POKER KICKS ON ROUTE 66
Sometimes, the call of the road overwhelms me. This time I was called by America’s most famous road, Route 66. It runs from Chicago, Illinois to the Santa Monica Pier near Los Angeles, and was the first major paved road to the West Coast, built in 1926. I heard and heeded the call of this road in August of 2026, the centennial year of its construction. I travelled specifically to the section of Route 66 that runs from St. Louis to Chicago. The call of Route 66 alone might not have been sufficient to get my attention. But, as it happened, this strip of American motoring history is also rich in poker rooms, both legal and illegal. A road trip would be a great way to play some poker in the Midwest.
My brother, daughter, and granddaughter joined me on what turned out to be a delightful week of driving and sightseeing. The poker, I played on my lonesome.
Poker in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is perhaps best known for its Gateway Arch (pictured above), that towering, 630-foot tall golden arch that symbolizes the beginning of the American West. It was built in 1965, and attracts over 4 million tourists a year.
St. Louis is much more than the home of the Gateway Arch, of course. It is a vibrant city on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, settled largely by German immigrants in the 19th century. It retains much of that central European quality of thrift, hard work, and industriousness. It has three public poker rooms: The Ameristar, Hollywood St. Louis, and the Horseshoe.
Here’s a summary of the three major poker rooms in the area.
Hollywood Casino Saint Louis
This is the busiest of the St. Louis rooms, with 15 tables going at 10:30PM on a Saturday. They had a healthy mix of $1/2 and $2/3 no limit, a $1/2/5 PLO game, and a few tables left from the 6PM tournament. They spread their games 9-handed, with a $5 maximum rake, plus $1 for promotions. They also have a $4/8 with a ½ kill limit hold’em game that runs on Wednesdays. If I were a resident of the area, I’d play here regularly.
The room is open from 8AM until “the last game breaks”.
Address: 777 Casino Center Dr., St. Louis, MO
Website: www.hollywoodcasinostlouis.com
Phone: (314) 770-8100
Ameristar Casino
This is the second-busiest of the St. Louis rooms. It’s a full service casino with an excellent poker room. They had three tables going in on a Saturday morning, five by the afternoon, and seven on Saturday night, spreading $1/2 no limit. They get the occasional limit hold’em and Omaha games as well. There’s a $4 maximum rake, the lowest rake among the three rooms in the area. I enjoyed playing here, though the players seemed slightly tighter and more serious than at either of the other two rooms (especially the Horseshoe).
The room is open from 8AM until “the last game breaks”.
Address: One Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, MO
Website: https://ameristarstcharles.boydgaming.com/play/poker-room
Phone: (636) 949-7777
Horseshoe St. Louis
I checked them out on a Monday night. They had $1/2/5 PLO going and a couple of games of $1/3 NLH as well. There were a few wild and crazy players. I’d come here regularly for the action.
Players earn $2 an hour in comps. Rake is 10% up to $5 plus $1 for promos. Tournaments have been postponed.
This is the only room that is in downtown St. Louis, right by the Mississippi River. The other rooms are about 30-40 minutes west of the city. Though it is generally less busy than either of the other two rooms, with roughly half of the active tables going when I checked, it has a reputation among the regular players in the area for having the best poker action. The room is open from 8AM-5AM during the week, 24 hours weekends.
Address: 999 N. 2nd Street, St. Louis, MO
Website: https://www.caesars.com/horseshoe-st-louis
Phone: (314) 881-7569
Poker in Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois, a city of roughly 100,000, is the state capital. It’s located about 90 minutes north of St. Louis. You can take Route 66 the whole way, though Interstate 55 is considerably faster, if less interesting. As you enter Springfield, Route 66 shows its stuff, with many signs and buildings celebrating its historic role as a major highway. There are many street signs and banners announcing its 2026 centennial.
I stayed at the Route 66 hotel and Conference Center, itself a museum of sorts for route 66 buffs, with old autos, dozens of historic photos, models, and signs from the Mother Road. It has an enormous, building-spanning, Route 66-themed mural on the back side of the building (pictured below). The rate was reasonable, the food in its restaurant tasty, the bed comfortable, and the room clean. It was no luxury inn, to be sure, but it was the perfect place for my journey. All it was missing was a card room!
Curiously, though, Illinois has slot machines everywhere you look, poker clubs are illegal, and must retreat underground and away from the prying eyes of the local constabulary. Nevertheless, my brother Lee chatted up a couple of guys who were smoking and drinking beer in the back patio of my hotel. They told him about a few private games in the area. They knew a guy who called a guy who texted me and invited me to a poker game the next day.
The underground poker room (whose name and location I have sworn not to publicly disclose) was great, with six tables, friendly players, regular tournaments, and a $1/3 cash game. There was a rake, to be sure, but they provided a full spread of food and beverages to all players. I’d tell the world about my great discovery, but I was told to keep it on the downlow. All I can say is that the game was somewhere in central Illinois. Ask around and I’m sure you can find someone who knows someone who can invite you!
Driving further up route 66, I stopped in Lincoln, Dwight and Bloomington. All three are historic, celebrating Illinois’ favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. There are museums to explore, murals to see, and even a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed bank in Dwight to tour. Though there are no full-time poker rooms in any of these Route 66 towns, Dwight has occasional pub league poker, while Bloomington has both charity and pub poker games.
Bloomington, Illinois Poker
You can find the latest location for free tournament “pub poker” games through Smok’n Aces Poker. They regularly host games at The Station Saloon and Windjammer Lounge. Find the occasional cash game at Central Illinois Charitable Games. They occasionally host cash games at the Bloomington Moose Lodge #745.
Poker in Chicago
The end of Route 66 (or the beginning, depending on your perspective) is Chicago. A major tourist destination, with professional sports of every type, many museums, a beautiful and eminently strollable lakefront, skyscrapers, great food and neighborhoods, and a decent mass transit system, the Windy City is a can’t miss destination! Chicagoland, as the Metro Chicago area is known, has four major casino poker rooms that I’ve listed and commented on below.
Horseshoe Hammond
This was the major player in the area, back before Illinois had casinos. Chicago players would slip over the border to nearby Hammond, Indiana to play their favorite game. That’s changed, of course, with legislation passed in 2019 that allowed full-scale casino development in Chicago and the rest of Illinois. The Horseshoe Hammond still has a few games, typically NLHE and PLO; and they still host major tournaments. I enjoy the open room, high ceilings, and the attentive staff. There was one game going on a Saturday morning and three later that night. Even so, it has lost some of its luster to the much larger and busier Chicago poker rooms, Wind Creek and Rivers, that have opened in the past few years.
Website: https://www.caesars.com/horseshoe-hammond
Phone: (219) 473-6065
Wind Creek Chicago
This is a poker room with significant action, located 30 miles south of the Loop in Chicago, right off route 80. They are a busy room with six tables of PLO and NLH going on a Sunday night. Monthly tournaments. Open 10AM to 4AM.
Website: https://windcreek.com/chicagosouthland/casino/poker
Phone: 708-787-8877 extension 31304
Rivers Casino Des Plains
This is, by far, the busiest poker room in Chicagoland. It’s a little less than 20 miles northwest of the city, right next to O’Hare airport. It boasted 21 live games on a Sunday night, including 14 $1/2 NLHE, three $2/5 NLHE, two $5/5 NLHE, and two $1/2 PLO games. There were four games (two $1/2 PLO and two NLH) still going strong on a Monday morning at 6:30 AM. They also have daily tournaments. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you were to pick one room to play in, I’d suggest getting off your flight, taking a short cab ride, and playing here.
Website: https://www.riverscasino.com/desplaines/casino
Phone: 847-795-0777
Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin
This is a great poker room, though not as busy as the Rivers. It’s home to WSOP circuit events. They’re part of the Caesars chain of casinos, with their all of their many tiered-benefits. It’s a little less than an hour to the northwest of Chicago, and had seven tables in action on a Saturday night. They have daily tournaments that attract a crowd. I visited here on two occasions and found the room to attract many good and serious players. It is well-run, as are most Caesars properties; and they make the players comfortable with attention, free soft drinks, and (for the rated players) a nice lounge.
Website: https://www.caesars.com/grand-victoria-casino
Phone: 847-531-7753
Windy City Poker
Windy City operates charity poker events in bars and restaurants on the south city of the Chicago metro area – in Mokena and Homewood and surrounding towns. When I spoke to them they were in the middle of a boisterous 5-table tournament at the 19th Hole in Wokena. I mention them here, even though they are not located in a free-standing casino. In fact, that is their charm.
They are a tournament room, having given up on running cash games because of all of the intense competition from the big poker rooms in the area. They attract casual, fun-loving poker players – those folks out to have a good time with their friends. It’s largely what poker used to be, before televised tournaments, solvers, poker books, and strategy sites on the internet. Players in these games typically drink beer, not Red Bull. If you’re looking to go out and have fun around the poker table, without too careful an eye on your bottom line (as they have to give a huge percentage to a daily charity), I recommend Windy City Poker to you. They will have at least a couple of tournaments with real cash prizes every Saturday and Sunday.
Website: https://windycity.poker
Phone: 708-506-2677
Chicago Charity Poker
Chicago Charity Poker operates charity poker games throughout Chicagoland, including those that sit right on historic Route 66, chiefly in the southern and southwestern suburbs, including such places as: Lombard, Oaklawn, Ridgeview, Warrenville, Tinley Park, Burr Ridge and Willowbrook.
They have a pop-up model, returning to each venue no more than once a month. They are known for having modestly raked no limit hold’em and pot limit Omaha cash games (10% up to $5) and low buy-in tournaments, including the “longest offered” $20 tournament around. They are open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and two Wednesday and Thursdays a month. You can visit their website or call their phone to find out exactly where and when their games are being offered.
Website: https://Ccgpoker.com
Phone: 630-901-9797
Poker in the Midwest: Summary
I enjoyed my trip to play poker in the Midwest. I had my fill of local eats, and had my kicks on Route 66, from St. Louis to Chicago. There’s plenty of poker action in each of the cities and along the way to keep even the most serious player engaged. There’s also a large dose of Americana and diet-busting eating to keep you and any companions entertained in between poker games.
