ameristar K.C.

[angry young man]

I'm going there wed night and was hoping for some opinions on their poker room, according to their web page its the largest in the midwest (for what that's worth) but I can't find anything saying what games they field or how many tables they have. Any details would be welcome.

aym

[bfstrog]

The Ameristar IMO is a very nice poker room. The dealers are friendly and the people usually are too. One thing however is that there are only about 15 tables and they harldy ever use them all except during peak hours. The best time to get there on a Wed would be about 12 noon because they start 1 or 2 more tables about that time. They have holdem 3/6-15/30 usually sometimes 20/40 and if the demand is high enough Omaha, and usually stud. There is a limit on how much $ you can take out though... only $500 per 2 hours. It's also cold in there, wear some clothes.

[angry young man]

cold I don't mind, is it smokey? only 15 tables? I'm used to 6. Why on earth would they limit how many chips someone can buy? Sounds pretty good, thanks for the reply.

[eh923]

The room is wide open, and it hasn't been smoky the handful of times that I've been there.

State law (so St. Louis is the same way) dictates that a max buy-in of $500 can happen within 2 hours. You MUST get a player's card so bring your license. The card gets swiped everytime you buy-in. If I remember correctly, the two-hour window is based on your last buy-in time, not clock time. Don't buy in for $500 at 12:59 and expect $500 more at 2:00.

The staff there is satisfactory, and the locals are horrible. It should be a fun trip for you!

[angry young man]

as I think I mentioned I was their for a bachelor's party so it wasn't really an all business night at the card table. In the end I only played 2 hours and at the 3-6 table (didn't want to be upset if I lost so went with the smallest limit they had available). It was tough to drag myself away from that table, they were fantastically bad. 2 other guys from the party sat with me for a little while (neither had played in a casino before) and we all came out ahead. The dealers were much more pleasant than they are in Chicago and the card room was spacious and clean. I'd recommend it.

[deathtoau]

Is ameristar the best in the area?
I just found out I have to go to KC for a business trip next Monday to Thursday and figured I would get some hold'em in on the company nickel. Should I stick with ameristar or is there a better place for weeknight poker?

Any advise would be helpful.

[Jerrypards]

Ameristar is your best bet if you are staying in KC. Harrah's, Flamingo and Argosy are the other casinos and they do not spread poker. If, by chance, you will be in the Lawrence/Topeka area, I hear Harrah's Prairie Band Casino has an excellent poker room. I picked up a copy of Poker Player magazine last month at Mirage and found the following article on Prairie Band:

http://www.gamblingtimes.com/poker_player/harrahs_prairie_band_aug25-2003.html

Good luck!

[deathtoau]

I would highly recommend that anyone who passes through the Kansas City area stop in to the Ameristar Casino. The players were so awful, I almost felt bad about taking their buy-in. Almost every flop was a family pot unless I folded; while playing nine-handed, at least three players saw just about every showdown only to lose to middle pairs or unimproved boards.

Just one of many examples was my third hand at the table before I had a read on anyone. I am UTG+1 and raise with a middle pair. 7 see the flop. I flop quads and successfully check-raise and then cap the betting round. 5 see the turn. I again check-raise and then cap the betting. Two to the river. I bet out then three-bet 5th street. The board is clean, no other pairs, no flush draw and no straight draw possible. I show my quads and the guy mucks while saying “My two pair haven’t won a damn pot tonight.” At that point I am too shocked to know what to say, but do manage a gentle “Well keep trying, maybe next time.” He thanks me and we move on. All night the game was just as soft. After playing a few hours, I reluctantly left to get ready for my business meeting the next morning after scoring a little better then 15BB per hour.

I can’t wait to take another business trip to KC /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Wake up CALL]

[ QUOTE ]
The room is wide open, and it hasn't been smoky the handful of times that I've been there.

State law (so St. Louis is the same way) dictates that a max buy-in of $500 can happen within 2 hours. You MUST get a player's card so bring your license. The card gets swiped everytime you buy-in. If I remember correctly, the two-hour window is based on your last buy-in time, not clock time. Don't buy in for $500 at 12:59 and expect $500 more at 2:00.



[/ QUOTE ]

Actually you do buy-in at 12:59 and can get your next buy-in at 2:00. It is computed on clock hours. The poker room has been no smoking for many months now.