[MicroBob]

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No one seemed to be enjoying themselves. The table talk pretty much consisted of arguments over who got the best comps at the Bellagio, who lost the most money at blackjack, and how 3/6 was a stupid game because you can’t stop anyone from seeing a flop when it’s only $3.

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This pretty much sums up more than half of my live poker experiences.
People CAN be much grumpier and less fun then, say, a fun and social blackjack table.


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Someone joined the game later and was allowed to start playing in the cut off position without posting a blind. Not sure if that was the house rule or an oversight.

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I don't know either...but some places allow you to join the game without posting.
In Tunica, Mississippi (near Memphis where I live...good poker-rooms there btw) you are allowed to join the table, wait for the blinds to pass you (if you sit in the under-the-gun seat for example), and then play your first hand in the cut-off without posting.
But you can only do this at 3/6 and 4/8.
If you are playing 10/20 or something then you will have to post.

I later learned that this was NOT typically done at casinos in other regions (when I went to Vegas for example).




poker in a make-shift storage-room doesn't sound very fun.

On the card-player cruise for the Party Poker Millions (big tournament...and lots of ring-games) they had 60 tables in what is normally the upstairs part of the dining room.
Kind of nice when you're playing with an ocean-view (although they sometimes had to close the curtains because the direct sun-light in was making it pretty hot...greenhouse-type effect).


If you really want to play poker on cruise-ships I highly recommend the card-player cruises.
The play is still quite fishy....but the set up and the delaers on these are quite good.
My only experience was the PPM tournament cruise....so maybe the ones that don't have a big tournament are a bit different. But I would be willing to give those a try too (and the people I talked too on the boat who had been on 'regular' poker cruises just raved about them).
I wouldn't mind doing the European or the Alaska poker-cruises someday.

And they aren't as poker-intensive as you might think.
My GF knows ZERO about poker and she had a great time too. The amount of poker talk everywhere was a bit weird to her...but it was generally very easy to get out of 'poker-mode' and just enjoy the cruise.