Walking into Rockford Charitable Games feels like a garage sale that accidentally turned into a poker room. The soundtrack is a steady stream of racist and sexist comments from regulars, while dealers and floor staff treat it like background noise. For something calling itself "charitable," the standards are nonexistent. The place is filthy. Chips are sticky, greasy, and clumped together like they've been aging instead of being cleaned. You spend more time peeling them apart than actually playing. It's hard to focus on a hand when you're wondering what's on your fingers. The free pizza sounds like a perk--until you realize there are no napkins and every stack of chips ends up lightly glazed in grease. If you're going to serve food at the tables, at least pretend hygiene is part of the plan. All of it plays out under the watch of a dealer who stares at the table with an unsettling, low-budget horror-movie intensity. Management doesn't manage. No accountability, no enforcement, no interest in either. The whole operation feels loose, careless, and barely held together. Then there's the dealer, Chris, who decided mid-hand was the right time for a COVID "scam" rant. When I asked him to keep it professional, he escalated by threatening to "beat me up" and telling me to meet him in the parking lot. That pretty much sums up the level of professionalism here. Security matched the standard. I reported it and was told they "could care less" and to call 911--so I did. Somehow that made me the problem. Staff mocked the situation, followed me outside, and then tried to ban me instead of dealing with their own employee. I also witnessed behavior that raises serious concerns. A regular--who proudly mentioned he'd been there for "30 years"--was openly giving alcohol to a 19-year-old at the table, in front of the dealer, with zero intervention. That same underage player then left with someone, tipped them, went to smoke, and came back visibly impaired with the table reeking. The game continued like nothing happened. It's clear long-time regulars get a free pass while everyone else deals with the fallout. Between underage drinking, open drug use, and no oversight, this doesn't feel regulated--it feels ignored. The rest of the room follows the same pattern--players stepping out to smoke and coming back impaired, vaping indoors despite it being against policy, constant arguments, and zero control. It's not poker--it's a free-for-all with chips. Games crawl, get interrupted constantly, and barely resemble anything structured. The only thing running smoothly is the dysfunction. If you want a clean, professional game, Chicago Charitable Games is the obvious alternative--organized, respectful, and run by people who actually care. If you're here to play poker, go somewhere else. read more

Rockford Charitable Games Association - Chris "Chester" doing what he does best. - Party & Event Planning Near Me

Best place in town to play cards,nice dealers, and honest game. It's all for a good cause.

This is a great place to play poker. I play most of the time when I am stopping in the Chicago area. It is charity poker and they are donating to great causes. The dealers are extremely kind and it is super easy to find their information because they have a website, Instagram, Twitter, and even a Facebook that has all of the contact information needed on it. read more

I love the game of Texas Hold 'Em Poker. It's exciting and a constant learning experience. It's a fantastic game on many different levels. Rockford Charitable Games, however, is an abysmal representation of organized poker events. As the long-and-short of it goes, I found my interest in playing at RCG completely crushed in just two visits. I will never play at another RCG event. During the first day, I was moved to one particularly obnoxious player's table. I arrived during a developing heads-up hand. When he won at the showdown, he jumped from his seat, danced, and bellowed about his victory. He reprimanded the other player by loudly calling him "b*tch." I looked around the table as the berating continued. Other players stared, some shrugging, another shaking his head to what he was witnessing. Clearly, I was not the only player annoyed by what was happening. What's even more offensive: absolutely nothing was done to stop it. An individual working for RCG walked to our table as the wholly embarrassing situation unfolded. All she did was stare. The berating continued on and on for three more hands. (For the record, and to further dispel the aforementioned "bitterness," I didn't lose a single chip to this individual nor was he a factor in any of my hands.) The next day, I returned to another RCG event. I was seated a table over from the same individual. Unfortunately, two other players kept taking his bait. There were so many eye-rolls, I eventually lost count. Just when I thought I'd heard it all during the back-and-forth shouting, a number of subtly racist comments emerged. Once again (and unbelievably so), not a single RCG member took action. If you can't keep your vulgar and racist commentary in-check, either don't play poker or play it at an RCG sanctioned event. They won't care. That same obnoxious player showed up at a Chicago Charity Poker event a few weeks later. He pulled the same childish antics. To the delight of all players at my table, he finally shut his trap when three retired vets threatened to throw him out on his ass. Chicago Charitable Games might have fewer events during the week, but to say the quality of their games vastly overshadows the backwoods trailer park-like experience you'll have at Rockford Charitable Games is a massive understatement. read more

I gotta say I was really into charity poker, especially since it's a great way to play as soon as you're 18. Out of all the charity poker games though, Rockford Charitable Games is the worst of them. Poor management, overall shitty players ranging from fish, randoms, college, high school, grandpas, business boys, poor boys, etc. The only reason it gets a second star is because they host a lot of games throughout the month in the northwest suburbs, great way to go blow some money and games go laaaate, and.....tournaments start at $25, so go spend your lunch money now. At least you can say 30% of it was to charity :) read more

These games are dying for me. Previously I was able to get 3 tourneys between 6 and 11pm. Now I can typically only get one. Current structure is growing unprofitable. Something needs to be done to improve attendance / chances of winning or I'm seriously going to find another game read more

I can't say much about the people that actually run the operation but as for the poker, the tournament and sit n go structure is horrible. I understand they need to end the tournaments in a timely manner but 12 min blinds in live poker is insane. The cash games are profitable and the dealers are all relatively nice. I'd recommend going for the cash games as a safe place to play cards. I wouldn't play very many tournaments. read more

I've played at RCG numerous times. Poker is poker, things happen. Men shouldn't whine or cry. I've never seen any of our lady players cry like some of the men but it is only a couple tree that do this( I'm from Chicago, we say "couple tree"). Should it be tolerated? I don't think so. Those babies should be warned and or ejected. All in all, I think RCG is a good place to go and have some fun. read more

DO NOT GO HERE. The dealers are unprofessional. They do not use card shufflers, allowing players at the table to shuffle a deck. Players will stack the deck to give themselves a winning cooler. read more

All in all a great place to play cards although primarily in the north and north-west burbs. Look, it's a charity game and therefore the rake is a little aggressive but overall soft casual players make this a sweet stop to anyone that takes poker quasi-seriously. Good structure for the buyins. Most players are novice to mediocre. The key to winning these MTT's is steady aggression. Obviously fold to the old check-raise from any senior paying these events. Will definitely continue playing here at at Chicago Charitable Games. read more

Great place to play some cards anytime a lot of older people who hate to drive to casinos.a lot of regulars also 90 procnet is regulars there over all good cozy place to play some cards read more

I play most of the time in Chicago but once in awhile I stop out to Rockford. Overall, the dealers are courteous, the places are clean and blinds are timed right. I keep going back because I enjoy myself. Thanks. read more

Fun place to go kill some time or play tournaments. I agree with the review about the players who cry and whine, but you will find that anywhere. read more

I go to RCG Poker pretty often and I have never had a really good experience there. I have won my fair share of tournaments and won on the cash games quite often. Some dealers are nice and there are some that are just miserable. My low rating comes from my last experience where I experienced some players seemingly playing together. I can explain the situation and I would love to hear feedback on this. BTW my last review was deleted from here not sure if it was from RCG or yelp. 7 left in their $40 tourney top 5 pay out. Most stacks are short there are seat 1 and 10 who have maybe 20 BB (blinds at 2000/4000). First to act shoves for 6K. Action folds around to small blind (has about 12K and to BB) Small blind is debating, big blind has about 20K. She acts out of turn and puts the 2K in to call the bet (which anybody should do to eliminate player, but they were "friends"). Small blind ends up folding and then BB folds. I looked at the table like what just happened and nobody said anything, I voiced my opinion and said that was totally wrong and it was just brushed off. Fast forward to 2 hands later, I get 44 first to act. I shove for 8K and get 5/6 to call, I end up losing the hand and the two other "friends" fist pump like they just won the tourney. As I'm walking away I hear them talking about a 6 way chop. Really rubbed me the wrong way. The only reason I go to these tournaments is because they are very close to my house and my work, I really hope Chicago Charitable Games makes their way out to the Northern Suburbs during the week because they are a solid organization, unlike the favoritism and crooked play over at RCG Poker. read more

RCG is fine. Rake is high, but it's low stakes charity poker, so that shouldn't surprise anyone. Haven't been there in a month or two but some recent e-mails and texts gave the impression they are attempting rake back style promotions. I'm posting this as a response to the two other posts, welcome to live poker in general Cecil and Jeff. It will be like this everywhere. degens gonna degen read more

Do not ever play with these people. The top spots are run by a woman named "josie". I will refrain from insults to her appearance, weight and personality and stick with the facts that she has not idea how to run a poker room This is a racket to start with with it running under "charity" status which most people can overlook for the fact of an organized game that is legal. The issue is this game is ran like old school Vegas. Preferential treatment to regular players. Dealers who are hand picked for the best game because they kick up tips to Josie and her other staff. Dealers bend and make new rules for regular players at the table. The let cash "behind" in play even though it is a clear violation to the rules. This is a total scam. While it runs "legally" you are most certainly going to get screwed here. I write reviews for yelp all of the time and I can not stress enough how much this place is a scam and that you should stay away. Do not EVER, EVER, EVER play here read more

Lucy and I used to LOVE the RCG. They were fun and exciting and a very friendly place to spend your money. Sadly, things have changed. The people that run it just don't seem to care anymore. They're all about money now. The rake is higher now. They take out too much money for the stupid "raffles". Stop the raffles and increase the payouts. The only good thing is that they do pay 3rd place now. But we don't need those raffles. Sell raffle tickets if you want to. Let it be our choice to participate, NOT mandatory.Talk to your players! EVERYONE we talk to says STOP THE RAFFLES! More of us are going more often to "Chicago Charitable Games". The other important thing is like others have commented... Players should NOT BE ALLOWED to swear or yell at the tables. Some of these guys use Fu Yu, F-king this, F-king that, You B-ch, Mother F-er and others. Most of the dealers just sit there and let it go on. They're afraid they'll lose their tip if they say something. This kind of behavior is NEVER TOLERATED at any other charity games or Casinos... why is it allowed to go on at RCG? MONEY! Control your tables dealers. read more