Hi everyone,

Me and a buddy are flying to Dallas next week and are staying for about a week in Oklahoma. Right now we have a hotel booked at WinStar for everyday we'll be in town except the weekend (the rates are absurd on the weekend), and we have a few questions concerning our stay.

What is the level of play like at both places? I see that there is a daily tournament schedule at WinStar and a larger poker room, but does that mean more cash games throughout the day?

The rates are cheaper at Durant, so we are considering going up there for the weekend stay and then coming back to WinStar before we fly out. I know that both places mention that they have discounted rates for player's club cards, but we have no idea how much. I'm sure it's all rated based on play but we're wondering if it's possible to get a comp or just a decent rate vs. dumping a grand on hotel rates (please let me know if this is not appropriate for this forum)

Just generally wondering if it's worth it to go up to Durant for the entirety of the stay or if we should just go up on the weekend and enjoy the cheaper stay.

I can get comps for Durant on all days. I get weekday comps for Winstar and they call me like twice a month asking me to come up but weekend comps there are absolutely no go.

Play is soft at both casinos, I'd say probably softer at Durant, but more games at Winstar, so more opportunity to find a soft game. No tourneys at Durant as you likely noticed, unless WSOP/WPT is in town, which they have 4x a year. Def great to go then.

Can't testify about weekday games currently. GLGL

I just realized that there is also a card club in Dallas at Texas Card House (I am from the West and things are a lot different). Ever play there? We might go there for the weekend. Very easy to get a hotel in the city.

If you have a car and do not mind ~90 minute drive into Dallas, there are tournaments every day at the local card rooms; Texas Card House Dallas, TC Social Club and Shuffle214. Details, entry fee, schedule and guarantees, can be found on the Poker Atlas site/app. GL!

- KK

We might just end up doing this honestly. Neither of us are 25 (makes for a really crappy car rental experience) so will likely just stay in Dallas. Thanks

You will want to search the Threads for TCH-Dallas and Texas poker for more information. And call them to inquire about any membership or 'seat fee' deals that may be going on.

While it's not as wild as it used to be, the Card Rooms in TX can vary on fees, food, drinks and rake. They aren't supposed to take rake, but I've heard of rooms that charge time AND take rake .. or they 'require' you to purchase drinks as crazy prices.

I've heard very good feedback about Choctaw poker .. really pretty much all of TX poker. A Vlogger, Wolfgang, just invested in Poker House-FW, so I would assume he did some homework and that room is legit. I don't think I'd heard of WinStar until this Thread, which I find very surprising (and somewhat disappointing).

While there has been a few issues surrounding security at TX poker rooms I think a lot of them are from Houston, but I would certainly be very aware of the surroundings at any of these rooms .. especially if you are planning on playing for a number of days in a row where someone may be able to put you on a pattern.

I'm always one to 'play local' unless I'm given some sort of extra motivation to travel. We all assume that we're not going to bust and do nothing but play poker with our time, so unless there's some other reasons to seek out a specific card room then poker is poker. GL

I didn't know Wolfgang was getting into the investment atmosphere. I will check out the threads! I did call last night and sounds like it's $10 daily, $30 monthly, with a $13/hr seat fee. Seems like a decent price given that a rake would generally be larger than this fee (10% to $5 + $1 in OK at the poker rooms in a standard 1/3 game). Thanks for all the info.

The only time I went to Chowtaw Durant was during a major tournament series, and the action was very good. I suspect that when a tournament series isn't going the action would be much better on the weekend. It seems like the type of place that would attract lots of Dallas people for short weekend trips.

If you do go to Choctaw, consider staying at the Hy-Lo hotel, assuming you have a car. It was less than half the price of the casino and was relatively nice and new (not fancy, but newer and clean). At least it was when I stayed there a few years ago. It's within a mile of the casino, but it's in the middle of nowhere so I don't know how easy it would be to get an Uber late at night, and walking could be sketchy.

If you stay at the Choctaw casino, they've got a nice pool area with multiple pools including adults only pools with a swim up bar and a waterfall you can swim behind. I'm assuming the pools are likely heated and open year round. That was the highlight when I stayed there for sure, but I'm not sure what it's like in the winter.

I never made it over to the Winstar, but TCH Dallas action was very good even on a random weekday evening when I went. The holdem games all had a double board Omaha bomb pot each time the dealer changed, which I wasn't a huge fan of because those hands ate up a lot of time.

Anyway, good luck and have fun!

Unless he invested in multiple rooms, you're mistaken. The room that I know he invested in is The Fort, located on the west side of Fort Worth. I've never been to Poker House FW though, so it's possible he invested in both, but I doubt it.