Poker News

The United States of Poker: Oklahoma

Oklahoma is another frontier state with a long history of gambling. It’s only recently that Indian casinos have reintroduced the concept to the state, and though the lawlessness isn’t around anymore, many casinos in the state still try to promote a frontier theme.

Around the turn of the last century, many enterprising settlers laid claim to land on the Cherokee Outlet. It wasn’t long until 110 saloons and gambling houses were open in what is now Perry.

Thanks to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, mentioned in this space previously, gambling became legal on reservations across the country. Strictly speaking, Oklahoma doesn’t have reservations; more accurately, Oklahoma is home to “39 federally recognized tribal nations,” according to travelOK.com.

It wasn’t until earlier this year, on Jan. 29, that card games became legal at Indian casinos in Oklahoma. In the months that followed, dozens of poker rooms have come into existence. By September, card games had outpaced gambling machines in revenue, $3.8 million to $697,000.

One of the largest casinos in the state that offers poker is actually a three-casino chain: the Cherokee Casino Resort, with locations in Catoosa, Roland and West Siloam Springs.

“We have 35 poker tables at our Catoosa (Tulsa) location,” says Jimmie Sims, poker room manager for the Cherokee Casino in Tulsa. “We also have poker rooms in West Siloam Springs (19 tables) and Roland (13 tables). All are non-smoking rooms and operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”

All three locations offer a variety of games, according to Sims. “We offer 7-card stud, Texas Hold’em and Omaha. Stud is $1-$5.

Limit Hold’em games are $4-$8; we occasionally spread $10- $20 and $20-$40.” Limit games aren’t the only thing offered at the Cherokee Casino. “Since the new craze is no-limit we spread a lot of no-limit Hold’em games,” says Sims. “$100 min to $200 max with $1- $2 blinds; $200 min with $2-$5 blinds; $500 min with $5-$10 blinds (sometimes spread one-half no-limit Hold’em, one-half pot limit Omaha straight high), and Omaha Hi-Lo Split $10-$20 with full kill. As you can see, we can and will spread what the market demands. “We opened January 27, 2005 and business has been very good,” he says. “Lots of tournament play. We offer daily 10 a.m. tournaments (Monday-Wednesday-Friday No-Limit Hold’em; Tuesday Omaha straight high, Thursday Crazy Pineapple). These are all $20 buy-ins with unlimited $5 rebuys the first hour. We have a Monday Night Seniors Only Tournament ($20 buy-in).

We have a Tuesday Night Sit-n-Go tournament to qualify players for the End of the Month Tournament ($230 buy-in) in which the 9 winners from the previous months play for a $100K winner-take-all Tournament of Champions. We have a Wed Night Tournament ($120 buy-in).

We have (probably the largest ongoing) Ladies-Only Tournament on Thursday nights.” The Cherokee Casino also hosts several large events, according to Sims: “A $100K guarantee sponsored by PokerHost (Oct 22) and a $5k tournament hosted by Scotty Nguyen (Nov. 5 & 6), plus he will be hosting/ playing a final table in West Siloam Springs (Oct. 29)and Roland (Oct. 30) and will be hosting and playing in Catoosa the week of Oct. 31 through Nov. 6th. In April 2006 we will host the Oklahoma Johnny Hale Open. This is going to be a $10K buy-in event with players playing for, hopefully, a one million dollar pool.”

The Buffalo Run Casino in Miami just opened their poker room in May and has already seen a flurry of activity. “We offer nolimit and limit Hold’em,” says Brandon Porter of the Buffalo Run. “No-Limit: $100 buy-in with $1-$2 blinds, $200 min, $500 max with $2-$5 blinds, and $500 min with $5-$10 blinds. Limit: $3-$6, $6-$12, and $10-$20.” Porter says the poker room also offers Omaha Hi-Lo at $4-$8 and 7-Card Stud at $1-$5 spread. According to Porter, the mix of live cash games and tournaments has changed somewhat since May.

“There are a lot of people that only play tournaments,” he says. “When we opened, we had a tournament every day. Other casinos in the area started doing the same. It was hard to find a live game in the area until late afternoon. We stopped having weekday tournaments and offered different promos geared toward live play. There are a lot of people I don’t see in the room anymore, but twice as many new faces.”

As for special events, the Buffalo Run has them in spades, no pun intended. “We recently had a 90 player tournament. $100 buy-in with $100 rebuys. We are giving away a World Series of Poker seat next month in a freeroll tournament. Players had to play so many hours of live play only during a 3 month period to be eligible for the tournament. We reward our live game players with different promos.”

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