I worked as a union organizer in West Virginia from 1983 until 1988, and in many respects, not much has changed in the 25 years or so since I first visited. West Virginia is still largely impoverished, still beautiful, and I still stick out like a sore thumb!
I recently visited the three West Virginia poker rooms. I stopped first on a Saturday night at the Mountaineer Race Track www.mtrgamng.com in Chester, WV, on Route 2 in the northernmost part of the state. The poker room is not adjoined to the main part of the casino, but rather nestled in the grandstand of the track in a separate building. A shuttle bus runs between the two every ten minutes. The room was spreading $1-$2 no limit with a $300 maximum buy-in, and $2-$4 limit hold 'em while I was
there.
Their floorman told me that they regularly spread Omaha/8 and sometimes get a $2-$5 no limit game. They rarely have stud. They, and all West Virginia rooms, rake 10 percent up to a maximum of $5, and take an additional dollar for the bad beat jackpot. Players here earn $.06 an hour in points with a player's card. Soft drinks are comped; alcohol is not. The room also offers some free food throughout the day. I ate a very tasty bratwurst during my stay.
There were five good, observant, aggressive players at my table. They were not welcoming. They did not appreciate my questions about the room and razzed me about not being from around there. Though there were two or three players at my table who made the game profitable, this was no honey pot, to be sure, and I felt relieved to leave after a couple of hours up $200.
Later that night I drove the hour or so down to the poker room at the Wheeling Island Casino (formerly Wheeling Downs) www.wheelingisland.com. This room is home to World Series of Poker main event runner up Darvin Moon. The room is very well run. They had $1-$2 no-limit hold 'em with just a $200 maximum buy-in and $2-$5 no-limit, along with a $2-$4 limit hold 'em game.
They laughed when I asked about stud. An attempt failed to get an Omaha/8 game off the ground. They comp players $.70 an hour. The level of competition seemed about one notch below the play at Mountaineer-though there were two solid players at my table. They had a poker menu for the room with reasonably priced sandwiches. I ate a very good barbequed pork sandwich for about $6 including chips. I finished my two hour session down $80.
I drove the following morning to The Big Easy, the new poker room at the Tri-state Casino (www.tristateracetrack.com) in Nitro, just outside Charleston. This is a beautiful, new place to play, with a very high ceiling, new tables, and a great view of the dog track outside. They were spreading $1-$2 no limit when I arrived late on a Sunday morning. They said that they get a $1-$5 spread limit stud game on Friday and Saturday night, "when it goes." I was told that many folks arrive for the 2 p.m. $125 tourney and stay afterwards to play-and that they would then have a $2-$5 game.
The players, for the most part, were very loose and passive pre-flop and then very weak and tight after the flop. There were a couple of good players in the game. Of the three West Virginia poker rooms, I liked this one the best. It would be, in my opinion, the most profitable of the West Virginia rooms for a solid player.
The West Virginia rooms are, for now at least, surely profitable for the skilled player. That's especially true in Nitro, the newest room. I'd be concerned, however, that with a $5 rake plus $1 for the bad beat, the easy money and easy players may dry up before too long. So visit soon!
Ashley Adams is the author of Winning 7-Card Stud and Winning No Limit Low Limit Hold'em. He hosts the radio show House of Cards, broadcast Mondays at 5 - 6 p.m. in Boston, MA, on 1510 AM, and on the Internet at www.houseofcardsradio.com. Contact Ashley at asha34@aol.com.
