Rivers Casino (Des Plaines, IL)

They’ve clearly been instructed not to talk about it. A regular was loosing. He blamed the dealer and threatened the dealer. Then, he attacked the dealer (who was much smaller). A player joined the fight to defend the dealer. The dealer was not penalized for the altercation.

My question is “Was security at all helpful in this?” The answer is probably not.

If you were there, wouldn't you have seen whether security showed up? If you heard it from someone that was actually at the room, couldn't you ask them? Or are you just making up rumors to try and (weirdly) throw shade at the poker room?

All the players including regs too?

I'm going back tonight I'll ask again.

Which dealer was it? You can PM me if you don't want to say publicly.

That said I did see an altercation between two players last week (and a small LOL one last night). Security fairly useless there as none in the room, takes a minute for them to get there, and it's not like they're former military trained double hard bastards, just some dudes with wispy unshaven beards trying to get in the way by standing around.

Ahh gotta love Chicago poker. Put my name on Bravo 45 minutes before I got there, still waited 1hr 45min.

If literally all you care about is the wait list then the Horseshoe (where you can sign up 2 hours before), GVC (an hour before but it's way shorter a wait), and RCG (where there's basically never a wait) are all options for you nearby. CCG usually a little further away but a 5th option.

Thanks. I heard RCG doesn’t even get 2/5 NL running anymore, is that true? I know CCG basically never has 2/5.

After coming back from Florida, it’s just a tough transition from always being able to open a new table once you get enough names on the list.

And you could have driven 20 minutes down I90 to GVC and seated almost immediately.

No idea why some people just refuse to go there.
However, the lists are so out of control, GVC is seeing more tables opening the past few months

The people who act like GVC is some sort of horrible room are just idiots.
Rivers is marginally better in some ways, and GVC is marginally better in other ways

I dont get the rivalry.
Get over yourselves.

There are people here who 100% drove an hour to play at the shoe 6 or 7 years ago who now refuse to drive 20 minutes more to GVC.
The internet truly has revealed how many idiots we are surrounded by

Gonna need specifics on how GVC is not a realistic option when Rivers' lists are 100 deep.

Find it difficult to think Rivers is so amazing it's worth waiting 2 hours or more instead of going to GVC.

Last time I was at Rivers its not like the waitresses are topless and free massages are given.
So why is it worth a 2 hours wait?

Rivers is not a 2 hour wait on a week night as long as you use the bravo app properly. It allows you to sign up 90 minutes in advance.

First of all, txs for the tips on being able to store my luggage at Rivers. I had two 16+ hour layovers at O’Hare and was able to spend 15+ hours each time at the tables. I didn’t wait at all, always tables going even into the very very early hours (my last session started at like 9pm). Good games overall, not quite as fishy/splashy as Hard Rock in Tampa, not as passive as Parx in Philly. Still pretty typical villains that couldn’t bet fold on the river if their life depended on it. Nobody bets the river without the stone cold nuts, it’s crazy. Was up about $300 for the first session. Ran bad for a few hours against one particular villain the second session, that spent half his time rivering the stupidest hands against half the table, and was down over $600 at one point, but ended the session up about 100.

Drinks take forever to come around - usually only 1-2 servers for the entire room, which is insane when there are so many tables going. Kitchen closes early, but the noodle place stays open late. Can’t eat at the table (not the worst thing in the world). Dealers overall seemed more competent than I remember at Parx or Hard Rock. And everyone seemed pretty friendly.
Will definitely go back again.

I've got about 100 hours each at 1/3 at Rivers & GVC. Games are way better at Rivers but the list is insane on weekends & with 294 being completely ripped up the drive is worse than GVC for me. On weekends, I guess it's worth the 20min drive. I've seen guys waiting 3-4 hours at Rivers which is ridiculous.

Weekends are also the only time you'll find a decent game at GVC. Even on Friday or Sat, you'll want to scope out tables because some of the daily regs & OMCs still hang around past dinner. Any weekday night you'll see the same OMCs & nit grinders. I've been on multiple nights where I thought it was seniors discount night. GVC is probably 80% miserable regs / OMCs at 1/3. The donkaments take away many of the casual players on weekends too.

Then there's the min buyers who repeatedly throw $100 to the dealer & will lose a couple hands to sit there with $50 for 2-3 hours waiting on AA/KK. One Friday night I tried table changing 3x to get away from these players but they were on every table so I called it early & went home. Only place worse is Aurora.

It's rare to see this kinda stuff at Rivers IME. The action is way better & the deeper buyin enables it. I hate the BTN straddle but I'll put up with that before sitting in horrible games in Elgin.

That's why I'm hoping Wind Creek can help even out the lists a bit from Rivers. Also hoping Aurora's makeover in a couple years will be worth the wait. I don't care about some rivalry but bottom line is, in my experience, the games suck 80%+ of the time at GVC. At Rivers, I have yet to sit in a bad game, that is, once you make it through the insane list.

Maybe I need to be playing 2/5 instead but there's never more than 2 tables even on weekends in Elgin & if you're not early (pre-dinner) I've seen guys at 1/3 wait 2-3 hours for a seat. For game quality, GVC just can't compete.

I've been told by everyone I've asked that Hammond isn't worth the hour drive & bridge toll so I've never checked it out. Debated checking out CCG for awhile but never did. Since the list at Rivers is insane & drive up 294 sucks plus games being reg/omc fests in Elgin, I'm just waiting for August to see how Wind Creek goes.

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God yes, the button straddling was annoying AF; I kept wanting to yell at them, 'why the hell are you encouraging the blinds to just fold'.
Why they do it is baffling, it's so bad for the game.

Rivers just has more games and if you time the 90 min bravo app, you're not really waiting long.

Also GVC is higher rake as well so losing money there. And its really like a 30min drive door to door from Rivers to GVC

Members of Rivers Casino Poker Room are a cut above those of GVC/Aurora/Horseshoe.

Every time I think of going, the wait list is 30 deep. Not happening

30 Deep is nothing. However, if you check in on Bravo 90 minutes in advance, that wait should be nearly zero.

I'm no expert and hate this too but always assumed it was a smart move from a player smarter than me. Glad to hear others agree.

No, I'll ask around. Weds I believe is the 25-25 PLO game, some serious gamblers involved there.

Other than the weekends what is the best day to play out here? Is there a particular weekday that's more busy than the others?

So a big deal supposedly happened at Rivers and not a single post about it. Well, what happened? Or is this just another poker urban legend.

Gaming board banned a bunch of players from the private plo game for selling chips to each other.

That’s wild if there isn’t more to it. I’m sure it’s technically against some terms and conditions some where but poker players using casino chips as currency amongst themselves is super common.

Illinois very strict with this