LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Driving north on I-65 from Nashville into Louisville,
there’s a large billboard on the right side of the highway with the words
”Seize the Day.”
The billboard isn’t touting a self-help process, a spa or a Churchill Downs
horse race. It’s an advertisement for Caesar’s Indiana casino, located 20
minutes from Louisville, and the photo on the billboard depicts a smiling
elderly couple amidst slot machines.
If tugging on slot machine arms is a preferred means of carpe diem, there are
several options for Nashville day-trippers. But while the slots remain by far
the biggest money-maker for area casinos in Tunica, Miss., Metropolis, Ill.,
Evansville, Ind. and at Caesar’s near Louisville, the Caesar’s folks have also
erected billboards proclaiming their possession of ”The Midwest’s Premiere
Poker Room.”
Now, that’s not exactly like boasting ”Maine’s Best Lobster” or
”Nashville’s Best Guitar Player,” but the Caesar’s room is actually quite
impressive. And quite popular. Thanks in large part to the television exposure
afforded the World Series of Poker tournament (gamers abbreviate it ”WSOP”),
poker rooms are big business. Players compete against other players, in real
time, for real money.
”In seven years, we’ve gone from having five tables to having 33,” said
Billy Marshall, manager of Caesar’s poker room. ”We’ve expanded twice in the
past year.”
The Caesar’s poker room, located on a docked boat on the Ohio River just
southwest of Louisville, features plasma-screen televisions, a deli, restrooms
and a cashier. Sepia-tone photos of World Series of Poker champs, including
Tennessee’s Chris Moneymaker. line the walls.
”I went to Vegas in June to see their rooms,” Marshall said. ”I’m quite
happy with the product we have here.”
Marshall draws regular customers from Nashville, East Tennessee, Indiana,
Ohio and Kentucky. One of the semi-regulars is 28-year-old Mike Scarborough of
Cincinnati. Inspired by the no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournaments he saw on
television, Scarborough decided to go pro.
”I worked at a restaurant, but now I haven’t worked in three months,” he
said. ”It started real well, then I hit a couple of tough weeks. If you want to
play professional, you really need a year’s stake.”
Scarborough frequently plays online, where there are, he said, ”Lots of
fish. ‘Fish’ are easy players. There are still fish here at Caesar’s, but less
of them. On weekends, they’re all over the place. I make tons of money on
weekends.”
Caesar’s Wednesday night tournaments draw hundreds of players, many of whom
are looking to parlay local successes into career moves.
”When Moneymaker won in 2002, he bought into a local tournament for $39 and
moved up from there,” Marshall said. ”He’s a millionaire now. Because of that,
the sport has become something people feel they can make a living at. They have
big aspirations.”
Caesar’s is far from the only poker room within driving distance of
Nashville. Harrah’s Metropolis has a room that opened in 2005, Casino Aztar has
poker tournaments six days a week, and most of the Tunica casinos also offer
poker rooms. In 2007, the Argosy Casino near Cincinnati is scheduled to open a
40-table room.
Nashvillians may wish to consider factors beyond the size of the poker room
when deciding where to head for gambling. For players who mix blackjack action
and top-draw entertainment with poker proclivities, many of the Tunica casinos
provide finer facilities than can be found in Illinois or Indiana.
For players who’d like to stay near a city with grand entertainment
possibilities, Caesar’s location near Louisville allows gamblers to venture out
for a nice meal or to check out the Louisville Slugger factory or Churchill
Downs. Harrah’s in Metropolis is right across the river from the charming little
town of Paducah, Ky., which is a surprisingly interesting place to stay on any
day except Sundays, when local blue laws are the cause of most downtown
restaurants (the ones that serve alcohol) shutting down for the day.
But if poker is the only draw, it’s hard to beat Caesar’s. Robert Tate, 77,
of Jeffersonville, Ind., is there every day, though he avoids the no-limit
games.
”Slow and steady play, that’s how you make it,” Tate said. ”Unless you’re
at a table with those young kids who decided they’d get into poker after
watching a game on TV. We call ‘em three-week experts. I love it when those guys
show up.”
By PETER COOPER
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