Category: Poker Room Reviews

The Manchester Poker Room and Casino is one of the longstanding members of the active New Hampshire poker scene. Among the larger, most active rooms (15 or more tables) in the state it occupies a unique niche.  It is the one room without a competitor within several miles.  Less than half an hour south in Nashua the Boston Billiards Club and Casino is yoked with The River Casino. Newcomers Chasers and Cheers lie two miles apart, battling it out in Salem. While over on the coast, about 40 minutes East, the Hampton Falls and Seabrook poker rooms compete for both cash and tournament players.

But in the center of  southern New Hampshire, the Manchester Poker Room and Casino stands alone. The room shows signs of that independence: confident, unique, but perhaps a bit insular. All told, Manchester offers an alternative poker experience in New Hampshire.

Setting and Non-Poker Amenities

The Manchester Poker Room is just a minute off Route 293, an offshoot of route 93, the major north-south expressway that bisects New Hampshire.  Despite its geographic convenience, when you leave the highway it’s a bit tricky to find.  The poker room sits behind a set of retail stores, and its sign is not very prominent from the road.

South Willow street is packed with strip malls, fast food outlets, car dealerships, and gas stations.  On the opposite side of Route 293 is the Mall of New Hampshire. So if you have shopping and dining needs, you will be well-served in the immediate area.

The poker room used to be a small movie theater and retains tell-tale remnants of that history, such as box office windows.  The Poker Room shares the building with the Manchester Bingo Room. The poker room itself hosts a few table games as well.

The South Side Tavern also lies between Manchester’s two separate poker rooms, and provides food and beverages to the poker rooms. The Tavern’s menu is extensive, with a wide array of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, pizza, and dinner entrees. We have not eaten there, but we have heard positive reviews of the food. A full bar is available, and the tap and bottled beer selection looked good. You won’t go hungry or thirsty here!

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The Foxwoods poker room was my first regular live poker venue (outside free pub poker). Thus it holds a special place in my own poker journey. Like many poker forays, my experience started with “Wow, I’m doing really well! This is easier than I thought!” Eventually that became “Guess I’m not as good as I thought I was.”  But I have spent many fun evenings at Foxwoods as well. Both the poker room and the casino complex at large have much to offer.

Setting and Non-Poker Amenities

The approach to the Foxwoods complex elicits a common reaction: “There is no way there a large casino in the middle of these sparsely populated woods.” Then the vast structure appears like a mirage. The sight never fails to invoke awe.  Foxwoods’ long-term, and much maligned, ad campaign “The Wonder of it All” actually has some merit.

Built on Mashantucket Pequot tribal grounds, Foxwoods started in 1986 as a bingo hall. In the early 1990s it added table games and slots, and evolved into a full blown casino. The poker room followed in 1995. The Grand Pequot Tower hotel opened in 1997 and the luxurious MGM Grand (now Fox Towers) followed in 2008. Various casino rooms surround and link the hotels along with numerous restaurants, and a large concert venue. The inevitable outlet mall (an 85-store Tanger) joined the complex in 2015.

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The BestBet Jacksonville poker room is one of largest and best known of the Florida card rooms. It is also one of the best rooms you’ll ever enter. Spacious, nicely appointed and replete with amenities that are generally only part of a large casino setting, Bestbet sets itself apart from other freestanding poker rooms. While there were a few areas BestBet fell short, overall it is a top flight room.

Setting and Non-Poker Amenities

BestBet Jacksonville is on the east side of the city, half way between the city center and the Atlantic shore. As an aside, when we visited we stayed in Atlantic Beach/Neptune beach area and it was great. Neptune Beach has fantastic restaurants in a very small walkable footprint.  Atlantic beach sports gorgeous, endless beaches and a laid-back vibe. At 15-20 minutes from BestBet, a visit to Atlantic Beach offers a great poker/beach combo vacation.

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The Aria is one of Las Vegas’s most breathtaking upscale hotels.  A relatively recent addition to the Vegas landscape (it opened in 2009), it offers a modern and sleek look and endless luxury offerings. The Aria poker room transmits that sense of elegance and provides a top-shelf poker experience.  We have played tournaments at the Aria in both 2016 and 2017.  The Aria certainly did not disappoint, save some minor issues.

Poker Room Setting

The interior of the Aria Las Vegas poker room is striking. Vibrant reds and various shades of brown give the room a deep and rich feel, as do the architecture and drapes that frame the room. The swivel chairs are plush and comfortable, but not too oversized (like we ran into at Playground Poker Club). There is plenty of room between you and your table mates. However, the 24 tables are not housed in a very big space, so there is a somewhat cramped feel to the room overall.  There is much less room to move around compared with The Venetian poker room, for example. Overall, the room is somewhat dark, although the tables were lit sufficiently. As the Aria Las Vegas poker room is also largely open to the casino, noise can be an issue if you are seated at a table near the edge of the space. The biggest drawback, however, is the smoke. Although the poker room is smoke-free, we found more smoke wafting in to the poker room from the Aria casino than we experienced at some of the other elite Vegas rooms.

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The Playground Poker Club outside of Montreal is a surprising gem. We first visited after seeing some major televised tournaments held there, and expected grand things. While our initial approach to the card room elicited a ‘”this can’t be right” reaction, upon entry all was revealed.

Location and Exterior Setting

The Playground Poker Club is located in Kahnawake, Quebec about a half an hour drive from Montreal. However, the drive can vary substantially – dependent more on construction status than amount of traffic. Returning to Montreal around midnight after one tournament took well over an hour, with bridge repairs narrowing many stretches to one lane. As we discussed in our travel post about Montreal, road conditions are a fearsome obstacle to contend with.  If you’re staying in downtown Montreal, this becomes one of the Playgrounds biggest drawbacks. Taking a shuttle to the Casino de Montreal becomes an attractive alternative in the winter when not feeling adventurous.

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