Seven Luck Casino Poker Room
7Luck Seoul Gangnam Poker Room Overview Part of Seven Luck Casino Seoul Gangnam. The 7Luck Seoul Gangnam Poker Room has 4 live tables open 24/7 spreading NL Texas Hold 'Em. Usual fare is 1-2, 2-5, 5-10, and 10-20 games. (In thousand Wons) The current Bad Beat promotions offer the winning and losing hand 2.6 million Won with 3 million more in promotion chips. 7-Luck Casino in Seoul contact details. Address: Seven Luck Casino, Convention Annex Building, 159, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea (135-799).
- Our 14 table non-smoking poker room offers a variation of games and limits. Daily promotions, table side dining, and a friendly staff, are just a few of the amenities you can expect. Visit our page, tgtpoker.com, to learn more about us and where we are located in Tampa, Florida.
- Lucky 7 Casino Poker Room Overview Part of Lucky 7 Casino & Hotel. Lucky 7 Casino's poker room accommodates both experienced and beginners to the game. The non-smoking room has three large-screen TVs that are tuned to current sporting events, a progressive Bad Beat jackpot, and a Monte Carlo board.
On a recent trip to Seoul, South Korea, I was able to play poker in each of the two casinos in Seoul that offer the game — the Seven Luck Casino and the Paradise Casino, Walkerhill, also called the Walkerhill Casino. After reviewing the poker room at the Seven Luck last week, today I’m sharing a review of the Walkerhill casino poker room for those traveling to Seoul.
Introducing the Paradise Casino, Walkerhill
The Paradise Casino, Walkerhill is part of the Sheraton Grande Hotel, a luxury facility with spa, health club, eight restaurants, a shopping mall, and 583 rooms spread over 17 floors. It’s located about five miles northeast of the heart of downtown atop Walkerhill, overlooking the mighty Han River in the eastern end of Seoul.
The building, visible from many miles around, is topped with glittering silver-colored frosting that glistens as you gaze up at it from the Gwangnaru subway station located at the bottom of the hill, about a mile away.
This casino’s luxurious shopping area (duty-free I was told) had all sorts of name-brand clothing, watches, bags, jewelry, and other accessories. As I walked around, buses arrived, dropping off well-heeled patrons. I don’t know if they all made their way to the casino, but I was encouraged to think that it was likely that there would be a regular flow of tourists into the gaming area.
Live Casino Poker Room
Poker at the Walkerhill
Rivers Casino Poker Room
On the Saturday afternoon that I visited the poker room in the Walkerhill, there were two tables of $1/$2 no-limit hold’em going and they started a third within 30 minutes of my arrival. By the way, with currency I am using a rough conversion here. The actual game is in Won, of course (this being Korea), and the game was structured 1,000/2,000 Won. With the Won’s recent slide, there is about 1,200 Won to the US dollar (making the game the more-cumbersome-to-report $0.83/$1.66).
For the $1/$2 game, you’ll find a $100 minimum and a $1,000 maximum buy-in. My table was the more deeply-stacked of the two that I sized up before taking a seat, with four of the players having between $700 and $1,000, a few having around $300, and a couple having stacks of roughly $100. The other table, and then the third table, had stacks averaging around $300.
I spent about four hours in the room both playing at my table and then, between hands, wandering over to the other two tables to get a sense of what their play was like. Generally speaking, the play was relatively sedate. Of course, my sample size was relatively small — just three tables on a Saturday afternoon — but even so, I witnessed no play that I would consider particularly wild or maniacal.
Seven Luck Casino Poker Rooms
Players seemed mostly tight and timid, as they were at the Seven Luck Casino. Hands were generally not three-bet preflop. Large raises tended to be respected. Stack shoving seemed minimal to me. In short, it seemed a pretty relaxed place to play poker.
The rake was the same as it was at the other Seoul casino — 10% with a $15 maximum. Here, however, there was a $2 bad beat drop as well, making the full takeout as high as $17 on large pots. They also offered $1 an hour in comps.
Food is free for players at the Walkerhill, with the same arrangement I had seen at the Seven Luck. There’s a small restaurant with an automated menu on the outside. Players order electronically, are seated, and their orders are brought to them at no charge.
But there’s a restriction at the Walkerhill I did not notice at the other poker room, what I can best describe as a “Third Man Eating” rule which dictated that only two players could be away from the table eating at any one time. There is a waiting list kept, allowing players access to food only when the second player returns to play. There is no eating at the table, and non-alcoholic beverages are served free to seated players.
I did not sample the food (I was on the waiting-to-eat list, but never called). Players described it as “decent,” “pretty good,” and “better than average.” The fact that there were five or six names of players ahead of me on the list is a fair testament to the popularity of the food.
More from the Tables
As is the case in all casinos in Korea, access is forbidden to those without a foreign passport and those under 19 years of age. I met Germans, Russians, Chinese, Americans, and Brits during my visit to the Paradise, Walkerhill. The poker language at the table was English, though players also conversed in languages I did not understand.
In spite of the high rake (or maybe because of it), the environment for playing poker is otherwise pleasant. The cards are Kems. The playing felts are firm, the chairs are comfortable, the lighting is good, and the dealers are competent. Also, the room’s management is helpful, friendly, and multi-lingual.
Just like the Seven Luck Casino, the Walkerhill also offers the same helpful option when exchanging money into and out of Won. You’re permitted to change back into your native currency all of the Won that you initially purchased (at the same rate).
Maryland Live Casino Poker Room
The casino has a full supply of other gambling games including roulette, blackjack, baccarat, three-card poker, Tai Sai, and slots. Though the three poker tables were full when I left early on a Saturday evening, the other gaming tables were largely ignored.
Getting to and from the Walkerhill
The Paradise Casino, Walkerhill is located at 177, Walkerhill-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-708 South Korea. Games last all night and into the following morning, I was told. So if you go and stay late, be aware that the Seoul subway system, though extensive, safe, and extremely convenient, stops running between a little after midnight and stays shut down until about 6:00 a.m.
Though the poker room will transport you the casino Sunday through Monday, they will not give you a free ride back to your hotel. Cab rides to the heart of the city will run you about $40 (but no tipping in Korea!).
The casino runs a convenient shuttle bus to and from the subway to the casino. You can also walk the mile from the subway to the casino, though it’s all uphill, making it tough on a cold day or if you’re not in shape.
Conclusion
Overall, the Paradise Casino, Walkerhill is the nicer of the two poker rooms in Seoul, with more games, a luxurious hotel, and extensive shopping and other amenities available. There’s also a greater likelihood that you’ll be able actually to get a seat fairly quickly when you arrive.
Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold’em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.
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At long last, The Orleans poker room is back to being open around the clock, as of Friday, October 9. For the first time since the pre-coronavirus days, you can play cards at the off-Strip property at any time of day.
The Orleans boasts one of the top and largest poker rooms in Las Vegas. With 35 card tables, the card room has a game for just about anyone — at least if you’re a low to mid stakes player. Most games spread in this often packed poker room are low stakes. Occasionally you’ll find some $5-$10 and above games as well.
Mark your calendars poker players! 📆
We are going ALL-IN at The Orleans Poker Room with operations moving back to 24 hours a day starting this Friday, October 9! We will open at 8am on Friday morning then be open around the clock going forward. pic.twitter.com/76BaqjxiA2
— orleanscasino (@orleanscasino) October 6, 2020
Another draw to the casino for poker players is that it’s located away from the Strip, but not too far . The Orleans is about one mile west of the Strip. Some players who don’t want to deal with the hassle of the crowded Strip enjoy playing at more removed casinos like Orleans.
You won’t just find cash games at The Orleans. There are two daily tournaments beginning at 11 am ($100 buy-in) and 7 pm ($150 buy-in). On Friday nights, the 7 pm tournament costs $130 to enter and has long been one of the most popular weekly tournaments in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas poker is rebounding nicely
In mid-March, every casino in Las Vegas was forced to close down until June 4. That led many to believe the live poker scene in Sin City was dead. That didn’t turn out to be the case.
During that reopening weekend, only four poker rooms returned to action, one was The Orleans. But that number has grown drastically over the past few months and is now up to 18 open poker rooms. There are still 13 closed card rooms in town, but the live poker scene has rebounded despite the global health pandemic that doesn’t seem to want to go away.
The Orleans initially reopened on June 4 with restrictions set at four-handed play. But the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) has since permitted the card room to spread seven-handed games. Face masks are required during play. That goes for every Las Vegas poker room.
One drawback for non-smokers is that The Orleans poker room is rather smoky. So, if you prefer playing in a card room that doesn’t have a strong stench of cigarette smoke, there are many other options. That includes Aria, Bellagio, Venetian, and Wynn, all Strip properties considered among the best poker rooms in the world, and not just Las Vegas.
If you’re trying to avoid the craziness of the Strip and a heavy cigarette stench (smoking is banned in every poker room but often lingers throughout the casino), Red Rock Resort in Summerlin has a lively poker room that’s mostly enclosed.
Featured image source: Flickr