Twin River Casino Poker Room Review
Re: Twin River Casino (Lincoln, RI) For those curious, $5/$10 is alive again at Twin River. Last night the table got full around 730ish or so, and remained 10handed past midnight I believe. Twin River Casino Poker Room Review STJ 4012, Malta and by EveryMatrix N.V., a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Curacao, bearing company registration number 108354 and having its registered address at Dr. Hugenholtzweg Z/N, Curacao.
Twin River is a fairly small casino located in Lincoln, Rhode Island just outside of Providence. They are somewhat of a hybrid between a resort-casino and a racino, though they do not offer a hotel or any amenities. The venue started out in the 1940’s as “Lincoln Raceway” which strictly offered thoroughbred and greyhound racing. Since that time they have underwent several ownership/management changes, and it wasn’t until 1992 when they expanded their gaming options to feature slot machines. It is worth noting that the age to gamble here, like most Rhode Island casinos, is just 18 years old.
In 2013 Twin River started to expand its gambling options and began offering table games. This was in part due to nearby competition from places like Foxwoods, Mohegan and other resort casinos which opened up in neighboring states like Connecticut. On a side note, and probably irrelevant – but I found it entertaining; Unlike come other casinos which often picture big 6-figure winners, Twin Rivers does a pretty poor job of this, with their biggest winner holding a $2,500 check: http://www.twinriver.com/winner-photos/.
Casino at Twin River Casino
[table “” not found /]The casino at Twin River offers both smoke-free and smoking floors, with the 1st floor allowing smoking and the second floor not allowing it. The casino as a whole currently has 108 table games and more than 4,200 virtual games like slots, virtual blackjack, video poker etc. Since they now offer live blackjack, I’m not sure why you would want to play it on a machine, but you do have the option. The slots available here include all the popular games like Buffalo, Quick Hit, Wheel of Fortune, Top Dollar and other casino favorites.
In their smoke-free second floor section, they have about 28 table games and 800 slots. This means that a large majority of the games offered at Twin River are located within the smoking area. The table games offered here include all the usual suspects like blackjack, Baccarat, Pai Gow, Roulette, Let it Ride, Craps, Three Card Poker and the likes.
They also have an all new Poker Room, though I have never been there. The Poker Room apparently has a total of 16 tables which offer a mix of 7-card stud and Texas Hold’Em (both limit and no limit). The last time I visited Twin River was probably in 2014, and from what I remember it was not very impressive. The casino seemed to be pretty depressing overall, and was also very smoky. Their virtual machines do not utilize RNG’s but rather use a video lottery terminal system, which is different from other popular gambling destinations like Vegas or AC.
Racebook at Twin River
The Twin River Casino offers a fairly large racebook which is now smoke-free. They offer free Greyhound and Harness Racing Programs, which can be a plus if you are a racing enthusiast. There are plenty of seats here, as well as a number of televisions with live simulcasts, so you are usually able to find a seat and watch the races you bet on. Though they had offered live greyhound racing for several decades, in the end it became to costly to operate (draining them of over $10 million per year). In 2010 they ceased hosting the live greyhound races, but you are still able to bet on similar races via the racebook which simulcasts events from other tracks. You can also bet on all types of horse races from around the world via the racebook.
Restaurants and Bars at Twin River
One of the benefits of visiting Twin River is it’s large offering of food options. Though not as substantial as some of the larger names in gaming, they do offer a nice selection and also employ two world renowned chefs. Their dining options range from an upscale steakhouse to several food courts as well as a few bars, pubs and lounges. Below is a full list of dining options you have at Twin River.
Restaurant Food
– Fred & Steve’s Steakhouse
– Wicked Good Bar & Grill
Fast Food
– Johnny Rockets
– Dunkin Donuts
– Sbarro
– KFC
– Taco Bell
– Subway
– Haagen-Daza
– Colonel’s Buffet
Bars & Lounges
– Lighthouse Bar
– Shipyard Pub
– Blackstone Cigar Bar
– Rhodehouse Live
As you can see from the list above, Twin River offers more in the way of fast food and national food-chains then they do gourmet or upscale food joints. They do offer one somewhat upscale steakhouse, which I guess is a plus and they have a nice selection of bars. If you have a Twin River Rewards Card, you should be able to use your points at most restaurants.
Twin River Rewards Program
Twin River does offer a player rewards program. The program is pretty standard when compared to others such as the Total Rewards program from Caesars. When you are signed up for the program, you will receive a card, which will allow you to acquire points when playing. Points can be used for free play, buying gifts at their store or for food. They will also mail/email you promotions and free play. The only downside is, the points/card is not applicable to any other casinos, so it must be used at Twin River.
Hotel at Twin River
Like many other racetrack casinos, Twin River does not currently have an on-site hotel or resort. This means if you are visiting you’ll either have to plan a day-trip or choose a hotel that’s nearby. Needless to say, you can’t get comped rooms and all that good stuff, though some local hotel’s will offer exclusive deals if you mention you’re staying at the casino.
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The build-up was tremendous. Way back in 1947, Lincoln Downs, a dog-racing track, opened in Lincoln, Rhode Island, then 30 years later was renamed Lincoln Greyhound Park. Eventually it became a slots-only casino, and poker players driving through Rhode Island to play our favorite game in Connecticut's Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun wanted to know when this more convenient spot might start spreading poker.
In 2007, Lincoln Park became the Twin River Casino, with a Class I gaming license that allowed table games and poker. We were disappointed once again, however, as Twin River would spread blackjack and offer roulette, craps, and other table games, but opted not to have poker.
But then, at the end of 2015, they finally opened a 16-table poker room. The excitement and buzz among New England poker players was intense.
Introducing the Twin River Casino
The Twin River Casino is a more convenient place for poker players located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and most of Rhode Island than are the two excellent, well established rooms in Connecticut. Twin River is just 10 minutes from Providence, 10 minutes from the nearest major airport, under an hour from all parts of Boston, and just a bit more than a half-hour drive from Worcester and Framingham.
But there’s a price to pay for this convenience, to be sure. I'd characterize the casino in general as a grade C establishment — surely not failing, but not competitive with the full-service casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Connecticut, California, and elsewhere with which many of us have become familiar.
Starting with entertainment, you don't tend to get the kinds of major acts that you get at major casinos like the two in Connecticut. Foxwoods, for example, regularly hosts popular acts like Jerry Seinfeld, Howie Mandel, Bob Dylan, and Lady Gaga, but you'll find no such lineup at the Twin River Event Center. There's also no hotel at Twin River, although one is apparently in the works.
Whereas the Connecticut casinos offer dozens of excellent dining options, including Italian, Chinese, BBQ, seafood, steak, and excellent buffets, Twin River has one just one fine dining establishment (a pretty good steakhouse), a couple of pubs, two fairly lame food courts, and a buffet that is regarded by many I spoke to as 'pretty awful.' The food court nearest the poker room on the second floor, has Sbarro (pizza, calzone, and other 'Italianesque' fast food), Johnny Rockets (a '50s-retro hamburger joint), and Dunkin' Donuts. That's it. The other food court has a fairly good Asian takeout place, but little else worth visiting.
Perhaps the greatest gastronomic deficiency is the lack of a breakfast place. Though there is Dunkin' Donuts with its limited breakfast options, it doesn't open until 9 a.m. So if you've been playing all night and want a full breakfast, or even some tiny breakfast nosh before then, you must go outside Twin River (where, in fact, there are a couple of really nice breakfast places about a 10-minute drive away). But in my book, that's not what I expect in a 24/7 casino operation.
And with no hotel there are no major conventions, and that means there are no major conventioneers gambling it up all night in the poker room.
Poker at the Twin River Casino
But let's not bury the lede here — the big news at Twin River is that now there is at least a poker room.
They constantly spread $1/$2 no-limit hold'em with a $300 maximum buy-in. They also have $2/$5 NL with a $500 maximum, and $5/$10 NL with a $1,000 max. These games all run nearly all the time, although you may not find the $5/$10 game going in the wee hours or early on a weekday.
I've played in each of them, about 50 percent of the time at $1/$2, 40 percent of the time at $2/$5, and even one session at $5/$10. For now, the $1/$2 games are pretty soft, as players new to a casino tend to populate these games. There seem to be a relatively lower percentage of winning regular casino poker players in this room, at least in the $1/$2 and $2/$5 games. There is a crowd of casino regulars in the $2/$5 game, but since there are often at least three tables of it during the busy periods, there is usually a soft version of this game to be found. It will be quite beatable for the serious player.
The room also regularly spreads a $3/$6 limit hold'em game, and even fairly often a $5/$10 or $10/$20 stud game made up of players who have migrated over from the Connecticut rooms. The limit hold'em is very soft, while the stud is a rock-fest most of the time. Note that the room never spreads any split-pot game. There is also no Omaha, and no stud hi-low, HOE, or OE.
Twin River Casino Poker Room Reviews
Though the games have pretty good, soft action most of the time, the room has a few persistent and annoying deficiencies. First, with just 16 tables, and with its convenient location and popularity, it is often nearly impossible to get on a table right away. Do not expect to get a seat without a 2-3 hour wait if you come after 10 a.m. on a Saturday or Sunday, or if you arrive Friday night. You might even find a long wait on a weekday night, or during the wee hours when they have failed to schedule a sufficient number of dealers.
Though the management team is welcoming and making a big effort to run the room, the dealers at Twin River are often inexperienced and sometimes completely inept. I have noticed numerous dealer mistakes, with regard to making change, setting the blinds, even dealing the correct player first. As recently as a couple of weeks ago I observed a couple of dealers defer to loud players on how to divide a pot into side pots, which should not happen. If the dealer can't figure out what's going on, he or she should call over the floor, not rely on the most confident-sounding player (who may well be wrong). But from what I've witnessed this room routinely allows players to bully the dealer into compliance — not a good thing.
This situation does seem to be improving, as the worst dealers have been let go. But they still have a long way to go before their dealers are consistently doing a good job.
Twin River Casino Poker Room Review
Additionally, the dealers and floor are often not up to the major task of controlling a crowd that frequently overwhelms the room. I've noticed players often jumping the line, sitting in open seats when dozens of players ahead of them on the electronic sign-in list are waiting to play. The floor doesn't do a good job of policing this, and protests of waiting players usually go unheeded.
The room is adequate for now, though. There are new decks, perfectly fine chips, nicely felted tables, moderately comfortable chairs, good lighting, a convenient bathroom, and adequate table-side beverage service (with awfully long waits thrown in now and then just like every other room I've ever been to).
The rake (i.e., the amount the house takes out of the pot every hand) is 10 percent up to a maximum of $5 instead of the $4 maximum charged at Foxwoods and Mohegan. It should also be noted that unlike at the Connecticut casinos, there is no bad beat jackpot and therefore no additional $1 bad beat jackpot drop at Twin River.
Conclusion
The tag line for the Twin River Casino appearing on signage and imprinted on all of their poker chips reads 'So Much. So Close!' I think that's only half-right. If it were currently accurate, it would read 'At Least It's Close!'
The room is definitely conveniently located for the myriad of players who come from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and northern New England. Unfortunately, the room is one notch or two below the options that are further away. You'll have to judge for yourself how much that shorter drive is worth to you.
The Twin River Resort is located at 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln, RI, 02865. Phone: (401) 723-3200; email: [email protected]
Photo: Twin River Casino.
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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