I have stayed in the Ramada, Fairfield, Microtel, and the Quality Inn. Each usually run anywhere from $70-$100/night. All four were "clean" and "nice enough".
Sometime in the future, I am going to try the Pocahantas. I have heard from others that it is clean and is around $50/night.

Pocahantas never answers the phone....

I stayed at the Budget Inn last weekend. Right there near where 74 and 441 meet. $50 bucks a night. They had Wi-Fi, fridge, microwave, and the room was failry decent, so was the bed. Wi-Fi is important for tilt. If you take a beat at Cherokee, go to your room, and go to the .01/.02 or .05/.10 online and blow 20 dollars going all in every hand....

games still good?

I'm thinking about a weekend trip up from myrtle beach. I think it would be about 4.5-5 hour drive each way.

This would beat 8+ hour drives to FL or WV if the games are good.

Yea, games are good....all the 1/2 you can eat. 2/5 has been struggling.

Any PLO?

Its not 5 hours from MB to Cherokee, its about the same to the closest poker room to you which would be the Jacksonville dog track and you can play on real tables.

Around six hours, according to google maps. They tend to estimate slightly high in my experience, so call it 5.5 hours. Unless you make any stops, of course, which I suppose you would on a drive that long. So six hours probably about right.

Played last nignt, Saturday. Got there about 8:00 pm; man, the parking lot was full; had to park in an'over-flow' lot, and it only had a couple of spaces. I've never seen so many people there.

The poker room was full; all seven tables with a waiting list for all games. They had 1 2/5, 1 3/6 limit and 5 1/2 tables going. No Omaha 8.
Signed up for all; got seated at a 1/2 in about an hour.

The table was mixed with soft and tight players; average pot size was about $75.

Still no comps for us lowly poker players. The beverage service was slow; they do have bottled water in a cooler.

I was card-dead most of the night; I'm still glad we have legal poker in the Carolinas, but I wish Harrah's would give us some kind of comps. I don't expect to be treated like someone who stuffs $100s is slots, but they could do a little something for us. They've had enough time to adjust the software.

bobaby.

I agree with you bobaby. I actually have not been back since mothers day. They could at least get us a free meal here and there. I wont return untill a few things change. I do like Erick however..How is he doing?

Didn't see Eric last night. All new folks; they were nice enough, but I too, like Eric. Hope he's there next time.

I hadn't been since May; I dropped a couple of $20s in video poker just to keep my comps active; we have six months or they expire. I won $35.

Also, every Saturday night in August, they're giving away $20,000. Four $2500s, one $5000 and one $10,000 at 10:00 pm; just swipe your card.
(the casino, not just the poker room)
Yes, the odds are slim, but not like lottery odds.

I was up last Mon. and Tue. and saw some real solid players destroying the games. A lot of the locals thought this one guy was a donk but he knew exactly what he was doing. Drilled all the players who ever built up a big stack and couldn't fold top pair. Looks like the real players are finding out. Locals can't take this type of pressure long.

Days Inn is the closest to Harrahs there. It is surprisingly clean for a Day's Inn. I paid $75 including taxes for a non smoking room. +EV imo

Isn't there a SunCruz boat in MB with a poker room on board?

Hello - been browsing 2+2 for a while with no login. I happened to visit Harrah's in Cherokee last night and thought I'd give a trip report.

Trip Report - 8/15/2009

As others have written, there is little comparison between casinos and cardrooms you will find in Vegas or Atlantic City. There are no bells and whistles. As it stands, no alcohol, and no comps of any kind (other than soda or water).

The 'poker room' is actually in a glorified hallway which segways the smoking section of the casino into a much smaller non-smoking room. That being said, it didn't bother me a bit. I arrived at about 9:00 PM and made a deposit with the cashier onto my Harrah's card and then registered for a 1/2 NLHE seat on the PokerPro kiosk. The wait was approximately 1 hour. There was also a full 9 handed table of 2/5 NLHE and a table of 3/6 LHE going the entire time I was there. There was a short wait for the 3/6 game and no wait for 2/5 (that I noticed). The five other tables were all running 1/2 NLHE.

While I was waiting for my seat, I visited with two of the attendants for the poker room and found them to be very friendly and helpful (although not especially knowledgeable - the first one I asked couldn't tell me how the rake worked).

My playing experience was good (7 out of 10). I like the PokerPro tables because it eliminates errors by novice players. The technology is really neat and I spent a good part of the time thinking about how it would be amazing to have one for our home game (I hate dealing). I did miss actually having chips and being able to hear other players verbally check, raise, etc. I did find, however, that players tend focus so much on the screens that they almost talk to the screens and don't seem to pay attention to their body language as much. I found that tells on the PokerPro tables were actually more obvious as a result.

The opposition. If I didn't live 5 hours away, I'm pretty sure I could consistently pay my mortgage playing with the caliber of players who were there last night (and I am maybe just maybe an intermediate NLHE player). I played for 3 hours and nearly tripled my $300 buy-in while playing pretty tight but also punishing the really loose players at the table when I had premium hands (I think I played 12 hands the whole time). The player immediately to my left busted out 4 times in 3 hours (at $300 a pop). I kinda felt bad for the guy. I would say that the game played very loose passive.

Hope this proves to be good information.

Happy Fishing.

I think alcohol is coming pretty soon. As far as comps, I know we, poker players, are low on the pole as far as casino players; however, they need to do a little something for us.

I agree with you on the quality of play, A decent, tight player can do very well.

bobaby

Word is comps and SNG's start tommorow. I havnt been in almost two weeks, but thats the word.

Sweet..please let me know some details on this.

Anyone have anymore details on the sng's? Buy-ins, structure, etc.

how often does 2/5 run? and do they ever have anything bigger

2/5 runs sometimes on the weekends. Nothing bigger.

They're on Tuesdays. I was told by staff, last weekend that it was $115 buy-in. $100/$15.

Not sure about structure, but was told they are set-up "Turbo-Style."

My husband and I are planning to stop at Cherokee on our way home from Thanksgiving in Charlotte.

Does anyone know if there is RV parking? If so, how close to the casino? (We'll have our dogs with us, and we'll take breaks in poker to walk them -- we do this at our "home" casino.)

Any word on alcohol? (We like to drink when we play -- lucky for you guys.)

Tips and info:

Skip valet and drive to the last shuttle shelter at the rear of the parking lot. Free, just as quick and the shuttles load there first so you will be first on and first off.

SNG payouts for 1st and 2nd only, $700 and $300.

Don't go through the casino floor to the poker room. Go right from the main entrance around the building and enter the doors at the creek, turn right in the foyer and go through the doors and you will be right in front of the poker room.

Shawn will be back this week and it has us all beaming, especially Todd.

Don't be shy about asking for table changes. Generally the brush will show you the table pot averages and let you request the table of your choice.

The $100 + $15 Sit 'n Goes, will be on the next 4 Tues. from 9 am to 5 pm (last one actually starts at 3:30 pm). $1,500 in chips to start, blinds increase every 10 hands and the prize money is split 70/30. Should be up on the web site soon.

Management says "comps" coming soon.

TYTY for updates