Par-A-Dice Casino Poker Room; East Peoria, Illinois

Every afternoon and evening you can catch a game of live Texas Hold'em poker at the Par-A-Dice casino in East Peoria, Illinois. There are five poker tables on the 4th deck of the riverboat casino. Rake is taken from every hand up to four dollars and most commonly only $1-2 no limit is played except for weekends when there is enough demand for a $2-5 game.

No-Limit Table Games
Buy-in for $1-2 ranges from $50-200, but I would not suggest buying in for less than $100 unless you are a short stack king. There are waitresses that usually run pretty slow, and most domestic drafts cost $2. The action is pretty solid unless you run into a table full of regulars who are grinding it out. Buy-in at the $2-5 table is from $100-500, and often the action is very good with several over-aggressive players. I have seen several players walk away with $3000, which is a solid nights work. At the $1-2 with solid play you should double up in the first several hours of play if not sooner. The poker room closes around 5 a.m., and usually is open by 10:00 am.

Tournaments
Every Sunday morning there is an 11 am tournament that fills up quickly. Registration starts at 9, and you should be there around 10 or earlier to secure a seat into the field of 40. Buy in is $100 + 15 (15 to the house). Only top three or four are paid out but chops happen almost every week, so more than three usually get paid out. Tournaments also happen the first and last Monday of every month at 7:00 PM, and the buy-in is the same. Be prepared to go all-in often if you plan to keep pace in these tournaments.

Tips to New Players at Par-A-Dice:
21: Have to be 21 to get in and to play.
Call Ahead: Always call ahead, wait to get a seat is often a half an hour or longer, if you call 30 minutes ahead of time you are usually good to go by the time you get there. 309-699-7711
Headphones: If you wear headphones, take them off when you are in a hand, many of the players and dealers get upset when a player in a given hand cannot hear them yelling that another player announced that they are all-in.
Tip Dealers: Dealers split tips, but for a pot over $20, you usually want to tip $1.
Thermostat: The room has possibly the worlds worst thermostat and you will be both very hot and very cold every 30 minutes or so, so dress accordingly.
Other Notes: All standard rules apply, no bad beat jackpots because of Illinois State Law. The poker room is trying to get approval to have pot-limit Omaha games but have not been approved as of yet.