beyond the entrance.

They may not be around that much longer, anyway. A year ago their stock prices was three times what it is today.