Hollywood, Horseshoe look to add poker tables

Dominick Pondant (left) of Marshall, Texas, and David Powers of Bossier City react after Powers won a hand during a World Poker Tour Satellite game Monday afternoon at Hollywood Casino in Shreveport. (Jim Hudelson/The Times)

To play

To brush up on poker with other casino players, visit Hollywood's existing poker room on the third floor of the casino. There's usually a waiting list, so many experts call ahead to (318) 220-0711 and request to be placed on the list. The casino will hold a name for three hours. Tournaments are on Monday and Tuesday nights, and there's a high-stakes table (think $5,000 to $10,000 on the table at one time) on Wednesday nights.

By Cristina Rodriguez
crodriguez@gannett.com

Since the game has been everywhere on TV, players have been begging for poker.

And two local casinos are looking to cash in on the trend. Both Hollywood and Horseshoe casinos are up before the Louisiana Gaming Control Board today to get permission to add tables. Hollywood, the only casino in town with a poker room, wants to expand from 10 to 15 tables. Horseshoe, which had a poker room from 1998 to 2000, wants to rebuild it on the first floor with 11 tables.

Both expect to finish the changes by the end of March.

"We've been thinking about it since the end of the year," said Ian Cairns, director of table games at Hollywood. "It's been very successful, and the demand has been extremely high."

There were similar thoughts over at Harrah's Horseshoe, especially because former owner Jack Binion started the World Poker Tour at the Las Vegas Horseshoe back in 1970.

"The Binion legend of poker, that's just huge," said Erika Roberts, Harrah's director of regional communications. "With that and our guests asking about poker and the popularity of the game right now, it's just so amazingly popular. It's on all the stations."

There's a catch, though. It's harder for a casino to make money off the game because the players are up against each other, not the house.

So the strategy of poker rooms is to lure players into the casino.

"Players good at poker also like to play games like craps and blackjack," said David Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "If they win $3,000 on poker and lost $1,000 on craps, they still feel like they're ahead. ... And if somebody's spouse plays slot machines, those are really profitable."

Poker's popularity surged in 2003, though it started being televised a year before that, he said. Schwartz said he's seen that when poker rooms start popping up in gaming centers like Shreveport, other casinos may follow suit.

James Billeaud of New Orleans, who was playing at Hollywood's packed poker tables Monday afternoon, said regular players have been talking about Hollywood's and Horseshoe's plans to expand for a few weeks. Everyone's excited, he said.

"Hopefully it'll change things around here," he said.

Billeaud visits Shreveport about once a month or more, usually for the poker tournaments on Monday and Tuesday nights. But he says the Harrah's Casino in New Orleans does a better job of giving comps -- complimentary hotel rooms and meals -- to the poker players. He's been driving to Shreveport for about five years so that his strategy doesn't go stale in New Orleans, he said.

Some of the details about the added poker rooms are up in the air right now, officials said.

Hollywood, so far, knows that it wants to move the poker tables on the opposite side of the third floor. It also plans to add a counter where players can buy food.

Horseshoe plans to build on the first floor and offer three types of poker: Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha and Stud. Hollywood offers just Texas Hold 'Em at the moment.