Poker News

Donna Blevins

Cherokee Casino - Tulsa. Located off I-44, Cherokee Casino & Resort, “A stay and play environment . . . is the leader of Oklahoma gaming,” according to CEO David Stewart. “We are the first resort destination, the first to offer poker, and the first to host poker tournaments in Oklahoma. All 75 of our gaming tables have automatic shufflers. We’re expanding to 100 tables within a year.” Of the 75 tables, 36 are poker tables and non-smoking. All gaming is open 24-7.

Jimmie Sims, Poker Manager: “We offer a wide selection of poker games beginning with $4-8 Texas Hold’em. On Saturday nights, you might find seven to ten high stakes games . . . No-Limit Texas Hold’em with $100, $200 or even $1,000 buy-ins . . . from $2-5 to $10-20 blinds. There are eight, big screen plasma TV’s for the sports fans.”

Within 90 minutes of the Tulsa property, two sister Cherokee Casinos offer poker . . . Roland has 12 tables, and West Siloam Springs, with 14 tables, will soon expand to 20. Two more Cherokee properties will open early 2006 - Sallisaw and Tahlequah. Check out www. CherokeeCasino.com.

Chickasaw WinStar Casino - Thackerville. Located an hour north of Dallas off I-35, WinStar is the spearhead casino for Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation and the flagship of their 16 properties. On Saturday evening just five weeks after this 15-table, non-smoking room opened, it was jampacked. By the end of the year, they expect to have 50+ tables. The room has five 42″ plasma TV’s and a wall-mounted 6′ X 6′ electronic player list. “The ole’ days of writing down players’ names on paper are gone,” said PokerManager, John Montella. Casino open 24 hours. Poker times vary.

What would you expect one mile north of the Texas border? Yep, that’s right. . . strictly Texas Hold’em at nine-player tables equipped with automatic shufflers: Limit . . . $4-8 to $20-40; and No-Limit . . . $2-5 blinds, minimum $300 to maximum $500 buy-in; $5-10 blinds, $500-$1,000.

“We expect to have one-table satellite tournaments by July,” Montella said, “for our Red River Roundup . . . look for this three-day event this fall.” Check out www.WinstarCasinos.com.

Choctaw Casinos. The Choctaw Nation, headquartered at Choctaw Durant Casino about 90 minutes northeast of Dallas, has seven casinos in Southeastern Oklahoma and poker plans for more than half of them. The Durant Site Manager, Chris Howell said, “We’ll start poker when we open our new casino in September . . . a quarter mile south of our existing location. We’ll start with 18 tables but expect to expand immediately.” Howell continued, “We expect to start poker in about six months at the Pocola Casino (with at least 20 tables) and Idabel (10-15 tables). It will probably be well into 2006 before poker arrives at the McAlester property. He was unsure whether they would open poker at Stringtown, Grant and Broken Bow. (But I’m betting they will). Check out www. ChoctawCasinos.com.

Comanche Red River Casino - Devol. Located just off I-44 on Highway 36 on the Oklahoma border near Wichita Falls, Texas, Comanche Red River Casino opened its 20-table poker room February 2005.The poker hours vary at this 24-7 casino. Poker Manager Lanny Perez tells us, “Daily we spread Limit Hold’em, $2-4 to $10-20; No-Limit Hold’em $1-2 blinds, buy-in $50-100; $2-5 blinds, $50- 200 buy-in; $5-10 blinds, $200-500; and Omaha Hi-Lo $4-8. On weekends we have at least 13 tables going.” No-Limit Hold’em tournaments are offered six days a week including a 100-player freeroll Monday mornings.

Comanche Nation has three other casinos in Southwest Oklahoma: Comanche Nation Games in Lawton, Comanche Star Casino in Walters, and Comanche Spur in Medicine Park. The Lawton property has blackjack and expects poker in the future. Check out www. ComancheRedRiverCasino.com.

Filed under: Poker News