I'm planning a 'Poker Road Trip' across the US -- any thoughts? (long)

[StevieG]

[ QUOTE ]
Bring the trip all the way out to AC, coast to coast.

[/ QUOTE ]

Big problem there is the gap from MS to AC where you can't play in legal card rooms.

Why not head up north from MS, instead, hitting St Louis, Iowa, then Canterbury Park in Minnesota.

Swing back west through Deadwood then down to Colorado and back to Vegas.

[Dennisa]

On the way back, make sure you go thru Denver and play up in Blackhawk/Central City. The poker sucks there (2/5 or 5/5 limit) but its worth it just for the sceneary. You can either take I 70 back thru Denver or go up to I-80 and hit Reno/Tahoe and San Francisco on the way back.

[groton]

but Poker wise. AC and Foxwoods would be too major not to miss
Then Way back swing the midwest to vegas

[SFBAY23]

[ QUOTE ]
Good luck,

Sounds like a blast. Just to let you know, the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino has closed cardroom. That was the only public cardroom in town. Regardless, if you need a place to crash in BR though let me know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good to know about Belle. I actually just wanted to visit Baton Rouge and had not looked into poker rooms. I will definately get in touch with you soon!! Thanks!

[SFBAY23]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bring the trip all the way out to AC, coast to coast.

[/ QUOTE ] Big problem there is the gap from MS to AC where you can't play in legal card rooms. Why not head up north from MS, instead, hitting St Louis, Iowa, then Canterbury Park in Minnesota. Swing back west through Deadwood then down to Colorado and back to Vegas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting idea heading north from MS... I need to ponder a bit to see how that works in time wise... also do some research on weather conditions through those areas.

If so, it would be more convenient to stop in Deadwood, SD, as RUFFNECK suggested.

[David]

"Texas: Eagle Pass, Shreveport (this may actually be in Louisiana…on the border)
Louisiana: Shreveport, Kindler, New Orleans, Marksville, Baton Rouge"

May I suggest a more southern route through Texas and Louisiana. Come through Houston on a Thursday and stop just south of there and play in my game (2/5 NL) and go through Louisiana on I10 and stop in Lake Charles at the Isle, go to Kinder (only 30 miles off I10), and on to New Orleans and then over to Biloxi-Gulfport (Beau Rivage, Grand, etc.) and then up to Tunica. My reason for suggesting this route is Shreveport is very weak in poker, not nearly as good as Lake Charles and it is pretty far north.

[Guthrie]

Unless you're planning to play in private and/or illegal games, the only thing you'll do in Texas on a poker trip is drive, and drive, and drive.

If you're leaving in January, and planning on taking two different routes, then I'd suggest a northern route outbound and come back on a southern route, to reduce the risk of being stranded in the middle of nowhere by a major winter storm.

I'm just a couple of hours from Clovis and last I heard there was no poker there, just slot machines.

[SFBAY23]

[ QUOTE ]
Unless you're planning to play in private and/or illegal games, the only thing you'll do in Texas on a poker trip is drive, and drive, and drive.

If you're leaving in January, and planning on taking two different routes, then I'd suggest a northern route outbound and come back on a southern route, to reduce the risk of being stranded in the middle of nowhere by a major winter storm.

I'm just a couple of hours from Clovis and last I heard there was no poker there, just slot machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I was interested in stopping in Clovis just because there is this town in central california named Clovis which is close to where I grew up. Yes, random.

This link shows two poker places in particular. I have not varified yet that they are still in business. Maybe going through Dallas would be better, then that's probably around 4 hours from Shreveport in Louisiana... I'll look at the map later this week and make some adjustments per everyone's comments.

[fatshark]

I have several friends who live and work at Cherokee casino, that would be a great stop. And like one previous reply, there are several Cherokee properties along with a couple others that would make OK, a good state to hit. I hear the action is amazing. I haven't made it back there but I may be able to get you a room/extreme player rated room at least.
I went to Harrahs NO, that was a nice property right on the river and of course the night life!! I wouldn't miss the big easy.
Obviously the Grand while your down there. I really don't know much about FL, but hear that there regs. on poker are getting better daily.
Don't know much about Midwest, but could give Brook Lyter an email and see if he has any info. You might know him from the WPT, he did well once and runs poker leagues back in Minnesotta/SD area. That might be lame but should you travel that way after leaving Foxxy or something it could happen.
On your return trip, if you do come through Reno/Tahoe area, I can hook you up with a room/or player rate depending on the day in Sacramento area.

[Hoss1193]

1. Texas is indeed a bit of poker wasteland as far as public poker goes, but I do have 2 suggestions:

a) Down near Corpus Christi is a casino ship (the Texas Treasure) which sails every day (twice a day) out of a beach town called Port Aransas. They have a very juicy 5-5-10-15 Limit Hold 'Em game. The player base is so isolated that they only play each other, and my perception is that they never improve. Great game. Downside is that the boat goes in and out on a set schedule and you can only gamble in international waters...so your session is limited to about 4 hours max; maybe 5 on Fri/Sat night when the boat stays out a little later. Not worth the trip in itself, but juicy enough that if you're rolling through TX on I-10 anyway, it's worth the 2 hour detour down to the coast. Pretty good (and cheap) seafood down in the area, too.

b) About 2 hours north of Houston is the Alabama-Coushatta reservation. I've never played there, but my understanding is that they have a small casino with a cardroom. Probably closer to your planned itinerary; don't know if it's even worth the detour though.

2. I recently played in Shreveport. Don't know how it stacks up against Lake Charles & New Orleans, but I can tell you that the 4/8 LHE at the Shreveport Horseshoe is uber-soft.

3. Sounds like it would be way off your planned route, but if you wanted to extend it, WA state has quite a bit of poker. I'd definitely recommend it if you're a limit player; gaming commission doesn't allow NLHE cash games up here (there's a couple of Indian casinos that have big spread-limit games though).

Btw, I recently read Hunting Fish by Jay Greenspan. Not the greatest poker book ever, but an entertaining read. Basic premise; Greenspan makes a cross-country poker trip from NYC to LA. Sounds very similar to what you're thinking; heck, even sounds like you read it and it's the inspiration for your idea. If not, though, might want to pick it up. It's a quick read and might give you some ideas, although Greenspan focused a tad more on finding private games along the way through internet contacts.