teepack
Legend
Bronze Level
While on a family vacation this week, I took a little detour and played a $1-$2 session at Hollywood Charles Town (W.V) Casino. Here's my thoughts.
Cons
The casino is not smoke-free. The poker room is, but the designated smoking area of the casino is not far from the poker room, and the pungent aroma of cigarette smoke frequently wafted into the poker room.
The air conditioning was struggling when I got there. The heat combined with the smoke made me a little ill early, but the A/C ultimately kicked in and made the conditions better.
No cashier designated for the poker room. When I went to cash out around 11:30 p.m., I had to wait in a long line with all the slots and blackjack grinders. Probably took 15 minutes to cash out.
The poker room is in the very back of the casino. I got lost twice looking for it. it probably took 10 minutes to get from my car to the poker room.
The room is closed Mondays and Tuesdays and closes at 3 a.m. every other night.
No bad beat jackpot (they have a mini jackpot at $10,000), and the high-hand promo ended at 10 p.m.
The card room was pretty busy, with about 12 tables running. But there was a noticeable decline in players beginning around 10:30 p.m. We were five- and six-handed for a while there at the end.
There were no female players at my table or the tables next to mine. Maybe there were some at the other tables farther away, but I didn't see a single female player all night.
Pros
I got seated right away even though I was there on a Friday night, one of their busiest nights.
A player's card was not required, but was needed if you won any high-hand or promotions.
The dealers were competent and kept the action moving. Only one exposed card all night. One dealer didn't pay a lot of attention and failed to announce raises pre-flop. This caused confusion a few times as players didn't know if the $5 chip represented a raise or a limp.
The bathroom is very close to the poker room (very important for guys my age).
Players were friendly, and everyone tipped the dealers.
Play
Limping was rampant. It was more common for a hand to limp to the flop with 5-6 players than it was for a pre-flop raise.
Players pay big to chase just about anything - flushes, gut shots and sets.
Straddle was allowed from UTG only, and the straddle could limp whatever amount they wanted (had to be at least $4). One guy told me that a guy was straddling $100 one night in the $1-$2 game.
Rake was only $6 from what I could tell since they weren't funding a bad beat jackpot.
Cons
The casino is not smoke-free. The poker room is, but the designated smoking area of the casino is not far from the poker room, and the pungent aroma of cigarette smoke frequently wafted into the poker room.
The air conditioning was struggling when I got there. The heat combined with the smoke made me a little ill early, but the A/C ultimately kicked in and made the conditions better.
No cashier designated for the poker room. When I went to cash out around 11:30 p.m., I had to wait in a long line with all the slots and blackjack grinders. Probably took 15 minutes to cash out.
The poker room is in the very back of the casino. I got lost twice looking for it. it probably took 10 minutes to get from my car to the poker room.
The room is closed Mondays and Tuesdays and closes at 3 a.m. every other night.
No bad beat jackpot (they have a mini jackpot at $10,000), and the high-hand promo ended at 10 p.m.
The card room was pretty busy, with about 12 tables running. But there was a noticeable decline in players beginning around 10:30 p.m. We were five- and six-handed for a while there at the end.
There were no female players at my table or the tables next to mine. Maybe there were some at the other tables farther away, but I didn't see a single female player all night.
Pros
I got seated right away even though I was there on a Friday night, one of their busiest nights.
A player's card was not required, but was needed if you won any high-hand or promotions.
The dealers were competent and kept the action moving. Only one exposed card all night. One dealer didn't pay a lot of attention and failed to announce raises pre-flop. This caused confusion a few times as players didn't know if the $5 chip represented a raise or a limp.
The bathroom is very close to the poker room (very important for guys my age).
Players were friendly, and everyone tipped the dealers.
Play
Limping was rampant. It was more common for a hand to limp to the flop with 5-6 players than it was for a pre-flop raise.
Players pay big to chase just about anything - flushes, gut shots and sets.
Straddle was allowed from UTG only, and the straddle could limp whatever amount they wanted (had to be at least $4). One guy told me that a guy was straddling $100 one night in the $1-$2 game.
Rake was only $6 from what I could tell since they weren't funding a bad beat jackpot.