Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Poker Room Review

The Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room, as with our recent visit to the Mount Airy poker room, was part of a larger venture to an out-of-the-way location.  We recently shared our trek through West Maryland including this short venture into West Virginia.  If you’re headed out to the Holywood Casino at Charles Town Races, you’ll likely want to plan some other activities along the way.

Setting and Non-Poker Amenities

The Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races casino is located at the intersection of Routes 340 and 9 in West Virginia.  It’s about an hour and a half due west of Baltimore. We accessed the casino driving westbound from Frederick, MD along Route 340. It was a very easy and scenic drive. We also took in the sites at historic Harper’s Ferry (which is designated as a National Park) a few miles up the road afterwards. If you are a history buff, hiker, or just like a scenic landscape, Harper’s Ferry is a good stop along the way.

The Hollywood casino itself is large, with an active racetrack outside. The somewhat dated décor is Hollywood themed, with old movie posters, images of film strips and movie houses. The casino allows smoking throughout, and that was certainly obvious as you walked through. However, it is a full-service casino with slot machines, table games, and a Barstool sports book. The casino was loud and active on the Saturday we attended and a bit confusing to navigate.

Charles Town Races has an affiliated hotel on the grounds – The Inn at Charles Town. Most notably there is an adjacent live horse racing venue. The horse racing simulcast was very active the day we were there, although there were no live races that day. Dining options are a bit limited with a Chinese restaurant, a steak house, The Eatery by Fabio Viviani, and a Barstool sports bar. As in many casinos these days, the buffet was “temporarily” closed. The Event Center draws an eclectic group of artists. The upcoming roster features Ludacris, Blue Oyster Cult, Sublime, Kenny G, and stand-up comics Paul Reiser and the great Kathleen Madigan.

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Poker Room Comfort

The Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room is in the far corner of the casino, off the beaten path. Our walk from the West garage to the poker room was considerable. The poker room is near a smaller slots room which cut down the smoke smell from the main floor some, but it was rather loud as it was open to the slots. The poker room itself contains 13 well-spaced tables, and is very bright, with well-lit tables. The ceilings are generous with a curved-vaulted center.  As with the casino, the carpeting is a bit dated, and the color scheme in general felt a bit 1970s.

The poker tables feature auto-shufflers, padded rails, and drink cups. The table feels a bit small, but play is only 8-handed, which provides plenty of elbow room. Overall, the room is quite clean and the felts and chips are in good shape. The felts, chips, and cards are all branded and the cards have nice large faces. Although the chairs did not have arms, they were extremely well-padded, adjustable, wheeled and overall comfortable.

Note that the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room is not open on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Poker Room Staff

The front desk and floor staff at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room were polite and readily available. As with our recent trip to Maryland Live!, we were treated to a group of incredible dealers who were exceptionally fast and personable. They were able to deal the cards and be friendly with the players at the same time. Wait staff circulated frequently and were quite friendly as well.

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Players at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Poker Room

The players at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room were mostly regulars, which is unsurprising given the location. Most were very chatty and used good-natured humor. They tended to be older, and of the approximately 50 people playing cash, there were only two or three women. As with the social atmosphere, the play was very loose. Lots of players were limping, or even calling raises with garbage hands. There was one tight-aggressive young player at my table who seemed to know what he was doing. While play was loose, most pots were raised pre-flop and you could expect c-bets much of the time. As is typical with this type of play, it was sometimes hard to know where you were in a hand, but there was profit to be made on your strong hands.

Cash Play Activity

There were seven cash tables running on the early Saturday afternoon we visited Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. According to Bravo, on weekday evenings (Wednesday & Thursday) the room generally gets 3 to 5 tables of $1/$2 and one table of $2/$5.  On the weekend, volume increases to 6-8 tables of $1/$2, with 1-2 tables of $2/$5. A PLO or other game will occasionally crop-up on a weekend as well. If you are interested in cash poker play in the region, be sure to check out our Poker Room Cash Activity Map.

Tournament Structures

There are no regular tournaments running at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room at this time.

Overall Assessment of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Poker Room

The Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races poker room is a small gem of room in West Virginia. While it does not currently hold tournaments, it has a fairly active cash scene. The big plus for the room is having exceptional dealers and relatively easy play. It was also fairly comfortable, with good lighting, 8-handed play, and nice chairs. However, the smoke form the casino floor wafts in and the noise from the slot machines is intense. If you can put those factors aside, this room makes a nice stop if you are touring West Virginia or western Maryland.