wendover, nv

[oddjob]

any info on the poker rooms there? standard info:

size, limits, poker room rates, comps, etc.

thanks in advance

[Mano]

I live in Salt Lake City, and play in Wendover once or twice a month. If you go to Wendover, you will probably want to play at the Rainbow Casino. I believe Montego Bay and the Stateline Nugget also have poker, but only a few tables each.

The Rainbow has a dozen or so tbles going. They 2-5 spread limit HE with a full kill (goes to 5/10 structured if pot is over $30 I believe). They usually also have 1-5 stud going. There is usually also a bigger game going, sometimes 10/20 and sometimes 15/30. Occasionally they run a 5/10 full kill game as well. They usually also have a 4/8 Omaha 8 game going. They have a Friday night limit tourney ($25 buyin with $20 rebuys during first hour), a Sunday afternoon NL tourney, and a Monday night NL tourney. I haven't had any problems with dealers or floor. Poker room is non-smoking. They have bad beat jackpots for Holdem, stud and Omaha. Nice room, and pretty soft games. Hope this helps.

[Fishwhenican]

I second all of Mano's statements.
I get to SLC once a year for a conference and usually find time to get over to Wendover at least once and twice if I can spare the time during the week. I played at the Rainbow in March and it was exactly as described. I played the 2-5 full kill and made out like a bandit both days I was there and I'm not that good! /images/graemlins/wink.gif
Made enough to buy a nice new bow and a .22 for my kid! /images/graemlins/smile.gif
I hated to leave but I had taken the bus from SLC and had to catch it to get back.

[JDErickson]

One thing to note about Rainbow is the room is very crowded with tables. Not good if you are easily distracted. Other than that all info above is good.

[Mano]

There is usually also a bigger game going, sometimes 10/20 and sometimes 15/30.

Just re-read the post and wanted to clarify - the 10/20 and 15/30 games are limit Holdem, not stud. I usually go on the weekends, and at least one of these games has always been going.

[oddjob]

what about low limit structure games? 3/6 or a 4/8? we have a 2-5 spread in colorado. and although i love it, i like to mix it when i'm elsewhere.

thanks for the info all you guys posted

[Mano]

The only low limit Holdem structure game I have seen there is an occasional 5/10 (usually with the kill). When there are a few live ones in the game, the 2/5 is essentially a 5/10 structured game, as most pots are killed. The Omaha 8 game is 4/8 structured.

[HDPM]

The wendover 2-5 kill game is different from the colorado 2-5 games IME. It is soft, but different. As mano said, many times you are playing 5-10 with 1-2 blinds when the game is good because it is killed all the time. Some of your colo experience will help tho on general 2-5 stuff.

No 3-6 or 4-8 structure there as mano said. They usually do not get a 5-1- with a kill going. More often the 2-5 plays like 5-10 and they skip 5-10 and spread a 10-20 in addition to the main 15-30 or 10-20 w/ 1/2 kill game IME. I have not been there in a few months tho

[Abagadro]

Wow. Didn't know there were so many Rainbow denizens here. Well, 4 anyways. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

If you need to smoke, the Montego Bay and Golden Nugget State Line are smoking rooms. The Montego Bay is only a 4 table room and I think the State Line is 5 and both spread 1-4. But I've never played at either one in a ring game as I don't like smoke. The MB has a decent little $20 NL 2-rebuy max tourney on Thursdays and another tourney on saturdays that I've never played. The MB also has an "aces cracked" wheel a la Excaliber.

The Clarification: The kill on the 2-5 game is actually on $50 pots (including rake & BB jackpot drop) rather than 30. You will get long runs of it being 5/10 with the extra kill blind in there if the game is rocking. The games are wildly inconsistent and depend on the TOM/baseball cap/fish ratio which can be all over the place. Sometimes it is a loose passive love fest and other times it is a LAG knock down drag out. They just got one auto-shuffler on a 2-5 table so that is nice if you want to play more hands. I've played in the 10/20 game a few times and it is pretty decent with a fair amount of chasing and not much fancy play. Variance is high though, especially with the 1/2 kill they play there as you are putting in almost a BB every time you win and you switch to a 15/30 which can be tough on the bankroll if you are just squeaking into the 10/20.

Comps are few and far between. If you are there real late (or on a slow night like a weeknight) and have played a while, you can usually score a 5$ meal ticket. For rooms you basically need to be a regular and be familiar to the room manager.

I think it is a pretty well run room.

[Soya]

It's a relief to hear that there is a decent poker room in Wendover as I'm about to move to SLC. How far a drive is it? I've also heard about a shuttle-- does anyone know how that works?

[AgentJack]

I just won the bad beat jackpot today at the Rainbow in Wendover. I had pocket KK and AAA came up on the flop. There was a lady that had A9 in the hole and 3,6 came up on the turn and river. It was a bad beat and I got 50% of the jackpot since I lost. The jackpot was around $18,000. It was a good thing that nothing higher than a 9 came up on the turn and river otherwise we would not have hit the bad beat jackpot since you have to use both your hole cards.

I have not played very much and it was the first time I have ever even seen a bad beat jackpot get hit.

To qualify for the bad beat jackpot, Aces full have to be beat and both hole cards have to be used.

[Abagadro]

I've never heard of a shuttle, although there are several "fun bus" companies which will charge between 8 & 12 bucks with you getting back nearly all of it, plus buffet, etc. at the casino once you get there. The problem is that it leaves at 6 p.m. and gets there at 8 (by which time on Fri & Sat seats are harder to come by) and leaves at 2 a.m. so you have to get in your car and drive home at 4 a.m. You can take it back the next morning if it isn't booked out, but it costs more. It's more designed for the slot jockeys and drunken BJ players.

From SLC, it is 110 miles, all two lane highway, so around 90 minutes.

[Abagadro]

Grats. That's a good size BB. I got the big chunk around two months ago and the whole pot was only 5k. Nice job.

[Fishwhenican]

Here is a link to a bus company that makes the run from SLC to Wendover. http://www.utahtrailways.com/Pages/wendover_sched.html
If you really want to do this do not rely on the exact schedule and pickup locations as I know this site is WAY out of date and is not correct. But it will give you an idea of what they offer. If you have to use them make sure and get reservations and where they really pick you up and what the real pickup time is. Both trips I made in March were days during the week and both times people were turned away who did not have reservations on the bus.
The bus isn't terrible but, if I had a car there is no way I would take the bus, unless I just couldn't help but drink myself silly and not be staying the night. I have used it but only because I was in town for a convention and didn't have a rental car, The worst part of it is that you are bound by their schedule and if you are killing the table you have to stop and go when you wouldn't want to. Same thing if you lose quickly you are trapped in Wendover until they leave and believe me you do NOT want to be trapped in Wendover without gambling money.
The drive isn't bad but it is pretty boring without a lot of anything to look at, especially across the Salt Flats.