Barry
10-28-2003, 03:15 PM
I was in Scottsdale for some business meetings and used my spare time to play some poker at the Casino Arizona at Indian Bend in Scottsdale.
Overall Impression
The poker room is non-smoking, which is nice, but the bathrooms are a bit of a hike. The biggest problem there is the AC. The temperature in the room has to vary more than 10 deg. It’s either freezing or warm in the room. I put on and removed my jacket at least 6 times in the course of each night.
They have a couple of nice features there. First, every table had an auto shuffler on it and the dealers figure that they can get out 3 or 4 more hands each time they are in the box. Another side benefit, not once did anyone ask for a deck or setup change, except for a damaged deck. Also each table has a pad with several buttons on it. (Service, Player checks, open seat, floor person, etc) It keeps down the yelling in the room.
The dealers are encouraged to play and a few times, very late, there were as many dealers playing as there were other patrons. With some notable exceptions, the room has a friendly atmosphere.
Games
For Hold ‘em they spread 3/6, 4/8, 6/12, then the next one up is 20/40. There are no 10/20 or 15/30 games spread. In the 6/12 and lower games, you don’t have to post to get a hand, so it is best to come in behind the button. They have a moving button rule there so when people in the blinds leave you can have multiple big or small blinds. Also you cannot buy the button. They have a $3 maximum rake, with a $2 jackpot drop, the 1st $ is taken before the deal from the small blind, so the small blind always loses a $1 even when the blinds chop.
The 6/12 games that I played were generally tight with reasonable aggression, in other words, they were lousy games. That coupled with being cold decked, I just couldn’t beat that game. The 4/8 on the other hand was a great game (except when it was mostly dealers); with some exceptions it was loose, passive. The only problem was you would never know if someone had a huge hand. More than once, I’d flop TP in an unraised pot, bet it all the way, get called all the way and my opponent would flip over an overpair and once even a set. Of course, the bad beats were frequent. In one 15 minute stretch, I was in 4 hands and was beaten on the river by a 6 (vs. my TT), a 4 (vs. my KK), a 3 (vs. my JJ) and a 1 outer (with my trip ducks). I had just bought “Zen and the Art of Poker” and it took all of those teachings, a walk around the casino, and a table change for me to keep from totally losing it.
So in summary, nice room, nice use of technology, convenient location, but the game selection is limited for mid-limit players, with the jackpot drop the rake is high and the AC is just awful.
Overall Impression
The poker room is non-smoking, which is nice, but the bathrooms are a bit of a hike. The biggest problem there is the AC. The temperature in the room has to vary more than 10 deg. It’s either freezing or warm in the room. I put on and removed my jacket at least 6 times in the course of each night.
They have a couple of nice features there. First, every table had an auto shuffler on it and the dealers figure that they can get out 3 or 4 more hands each time they are in the box. Another side benefit, not once did anyone ask for a deck or setup change, except for a damaged deck. Also each table has a pad with several buttons on it. (Service, Player checks, open seat, floor person, etc) It keeps down the yelling in the room.
The dealers are encouraged to play and a few times, very late, there were as many dealers playing as there were other patrons. With some notable exceptions, the room has a friendly atmosphere.
Games
For Hold ‘em they spread 3/6, 4/8, 6/12, then the next one up is 20/40. There are no 10/20 or 15/30 games spread. In the 6/12 and lower games, you don’t have to post to get a hand, so it is best to come in behind the button. They have a moving button rule there so when people in the blinds leave you can have multiple big or small blinds. Also you cannot buy the button. They have a $3 maximum rake, with a $2 jackpot drop, the 1st $ is taken before the deal from the small blind, so the small blind always loses a $1 even when the blinds chop.
The 6/12 games that I played were generally tight with reasonable aggression, in other words, they were lousy games. That coupled with being cold decked, I just couldn’t beat that game. The 4/8 on the other hand was a great game (except when it was mostly dealers); with some exceptions it was loose, passive. The only problem was you would never know if someone had a huge hand. More than once, I’d flop TP in an unraised pot, bet it all the way, get called all the way and my opponent would flip over an overpair and once even a set. Of course, the bad beats were frequent. In one 15 minute stretch, I was in 4 hands and was beaten on the river by a 6 (vs. my TT), a 4 (vs. my KK), a 3 (vs. my JJ) and a 1 outer (with my trip ducks). I had just bought “Zen and the Art of Poker” and it took all of those teachings, a walk around the casino, and a table change for me to keep from totally losing it.
So in summary, nice room, nice use of technology, convenient location, but the game selection is limited for mid-limit players, with the jackpot drop the rake is high and the AC is just awful.