Where to Join the Poker Crowd

Poker, poker everywhere, but nary a place to play.

The five-card craze has spawned a plethora of poker-themed television shows, Web sites where rookies can test their skills and even a magazine called All In, which debuted in May. According to the American Gaming Association, poker revenue in the state of Nevada rose 18.2% last year, while New Jersey saw a 14.2% increase. But while the game's popularity is spreading, finding a casino with a great poker room can be more difficult than you'd expect.

The reason: Casinos don't make much money off of poker because the house doesn't really have an edge when it comes to odds. In the majority of poker variants, especially the popular games seen in television tournaments, players bet against other players to take home the pot. As a result, the house is left to essentially charge "rent" for the use of the tables, taking a minuscule percentage of the winnings as a fee.

Casinos aren't entirely resistant to the trend. Some are looking to expand their poker rooms, if only to bring in high rollers who will stay the night and spend their money at restaurants and shops. By and large, however, casinos have decided to either court poker players or ignore them -- which means poker, as played in a casino, can be a hit-or-miss proposition. (For more on casinos and poker, click here. )

But to find the poker hot spots, all you need to do is follow the professional players who tend to hold court at a select number of casinos, where an Average Joker can play against them. Here's a look at the places where poker remains king and the kings of poker go to play.

Las Vegas on the East Coast

Atlantic City's dozen casinos generated $4.5 billion in gaming revenue during 2003, just shy of the $4.8 billion in gaming revenue generated in Las Vegas. But while Atlantic City is a gaming mecca, a poker mecca it is not.