___***The_Official_Brick_&_Mortar_Poker_Thread***_ __

I did a search and couldn't find any threads on brick & mortar poker, poker rooms, live play, etc. So, here it is! The official Cards Chat Brick & Mortar Poker Thread. AKA Live poker. Feel free to discuss any live poker rooms, casinos, etc. and different live poker events, strategy etc.

The reason this came to mind is that Pennsylvania recently (last July) started to allow poker at their casinos and I live in Pa. So far I've only been to Harrah's in Chester but I hear that Parx is just as good, if not better. They just started allowing MTT's at Harrah's, so I'll be down there for a few of them. Other than the Pa casinos, I've been to A.C. several times, I've played at the Taj, Harrah's, Hilton, Borgata, Sands, and the Tropicana. I've also played in Vegas and San Diego. But anyway, enough about me...let's get some love for B & M poker!

Actually I think B+M should get its own forum section.

(moved to Poker Rooms)

Good idea!

Let me get something off my chest...
Got to play a tourney in Vegas last month at The Mirage. I was kind of surprised how out of it the dealers were. Just didn't seem to know what was going on. More than one needed the help of the patrons to explain it was a split pot or that a straight had actually hit on the river and the aces were no good. It was quite a contrast to Harrahs in Kansas City - very on top of it, feel like I am in capable hands and don't have to watch my back.
Lest you think a poor performance might have skewed my thinking on The Mirage - I won that tournament. Hmmm, maybe it was because the dealers weren't paying attention that I....

Ouch. FWIW I don't think it'll be the only property like that though. I know here working as a casino dealer has kind of become a "McDonalds for over-18s" job where a lot of dealers just do the minimum to get by. A few years ago dealers needed to learn every game before they were allowed out on the floor, now they just get a basic intro to NLHE and get unleashed on the public.

Makes you appreciate the good dealers or the places that put the effort in I guess

Thanks, I was debating whether to put it here or there.

did what?

Yes, that is def. the case. Experienced dealers could make a difference in a lot of cases - there's so many times that you hear horror stories of inexperienced dealers and how they somehow muck a winning hand, etc.

When I was out in San Diego, there was a casino where I played close to 40 hours a week at, Viejas. Probably some of the best, most knowledgeable and friendliest dealers I have ever met. It was more or less my home for about 7 months, I knew a lot of them on a first name basis. The best part about it is that when you know them that well, you get all the inside info on the tables with the most action, most "casual players", etc.

Strange - looking at some of the recent AVP reports on the Mirage, the dealer ratings are either very good or very bad. May be some bad apples in the barrel and you just hit them.

I play almost every weekend at the 1-2 nl games at Parx or Harrahs Chester. Both games seem pretty fishy(duh 1-2), but Harrahs even more so. It seems like a lot of Parx players at least have a clue what's going on. Both places have games running all weekend long overnight. I live 15 min from Parx and my girlfriend lives in south jersey, 20 min away from Harrahs. Good times.

Nice.
That's what I hear, Parx has a few more serious players at the 1/2 level. I think the primary advantage of Parx over Chester is that you can actually get people to fold on a c bet. At Harrah's, it's pointless to c bet, unless you have some type of monster draw, b/c you're getting 4-5 calls. It's valuetown when you hit though...even though you do occasionally get the guy that calls you down to the river with a gutshot fool's str8 draw, calling 150bb....and hits it on the river (happened to me there).

just moved to London, where are good places to go for cheapish 50 pounds or less tournaments/cash games?