Greetings!

This is the kickoff for those of us in the Chicagoland area. If you live in the region, you probably have a pretty good idea of how far it extends. But for those who don't, I will say in my mind that it would run from Milwaukee in the north, to Joliet in the south, to New Buffalo in the east. If there's a great tournament, comp, or game or...whatever...running, this is the thread to give the head's up...For example, the Hammond Horseshoe is running a $1500 tourney this Sunday, and according to the venue thread there should be at least a hundred runners...

I'd also like to hear what people have to say about the current wrangling in Chicago regarding the Mayor and the Governor and opening a casino in the city itself. I would love it, given what I think would be the influx of fish from the north side/shore who can't/won't/don't think about getting down to Hammond to play, wouldn't drive to Joliet or up to Milwaukee.

I've just started playing live myself, after a "squeaking-by" kind of existence playing the micros the last few years. I'm curious to hear how many tables and what kind of games typically run here and there. Fill me in about the number of tables/games at all the places I can play...what kind of rake, what kind of comps, how are the staff, how is the floor...general venue stuff. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know!

Welcome Aboard!

hey there comet! thanks for getting this thread started. i'm in the western burbs and typically play out at hollywood in aurora due to the ease of commute (straight shot down 88). played at the shoe once, but it's kind of a god-awful drive for me. been trying to solidify a weekly/bi-weekly game (nlhe/lhe cash) but to no avail. i primarily play LHE, but dabble in NL as well. hollywood is horrendous when it comes to rake, but like i said, it's pretty much all that i have available at my disposal. last night they spread two 1/2 nl's, two 10/20 lhe's, and one 20/40 lhe. place has been unusually busy lately, which has made for alot of good action. dealers are fairly competent and the floor is usually pretty awesome w/ rulings. they have a players card now (within the past 8 months?), but i have yet to peep out my points and what they can be used for. you can finally order food in the room, but it's nothing special (sandwiches, chips, etc...). they just purchased brand new chairs for the room which are pretty damn comfy compared to what they used to have in there for the past 10 years. all in all, i've called this place home base for quite some time, and regardless of the the dingyness (new word?) of the rest of the place, it'll always hold a place in my heart haha! look forward to hearing about everyone else's "scene" and if we can get a game going sometime soonskis!

Please note that discussion of Chicago-area "charity" poker is prohibited outside of the designated containment thread. Thank you for your cooperation.

hey tsg! nice to me ya and great response, just what I'm looking for.

Nice to meet you too Rapini! For those interested, the charity containment thread is here -- I have no idea what's in it ;)

Do any Chicagoland casinos run a Saturday afternoon / evening tournament? Or sit n go's as requested?

Gonna be stopping by Sept 3 (I'm looking to play cash, buddies want a little tourney action...)

Thanks

majestic star in gary indiana

Hi Comet, Rapini and all. Many of you have posted in the various Chicago area B&M and Charitable threads. I would love to see this sub folder of B&M be exactly that, the Community. Since the loss of poker on-line, the ability to learn and grow gets stagnant. It took me a year before I start doing such things as FT Academy Challenges, but it really did help my game. I think it would be great to meet up at poker rooms and other social places to discuss the game and form a real Chicago community. A few of the things I envision.
.Ability to develop a group of trustworthy, intelligent individuals.
.Private Message contact regarding: Cost saving in groups that my attend big events in the area (i.e. WSOP Circuit in Hammond)
.Discuss, play other forms of poker than Hold-em.
I know you as individuals can think of many more positives. It won't be easy with all the b.s. going on in everyone's lives these days. I live in the NW suburbs. Contact me by PM if you wish. Please share here. Thanks again OP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

The area needs some poker room COMPETITION.

I completely agree. Overwhelmingly high rakes are killing action and pushing lots of new $ to the Shoe. I don't always want to make that trip and would much rather frequent a place like Hollywood that's much closer to home. Especially since the BBJ just eclipsed a whopping $300k the other day...

Im from Chicago and I got a couple selections to choose from here.

Grand Victora- Elgin IL
Positive:2/5 is played with a $300 max which is kinda cool bc It plays like a deep 1/3 game.

Negative: $8 dollar rake and horrible dealers as well as staff and only gives 50c on your players card. Also even tho they rake $8 dollars there is no Bad-Beat. Only has 1/2 and 2/5NL

Hollywood-Aurora IL
Positive: They have the only 10/20 limit games in chicago land. Also biggest bad beat out of all the boats. Currently as of today at 460,000

Negative: $7 Poor dealers and only has 6 tables and only gets 2/5 off once or twice a week. 50c comp an hour on the card

Harrahs- Joliet IL
Positive: They run deep stack 1/3 no limit and deep stack 3/5 no limit. They let you buy in for the biggest stack at the table. Give free rooms away easy. They run 2 bad beats a mini and a reg bad beat. Also gives out promotions

Negative: 6 table room. $7 dollar rake also they dont let you rebuy chips at the table which really is a pain in the ****ing ass. Only has 1/3 and 3/5 NL

Majestic- Gary IN
Positive: Runs a 6/12 HOE game on tues and sometimes friday. All of the dealers from the horseshoe play here and 9/10 of them dont win and lose 2 or 3 buy-ins. Also PLO gets off on thursdays and fridays. Also they have 4 bad beats. Omaha Holdem 7-stud and Tournment bad beat

Negatives: Very poorly run. Always 1-3 seats open with 7-8 players on the list. The chips and disgusting. Its in a horrible area

Hollywood Joliet:
Positive: Have not played with one good player in the whole room. 160,000 dollar bad beat

Negatives: 3 tables with one main game and the other 1 or 2 tables that are open are feeders. Some dealers are very rude

But out of all of those non of them even compare to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond IN.

Horseshoe Hammond:
Positive: $240,000 bad beat Best dealers in town. 30 tables and there all full on friday night and saturday night and 75% full the other nights of the week.
So I know the people in phoenix have a pretty good Idea What casino is the best one. They spread 1/2nl 2/5nl 5/10nl 1/2plo 2/5plo 5/10plo 3/6 limit 20/40 limit 6/12 horse 40/80 horse

Negative: $7 dollars in tolls unless you want to drive through the worst park of chicago at night. Games tend to have 1-3 people at a table that know how to play well.

Harrahs- Joliet IL
Positive: They run deep stack 1/3 no limit and deep stack 3/5 no limit. They let you buy in for the biggest stack at the table. Give free rooms away easy. They run 2 bad beats a mini and a reg bad beat. Also gives out promotions

Negative: 6 table room. $7 dollar rake also they dont let you rebuy chips at the table which really is a pain in the ****ing ass. Only has 1/3 and 3/5 NL





Wow, talk about mis-information! Harrahs Joliet has 8 tables, a $6 rake, +$1 for the bad beat. You can ALWAYS rebuy chips at the table. Your initial buy-in has to be at the cage.

At 3/5 you usually cannot rebuy at the table. Rarely they will sell black chips at the table, but only some dealers/floors and then only if nobody else complains. The time charge is $7/half.

yea 6+1 is still 7 dollar rake. sorry I thought it was 6 im off 2 tables. Last time I played there they wouldnt let me buy chips there

You were off on more than that, Hollywood Joliet has 4 tables, Majestic is not poorly run by any means, etc. I will give a room update soon.

I take that back pepper, Hollywood Joliet is down to 3 tables.

With poker rooms changing, for the better or worse, I feel a need to update the landscape. I have compiled info on 9 poker rooms in the Chicagoland area. I have been to every one of these rooms except Elgin's Grand Victoria, which due to the following, will remain that way.

9) Grand Victoria (Elgin Il)
# 1-847-531-7753

Tables: 8

Main Spread: 1-2NL 50min/200max, 2-5NL 100/300, 5-10NL 200/600

Rake: $8

BBJ/Promos: starting a high hand

Tourneys: none

Comps: ?

Side notes: they just started a high hand promotion of some sort. You are also not allowed to chew gum in this room.

8) Hollywood (Joliet Il)
# 1-815-927-2175

Tables: 3

Spread: 1/2NL

Rake: $6+1

BBJ: $173,621

Comps: $0.50/hr

Tourneys: none

Side Notes: The room is tucked away in lower level corner. Clean room with above average dealers and floor. Casino music is a little loud for a poker room though.

7) Hollywood (Aurora Il)
# 1-630-801-7471

Tables: 7 (expanding currently)

Spread: 1/2NL 50/200 min/max, 10/20 Limit

Rake: $8+1

BBJ: $83,000

Comps: $0.50/hr

Tourneys: Wens 1pm $170, 15 min levels

Side Notes: New room is supposed to be open Feb 1.

6) Four Winds (New Buffalo MI)
# 1-866-494-6371

Tables: 4 and 8 electronic

Spread: 1/2NL 100/500max

Rake: $5

Comps: $1/hr

Tourneys: daily, all on electronic tables. Buy in range from $10-50 some with rebuy/add ons. Elec. Tables also have a .50/1NL game with a BBJ of 30k.

Side Note: very well run room, clean. Traffic is somewhat low, but games are very good.

5) Blue Chip (Michigan City IN)
# 1-219-861-4820

Tables: 8

Spread: 1-2NL 2-5NL, occasional 3/6 limit

Rake: $5+1

BBJ: $53,000 (aces full of kings) Mon-Thurs high hands from 10am-2pm

Comps: $1/hr

Tourneys: tues/wens 6pm $80/$60 sat/sun Noon $80

Side Notes: Nice room, nice casino

4) Potawatomi (Milwaukee WI)
# 1-414-847-7605

Tables: 20

Spread: 2-4, 3-6, 4-8 limit and 1-2 3-5 NL, also 7 stud.

Rake: $5

BBJ: none

Comps: $1/hr

Tourneys: NL Holdem Sunday at 3 and Monday at 6 and PLO on Wens at 8pm; all $120.

Side Notes: A little to far for south siders, IMO

3) Harrahs (Joliet Il)
# 1-815-740-7480

Tables: 8

Spread: 1/3 and 3/5 NL, 1/2 PLO, also 1/3 BigStack 5/10NL and once a month 10/20NL

Rake: $6+1

BBJ: mega $112,939 ( quad 8)
mini $24,654 ( aces full kings)
Royal flush: $150, Strt Flush $100

Comps: $0.50/hr

Tourneys: Thurs 7pm $130, Sund 4pm $130, and various others

Side Notes: Very nice/well run room. If they tweaked a few numbers they could be top notch.

2) Majestic Star (Gary IN)
# 1-219-977-7444

Tables: 21

Spread: 1-2NL 1-3NL, 3-6 Limit, 1-2 PLO Wens nights, 5-10 Omaha HL

Rake: $5+1

BBJ: 87,000 (aces full kings)

Comps: $1/hr

Tourneys:
http://www.majesticstarcasino.com/up...edule_full.pdf

Side Notes: well run room, and probably best place if a tourney player, as they offer deeper games weekly.

1) Horseshoe (Hammond IN)
# 1-219-473-6065

Tables: 34

Spread: pretty much everything; 1-2 2-5 5-10 NL, 3-6 20-40 limit, 1-2 5-10 PLO, 40-80 Horse wend/fri

Rake: $5+1

BBJ: 140K (quad 8)

Comps: $1/hr

Tourneys: http://www.horseshoehammond.com/casi...om-detail.html

Side Note: great room, also offer huge MTT's via the Venue with Chicago Poker Classic set to start Feb 23.

Thanks for the update NDfan

Thanks for the list, NDfan.

Does anyone know how often the O8 game runs at Majestic? Anywhere else in the region that ever runs an O8 game outside of the occasional mixed game at Horseshoe?

I know it runs Saturday nights for sure.

Found this on the Harrah's Joliet Bravo Poker Live page for you Chicagoland limit fans....

FEATURE GAME FRIDAY Jan 20 at 6pm 10-20 Limit Texas Hold'em $4 max rake 6pm till Close

Is that limit or pot-limit O8? What are the blinds? Thanks in advance.

That's limit, I believe the blinds are 2-5

Does that mean it's 5/10?

Yes, I called and confirmed for you as I rarely play limit myself. I will be up there today, pm me if anyone else is.

OK, they're trying this again after January 20th's feature game was crippled by the snow...

FEATURE GAME FRIDAY Jan 27 at 6pm 10-20 Limit Texas Hold'em $4 max rake 6pm till Close