No idea if there's any risk of getting arrested at one of those games, but just the thought of getting detained is one of the biggest fears even for permanent residents from other western countries. I don't want to derail the thread, so just be advised that police outside of major tourist cities may not even know about the Vienna Convention. In theory, if you ask them to do so, police is required to contact your embassy immediately after they arrest you. In reality, that often only happens after you speak to an attorney and that might take some time.

This. It really depends on the objectives of your trip and how that balances with your attraction to poker.

Thank you! It is a small detour but the drive there does look awesome! I all probably go for it, how is the poker there?

Well it's not a poker trip... I am just a casual player.. I don't know any of the new poker pros or watch any tournaments regularly.

[QUOTE=saylem;52253908]Thank you! It is a small detour but the drive there does look awesome! I all probably go for it, how is the poker there?



I haven't been in several years but I have a friend that goes and says the games are soft. They get quite a bit of it going too, friday and Saturday night will usually show about 15-19 tables on Bravo

I'm not sure I trust any of the lists, but the one I just saw lists the casino in Tampa as the 7th largest in the US after the 2017 expansion.

One year I railed some of the early days of the WSOP ME and the poker scene seemed relatively dead compared to how it was in June. Perhaps having the Little One for One Drop after the Main Event improves that though. Either way, early June will be the craziest time I suspect.

OP, even if you can't make it for the WSOP you can find a similar crazy atmosphere (miniaturized) at large tournaments across the country. I'm not sure of your exact schedule but as an example Choctaw has a WPT in late July and many of the players will go there from Vegas. Winstar has a big tournament series in late August (although, games are great there outside of tournaments too). IME the last weekend of a tournament series when the main event is going on is when the most/biggest cash games are running.

FYI, there is a casino with a poker room 2.5 hours away from San Antonio in Eagle Pass, TX. I doubt you want to drive out of your way for it and I'm not recommending you do but it is an option.

In terms of places to eat in San Antonio, I'd definitely recommend Mi Tierra in the market square downtown. It is authentic Tex/Mex served in a vibrant atmosphere (unique decor, mariachis playing). If you like chicken fried steak then I'd also check out LuLu's bakery near downtown. The disclaimer being that the place looks like a ****hole, the lines can be long and the service can be really bad but the chicken fried steak is legit (14oz) and so are the 3lb cinnamon rolls. I recall Alamo Cafe being pretty good...they serve mostly Tex/Mex but also southern favorites like Chicken Fried Steak (but not huge like Lulu's).

Schilo's is a German Deli downtown near the Alamo that is quite popular. As with most tourists I suspect you will want to spend a large portion of your time on the riverwalk. There are restaurants up and down the riverwalk. Never been to this restaurant but Boudro's on the riverwalk looks real legit (higher price point than other places I've mentioned). In general I'd expect places on the riverwalk to cost more than other places.

In San Antonio I'd mostly be looking for places that serve Tex/Mex, Chicken Fried Steak, or possibly German (unless you are from Germany then you probably just want to stick to Tex/Mex and Chicken Fried Steak).

San Antonio is a cool place for tourists but not a cool place for single guys trying to pick up chicks. I'm sure there are some clubs downtown but I don't have much advice for you there. I really hope you are visiting Austin which is by far the coolest city in Texas and is only 1hr 30 minutes from San Antonio. It has one of the best bar scenes in the entire country and it's very easy to meet chicks. I suspect the bar scene will be a bit more popping starting in late August given that all of the 50,000 University of Texas students will be in town but it's going to be poppin regardless.

Hi

I am sure this question has been asked many times already but I couldnt find it.
Where is the most convenient hotel to stay at to play the wsop ?

Thanks !

The WSOP takes place at the RIO so the most convenient hotel is the RIO. Gold Coast is right next door and is a bit cheaper. Aside from that there is a shuttle that runs from Harrah's to the RIO so that is a good option. I heard the Bally's shuttle stopped running May 1st.

Cash games will be happening all up and down the strip. If you aren't playing WSOP tournaments then staying at any strip hotel that is close to Bellagio, ARIA, Venetian, or Wynn should be fine. Also, many of the strip casinos will have big tournaments running too.

Essentially yes. Just to add-on. The gambling laws are enforced at the County level in Texas which means not the local PD, and not the Texas Rangers and not the well known DPS -- but that very thin group in the middle, the County Sheriff and Deputies for arrest and the County Judges for the court. So that is part of the formula too. Enforcement - who is going to pay for this? b/c I'm pretty sure every County LEO is underfunded in the state and they all have priorities way higher than these measly rooms with like 8 tables charging fewer fees to customers than the equivalent at Commerce or other major commercial casinos.

You do as you please on your journey sir. The player is not the target of the laws here, its always the house (there are other threads in other forums on the technical language breakdowns). The player is only in jeopardy if they are laundering money. And that happens in legal casinos too.

I just wanted you to know there were options, that you can find on Google, if you wanted to look.

Added on to 'grey games' above.

On eating -- I like Alamo Cafe (DC mentioned this also). It has a lot of local/regional flavorites and an eclectic menu. I would eat at the one on I-10 just because it is right next to the massive USAA campus. This just gives you a small glimpse at the largest employer in the region (a mutual insurance company for auto/home/life)
In addition, some other local goodies I like -- Blanco BBQ near Blanco & Wurzbach. This is the kind of BBQ I like.
Dough Forever Pizzeria - a nice pizzeria and general Italian place. Great pizza variety, and absolute world-class hand made burrata. Blanco & 410

DC mentioned several Tex-Mex and Italian restaurants on the riverwalk downtown around the Alamo. I don't know of any bad ones to avoid.
Interesting cultural bit: (in general) Americans like to eat out Tex-Mex; Mexicans like to eat out Italian. So you see those two restaurant types all over the area.

I was old and married with children before I moved to San Antonio so I don't know anything about meeting women here, sorry I can't help with that.

Not always an accurate statement...county sheriff is often involved because the property is outside of city limits. Houston and Austin have seen MANY eight-liner/gameroom busts done by local PD. Gambling is a misdemeanor and may well be handled by the County Attorney, but even that is not a given since some of the 254 Counties use the DA's office to handle misdemeanor cases, leaving the County Attorney to deal with administrative matters of the jurisdiction.

There was also a limited amount of Ranger involvement in a client's case but the State was going after her for money laundering instead of the gambling offense. This was how the prosecution came to be had in a County OTHER than where her gameroom was set up.

There simply are not that many cardroom busts to offer by comparison since the money is nowhere near the level found in the gamerooms with the eight-liners...

And now that we have digressed, I would bring it back full circle for the OP to suggest that the risk of problems as a foreign national playing cards in Texas are apt to be next to nil. But I can understand if they did not want to assume even that minimal level of risk...

If gambling is illegal in a state, then a player can be arrested for gambling. It's highly unlikely, but it has happened. You might want to reconsider giving legal advice lol. Have a good day tho

Dream Crusher answered pretty clearly, I'll just add that anywhere on the strip is pretty convenient to the Rio- depending on how you define convenience. Nothing is more than a 10 minute or so drive away, but if you define convenience as walking distance, you're pretty limited to Rio, Gold Coast and Palms.

Maps can help too.

Aside from all the weather related warnings.... I'm curious what country you are from because, well, let's put it this way.... if I was from a country that say, gets lots of sun.... driving solo through the south/texas in a rental car.... maybe with lots of cash on hand.....

To translate this into English, Monty is asking if you are black because the cops in Texas/the South (and other places, too; not just the South) are racist AF, and he's suggesting you and your cash may raise suspicions and get you in trouble.

His concerns aren't unfounded but perhaps are a bit overdramatized ITT.

It's funny that someone from one of the most racist cities in the US would bring up race as a major concern when driving through Texas when Texas is far more diverse than Massachusetts. Massachusetts is 75% non-hispanic white, compared to Texas which is only 45% non-hispanic white. 29% of Texas's population speaks Spanish as the primary language. I have had friends from all over the world who have resided in Texas and none have ever had an issue.

By that reasoning, racism wouldn't be a problem in Mississippi (second highest percentage of African Americans behind Washington D.C.) and Apartheid in South Africa was probably pretty chill since >80% of the population are black and less than 10% are white.

Now, now, this is also stupid bull****. I was the original person who above you noted that racism is not just a concern in the South, but equating "diversity of the population" with "less chance you'll be profiled and/or assaulted by police" is stupid.

I am a Texas lawyer and can assure you that Texas and her cops DO pose a problem for people of color. That's not to say that Boston is significantly better.

But don't ****ing fool yourself.

LOL, yeah... I'm white, from Israel.

I'm just sick of all these white born and bred elitists from places like Portland and Washington and Massachusetts who sit on their high horse in their white society talking about how wonderful they are and how racist we are. You should come to West Dino and see how it really is in Tejas guerro.

Until then Sshh..

You forgot to mention that you have a black friend.

I don't have any friends. I do rock a big afro though.

If you go to Cherokee I would recommend going on a Fri/Sat. The weekdays are terrible unless there is an poker event. Cherokee will be hosting a WSOP event, Global Casino Championship starting Aug 2, I believe. Anytime there is an event in Cherokee, it is definitely worth going to!!

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Hey everyone, how racist is Texas during the WSOP?

FWIW, and I have been to most of this, stay out of Texas and everything east of Texas. Concentrate on the west, mostly Vegas, LA, the Bay area, Phoenix (Talking Stick) and San Diego.

The redwood forests on the coast of California are worth the visit.