Where Is Winstar Casino In Oklahoma
- ARLINGTON, Texas — The Winstar World Casino and Resort won’t be quite the same when it reopens May 27th. Here are five things you need to know about what to expect.
- Discover the thrill of winning and a world of luxury at WinStar World Casino and Resort – the ultimate casino resort destination for entertainment!
WinStar World Casino and Resort is located about 120 miles south from the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and one hour north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and attracts many people from the North Texas region as well as Oklahoma residents. Ripoff Report on: Winstar Casino and Hotel Thackerville - Winstar casino hotel thackerville scamming patrons oklahoma.
Casinos in southern Oklahoma are preparing to reopen after being closed for more than two months.
North Texans are looking for ways to get away.
Wednesday, two destinations within driving distance will reopen.
Both WinStar World and Choctaw casinos and resorts, just across the Texas-Oklahoma border, will open for the first time since March.
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At WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, luck isn't the only thing visitors will need.
Guests and employees will be required to wear masks, and temperatures will be checked at the door.
Where Is The Winstar Casino In Oklahoma
“We're going to be patient and careful and not let emotion overtake patience,” WinStar General Manager Jack Parkinson said.
Casinos in Las Vegas plan to reopen in early June with many of the same safety measures in place closer to home.
Slot machines will spaced out, half the chairs will be gone, and self-serve drink stations and buffets will be staffed. The non-smoking section has also been doubled.
“We'll have hordesof humans, employees, chasing after people, cleaning up after them and makingsure that we're sterile at all times,” Parkinson said.
Customers will see social distancing reminders and hand sanitizer everywhere, but the most striking difference will be table games that remain closed at WinStar.
When we do open it'll only be three people at a table instead of seven,” Parkinson said.
Table games will reopen at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, but limited to every other seat. Tables in play will be staggered. Guests will also be encouraged, but not required, to wear masks at Choctaw.
Both casinos said they planned to limit capacity and close for several hours overnight for deep cleaning, including a use of electrostatic sprayers and EPA-certified chemicals, according to Parkinson.
“It's a cost that's calculated and well worth it,” he said.
Parkinson said WinStar has done everything to prepare and planned to reopen in phases because the stakes couldn't be higher.
He said all 4,000 WinStar employees were tested for the coronavirus before they returned to work and the casino will perform random testing every two weeks.
Click here for reopening protocols for WinStar Word Casino and Resort and Choctaw Casino & Resort.
We recently went to Winstar for the 311 concert. My husband is a die hard 311 fan so we’ve seen them quite a few times. I’m kind of surprised they even still tour. But that’s neither here nor there. We picked up our friends Will and Lisa and headed out of town on Saturday around noon. The drive is only about an hour and 15 mins (of course that depends on where you’re coming from). But it was a super easy drive, all highway. That was everyone’s first time to visit Winstar. Brian and I had been to Choctaw so I felt like we had a good baseline for comparison. They are both OK casinos, so not the Vegas experience but still a fun weekend or overnight trip. So today I thought it’d be fun to compare the two. See my detailed Choctaw post HERE.
Room rate – Winstar charges a hefty rate per night. $369 base rate + $10.70 resort fee + $44.28 taxes = $423.98 and this is a basic room. Nothing special. That is pretty pricey! Our room at Choctaw was right around $200/night so more than half the cost of Winstar. Verdict: Choctaw wins
I didn’t get a picture of the Choctaw room, but this is Winstar. They were very similar rooms.
View from our Winstar room:
Pool – this is a prime reason why you go on vacation, right? It is for me at least. There better be a nice pool where I can relax and sip on tasty drinks. The pool at Choctaw is FAR superior than Winstar’s pool. Choctaw also has the upper hand on servers. They are much easier on the eyes and professional. Choctaw also specifically had a children’s pool and “adult only area” which was great. I did not see either a separation at Winstar. Choctaw even had a grotto and the cute string lights everywhere. You know the ones. They make everything a little more adorable. Verdict: Choctaw wins.
Drinks by the pool @ Winstar
Winstar Pool:
Choctaw Pool:
Spa – the spa at Choctaw was very nice. I’d even go as far as to say it was comparable to a high end Vegas spa. There was a mineral pool that was co-ed so Brian and I could get in together, which was nice. It was only $8 to use the spa so we definitely went and utilized the steam room after a night of drinking. We did not use the spa at Winstar so it’s not fair that I weigh in. I did look on the website though and there aren’t any pictures which I find strange. Verdict: Not enough info to call, but I was definitely impressed with Choctaw’s.
Concerts – the Offspring/311 concert was the main reason why we visited Winstar and I’ll give them credit. They do seem to pull in some pretty decent acts. Our friend is a drummer in a pretty well know band and I think he got around $15K for his part in their show there. So based on that, the average payout for a show is probably around $120K. This is a pure guess based only on the information I have. We saw the Dwight Yoakam concert at Choctaw. They also have concerts but definitely not the caliber of performers as Winstar. Winstar’s space is also MUCH larger. I recommend paying extra for the VIP experience. The leg room is out of this world!!! Choctaw has a much smaller venue. So depending on what you like this could be a pro or a con since it’s more intimate. Verdict: Winstar wins.
Restaurants – both have plenty of choices including both high and low end. We ate at the high end 1832 Steakhouse at Choctaw and just ended up grabbing pizza at Winstar (it was delicious tho!). We tried to get a reservation at Kirby’s Prime Steakhouse at Winstar but we waited too long. So my only piece of advice is book early if you know you want to try their fine dining. Verdict: Winstar wins since they offer more options.
Casino – Winstar has the bigger casino BY FAR. In fact, it’s the biggest in the world. It was kind of too big if you ask me. Brian and Will played some late night poker and they said it literally took them 20 mins (not exaggerating) to walk from the main casino area to the poker area. WOW. But with a bigger casino comes more cigarette smoke. Winstar’s casino smelled very smoky which is a huge turn off to me. They need to up their air filtration game. Choctaw’s casino was much more intimate and cozy. It didn’t have the smoky odor either. Both have your typical casino games and both charge an ante per hand (I personally find that uber annoying). They also both do not offer free drinks with game play (also uber annoying). But at least at Choctaw they had waitresses that came around that you could order drinks from. We never saw any at Winstar.
So who is the winner? Well, it depends. What brings you to OK? Is is a nice pool/spa getaway? Then Choctaw would be your hands down winner. Is it a concert? Then Winstar would probably win. Is it gambling? Well, you’ll be happy at either. So it’s just kind of your preference. Both were really fun weekend getaways! 😊
Where Is The Winstar Casino In Oklahoma
Cheers,
XOXO,
Les