Casino Poker in Illinois

Your three bad choices just got reduced to only two.

Joliet (Empress/Argosy/whatever) casino just closed their poker room. This is the second time they have opened and closed a poker room in this facility. Its no big deal and not a big loss.

Aurora (Hollywood) is still open which is a real shame. Its one of the worst rooms I have ever played. Bad management, poor dealers, stinky players, a poor facility, and very expensive. Huge rake (5 or 6!) plus no comps, pay for parking,and an admission fee. But the "BEST" part is that they close the room on Friday nights and don't reopen until Sunday eve. More money to be made on weekend slot players. Poker players should get out of the way.

Metropolis (Harrahs) has reopened their poker room for the third time. They had one when the facility was a Resorts property and closed it. Players Island opened and closed a poker room there too. Now Harrahs tries. This is a small boat with a rural feel and clientele. Maybe go there if you're a SIU student or on a visit to Paducah. Otherwise, not worth a trip.


What accounts for the terrible status of casino poker In Illinois? Well ---- its the State Government's fault. Its a purposeful policy, not an accident. Each of the 9 "boats" is taxed very highly, and is restricted to 1200 "Gaming Positions". That means if they open a poker table they have to shut down 10 slot machines. And -- they make a lot more on the slot machines.

So the State is going to protect you from evil gambling (but OTB and Lotto are ok)

We poker players make a rational choice by going to Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, etc for casino poker.