Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

Thinking about going to Tampa for a Red Sox/Devil Rays game at the end of July. Is it worth staying/playing at the Hard Rock? What are the games like? The amenities? How much of a pain is it to get to Tropicana Field? Are there better options?

Any input helps.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

I'm bumping this, not because I'm generally impatient, but beacuse I want to put together an Expedia package by tomorrow 'cause the flight is cheap.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

The trip between Tropicana Field and Tampa Hard Rock is not short. You certainly need a car to get there and the drive is probably a minimum of 30 minutes and can be much longer as the traffic going west from Tampa can be very bad at rush hour.

The room is OK. Alot of smoke when I was there plus you can only play the $2 max bet games as specified by Florida law. If you want to play, you're better off with the boats. Probably easier to get to from St. Pete as well...

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

Thanks. Are the boats $2 max as well? If so, it's not worth playing at all. I'll go to the beach instead.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

The Ocean Jewel has 3/6 and 5/10 games. They also have a mini no limit with a 100 buy in and a bigger one with three hundred buy in. I think their web site is oceanjewel.com.
You can also check out the St. Pete dog track for tournys. They usually run up to two a day with about a 45 dollar entry fee. hope this helps

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

Playing at the Hard Rock might be worth it but with only $2 games I don't think it would be worth staying there. Stay on St. Pete Beach (eat and party at the Hurricane)or Clearwater Beach (party at Shepard's).

A much closer poker room to the Trop with the same $2 poker games minus the smoke is Derby Lane. They have about 50 poker tables and run tournaments once or twice a day along with turbo tournaments throughout the day.

The Ocean Jewel runs shuttles out to their boat from both downtown St. Petersburg and John's Pass which is midway between Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach. The John's Pass shuttle is about a 45 minutes quicker to the boat than the downtown shuttle. This is really the only choice for higher limit and no limit poker in the Tampa Bay area.


Links.

Derby Lane poker
http://www.derbylanepoker.com
Ocean Jewel poker
http://www.oceanjewel.com/poker.php

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

I have stayed at the hard rock and the rooms are very nice for the money. They also serve alchohol 24 hours a day since its on an indian reservation and they have a nightclub onsite that is usually packed. If you want to party stay at the hard rock. If you want to just be a tourist then find a hotel in downtown St. Petersburg where there are lots of touristy things to do and you will only be a couple miles from tropicana field. Also the shuttles for the Ocean Jewel leave from downtown st. pete.

Probably you should stay in downtown st. pete.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

It's a one night deal, so staying close to the field is the biggest priority. Maybe I'll check out the boat, too.

Thanks for the info.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

If you're only in the Bay are for one night, and seeing the Sox clobber the D-Rays is the priority, staying at Hard Rock is pretty ridiculous, unless you're flying into MCO (Orlando Int'l) for some reason, have some other reason to be in Orlando or points east, or driving down from the northeast and want to take I-4 to I-95. If you're flying into TPA (Tampa Int'l) or PIE (St. Pete / Clearwater), you'll want to stay in Pinellas County and not bother with East Tampa.

Another poster gave a 30 minute drive time - maybe if you're going 100MPH through the I-4 construction, Downtown Tampa, over the bridge, and through metro St. Pete. Allow at LEAST an hour from Hard Rock/Fairgrounds to the Trop, more if you're fighting traffic.

Derby Lane is real close to the Trop if you want to play cheap poker. The boats are good for "real" poker, but I hear the games are small, and getting to/from the boat is time-consuming. If you're trying to make a flight, the possibility of getting stuck out at sea isn't appealing, I'm sure.

Enjoy your stay in the Tampa Bay area.

Re: Hard Rock Casino Tampa--???
 

I play at the Hard Rock fairly regularly: super soft, but all they have is $1/$2 and $2/$2. How soft/hard are the "real" games on the Ocean Jewell? Is it worth the effort, or should I stick to crushing the low limit games?

Slightly off-topic: what strategy adjustments are necessary going from a $1/$2 game to a straight $2? (If there is a good thread on this, could someone post a link?)