New OK room open
 

I just called Thunderbird to get more details on their grand opening this Friday. The lady on the phone told me that they actually opened up early. Good to know, but unfortunately I've got a lot to get done before I can check it out. I didn't ask her much of anything other than times and games, but here is what I found out:

They open at 9 AM and go until 1 AM, except on the weekends when it is 24 hours. Games offered at the moment are Hold 'em, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud. For Hold 'em, they have 2-4 and 4-8 limit (she had to ask me what that meant...) and 2-5, 5-10, and 10-20 NL. Not sure on the other games. I don't play them. I did ask, but she wasn't sure. I had been expecting 4-8 to be the smallest limit game, so 2-4 is good news for me. I do hope that they offer bigger limit games in the future though. I forgot to ask how many tables they had, etc.

This is at Thunderbird Wild Wild West Casino on HWY 9. It is approximately 12-15 miles east of Norman. I plan to get out there as soon as possible, but it could be Friday before I get the chance. This will be my first time at a B&M card room. If anyone else has a chance to play there, please let us know what you find.

If you want to ask them anything else, the phone number is 1-800-259-5825.

Re: New OK room open
 

is thunderbird 21+

Re: New OK room open
 

18 and up. AFAIK, all of the Indian casinos are 18+.

Re: New OK room open
 

i've heard that thunderbird is 21+ because they serve alcohol. cherokee does though and they're only 18+

Re: New OK room open
 

I stopped by Thunderbird a couple of months ago since I was in the area. I didn't even go in since there was an employee in the parking lot at the time. I asked about when the poker room would be open, etc. I also asked about ages. He told me 18+. This was a while back, but I'm sure if the rest of the casino is 18+, then the poker room should be as well. At any rate, I'm about to go find out. I'll try to report back tonight or tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Re: New OK room open
 

Please post results when you get there. I wonder how it would be if I showed up in all UTexas gear.

Re: New OK room open
 

Alright. Just got back about an hour ago. They have 12 tables at the far left end of the building as you approach it from the parking lot. When I showed up at about 6:30, they had 6 tables going. Not sure how many of each, but it seemed like there were probably about three 2-4 tables, one or two 4-8 tables (probably one), and one or two no limit tables. I think the only NL game I heard them calling people for was the 2/5 blind game, which apparently had no max buy-in, and I think a $100 minimum. Not positive on this. Just relaying several things I heard, which may or may not be related. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I put my name on the 2-4 list. I thought I was in for a long wait since there were a couple of others who were complaining about the wait after being there for 20-30 minutes. I got a seat in about 15 minutes or so, which I thought was plenty reasonable. Bought in for $100 and took my seat with a table full of guys who all looked under 25. Most had hats on (I can't talk...) and a couple even had their sunglasses. I think I saw a couple of them at a 100 person Hold'em freeroll tourney on campus a few months ago. Everything was pretty quiet at my table without much more than quiet conversation between a couple of guys. After two or three of these guys left, things lightened up a bit.

The floorman seemed to know what he was doing from what I could see, but some of the dealers were obviously lacking experience. I expected this. I didn't even have to post a blind in the cutoff when I was dealt in. I posted, but the dealer told me I didn't need to. Several of the other players confirmed that they had not posted either when they sat down. Later in the session, one dealer made a new guy post, but the others did not. Even though some of the dealers were obviously new, there were some who did a great job as well. Sara did a good job. Chris did good. One young guy in particular did a great job. I believe his name was Matthew. A couple of the new dealers got a bit confused with side pots, but not bad. The worst was when two people got all in.

The game was sort of LAG-ish when the young guys were in it. They were fairly aggressive at times and it seemd to be working OK for them. Not sure if they knew when it was best to be aggressive, but they did alright from what I could see. After they left, things went LPP for the most part. There were, however, a couple of players who would bet with very little. I watched one old guy go five bets on the flop with a K52 board, only to show pocket 4s. I eventually flopped top pair (queens) against him. I bet, he raised, all fold to me, I 3-bet, he calls. Turn: another Q! Best part was when he muttered "Son of a bitch!" It was great. He called me down and showed me his KK which was his first legit hand (PF) in a while. That guy donated quite a bit to me and the rest of the table. He was up to around $200 at one point and didn't stop until he busted out. Another notable hand was my 33 in the SB. It was raised, but the pot odds were great, so I paid my $3 for the flop. I flopped my set on a fairly harmless looking board (K3X rainbow). I got raised on the river after villain improved to two pair. I 3-bet it and got called. This was my biggest pot at right around $80. By the time I cashed out 5.5 hr later, I was up $140. Not bad for an afternoon of playing cards.

I definitely look forward to going again. I had previously posted that they close at 1:00 AM, but tonight they announced that they would close at 2:30. By the time I left, there were about 9 or 10 tables going. I'm sure they'll keep all 12 full over the weekend.

If you see me out there playing limit some day soon, give me a Sup Bro. I'm a pretty big guy (~240) 20 years old. I wear glasses (not sunglasses...). I'll have my beige Adidas hat on since it's the only one I have up here and I need a haircut. I might try to get out there again this weekend. My roommate wants to go try it out next week sometime. I might try to make it a once- or twice-weekly thing for the rest of the semester, just for something different.

BTW, I forgot to mention. I'm 20 and there were others who were 20 as well (I'm pretty sure) and no mention was ever made about age. I'm was told a couple of months ago that it would be 18+ and this definitely seems to be the case. They do serve alcohol though. Never saw any of the younger-looking guys get carded for that either, but personally I'd rather not risk it. Besides, 2 more months and I won't have to worry about it.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how it would be if I showed up in all UTexas gear.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't recommend it [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Lots of OU students out there, I believe. Also lots of people wearing OU clothes and hats. And UT sucks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: New OK room open
 

What's the rake?

How many people were seeing the flop on average from what you recall?

Were the players tipping the dealers well (just curious)?

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
18 and up. AFAIK, all of the Indian casinos are 18+.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe Oklahoma but not all states.

Best of Luck

Gordon Scott

Re: New OK room open
 

I didn't ask about the rake, but from what I could tell, it looked to be 10% up to $5. I know they were taking the first dollar at $10 and I know that they biggest rake I saw was $5, so I assume that's how it worked.

On average, I'd say there were probably at least 5 or 6 people to the flop. This changed as people came and went. One hand was either straddled or just raised UTG (I forget which, but 2 bets cold either way) and I was the only one to fold preflop. On my biggest pot, 7 people saw the flop for 2 bets. About half dropped on the flop and it was just me and one more to the river. That hand was worth $80 after I flopped a set.

The players were pretty good about tipping the dealers a buck on most of the pots, with the exception of the old guy I mentioned in my other post. He won several pots and was probably up $100 and didn't tip the dealer on any of those pots. Some of the guys were talking about how he wouldn't ever tip the dealer. I don't know if he heard them or what, but as soon as we changed dealers, he tipped $2 on his first pot. Didn't notice whether he was tipping after that.

There was one guy there that straddled 3 times (and lost on all of them). I didn't mind since I wasn't in the blinds and I had poor hands every time he did this. There were also a couple more straddles while I was there. On one hand, a guy straddled, the guy next to him wanted to restraddle to 8, and the guy next to him wanted to restraddle to 16. I was next and they were asking me to go 32. They were informed that they could not do this, but they did cap the betting preflop. Most hands, this had little effect on the number of people seeing the flop.

Re: New OK room open
 

I just realized, it was 4.5 hours, not 5.5 hours. 35 BB in 4.5 hours ain't half bad [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: New OK room open
 

I'm currently in Norman and I haven't had time to get to the casino yet (classes...) though I probably will make it up there later tonight. I wanted to reply because my friend Matt deals there, and it might have been him that you referred to as being a great dealer. He's a young guy (22-24 or so) and has a beard, about 6' tall. Was this who you were referring to? He dealt in a lot of home games around the area, and I consider him one of the best dealers in the local games.

hopefully they stay 18+
 

I was at cherokee last night and was told by every employee that I saw that they would be 21+ starting may 1 [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] creek nation casino on riverside is going to be opening their poker room soon and i'm told they are only going to have a max $3 rake so no biggie.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how it would be if I showed up in all UTexas gear.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't recommend it [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Lots of OU students out there, I believe. Also lots of people wearing OU clothes and hats. And UT sucks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh no no no. I see this as a premium opportunity. Now I play low stakes 3/6, 4/8, or 1/2 NL. However, if you are there to take people's money anyways, might as well have some fun in it, dress up in the biggest rival's gear, and see if you can use that to your advantage at the table.

Strickly fun though.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how it would be if I showed up in all UTexas gear.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't recommend it [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Lots of OU students out there, I believe. Also lots of people wearing OU clothes and hats. And UT sucks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh no no no. I see this as a premium opportunity. Now I play low stakes 3/6, 4/8, or 1/2 NL. However, if you are there to take people's money anyways, might as well have some fun in it, dress up in the biggest rival's gear, and see if you can use that to your advantage at the table.

Strickly fun though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a feeling that if you walk into a casino five miles east of norman wearing all UT gear, you might piss people off to the point of it being a nice night for a fist fight.

Im a dealer for the thunderbird poker room
 

If you guys have any questions about it then ill answer.
It is a 18+ room since im seeing that alot. The dealers are doing thier best to give you a good game but most didnt know what holdem was until a month ago when training first started. I'm very proud at the progress the room has made so far.

Re: New OK room open
 

lol matt widdoes? hes a great dealer btw so tip him well.

Re: Im a dealer for the thunderbird poker room
 

So officially, what is the rake.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
I wanted to reply because my friend Matt deals there, and it might have been him that you referred to as being a great dealer. He's a young guy (22-24 or so) and has a beard, about 6' tall. Was this who you were referring to? He dealt in a lot of home games around the area, and I consider him one of the best dealers in the local games.

[/ QUOTE ]

That definitely sounds like him. He did a great job. The table was talking about him the rest of the night. I'm probably going to go out there tonight with my roommate. I hope to see Matt again.

Not sure what shirt I'll be wearing, but I'll have the Adidas hat on again. I'll probably be wearing some sort of Harley shirt. Say hi if you see me out there.

Re: Im a dealer for the thunderbird poker room
 

10% upto $5

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how it would be if I showed up in all UTexas gear.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't recommend it [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Lots of OU students out there, I believe. Also lots of people wearing OU clothes and hats. And UT sucks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh no no no. I see this as a premium opportunity. Now I play low stakes 3/6, 4/8, or 1/2 NL. However, if you are there to take people's money anyways, might as well have some fun in it, dress up in the biggest rival's gear, and see if you can use that to your advantage at the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was in Vegas on January 2nd this year, wearing my UT shirt after their Rose Bowl victory. Seated two to my left was a guy wearing a Michigan sweatshirt and hat, and he was not happy to see me. He spent the next two hours trying to bust me---every time I was in a pot he was right there with me, and whenever I raised pre-flop he ALWAYS re-raised to try and isolate me. I wound up busting him out when my Q-A held up against his Q-K on a Q high board. As the chips came my way, and he was getting up to leave, I said "that's why they call it Texas Hold Em, not Michigan Hold Em." It was fun....

Re: New OK room open
 

They are still getting some of the details worked out, but everything went relatively smoothly tonight. There were a couple of issues where dealers and/or staff didn't know the rules correctly. For instance, one woman was allowed to remove $100 from the table to cash in and give to her husband at another table.

There were also some changes to the limits offered compared to Wednesday. On Wednesday, your choices were 2/4 or 4/8 limit or 2/5 NL. Tonight, it was 3/6 or 4/8 limit with lots of 2/5 NL. They also started up a 10/20 limit game a few hours ago. I had to wait almost an hour for a seat at a 3/6 table, and by the time I left, there were many many more people on the rail watching and presumably waiting to get a seat.

Cardplayer magazine contributed some books that were given away throughout the evening. When I first saw a book under someone's chair, I actually thought the guy had brought it with him.

One rule was announced several times that may be of interest to some of you. Headphones are not allowed at the tables.

Unfortunately, tonight was not as good of a night as Wednesday. I managed to lose about $70 this time around. I had AK or AQ about 5 or 6 times, and they were suited about half of those times. Not once did they win. I don't think I won a single pot in probably the last 4 or 5 dealers. Only notable hand all night was when I had AA and flopped a set with 3 spades on the board. I bet, got raised by the guy on my left, everyone else folded to me. I 3-bet and villain called. Turn paired the board, giving me aces full of jacks. IIRC, he had flopped 2 pair, aces and whatever the other card was. Even though I was down $70, I felt like I played pretty well for the most part. My biggest problem was not paying enough attention on the hands that I wasn't involved in. Overall, -12BB isn't too much of a concern since I really felt like a lot of it was due to the cards. Honestly, though, I probably should have tried to change tables anyway. My table was not making very many huge mistakes, so it was a little bit harder to capitalize on opponent's bad play than it was on Wednesday.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]

I was in Vegas on January 2nd this year, wearing my UT shirt after their Rose Bowl victory. Seated two to my left was a guy wearing a Michigan sweatshirt and hat, and he was not happy to see me. He spent the next two hours trying to bust me---every time I was in a pot he was right there with me, and whenever I raised pre-flop he ALWAYS re-raised to try and isolate me. I wound up busting him out when my Q-A held up against his Q-K on a Q high board. As the chips came my way, and he was getting up to leave, I said "that's why they call it Texas Hold Em, not Michigan Hold Em." It was fun....

[/ QUOTE ]

My travel for that was leave Austin, drive to dallas, pick up friends, then drive up the TX panhandle, then through NM, through AZ, through Hoover damn (took 2 hours to go 4 miles). Then to Vegas. Stayed there for 4 days, watched New Years Eve fireworks in Vegas, we pack up and leave at 3am, drive to California through the night (my first trip there). We arrive at commerce, go check out the Santa Monica blvd in the early morning, then drive to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Game was amazing, esp since my seat location was in the endzone right when the FG kick floated just over the crossbar to win the game.

When we returned to Commerce, sure enough, people in full michigan gear. These people were actually good sports, and we talked for a while how crazy the football game was.

I can't believe how cheap the tickets were selling for on gameday.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
there were many many more people on the rail watching and presumably waiting to get a seat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not always. It wouldn't surprise me if you had a few people who have never played at casino before who just wanted to see how 'fast' it was played, etc. A lot of new players are scared of sitting down, too. Or, they might be just watching you, too.

[ QUOTE ]

One rule was announced several times that may be of interest to some of you. Headphones are not allowed at the tables.


[/ QUOTE ]

Kinda figured they'd get around to this and cell phone rules sooner or later.

[ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, tonight was not as good of a night as Wednesday. I managed to lose about $70 this time around. I had AK or AQ about 5 or 6 times, and they were suited about half of those times. Not once did they win. I don't think I won a single pot in probably the last 4 or 5 dealers. Only notable hand all night was when I had AA and flopped a set with 3 spades on the board. I bet, got raised by the guy on my left, everyone else folded to me. I 3-bet and villain called. Turn paired the board, giving me aces full of jacks. IIRC, he had flopped 2 pair, aces and whatever the other card was. Even though I was down $70, I felt like I played pretty well for the most part. My biggest problem was not paying enough attention on the hands that I wasn't involved in.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not that you probably didn't find this out the hard way, but you still need to be careful against 7 limpers playing just about any two cards. You might want to try a to run some numbers for yourself, e.g., like at sites like www.twodimes.net).

Since you are on this site, you probably have read enough books to know what types of hands you should be playing and in what position. I have found that these extra rules usually help:

0) Don't overestimate you own skill.
1) Don't bluff/semi-bluff.
2) Look for reasons to fold.
3) Raise on the turn typically means two-pair or better.
4) Bet your sets.

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
there were many many more people on the rail watching and presumably waiting to get a seat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not always. It wouldn't surprise me if you had a few people who have never played at casino before who just wanted to see how 'fast' it was played, etc. A lot of new players are scared of sitting down, too. Or, they might be just watching you, too.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure this was the case for many, but there were also a lot of people complaining about the wait. They had all of the tables full.

[ QUOTE ]
Not that you probably didn't find this out the hard way, but you still need to be careful against 7 limpers playing just about any two cards. You might want to try a to run some numbers for yourself, e.g., like at sites like www.twodimes.net).

Since you are on this site, you probably have read enough books to know what types of hands you should be playing and in what position. I have found that these extra rules usually help:

0) Don't overestimate you own skill.
1) Don't bluff/semi-bluff.
2) Look for reasons to fold.
3) Raise on the turn typically means two-pair or better.
4) Bet your sets.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 3/6 on Friday was noticibly tougher than the 2/4 on Wednesday. The 2/4 was full of rediculously bad players plus a couple of rocks that just sort of bled slowly. I know I'm not the greatest, but I am beating the Party .5/1 for a little over 5.5 BB/100 over about 8500 hands. I'm moving to 1/2 now that I got that last Empire bonus finished. I'll stick with 1 or 2 tables until I get the hang of things there. For books, I started with WLLH and TOP and I'm studying SSH now and picking up a lot of little improvements from it. I need to be spending more time in the micro forum here too... As for not semibluffing, I don't semibluff much in multiway pots in the .5/1 and the live games because it almost never succeeds in getting enough people to fold, but I value bet my draws like nobody's business when there are enough players to justify it. I like the additional side effect it has of making me look overly aggressive when people see that I was betting with "nothing". Gets more calls on big hands later on.


And one update on the poker room at Thunderbird: I called to see if they were dealing 2/4 tonight (my roommate doesn't want to play any higher) and they told me that they would no longer have 2/4. 3/6 will be the smallest limit game now. They said that they weren't making enough money off of the 2/4. Bummer. Oh well...that means all the newbies will have to play at the 3/6 and hopefully it will prove more profitable in the long run because of that.

Re: New OK room open
 

Annoying about the 'not making enough money at 2/4'... though I suppose if 6 are going to cluelessly limp/call a single bet anyway, they'll get their $3+ per hand dealt at 3/6 much more often than 2/4... Then again, I was under the impression 4/8 was going to be the only game spread when I fist heard about thunderbird.. heh.

Re: New OK room open
 

Hey thanks for the nice compliment.. I am Sarah and deal at Thunderbird..

We are having some fine tuning going on in the cardroom.. and of course the dealers are out of the loop...

I am personally disappointed in the 2/4 not being spread at the card room.. I know a lot of my friends will not go over the 2/4 limit. So they are not playing..

I enjoyed one hand that I dealt the other night so much I have to share...

Player A raises Player B preflop... B Reraises and it's on.. this is on the 3/6 game.. I deal the flop and it's A-3-3... A bets, B raises, A reraises, B reraises CAPPED... Player A starts telling B.. Hey I have pocket aces...

Turn.. it's a rag... A Bets, B raises, A reraises, B reraises... CAPPED... River.. rag.... and again the betting and reraising begins... now just two players and they are in unlimited raising zone.... well just as A is about to reraise for the upteenth time.. He turns his cards over to reveal the full house.. A A A 3 3.. yep he had it from the flop...

Player B was like, why the hell did you do that? I was gonna call you.. and everyone at the table was like.. Man what is wrong with you.. you could have gotten another 12 bucks out of him... and he said, "well it was just worth the 12 to see his face"..

Player B had an A/K...

Loving the action out here...

sarah

Re: New OK room open
 

[ QUOTE ]
Annoying about the 'not making enough money at 2/4'... though I suppose if 6 are going to cluelessly limp/call a single bet anyway, they'll get their $3+ per hand dealt at 3/6 much more often than 2/4... Then again, I was under the impression 4/8 was going to be the only game spread when I fist heard about thunderbird.. heh.

[/ QUOTE ]

anyone who is playing 2/4, 3/6 or 4/8 isn't playing to make money anyway, just there to have a good time.

Re: New OK room open
 

I was a little concerned about playing 3/6 on Friday (current level online is 2/4), however I jumped in anyway. I would say the action and skill level was, on average, equivalent to 1/2 online. My table was fairly loose with a couple of really juicy fish. I played a very tight game and managed to stand up after about 4.5 hours up about 16 BB - and I had a great time.. still amazed we can play live poker in Oklahoma now! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]