I’ve written about my poker-playing experiences in Japan but never in this blog. So for those who didn’t get my blast email or otherwise read my writing on the subject, I offer this recounting of my poker adventure in Tokyo.

My wife is a (as they say in Boston) wicked awesome teacher of something called the Alexander Technique. Some former students wanted her to come over and teach their students of this method of easeful body use. They were from Japan — and invited her to join them in Tokyo to teach their students.

Casino Poker Tokyo Buffet

You can contact the Tokyo Racecourse at +81-3-5785-7373. The Tokyo Racecourse is located at Hiyoshicho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0024, Japan. Visit the Tokyo Racecourse information page for more details on this casino. The second largest casino in Tokyo would be Ohi Racecourse with 0 gaming machines / table games. Hey guys, I just moved to Tokyo 2 months ago and since im an avid Poker player Im looking for good Casinos or Home games I can play at. I am aware Poker is illegal in Japan and dont want to delve into anything sketchy so I really dont mind if there is no cash payout, I just want to have a fun night playing Poker. Poker is illegal. All gambling is strictly illegal — except the lottery, horse racing, and the ubiquitous Pachinko! Sure, there are underground casinos, run by the Japanese mob. But if you’re caught running a poker game it’s a serious criminal offense — with guaranteed jail time and a big time fine.

Casino Poker Tokyo Games

• Experts are predicting their casino gambling market to be a $40 billion. Their original goal was to get this passed in 2014 and have several casinos built before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to capitalize on the tourist boom that comes with such a large world-wide event.
• Tokyo Bay Casino - online casino games, live sportsbetting, live poker. Play for free or for real money. Big Bonus incentives for new players.

She accepted and I went along for the ride. But I couldn’t go without also exercising my passion of finding and playing in poker games. So I did some research, reached out to folks I know in the poker world, and got a contact who promised to set me up with a game upon my arrival in Japan.

Though it took a while to make the connection in person, his word was good — and I got to make this a research trip of sorts — visiting two poker games in this extraordinary Asian city.

A few things about Tokyo.

It is an amazing place. It’s much larger than New York City, a place I have grown up with — and seen as the biggest city in the world. It isn’t. Tokyo is much bigger — and hugely more modern — since the city was essentially leveled flat by our boys in WWII. Much of the construction dates from the boom years of the 1990s.

Tokyo has bent itself to suit the English-speaking world. Drop a native Bostonian into the Tokyo subway system and he will have an easier time figuring it out than he will figuring out the New York subway system. Everything is double labeled in English and Japanese. The maps are crystal clear; the connections very well signed. The entire city is accessible with this modern subway/rail system that connects everything seamlessly and easily.

Tokyo is divided into many neighborhoods that locals consider to be towns themselves. Some are more luxurious or modern than others — but none are dangerous or obviously poor or otherwise undesirable. There are no places that a tourist is told to avoid.

Adults and children, men and women, walk unescorted throughout the city at all hours. I walked the streets before dawn and after sunset — and saw them, 8 year olds, boys and girls, walking back in the dark together after baseball practice or extra academic training.

As I said, an amazing city.

Casino Poker Tokyo Game

But back to the poker.

Poker is illegal. All gambling is strictly illegal — except the lottery, horse racing, and the ubiquitous Pachinko! Sure, there are underground casinos, run by the Japanese mob. But if you’re caught running a poker game it’s a serious criminal offense — with guaranteed jail time and a big time fine. Caught a second time and it’s two years minimum and $100,000. So there aren’t the casual home games that we’re used to in the US. They just don’t exist in the same way because of the strict laws against them.

On the other hand, there is poker. And I had been introduced to someone who ran a game — H…. H…. was a friend of Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher. He had taken them all over Japan on a few occasions — and they put me in contact with him.

He met me near a train station in Japan and gave me a tour of the poker scene. First, we stopped at a place with no counterpart in the US, as far as I know. It was a bar with a poker game “for entertainment purposes only” poker. The chips had no cash value. No prizes were awarded. But players had to pay $30 to enter. $30 for play money poker! Who would have thunk in?

And then we went to H….’s game.

It was a great experience.

You’ve got to be able to visualize this. The game was in a third floor walk-up bar in an uncharacteristically decrepit part of the city. The bar itself was dark, small, smokey, and not nearly up to the immaculate standards of the Japanese — with ashes, cigarettes, and small pieces of debris scattered throughout the room. The poker table itself, a full-sized 10 person hold’em table, was dinged and stained. The chips were well worn and somewhat dirty.

Even so, I was ecstatic. Poker in Tokyo, Japan! What could be better. I eagerly went to take a seat. But before I could sit down, the bartender literally ran from behind the bar to intercept me. I turned and he immediately smiled, bowed, and pushed out a hot towel for me. Hah! A hot towel! How wonderful!

Casino Tokyo Poker

The poker was $1/2 no limit. The rake for this game, considering the difficulty of holding such a game in a city that so strongly prohibits poker, was extraordinarily high. Even so, I enjoyed myself. The players did not fit the Western stereotype of Asian players. They were not wild or aggressive — but instead, as a rule, played very conservatively and timidly. I was able to steal many pots.

I played for about three hours. It was a great experience — though I doubt I’ll return to such a game in the future. I found out from H…. that serious poker players go outside the country for their poker. Manilla is a few hours away by plane — and seems to have the best poker for relatively low stakes players. Korea has poker, but the rake is very, very high. And Macao, further away — about 6 hours, has high stakes poker. I’m not sure where I’ll go next year when my wife returns to Tokyo. But it’s nice to have options.