Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???

[feelixthegreek]

Thinking about going to Tampa for a Red Sox/Devil Rays game at the end of July. Is it worth staying/playing at the Hard Rock? What are the games like? The amenities? How much of a pain is it to get to Tropicana Field? Are there better options?

Any input helps.

[feelixthegreek]

I'm bumping this, not because I'm generally impatient, but beacuse I want to put together an Expedia package by tomorrow 'cause the flight is cheap.

[mdelcorso]

The trip between Tropicana Field and Tampa Hard Rock is not short. You certainly need a car to get there and the drive is probably a minimum of 30 minutes and can be much longer as the traffic going west from Tampa can be very bad at rush hour.

The room is OK. Alot of smoke when I was there plus you can only play the $2 max bet games as specified by Florida law. If you want to play, you're better off with the boats. Probably easier to get to from St. Pete as well...

[feelixthegreek]

Thanks. Are the boats $2 max as well? If so, it's not worth playing at all. I'll go to the beach instead.

[blumonkey]

The Ocean Jewel has 3/6 and 5/10 games. They also have a mini no limit with a 100 buy in and a bigger one with three hundred buy in. I think their web site is oceanjewel.com.
You can also check out the St. Pete dog track for tournys. They usually run up to two a day with about a 45 dollar entry fee. hope this helps

[Atomic]

Playing at the Hard Rock might be worth it but with only $2 games I don't think it would be worth staying there. Stay on St. Pete Beach (eat and party at the Hurricane)or Clearwater Beach (party at Shepard's).

A much closer poker room to the Trop with the same $2 poker games minus the smoke is Derby Lane. They have about 50 poker tables and run tournaments once or twice a day along with turbo tournaments throughout the day.

The Ocean Jewel runs shuttles out to their boat from both downtown St. Petersburg and John's Pass which is midway between Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach. The John's Pass shuttle is about a 45 minutes quicker to the boat than the downtown shuttle. This is really the only choice for higher limit and no limit poker in the Tampa Bay area.


Links.

Derby Lane poker
http://www.derbylanepoker.com
Ocean Jewel poker
http://www.oceanjewel.com/poker.php

[FredJones888]

I have stayed at the hard rock and the rooms are very nice for the money. They also serve alchohol 24 hours a day since its on an indian reservation and they have a nightclub onsite that is usually packed. If you want to party stay at the hard rock. If you want to just be a tourist then find a hotel in downtown St. Petersburg where there are lots of touristy things to do and you will only be a couple miles from tropicana field. Also the shuttles for the Ocean Jewel leave from downtown st. pete.

Probably you should stay in downtown st. pete.

[feelixthegreek]

It's a one night deal, so staying close to the field is the biggest priority. Maybe I'll check out the boat, too.

Thanks for the info.

[vox]

If you're only in the Bay are for one night, and seeing the Sox clobber the D-Rays is the priority, staying at Hard Rock is pretty ridiculous, unless you're flying into MCO (Orlando Int'l) for some reason, have some other reason to be in Orlando or points east, or driving down from the northeast and want to take I-4 to I-95. If you're flying into TPA (Tampa Int'l) or PIE (St. Pete / Clearwater), you'll want to stay in Pinellas County and not bother with East Tampa.

Another poster gave a 30 minute drive time - maybe if you're going 100MPH through the I-4 construction, Downtown Tampa, over the bridge, and through metro St. Pete. Allow at LEAST an hour from Hard Rock/Fairgrounds to the Trop, more if you're fighting traffic.

Derby Lane is real close to the Trop if you want to play cheap poker. The boats are good for "real" poker, but I hear the games are small, and getting to/from the boat is time-consuming. If you're trying to make a flight, the possibility of getting stuck out at sea isn't appealing, I'm sure.

Enjoy your stay in the Tampa Bay area.

[kiddj]

I play at the Hard Rock fairly regularly: super soft, but all they have is $1/$2 and $2/$2. How soft/hard are the "real" games on the Ocean Jewell? Is it worth the effort, or should I stick to crushing the low limit games?

Slightly off-topic: what strategy adjustments are necessary going from a $1/$2 game to a straight $2? (If there is a good thread on this, could someone post a link?)

[kiddj]

[ QUOTE ]
I play at the Hard Rock fairly regularly: super soft, but all they have is $1/$2 and $2/$2. How soft/hard are the "real" games on the Ocean Jewell? Is it worth the effort, or should I stick to crushing the low limit games?

Slightly off-topic: what strategy adjustments are necessary going from a $1/$2 game to a straight $2? (If there is a good thread on this, could someone post a link?)

[/ QUOTE ]

[vox]

I really doubt there's a "straight $2" strategy anywhere, since these tables are unique to Florida. But here are some tips for "moving up" that I've gleaned from my 30-some trips there this year, mostly at $2 HE:

During peak hours, that is, weekend evenings and post-concert nights, most $2 HE tables become "8-dollar tables". That is, the maniac chip-spewers will cap almost every hand pre-flop, and call down with any piece of the flop. To counteract this, a winning player must tighten up - don't bet or call a hand that you aren't willing to spend $8 on. Also, pick and choose your bluffs VERY carefully - 90% of hands see a showdown.

As a result, the variance at these games is insane. I usually buy in for $50, mainly because I play for fun, and losing more than $50 is not fun to me. But a player looking to not go to the table under-rolled should buy in for $100. I've seen players come in with $500 in chips.

I've lost my buy-in on 3 hands before (AA, KK, and K9 suited); I've also seen my brother rack up $240 profit in less than an hour. Of course, he estimates he's stuck $1000 since he started.

On less insane tables, players are still less likely to fold, since there's no increase of bets on the turn. Govern your bluffs accordingly.

The easy money is on the $2 tables, but $1-$2 more closely approximates good poker. Pick your game accordingly.

[kiddj]

Thank you! I'll probably stick to the $1/$2 then. It's less aggressive and I prefer to see a few flops without busting out. I am a low-variance player, so the 1/2 is fine for me, (the players are horrid anyway). /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Beantown]

Hey, I'm going to be visiting my sister in Tampa this summer and was thinking of playing at the Hard Rock. Do you know anything about their NL Hold'em Tournies?
Thanks.

[kiddj]

Check out: http://www.hardrockhotelcasinotampa.com/gaming/casino/

The calendar hasn't been updated for June yet, but I imagine the setup is about the same.

[Beantown]

Thanks, I've seen this page before.

I was inquiring more about the skill level of those in the tournaments. Any info you can provide would be appreaciated. Thanks.

[junkmail3]

I don't usually make assumptions based on appearances, but everyone had sunglasses. So ...

But honestly, I look at it this way. (I was just there last week ... on a Wednesday or something)

If the max limit is $2/$2, and you can play, and live in Tampa, and hate taking a boat out, and are a good/decent at SnGs, why not play them? More money, less time, etc.

The ring games were awful. The SnG looked decent, but they only had a satellite running, or I would have played.

[vox]

Hard Rock runs $28+$12 10-seat SNG satellites into their $200+$40 events, held on Saturdays. Yes, that's right, $28+$12. 30% juice. They're advertised as $30+$10, but they pay out the ticket and a $40 refund (not a reseat, thankfully) to 2nd. $240+$40=$280 prize pool, last I checked.

They also run a $63+$17 10 seated SNG satellite into their $500+$50 monthly NLHE "big" tourney. Same deal, winner gets the ticket, 2nd gets a refund. $550+$80=$630, hence $63+$17, not $65+$15 as advertised. Considering they're a poker room, they're not so good at math.

They run a variety of high juice tourneys on weekday afternoons, when tables are free and available. Hey, it's the only game in town.

[BREWMANCHU]

I have played there.

It is fun as long as you drink lots of beer and care nothing about winning. Your AK will get called the whole way with 82o. Might as well pull a slot machine.

However, if you just want to donk around, it should be fun.