I forgot to write about my road trip to the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma.  It's supposed to have the best poker room in the area, and it's about 1 hour away so I thought I would check it out.  I wasn't expecting much, and that was what I got.

I guess having grown up in the Northeast (Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Atlantic City) and gone to Vegas once a year, I got accustomed to a certain type of casino: large and bright with a variety of restaurants and shops.  I just assumed the Winstar would be the same, since it looked like their entertainment line-up was about as good as Foxwoods or Atlantic City.  I mean they have Yes & Styx and even Dylan!  And then I read that the Winstar was the THIRD LARGEST CASINO IN THE WORLD!  And it was designed by the same guy who did the Venetian, MGM Grand and Atlantis.  Oh boy!

But this was like the shackiest huge casino I've ever been in.  It kind of looked like a bad movie prop set, where there was a facade and an empty warehouse behind.

 

Apparently in Oklahoma, people don't believe in breathing clean air.  I really wish they saved some money on the "fancy exterior" and spent the money on a decent ventilation system.  The interior looks like a warehouse anyway - just run some extra ducting.  I made the mistake of taking the family.  So we couldn't stay long because the family has this survival instinct called "breathing."

We walked the length of the casino, but we didn't stay for a bunch of reasons.  I mentioned the breathing, but apparently not even the rednecks and hillbillies bring their kids.  So between us bringing our kids, being one of the few Asians in the building and Mrs. Fly looking like she doesn't shop at Lane Bryant (a store for fat chicks), everyone was staring at us.  But the final straw was ...  No free alcohol.  WTF?!?  Isn't Oklahoma supposed to be Injun country?  There's no liquor tax on an Indian reservation for crying out loud!  Aren't those guys getting plastered all the time because we took all their land and shoved them all in the most useless parts of the country?  (In before racist ban)

But the poker room looked decent.  We went on a weekday and they had TWO 5/10 games going.  And the TABLE VPIP was around 40%.  Yum.  I love sushi.  I'll take 3 orders of salmon, 2 yellowtail, and 2 toro please.  TY.  Overall, it looked like an okay place to play - breathing aside.  Breathing is a double whammy because a few of those guys kind of looked like the over under on time between their showers is about 7 days.  Mole people?

I think at some point, Mrs. Fly and I will try and do dinner and a show or something (not any time soon tho).  And if I ever get that itch to play live or play in a decent sized donkament, the facility is there.