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The casino is attached to a newly built 116-room hotel and is located in the beautiful and quiet area of Port Perry. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 solely because the poker room doesn't have it's own private dedicated space and is kind of on the gaming floor. We prefer the atmosphere of a poker room tucked away from the action of table games and slots.
10 Tables
Open 12pm until 4am
1/2 NL and 2/5 NL run regularly.
A 20/40 Omaha game with a half-kill runs seldom on the weekend.
Despite other reviews you may find online, these days the wait time to get a seat is negligible. If you call ahead, you'll likely be able to walk right onto a table.
Although there is a few competent regulars in the room, the games are populated with many big gamblers. I find the games in this room to be the most aggressive and play for the biggest average pot sizes of any of the rooms in Ontario. Expect high variance and big bets. Don't be surprised to see poker players playing $500 baccarat hands in between poker hands, as the room is right beside the pit and as I said is populated with gamblers.
There are no tournaments currently being offered, unfortunately.
They used to hold popular monthly $500 tournaments that I've played in the past.
It is probably the most fun poker game to play in the province and I'd give them 5 stars here for it once they resume a Tournament schedule.
10% up to $15
Like some of the other rooms reviewed on this site, the Great Blue Heron decided to sharply increase the poker rake after resuming operations from the Covid shutdown. We feel this is a short-sighted mistake as it takes too much off the table, ruining the economy of the game and having players bust too fast, not getting enough play for the money. The games almost unplayable for a serious player, which might be what they are going for. When you see a rake this high, compared to the $6 you'll get in Vegas or some other reasonable gambling location, you have to wonder if this suggests that they are trying to discourage serious players and basically looking to just rinse the gamblers. We feel rake this high is extreme and that the low stake game should be avoided. You can still earn at 2/5 with a good win-rate but this level of gouging makes playing at a room with lower rake or online where you can multi-table a far better option for any serious grinder.
The dealers are great and the floor staff is competent. The casino is well-run but at times understaffed. You can encounter situations where there is no cashier or the cashier is on break and you have to buy poker chips from a pit table. You can't buy chips from the dealer at the table and they don't have someone running chips, so what results is players selling chips to each other at the table (chips they had off the table). While the staff they do have is quality staff, they don't have enough of them, so they only get 3 stars here. If they got some chip runners and someone to fill in for their cashier on break and basic stuff like that than I could give this a better rating.
In summary, we have mixed feelings about this place. While I really enjoy the property and area and the games are super fun to play, the rake is too high. Charging the same amount as Playground without giving me free meals just isn't going to cut it. If you want a nice staycation in Ontario, I do recommend the property and for a poker player to check out the fun action in the 2/5 games but stay away from the 1/2 with that rake and if you're a serious grinder there is better options in Ontario.
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