Category: Poker Room Reviews

Reviews of poker rooms across the country

Concord Casino

Concord Casino Poker Room Review

Heather Leave a comment

The Concord Casino is one of the newer entrants to the New Hampshire Poker Room scene, having just opened in the middle of 2019. It currently resides both above (tournament room) and below (cash and table games) The Draft sports bar on Main Street in Concord. The setup is a bit atypical, but we were told that it’s also temporary. The Concord Casino is currently seeking a much larger space to move into later this year.

While the temporary digs might be slightly less than ideal, the tournament room is fitted out nicely. We spent a perfectly enjoyable evening there recently playing their regular Tuesday night tournament.

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Filotimo Casino Entrance

Filotimo Casino Poker Room Review

Heather Leave a comment

The Filotimo Casino, previously reviewed as Manchester Poker Room and Casino has had a very successful year. While always a large and successful room, Filotimo Casino has pretty much cemented its place in the hearts of New England’s tournament playing poker community. Their first successful move last year was to completely renovate the space during the pandemic shut-down. While always a comfortable place to play, Manchester Poker Room was previously relatively dark (and windowless) as a result of its past as a movie theater. However, the new Filotimo Casino poker room is bright and airy, with a wall of glass along one side of the room.

Along with the beautiful renovation, Filotimo Casino added Draft Kings to their offerings. While Filotimo’s table games have always been popular, Draft Kings appears to have increased their draw even further.  No poker room in New England has evolved as much in their poker offerings, gambling/gaming opportunities, and physical space combined in the past several years as much as has Filotimo.

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One-Eyed Jacks Poker Room Review

Paul Leave a comment
The trip to One-Eyed Jacks poker room (housed in the Sarasota Kennel Club) took a bit of commitment on our Tampa trip. The room was about an hour outside the city, and like everything in Florida, getting there involved dodging aggressive drivers on the highway and impatiently sitting through traffic lights once off the highway. But that’s Florida. Nonetheless, the volume of cash games and diversity of tournaments intrigued us. So we took the second Saturday of our vacation to drive down to Sarasota for lunch, a beach view, and some poker.
NOTE: This visit to the One-Eyed Jacks poker room occurred at the end of February 2020. While now open again, the room has changed in the interim, for obvious reasons. Thus, your experience may vary.

Casino Setting 

One-Eyed Jacks is located about an hour south of Tampa, on the north side of Sarasota.  The room is right beside the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport.  It is accessible from major roads, but sits in a very congested area.

We drove down early from Tampa so we could check out the Sarasota beaches and grab a quick lunch. We ate lunch at The Dry Dock Grill in the Lido Beach area. The food was pretty good, and sitting outside on their patio was very pleasant. We walked along Lido Beach after lunch, which had some of the finest white sand we have ever seen.

If you visit Lido Beach, leave yourself plenty of time to get over to One-Eyed Jacks. Although only about 10 miles away, it took us over half an hour.  There was some construction that made parts challenging, but mostly, the Florida traffic and never ending traffic lights were our main nemeses once again.

Parking is free at One-Eyed Jacks. Read More

Derby Lane Poker Room Review

Paul Leave a comment
The Derby Lane poker room is the primary St. Petersburg poker facility in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area.  Our final stop on our poker sojourn through West Florida, Derby Lane was a pleasant surprise. We had heard a couple of disparaging comments from a player at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Bay about Derby Lane. We, however, found Derby Lane much more appealing than the dingy, scary venue described to us. And it had nothing to do with the fact that I chopped the final 5 spots. Promise!
NOTE: This visit to the Debry Lane poker room occurred at the end of February 2020. While now open again, the room has changed in the interim, for obvious reasons. Thus, your experience may vary, as they say.

Casino Setting 

The Derby Lane poker room is located in St. Petersburg near Route 62 coming from Tampa Bay.  The surroundings are not the most scenic, but they are fairly convenient from both St. Petersburg and Tampa. According to advertisements, Derby Lane was established in 1925 and is the oldest dog racing track in the United States.

Parking is free at Derby Lane.

Derby Lane Poker Room

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Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Room

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Room Review

Paul Leave a comment

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is a large full-service casinos that sit on Native American land. The Hard Rock is the premiere gambling venue of Florida’s west coast. While Tampa has several other poker rooms, the Seminole Hard Rock is the only full casino serving the area. Having visited its east coast sister, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, last year, we were eager to see how Tampa measured up.

NOTE: This visit to the Seminole Hard Rock poker room occurred at the end of February 2020. While now open again, the room has changed in the interim, for obvious reasons. Thus, your experience may vary, as they say.

Casino Setting 

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa lies on the east side of Tampa near the interchange of Routes 4, 92, and 301.  The setting is pretty urban, not much in the way of scenic surroundings, but very convenient to the city. One location drawback for the casino is that it is nowhere near the beaches, thus limiting beach-goer spillover.

Parking is free and there are several large garages to choose from. Read More