WinStar World Casino & Resort, formerly WinStar Casinos, is situated in the town of Thackerville, Oklahoma, just north of the Texan border off Interstate 35. Unsurprisingly, Winstar is a popular with North Texans and attracts many visitors from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, which is 60 minutes’ drive to the south.
WinStar was founded, as a bingo hall, by the Chickasaw Nation in 1991, but in the past three decades has expanded out of all recognition. Accommodation-wise, the original, 12-storey, 395-room Resort Tower opened in 2009 and was joined by the 18-storey, 500-room Pool Tower North and the 15-storey, 500-room Pool Tower North in 2013 and 2014, thereby increasing the total capacity to nearly 1,400.
Likewise, from small beginnings, the gambling floor has expanded down the years, such that it nowadays occupies an area of nearly 400,000 square feet and is divided into nine globally-themed gaming plazas, representing Beijing, New York, Paris and other worldwide cities. Collectively, the gaming plazas boast 100 table games, including classic blackjack, craps and roulette, and over 10,000 electronic games, which is, in fact, the largest compendium of such games to be found anywhere in the world.
Dedicated game rooms and spaces at WinStar World Casino & Resort include 360-seat bingo room, which is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a 55-table, non-smoking poker room, offering Texas Hold’em, Omaha and other poker variations and an off-track betting room, known as ‘Racers OTB’, which shows live horse racing coverage from around the world. If you find that you need to take a break from the gaming action for refreshment, you can take your pick of over 20 restaurants, ranging from fine dining to cafes and half a dozen lounges and bars, including a pool bar, each with a character consummate with its location.