Poker Rooms To Open in West Virginia Racing Tracks This Week

Two poker rooms are scheduled to open at racing tracks in the state of West Virginia at the end of this week. (Bodog Beat Image)

In our last post we asked if you might be the kind of person that would pick a buy-in to the WSOP Circuit event in Indiana over a seat at, say, the EPT - Copenhagen event if you won a Bodog "Player's Choice" package. If you even hesitated, then we have got some great news for you. The first poker rooms in West Virginia are scheduled to open this week at the Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center in Wheeling and Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Weirton.

While the atmosphere won't be quite the same as Las Vegas, the two racetracks will sport poker rooms that will be almost as large as those in Vegas. Wheeling Island will have a 20-table poker room and Mountaineer will have 37 tables. At first the games will start as low as $2/$4 limit hold'em and $1/$2 no limit hold'em, with tournaments eventually starting once things get settled.

State lottery officials were on hand this past weekend to test out the new rooms, dealers, floor staff and other assorted poker-related issues at a $20 buy-in charity tournament. The staff of the poker rooms will be mostly locals and the influx of jobs has helped to bolster the local economies. The local community college even started offering poker dealer classes and the casinos promptly hired almost every single graduate of the course.

Eventually the racetracks will evolve into full casinos, offering blackjack, roulette, craps and other casino games. You never know, West Virginia could become the next "it" gaming destination.....or not.