I may very well be accepting a job in Newark, DE shortly. Obviously Atlantic City can be reached from there, but I'd like something closer if possible. Does anybody know of any legit places closer than AC? I'm not really interested in illegal underground rooms...I'd rather not have to worry about theft, cheating, and police raids.

I went to Google and found http://www.depokerroom.com/, and it seems legit...is it? Does anybody know about it (how many tables actually run, games spread, quality of play, etc.)? Is that the only non-AC option? Thanks for any input.

The closest legal poker that you will find is in AC. To be honest, it is your best bet.

Some time ago, I visited the same web site that you posted. It seems as if the hosted games happen infrequently. Also, if I remember correctly, the owner of that operation got chased out of a nearby state (Maryland, maybe?) for running shady/illegal games.

There are a few home games and charity tournaments, but we have all seen that such games tend to attract robbers. Hell, in Delaware, even off duty policemen rob poker games.

There are some charity games in eastern Maryland that are safe and legal. They also often have cash games as well for the people who bust out (and/or just want to play the cash game). It is usually 1/2 NL with a $100 max buy in.

Lee

I'm in Bear, DE (can throw a rock into Newark from my house).

I've never been to the Poker Room, but as I understand, they have some very low limit fixed limit games. The rake is a little higher I believe, as part of the money has to go towards charity for it to be legal, as I understand, so as long as you don't mind paying a higher rake, then it might be worth saving 3 hours round trip driving to AC. They also have tournaments, but I believe the amount taken out for for charity is relatively large, cutting deeply into the overall EV for any player.

If there are any underground rooms in DE, I unfortunately don't know about them. I wish I did since driving to AC is a bit of a hassle, but it's what I've been doing weekly for the past couple months.

Where is this?

At VFW (and I think a couple of fire houses) in towns such as Betterton, Crumpton, and others. I've only been a few times - but always had fun and often came out ahead. I'll try to find more contact information.

Lee

The last I heard the DE Poker Room in Bear was a low stakes, self-deal operation. It is also located in a shopping center that backs up to a ghetto apt complex and a lot of the shady denizens frequent the bar and liquor store in the complex. Needless to say, crimes ensue. Check homepokergames.com to see who's still running private games. However, these have dried up in recent months due to police raids/robberies of home games.

If you check the tourney buy in and payouts you'll see only 50% goes to the prize pool. AC typically is 80%. Drive the 90-100 miles to Borgata or Taj.

There's a firehouse near where I live that runs a $200+$40 tourny twice a month (usually the second and last Tuesday of the month). The buy-in for the tourny also includes a buffet dinner, which is actually quite decent. The tourny usually gets 40-60 runners. The level of play is quite good in the tournaments. The tournament is well run. There are dealers at every table who rotate, and so the game moves and is managed by people who know what they are doing.

When players bust out of the tournament, they start cash games, and the game is usually $20-$40 limit. I've never played in the cash games, and so I can't comment on the quality of the players. I can say that I see a fair number of them down in AC on the weekends when I go there to play.

I live just over the DE border inside PA. My guess is that Newark is about a 35-45 minute drive away. If you're interested, send me a pm, and I will forward you some information about the game. I'll check with the tournament organizer first to make sure he's ok with it, but I'm pretty sure there won't be a problem. This is a very open game, and like I said, it's played right in the township fire department.

Hey I go to the University and was thinking about checking this place out next week, the website says they run the cash games every nightbut mondays and the tourney is a $130 buy in, I didn't do the math but looks like the fee is $30, just based on that. Anyone else go there, they also have BJ, everything is fixed limit and the guy on the phone told me they spread 2/4, 3/6 and something else I think he said 5/10 but it might have been something else or 9/18 really not sure. He said you rent the seat, so I'm assuming it's no rake and you just pay an hourly fee. I'm only 19 so can't go to AC but want more live experience. Anyone tried this place out and seen how the rakes go?