Note: corrections and clarifications from original post in italics
Date: Mon, 22 June 1998
From: Jim Geary
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Subject: Casino Arizona Opening Review
Location:
Excellent. Right off a freeway. 3 miles from Sun Devil Stadium.
I live in the NW valley 30 miles away, but it still took
less than 30 minutes to get there. If you're one of the 95%
of Phoenicians who live closer still, it's more convenient.
Parking:
It's been a while since I've been at a poker-only room. It
never occurred to me that you could park within 100 feet
of the door. Well-lit, flatfoot-patrolled lot.
Room:
Room is a strong word for the edifice. It's currently a large
tent, and the ambience reflects it. The sloping sides on
either end and relatively low ceiling make for suboptimum
ventilation. There were only 2 smokers (out of 9) in my game
but I felt like I was getting blasted. More information and
better seat selection may assuage this in the future.
They have wisely placed the tv's at the corners 6 feet
high rather than the standard 37 feet in the air. This makes
it much easier to glance at a ball game without needing
and adjustment the next morning.
They have a bar with a piano player, good for cooling
your heels after play or ditching a spouse for a bit.
They have a model of what the future casino will look like.
ETC one year, probably depends on the drop. It will be
huge. Also depends on whether they can do slots.
Operations:
They have the room divided into three sections:
Large area in the middle covering all games up to 6-12,
The ripoff ("maverick 21 ?!?") games on one end,
The 8 tables for red-chip and up games on the other.
Set off by 6-foot high sectionals.
As the latter are the only I play, I'll comment on only that.
- All the managers and floor people are very experienced and know how to run a room. They ran the board a la the Mirage with a dude and a clipboard taking care of everything. They are now running a board exclusively for the bigger games in addition to another board for the regular games.
- When they started a second 20-40 game, they designated it must move. Despite the fact that it was a hopping Saturday night and no one exited the main game FOR 7 HOURS, they never took the must-move off, which to my mind is a very good way to run things.
- No free hands, which is always a good idea at moderately
serious stakes, the exception being on the must move which
gets free hands on the first lap after displacement.
- They had red chips for $10-20 and $15-30, and brown $10 chips for $20-40 and $30-60. I don't think the brown chips in the $20-40 game is a good idea. For one, the pots look anemicker. For two, all the players have already been playing $20-40 in the valley for years and are used to betting in 4 and 8 chip increments. In one hand, from second position, I flop top set, turn the boat. Drunk utg bets the turn, trying to rope everyone in with their weak hands and draws, I just call 8 chips. Doh! I'd inadvertantly made it 80. Someone drops even before I can say, "Whoops, I mean to call," and the raise stands as I manage to eliminate everyone but the drunk who now thinks I'm Hollywooding and merely check-calls the river. Everyone knows me and knew I wasn't playing games, but I probably screwed my self out of 2 or 3 units. The third reason to not use the $10 chips is that players coming from other games invariably bring red chips with them and they make their way into the game anyway. Over the course of eight hours, I chipped up $900 in reds from pots I'd won and there were still plenty on the table. 20-40 games are usually red chip now.
- Only odd thing I saw in 8 hours: One hand a guy wins a pot that has 5 $1 chips in it. He asks the dealer, whatup with the ones? She says, "We're told occasionally to bring them into the game." I don't know if she was right, confused or lying, but it is of course a bad idea. There is no reason in a time charge game for chips to be moving between the pot and the dealer's personal tray and back. In 16 dealers, this only occurred once. Didn't get a chance to talk to the supervisor, but will mention it next time I spot him free. I've yet to see this repeat in the other times I've played there.
Service:
Service was OK. It didn't really matter to me as there was
a self-serve soda fountain right on the other side of the
red-chip section that I could easily get a glass of
water (yall know my theory on caffeine) from in the time
it took to complete a hand. They had a sandwich operation
going as well. Didn't partake, but the sloppy joes smelt good.
Cost to play:
10-20 $2 drop + $1 at 100, + jackpot.
Too high IMO, but it's up to those players to change that.
15-30 stud $5/half hour. (I think; I only played the game while
waiting for seat in higher game and never paid time nor
recall seeing a drop, tho I of course might be in error.)
20-40 $5/half hour. This I'm sure of. Got a freebie in the
first hour as the game was just starting.
30-60 mix $6/half hour.
No higher games were going Saturday. Friday the mix
was $40-80; I'm not sure what the charge was. $7/half hour
Overall impression: a very professional operation for a room that has been in business but two days. Looking forward to many years of mutual success.
Last Modified 2/9/00