Poker in New Orleans
 

I'm going to be flying into New Orleans on saturday to visit my father and I was wondering if you guys had some suggestions on where to play. I primarily play cash games. I've been beating 1/2 on a bunch of sites for about a year now and I've played 2/4 live(almost a waste of time). I'm not adverse to playing as high as 4/8 or even 5/10. Any suggestions on good rooms in the area?

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Harrah's (on Canal Street) is really the only choice...unless you want to drive 15 minutes or so to one of the locals-hangouts.


I like the Harrah's room okay.
Reasonably nice casino...although the poker-room is a bit noisy located next to all the slots.
Lots of tourists and conventioneers make for some really loose games.

They spread as low as 3/6 there.


Sounds like you're new to live play.
Don't forget to pay attention to when it's your turn, don't act out of turn, be careful not to string-bet, and tip the dealers a buck when you win a pot (more hints in the newbie B&M FAW guide here).

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Harrah's down near the French Quarter is the only place to go. Play the 6/12.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Harrah's is great. You know, if you want to hit the beach, there's always the Biloxi poker rooms about an hour and a half away...

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

I apologize for the hijack, but do they plan on ever moving their room back into the old poker room area at the back of the casino? It was really nice back there. It was next to the exit, so there was a decent amount of traffic, but it was far enough away from all the noisy slot craziness.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Hey Bob, I'm probably going to be there sometime next year. What else do they spread, including other games? Thanks.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Bob, I'm probably going to be there sometime next year. What else do they spread, including other games? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]
They have Stud, but only 1-5. They spread Omaha at 15-30 and a 4/8 half hold'em half omaha. Hold'em spreads at 3/6, 6/12, 10/20, 20/40 and rarely a 40/80 (during the WSOP Circuit). There's also a 2/5NL and I believe sometimes a bigger NL hold'em game. Generally speaking, the room is almost entirely 3/6 hold'em, one or two 6/12s, a 10/20, a couple tables of NL, and then one table of each of the other games.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Pokerpages lists a 5-10 and 10-25 PLO game there, does this actually run?

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Thanks.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
Pokerpages lists a 5-10 and 10-25 PLO game there, does this actually run?

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't recall a PLO game, but to be honest, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to Omaha. I just remember there always being a couple people in the 6/12 and 10/20 LHE waiting for the 15/30 Omaha and I don't remember there being much below that. I think most of the people who are interested in Omaha have been around for a while and are playing a level higher than 5/10, so I wouldn't be surprised if 15/30 is the only level spread. I think there was a PLO running during the WSOP Circuit event there. I don't remember there being a PLO otherwise.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

His name isn't Bob....but Patrick is more qualified to answer.
I live in Memphis which is about 6 hours away.
Get down there 3 or 4 times a year I guess...but since I go with my GF I usually don't play any poker. There's too much other stuff to do in New Orleans.

But when I have played there I have been up against some of the drunkest tourist/donks ever to play.

If you swing up to the Memphis/Tunica area though you'll probably dig the poker action. Not quite as 'touristy' but the players are fishy enough at all limits (up to the insane 20/40 game at the Horseshoe) to keep a good 2+2 TAG happy (or even a mediocre one like me).


And I imagine you would be VERY confused by their willingness to just throw comps at you.
But northerners/midwesterners like myself do stick out as foreigners in 'theez here parts'.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
But when I have played there I have been up against some of the drunkest tourist/donks ever to play.

[/ QUOTE ]
I forgot to mention this. These kinds of statements get thrown around too liberally - everybody's always going on and on about how fishy this or that game was. At Harrah's New Orleans, though, it's absolutely true. The casino is sandwiched between the French Quarter and the largest convention center in the nation. It's tourist central and the games are total donkfests. This is great, but I've also never had such wild variance in a game in my life as the three months this spring that I spent playing 6/12 and 10/20 nearly every night at this casino. It nearly drove me nuts.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

a couple years ago sopme guy posted a conversation he overheard at the Cafe Du Monde (famous coffee-shop in the French Q. probably 10-20 minute walk from Harrah's and the Convention Center).

Two obvious out-of-town conventioneers are chatting..

one guy tells the other: have you been to the casino yet? I was thinking of heading over there to play some poker.

second guy: poker huh? do they have Texas Hold-em?

first guy: yeah. I think so. I'd like to try it. It looks pretty easy to me.

second guy: I've seen it on TV and I KNOW I could play better than those guys do. It looks like fun. Lets head over there.


Evidently the guy who overheard the conversation had already promised his wife that he wouldn't spend their trip at the casino. She had to practically strap him down in the chair to keep him from following.



Indeed Patrick is correct.
The number of first-timers and totally clueless tourists/conventioneers at these games in New Orleans is sometimes just not to be believed.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

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There's too much other stuff to do in New Orleans.

[/ QUOTE ]


For example...my GF and I will probably next head down there for my birthday (Oct 29) and Halloween.
and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend Halloween cooped-up in some casino/poker-room because Halloween in new Orleans is just too damned fun to miss.


Last time we were there was for her birthday (May 1) which coincided with New Orleans jazz-fest. No casino-time during that weekend either.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

If I'm there it'll be for Jazzfest.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hold'em spreads at 3/6, 6/12, 10/20, 20/40 and rarely a 40/80 (during the WSOP Circuit).

[/ QUOTE ]

They usually have only 1 10/20 game going and on weekends sometimes it gets bumped up to a 15/30. I think that we got a 20/40 game going once while I was there. So don't expect any real mid-limit games.

And yes the games are wicked soft.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

the festival itself at the fairgronds kind of sucked in our opinion.
big and crowded and long-lines for porta-johns, etc.

She's a big Dave Matthews Band (in spite of me informing her how mediocre they are) so we went to see them. but the speakers were bad...we were about mid-way up a sfar as the crowd goes (not in the back in other words) and everyone was leaving after 20-30 minutes because we couldn't hear them hardly at all. These are people who had gotten there over 2 hours early to get a decent seat.
Very disappointing.

However..as we were walking out we could hear Elvis Costello from his stage from over a mile away.


However, Frenchman street (just off the French Quarter) was a ton of fun.
A handful of small clubs with really good jazz.
Far more of a locals-scene than a tourist-hangout. You might dig it over there.

A couple of the clubs had live bands from 9p-6a or something insane like that.

Bourbon Street is fun too if one is in the mood for that kind of scene.

If we go back again we might skip the fairgrounds (but sometimes the artists are too good to pass up for one or the other of us...she was disappointed to learn that just a couple days earlier they had a latino-music day with some of her favorite artists...people like Juanes and Julietta Vanegas whom I had never heard of)

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]

But when I have played there I have been up against some of the drunkest tourist/donks ever to play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now this is what I like to hear.
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But northerners/midwesterners like myself do stick out as foreigners in 'theez here parts'.

[/ QUOTE ]

I stand out like a sore thumb regardless of where I'm at, but I have noticed that in my trips to the south anytime I look around I just see heads turning the other way... should be real interesting this week especially since my face is all cut up from being a drunken donkey last night.

Oh, before I forget, thanks for all the info, guys.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

When I was dealing BJ in Tunica my players would hear me welcome them to the game or something and then Jim-Joe or Earl or Clint or whoever it was from Arkansas or Mississippi was playing at my game would observe something profound such as:

'Yew ain't frum arowwnd heere...R yew Baawwwwwwwwb.'
Or something like that.


I have since learned that it is not the greatest of situations to be working with drunken customers while wearing a name-tag that says "Bob".

Because I think eveyone on the planet likes saying it over and over when they're drunk. It's fun (evidently)!!
Especially if they tack on a "What about" along with the "Bob".

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

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If we go back again we might skip the fairgrounds

[/ QUOTE ]

The food at JazzFest is entirely too tasty to skip.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
The food at JazzFest is entirely too tasty to skip.

[/ QUOTE ]

The food at New Orleans in general is too tasty to skip.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

the food at jazzfest is better than what you can expect at similar type music-festivals....but it's not THAT great.
it's expensive (like typical concert-festival food) the lines are long...and occasionally it's going to be not very hot.

Additionally, there's much better food to be had elsewhere in the city.
The food at the festival isn't even a factor in considering whether or not we go again.

The music lineup and the weather are the determining factors.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
the food at jazzfest is better than what you can expect at similar type music-festivals....but it's not THAT great.


[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. It is expensive, but undoubtedly worth it. Several vendors have specialties that are available only during the festival. Jazzfest is not the time to order a PoBoy, fried seafood, or Catfish Monica. You must order crawfish bread and crawfish strudel.

The greatness lies in the opportunity to sample goodies from about 100 local vendors at one time. The majority of the vendors are small business that take the time to take care of the small details; for example, several of them actually make the sausage that goes into the red beans and rice.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

God, do I love this town: the people, the food, even the smell. I named my account after my all-time favorite dive bar (The Velvet Dog on Saint Peter in the Quarter). I've always been too busy having fun to gamble while in NO, but after reading these posts I will have to check it out when I'm there for Christmas / New Years. Thanks.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Harrah's has recently started a $200 max buy-in 2/5 no limit game. I have no reason to think it's any less soft than the rest of what they spread. I've yet to step in, but I watched a PF rasier bet $10 into a $120 pot on the turn, then do the same on the river. I don't think it was part of a complex strategy.

Also, they run a Sunday morning $100 buy in tournament, getting about 150 people each week.

Also, the room is going completely nonsmoking on 9/1. This makes up for the noise somewhat.

All in all, the room is improving. Patrick is right about the wild variance at 6/12 and 10/20, but I should also note that I played 6/12 10 morning/afteroons straight over the past two weeks and played with the same people nearly every day. Stick to nights and weekends.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
Patrick is right about the wild variance at 6/12 and 10/20, but I should also note that I played 6/12 10 morning/afteroons straight over the past two weeks and played with the same people nearly every day. Stick to nights and weekends.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, the games don't really get going until after about 7pm during the week and there are a lot of locals that you'll see there all the time.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
the festival itself at the fairgronds kind of sucked in our opinion.
big and crowded and long-lines for porta-johns, etc.

She's a big Dave Matthews Band (in spite of me informing her how mediocre they are) so we went to see them. but the speakers were bad...we were about mid-way up a sfar as the crowd goes (not in the back in other words) and everyone was leaving after 20-30 minutes because we couldn't hear them hardly at all. These are people who had gotten there over 2 hours early to get a decent seat.
Very disappointing.

However..as we were walking out we could hear Elvis Costello from his stage from over a mile away.


However, Frenchman street (just off the French Quarter) was a ton of fun.
A handful of small clubs with really good jazz.
Far more of a locals-scene than a tourist-hangout. You might dig it over there.

A couple of the clubs had live bands from 9p-6a or something insane like that.

Bourbon Street is fun too if one is in the mood for that kind of scene.

If we go back again we might skip the fairgrounds (but sometimes the artists are too good to pass up for one or the other of us...she was disappointed to learn that just a couple days earlier they had a latino-music day with some of her favorite artists...people like Juanes and Julietta Vanegas whom I had never heard of)

[/ QUOTE ]

Since one of my philosophies of life is never to go anywhere I would have to stand in line to use a porta-potty, I don't go to Jazzfest, but during Jazzfest the various clubs around town kick their bookings up several notches. So you can both listen and eat good without going anywhere near the fairgrounds.

There are also other music fests throughout the year that are neither as crowded or as expensive as Jazzfest. French Quarter Fest in the summer is free and has good music (although not the big names from out of town) and lots of food from local restaurants.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
If I'm there it'll be for NotReallyAnyJazzfest.

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Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Was in town for business and spent about 90 minutes playing 3/6 at Harrah's. A few observations:

1. Everyone besides me and 1 other player were older (late 50's or 60's) locals - I think they were retirees that spent a part of their day playing poker.
2. Just about every hand had 6 or 7 people seeing the flop.
3. They had a promotion where if you lost with Pocket Aces, you win a rack - a guy at my table won. Pretty nice.
4. Was there around noon and there were about 5 HE games going on. By the time I left, there were probably 8 or 9 going on.
5. The dealers were very efficient. I've only played at one other casino - in LV and they were slow. These guys moved quite swiftly - almost like they had been told to keep the games moving.
6. I play at Party online - I have about 30k hands in and I have never seen a table as loose as this one.

Not sure if it's always like this, but certainly worth a visit if in the area.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
but during Jazzfest the various clubs around town kick their bookings up several notches. So you can both listen and eat good without going anywhere near the fairgrounds.

[/ QUOTE ]


preciseloy what our future philosophy will consist of.

Frenchman Street was really jumpin that weekend.


Other festivals are probably a good idea I suspect. But my GF's birthday is right during that time and she loves New Orleans so I suspect we'll be semi-regulars there during jazz-fest just becayse of that.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

A few random thoughts:

The "regulars" at Harrah's are usually just as bad as the tourists. Just because you see them on more than one day, do not assume any kind of poker-playing ability on their part. These are gambling folk- 94 sooted looks just as good to them as it does to your average just-stumbled-in-from-Bourbon donk.

While I haven't actually gotten around to playing the 2/5 NL game yet, I've been told it's no less of a donkathon than the other games. I don't much care for the blind structure relative to the buy-in, but I still can't wait to go play that game. The big NL game is now 5/10 blinds, used to be 5/5.

Aces cracked wins a rack day is Tuesday. Mondays during football season they run a free contest during MNF, you get assigned a number that relates to the scoring somehow (I forget exactly). Football+beer+poker+free EV=good times.

Naomi (one of the waitresses) is a frigging goddess.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

Good point about the regulars, but the downside is that they're not so dim that they won't come to recognize that you are a good/serious player, whereas the off-the-street drunks don't know who you are.

FWIW: Spent 7 hours down there yesterday for Aces Cracked Tuesday. Never saw them once (nor KK or QQ for that matter).

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
Good point about the regulars, but the downside is that they're not so dim that they won't come to recognize that you are a good/serious player, whereas the off-the-street drunks don't know who you are.

[/ QUOTE ]

While that's true, the next step in their thought process is usually "Lemme see if I can flop two pair with this 83 of clubs and crack this good/serious player's KK. What? Someone capped it? Call."

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

The way I've seen it would be Aces-cracked ON THE RIVER wins a rack of $1.
So if the AA was ahead on the turn...and THEN the river-card fills some straight draw for the other guy....THEN you win $100.

Not sure if they make this distinction at Harrah's or not.
Just relating my experience with it.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
A few random thoughts:

The "regulars" at Harrah's are usually just as bad as the tourists. Just because you see them on more than one day, do not assume any kind of poker-playing ability on their part. These are gambling folk- 94 sooted looks just as good to them as it does to your average just-stumbled-in-from-Bourbon donk.

While I haven't actually gotten around to playing the 2/5 NL game yet, I've been told it's no less of a donkathon than the other games. I don't much care for the blind structure relative to the buy-in, but I still can't wait to go play that game. The big NL game is now 5/10 blinds, used to be 5/5.

Aces cracked wins a rack day is Tuesday. Mondays during football season they run a free contest during MNF, you get assigned a number that relates to the scoring somehow (I forget exactly). Football+beer+poker+free EV=good times.

Naomi (one of the waitresses) is a frigging goddess.

[/ QUOTE ]
These are good points (especially about Naomi - add Giselle to the list as well). However, there are a few regulars, mostly the younger guys, who you will have to adjust to. The older guys are mostly pretty passive, but the younger guys are a lot more aggressive and a few of them are actually pretty good players. You'll be able to spot them pretty quickly.

Re: Poker in New Orleans
 

One warning: contrary to what a drunk friend of mine hoped, informing Naomi that her name backwards is "I moan" will not get her in bed with you. Go figure.