By Ross Leitz
The highly anticipated grand opening of L’Auberge Baton Rouge Casino & Hotel was scheduled for Aug. 29, coincidentally on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, yet the opening had to be delayed temporarily because of the unexpected course of Hurricane Isaac. The newly constructed $368 million property, which is now open, is the newest addition to Pinnacle Entertainment, the parent company to the Heartland Poker Tour.
Chris Griffin, who was poker room manager at Harrah’s Tunica in Mississippi for many years, is now an assistant operations manager at L’Auberge, which means he’ll also run L’Auberge’s Red Stick Poker Room.
“Becoming part of the Pinnacle Entertainment team and the overall experience of opening this first-class casino has been a phenomenal experience,” Griffin said. “When given the opportunity to relocate to Baton Rouge and become part of the management team and stay involved with poker was an opportunity of a lifetime. Pinnacle’s mission statement is simple, ‘To become the best casino entertainment company in the world,’ and there’s no doubt that you’ll see the commitment in accomplishing just that as you arrive at our property.”
The 1,500-square-foot smoke-free room will spread limit and no-limit hold’em, Omaha/8 and pot-limit Omaha.
“The Red Stick Poker Room is by far the classiest poker room I’ve ever been involved with, and it’s definitely the premier poker destination in the Baton Rouge and surrounding area,” Griffin said. “Players can experience nearly any game type imaginable here at our facility, as long as we have enough players interested to start a game it’s a good chance we can accommodate them. . . . Our opening was delayed by Hurricane Isaac, but we all made it through; now the only thing being blown away are our guests expectations.” For more information, visit lbatonrouge.com.
COUSHATTA: The bad-beat jackpot continues to climb at Coushatta Resort & Casino, pushing past $435K at press time. The poker room also was busy preparing for the semiannual Seven Clans Cup, which ran Sept. 19-23, as Ante Up went to press. Be sure to check outcoushattacasinoresort.com for daily bad-beat updates and details on the Seven Clans.
— Ross Leitz is the Ante Up Louisiana Ambassador. Email him at anteupross@gmail.com.
