Poker News

Cherokee Casino & Resort

Located off I-44 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Cherokee Casino& Resort is truly a stay and play environment. The 24-hour Casino offers 80,000 square feet of gaming. The Resort features 150 rooms with a wide selection of suites and accommodation packages for romantic getaways, birthdays or golf outings. Both the Casino and Resort are decorated in the historical and cultural styling from the Cherokee tribe and art deco effects reminiscent of historic downtown Tulsa in the 1920’s.

The property is divided into three separate gaming, dining and entertainment sections. The central section, where you can have a Margarita or dine, play poker, blackjack, and machines, is smoke free. If you prefer to smoke, the other two sections offer blackjack, machines, cocktails, entertainment and dining.

On the second floor over the Casino, you’ll find 7,500 square feet of versatile meeting facility. Besides accommodating intimate receptions as well as full-scaled sit-down events, this space will easily convert to host major poker tournaments, seminars or meetings.

David Stewart, CEO, “We like to consider ourselves a leader of Oklahoma gaming . . . the first resort destination, the first to offer poker, and the first to host poker tournaments in Oklahoma. Right now, there are 75 gaming tables throughout the casino. We’re expanding to 100 within a year.”

Of the 75 gaming tables, 36 are for poker. The others are predominantly Blackjack, with a few for Mini Baccarat, Pai Gow and 3-card Poker. All gaming tables are equipped with state-of-the-art, automatic shuffling machines.

When asked about how the casino was doing, Stewart replied, “We are trying to be the best cardroom in the Midwest. High on our list of priorities are training and quality service.

We have a lot of action. People fly in for the weekend to play! When you fly into Tulsa International Airport, we will pick you up in a limo!”

When asked what makes the casino so appealing, Stewart responded, “We have well trained dealers . . . a great environment . . . a nice hotel . . . lots of food . . . entertainment . . . an 18-hole golf course out our back door . . . private games . . .”

Private games?

Stewart: “We host VIP games for people in our Blue Room where we have a poker table and three Blackjack tables. It is private, appointed with chandeliers, and we provide complete service. It is secluded . . . an inner-sanctum.”

Regardless of your bankroll, Stewart stressed, “We are unique in that we are going to treat people like royalty when they come in.”

As an example, Cherokee gives away big prizes. A recent giveaway was a BMW C4. For every hour you are in a game, you quality for a drawing ticket for a major prize - just because you are playing. The next giveaway is a Lexus SUV, with a Hummer on the upcoming schedule.

The Vice President for Gaming Operations, Steve Loyd, went on to say, “Even though we have 30 poker tables on the main floor, it is very spacious. There is plenty of room around the tables. We also have the best quality chairs. I call them seven-day chairs!”

There is food available just outside the poker room, or for those who prefer, food will be brought to your table. In addition to the main floor, there are two other areas for poker: a five-table high limit or tournament area plus the VIP table in the Blue Room.

The poker manager, Jimmie Sims: “We have a good selection of poker games during the week, beginning with $4-8 Texas Hold’em. On a Saturday night, we often have seven to ten high stakesgames . . . No-Limit Texas Hold’em with $100, $200 or even $1,000 buy ins . . . from $2-5 to $10-20 blinds. For the sports fans we have eight, big screen plasma TV’s.”

Sims went on, “In April, we just started weekday low buy in tournaments. Tuesday evening is Girls Night Out . . . we offer a special tournament just for the women. An hour before the tournament starts, we have a new player training session.”

On the last Tuesday of the month, there is a $230 tournament with one optional $100 re-buy. The Winner goes to a year-end Tournament of Champions, which will be a nine-person tournament . . . winnertake- all. All the re-buys from the month-end tournament go to the end-of-theyear tournament first prize . . . expected to exceed $100,000.

Through a series of six qualifying tournaments, Cherokee Casino will send one player to the World Series of Poker. That player will also have airfare and lodging paid by the Casino.

An interesting feature of the Cherokee Casino players club is the Cherokee Casino Magazine, the official gaming and entertainment guide for the casino and resort. It is mailed free of charge to more than 100,000 members quarterly. The magazine offers information on casino promotions, lodging and dining specials, an entertainment calendar, valuable coupons plus what’s swinging at the Cherokee Hills Golf Club.

Within 90 minutes of the Tulsa property, two sister Cherokee Casinos offer live poker. They are located in Roland with 12 tables (800-256-2338), and West Siloam Springs with 14 tables, projected to shortly go to 20 (800-754-4111). Two more Cherokee properties will open at the beginning of 2006 - Sallisaw, 90 minutes from Tulsa and Tahlequah, an hour’s drive. To learn more about the Cherokee Casino & Resort, call 800-760-6700 or visit www.cherokeecasino.com.

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