I visited Meskwaki and Prairie Meadows casinos in July as both have made exciting changes in the recent months, so they were worth a trip to catch up with the poker room managers.
At Prairie Meadows, I got a tour of the new hotel that opened a few months ago.
There’s some interesting décor in this beautiful hotel, including a horse made of driftwood. While I didn’t have time to stay over, I will consider it next time. I found the poker room buzzing with activity on Saturday afternoon with several tables of no-limit hold’em and one limit game going. The dealers and staff were friendly and I think you’ll find this room worth the trip.
Meskwaki Bingo Casino has a new poker room manager, Joe Fernandez. He’s been with Meskwaki for several years and has some great perks lined up for players, including $1-per-hour comps, cheap rooms, food or gas discounts. While I was there on a Friday evening, there was buffet-style food in the poker room. It was good and healthier than I normally eat in a poker room. This is a regular Friday and Saturday perk to the players.
It’s clear Fernandez is going to be a proactive manager. When I was there, the room was ramping up for the return of the $300K guarantee Mid-States Poker Tour, which hadn’t concluded as of deadline.
The MSPT will return to Meskawaki at the end of October, and it will visit Iowa’s newest casino (Grand Falls in extreme northwest Iowa) on Aug. 11-19. This event will have a $100K guarantee.
NEW MANAGER AT HORSESHOE: Andrew Brock has taken over as poker room manager at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs. He’ll be hosting the Horseshoe Poker Classic this month (Aug. 21-27).
— Ken Warren is Ante Up’s Iowa Ambassador. Email anteupken@gmail.com.
