Phoenix Casinos

I'll be in Phoenix for vacation and wanted to know what the best card room is and whether there are any soft no-limit games? I play a lot of 1-2 $100 max buy in. Are there any games like this? Other than that what about 3-6, 5-10 limit? What is the rake like?

I was in Phoenix a couple months ago (on vacation) and played at Casino Arizona (off Indian Bend Rd.). They don't have NL (I think it's a state law thing), but they do have 5-150 spread limit which is a pseudo-bastardized $2-$5 NL. It was hella-soft Friday night/weekend. I didn't play during the week. Have fun!

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I'll be in Phoenix for vacation and wanted to know what the best card room is and whether there are any soft no-limit games? I play a lot of 1-2 $100 max buy in. Are there any games like this? Other than that what about 3-6, 5-10 limit? What is the rake like?

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Arizona law prohibits any bet larger than $150. Casino Arizona, which is the best cardroom in Metro Phoenix, spreads a few tables of 5-150 with a $350 max buy-in. There are many 3-6,4-8 and 6-12 games and one or two 8-16. Most nights have a 10-20 (that game doesn't have much of a player base) and there are always a few 20-40. 40-80 and 60-120 are also usually going at night.

Up thru 10-20 the rake is $3 house $2 jackpot drop if the pot gets to $30. In the 10-20 the pot has to get to $100. Less than that in the pot it's $2 house $1 jackpot. If there's no flop it's only $1 jackpot. 20-40 and up is $7 per half hour.

While Casino Arizona is the best location to play there is also Fort McDowell to the north and Gila River to the south. If you want only low limit, and they are closer to where you are staying, you can consider them. I think Gila still allows smoking though.

[Percula]

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It was hella-soft Friday night/weekend. I didn't play during the week. Have fun!

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This is somewhat correct. The people that come thru CA tend to be a bit better off than most of the people, i.e. high rent area. As result you have people come thru that have no care to dropping a couple of buy-ins and these are the people that help pay my bills.

But there are some very very good regulars in that game. If NL was legal here they would be playing 5/10 or 10/20 NL and many do when out of town, many are winning players that those levels.

If you are looking at weeknight games, Tues and Wens are the best, since they run a NL tournament on those nights and get a fair number of NL "experts" playing the 5-150, badly.

Weekends are good too, especially after the clubs/bars start closing up around 1am-3am. Lots of drunks dropping money like it was on fire or something.

Thanks - sounds like Casino AZ is the place. I am not crazy about the 5-150 idea, coming from a place where they do allow NL.

In NY they break it down to 100, 200, 300 and 500 max buy in. So basically the competition goes up. This isn't so in our limit games. Can't possibly win at 1-3 b/c the rake is too high. 3-6 and higher it is possible, but it is a bunch of no-foldem play until 10-20 - so there are a lot of bad beats.

Is there a max buy in at any level?

Also no one has mentioned wild horses? How does it compare? Is Fort McDowel worth anything?

Thanks for responding. I ended up playing at Casino AZ. That was a pretty darn large card room. Did well at the 5-150 game, though I have to say there are far more maniacs in AZ than in NY. It takes a lot of heart to hang in there the way a lot of people bet.

At the same table I played, I saw a guy win nearly $2k from $100 in about 3 hours. Not bad.

[Percula]

Sorry I missed your follow up post...

Glad you got to see CA. Yep pretty nice room.

Sounds like you had a typical 5-150 experience. So let me guess one of the maniacs was wear a brown baseball cap that had "sneaking Pete's repo" on it, right?

I was in Phoenix for Thanksgiving last week (from MN) and stopped by Casino AZ for a session last Monday. Nice big open room with many tables and limits from 3-6 all the way to big spread limits up to $150. Wasn't overly impressed at the play at my 6/12 full kill table. I won a bit before the Vikes game and noticed only one or two pretty good players at the table. Would have tried Gila River or the Fort but was staying in Sun City on the other side of town. Which reminds me, they could really use a poker room over on that west side of town.

[Percula]

We could really use a new gaming compact. Which would allow for NL poker and places other than indian nations to have card rooms. But that is not too likely to happen, so...

Yes I am some what surprised nothing has poped up in the Sun City area. There is a ton of indian lands in the area and lots of customers to fill the seats out there.

I hit up the CAZ to improve my live play. The 3/6 is super easy, similar to micro limit online games.

If you live in Arizona, check out the card rooms in Prescott (cash games) and Camp Verde (daily tournaments). Pretty good stuff.

[Percula]

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If you live in Arizona, check out the card rooms in Prescott (cash games) and Camp Verde (daily tournaments). Pretty good stuff.

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What games are spread, how often do they go?

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If you live in Arizona, check out the card rooms in Prescott (cash games) and Camp Verde (daily tournaments). Pretty good stuff.

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What games are spread, how often do they go?

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Ok, I'm still a novice with B&M, but here is what I gathered from them:L

Bucky's Casino/Yavapai Casino in Prescott (around 60 minutes from Phoenix):

Cash games - Everyday all day NLHE 3-6
Sometimes they fill a 4-8 game and on Mondays they typically have a 6-12
Also, Weds and Fri Omaha H/L 3-6/5-10 Kill

Tourneys - Tues and Sat $20+5 w R/A
Sunday - $15 shootout NLHE
Thurs - $20+$5 stud (never enough players they say)


Cliff Castle Casino (Camp Verde, around 75 miles N of Phoenix):

Tourneys - M through F 11am $25 shootout (MWF NL, TR Limit)
Weds 7pm $30 NLHE with R/A
Sat 12:30p w $10 R/A
Su 11a Omaha $25

Cash games - 3-6/4-8 NLHE
Weds and Sat 3-6 Omaha

I'm gathering info for the Laughlin, NV (baby Vegas) casinos for ya. Maybe we should play a tourney at one these and take it down 2+2 style.

[Percula]

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Cash games - Everyday all day NLHE 3-6
Sometimes they fill a 4-8 game and on Mondays they typically have a 6-12

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Are you SURE about this? As far as I knew No Limit hold'em was not played anywhere in AZ...

I called them tonight after your post, and that's the info they gave me. She didn't seem all that knowledgable so she could have misspoke. Could just be limit.

[ReptileHouse]

To the best of my understanding, state law is that the max bet is $150 (thus the spread limit 5-150 at CA).

[Percula]

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I called them tonight after your post, and that's the info they gave me. She didn't seem all that knowledgable so she could have misspoke. Could just be limit.

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It is most likely that it is limit, but I guess there is a slim, like a snowball's chance in hell that it is NL. Maybe if you talked to the cardroom manager or a someone that was working the floor?

[Oblivious]

Casino AZ is my favorite cardroom... i think, in the whole world? The food is cheap and really good. I like the football promotions and how the room is big and open. The downside is they make you pay for your drinks. I love the 6-12 full kill game with the sweet $2 blue chips. They also have small stakes omaha/8 going nearly all the time.

Cliff castle is a nice little local's room. The stake house there is awesome. My gf and I got comped there after winning a drawing.

[Percula]

Maybe we should trade houses, mine is the Wynn. LOL!

[radek2166]

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Cash games - Everyday all day NLHE 3-6
Sometimes they fill a 4-8 game and on Mondays they typically have a 6-12

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Are you SURE about this? As far as I knew No Limit hold'em was not played anywhere in AZ...

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I have played every hold'em game in from PHX, north. 150 is the max i have seen.

Anybody played at the Harrah's Ak Chin? They have daily tournaments, and a $60 freezeout on the weekends. Could a 2+2er take it down and would it be worth the 2 1/2 hour drive?

[Percula]

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Anybody played at the Harrah's Ak Chin? They have daily tournaments, and a $60 freezeout on the weekends. Could a 2+2er take it down and would it be worth the 2 1/2 hour drive?

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I haven't played it.

But it is likely pretty much the same thing as the fort run twice a day. Too few starting chips without the bounse chips and fast levels, 15mins rounds after the first hour, 20min during the rebuy first hour.

All in all, here is what most of the tournaments (if not all) around here are like... Lots of donks and newbies during the first hour or two. Lots and lots of stupid plays and players. If you don't get sucked out on, you can generally build a decent stack in the first hour or two off the donks. But remember you can not bluff a moron.

Once you enter the third hour plus, you are going to be up against a much greater percentage of solid (too one degree or another) players. There are some very good NLHE tournament players in this town.

CA has some pretty good MTT on Tues and Wens nights. I forget what the buyin is but it's like $100 plus juice. It is a pretty decent MTT, first generally pays $3K+. It's been a couple months since I played it.

The fort's $30 rebuy is +EV. I have played it about 2-4 times a month and have won 7 this year and made the FT 14 times. First is between $900 to $1800 depending on the field, Fri and Sat nights are the best.

But to be completely honest, I would rather play the cash games when the MTT are going on. Tues, Wens and Sat at CA (when they run the monthly at CA) are my highest winrates and Fri night at the fort when they can get the 2-150 going.