Discover Unmatched Poker Action in Cincinnati's Heart: Hard Rock's Thriving Poker Room
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Another summer filled with weekend travel across North America has me frequently opening my Poker Atlas app to find tables within striking distance of my temporary home on the road. The Red Bull Flugtag was my recent weekend assignment in Cincinnati and I was pleased to find the Hard Rock Cincinnati stick out among the region’s poker opportunities. What first caught my eye was it’s location: Dead smack in the middle of downtown Cincinnati, the only casino existing within the city limits. The second positive sign was the number of tables, 30 in total and by far the largest in the area. Having found their tournament calendar offering games every day I was eager to go check out this room when I hit the Queen City.
I was able to get a few minutes with the Director of Poker Operations at the Hard Rock, Chris Herbert, to find out what their poker room was all about. “This poker room opened in 2013 as part of a different Casino management company”, noted Herbert. “The building was called ‘The Horseshoe Casino’ and our poker room had been a part of the WSOP event series. A few years later the casino changed management and become known as “Jacks” and it disconnected the relationship with the WSOP. Then in October of 2021 we rebranded into the Hard Rock, joining two other Hard Rock Casino’s that are in Tampa and Hollywood, Fl.”
Herbert’s career spans 10 years right here in this building through all the management transitions and he saw this latest change as an opportunity to reinvigorate the poker room. His poker management team established a standardized promotions calendar that was consistent, a move local players have responded to with a warm reception. Among them is a weekly high hand rollover promotion that makes for some big and juicy high hand rewards on Thursdays. In this case, high hands are in play Monday-Wednesday from 7:30 AM to 11:30 PM. Any high hands that do not hit during the 45 minute window during the early part of the week roll over to Thursdays promotions, and the high hand bonuses have gotten over $5000 at times.
For tournament players, the Hard Rock has plenty of choices, with a morning and an evening tournament every day being part of their normal calendar with buy-in’s ranging from $100-$200. For those looking for bigger tournament action, that have a $50,000 tournament the first Saturday of every month with a $400 buy-in which usually draws around 300 players. Another popular tournament is the Black Chip Bounty tournament second Friday of every month with a $300 buy-in. And of the 3rd Monday of each month they host a Seniors tournament with a $300 buy-in and a $25,000.
In addition to this fantastic daily and monthly tournament schedule, the Hard Rock is proud to have reconnected with the WSOP and will be welcoming the WSOP Chris Moneymaker Tour in the later part of September. “This is something we’re very excited to have coming to our room,” Herbert went on to say. “Over the two week window of this Tour Stop we’ll offer 18 different tournament events, ranging from single day events to multi flight events as well. Chris Moneymaker will be arriving September 26 and will be playing several of these events.” They are anticipating drawing not only the Cincinnati poker faithful but will also have a strong participation from players from several neighboring states as well.
Here is the link for the full MoneyMaker Tour Schedule.
It’s always a crap shoot on what you’ll find when using the Poker Atlas app, but with a brand name like Hard Rock, my expectations were higher than average and I’m happy to report the poker room delivered on al fronts. It fills the designated poker space quite well, with a great floor layout, exceptional volume and cleanliness to the room and plenty of video screens to keep you occupied when you have to fold rags and wait for your next winning hand. The players were friendly and familiar with one another, giving it a sense of community. Without a doubt, a top visit in recent memory and a highly encourage any player near Cincinnati to stop and play the Hard Rock.
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Article by: Jeff JB Barton
Editor: Anthony Eatahoagie Cicali
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