Cleveland Nautica Charity Poker Festivals
 

I just finished my second tour of duty working at the Nautica Charity Poker Festivals in Cleveland. There's only one week left, then the tent will be shut down for the winter. The last week will be Sept. 15th to Sept. 18th with a $500 buy in tourney on Saturday the 17th.

The powers that be are working on plans for next year. A couple of things they're working on are:

Better dealers: all dealers are volunteers and there's a new charity every week. Most have never dealt a hand in their lives and many have never even played poker, so the dealers aren't exactly professionals. They are investigating whether or not paid dealers can be utilized, but the law regarding charities and paying people is a pain in the butt. We'll see what happens.

Different games: this year we had a $2 game, 5/10 and 10/20 with a full kill. 1/2 no limit is being considered as well as some bigger tourneys. Maybe there will be two blinds in the cash games as well.

Longer season: the charities made great money this year (about $450K), we had no shortage of players and there were no serious problems or "criminal activity" that we found, so the experiment was a huge success. Next year the tent will probably be open from late April to October.

Obviously the room was not perfect, so we're looking for comments/ideas/suggestions for next year to make this thing better. Feel free to post or send a PM. Thanks!

Re: Cleveland Nautica Charity Poker Festivals
 

I wish I had heard of this sooner, maybe I'll drive up for the tourney. Is there a website or can you provide more details information? Such as directions, location, etc?

Re: Cleveland Nautica Charity Poker Festivals
 

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I wish I had heard of this sooner, maybe I'll drive up for the tourney. Is there a website or can you provide more details information? Such as directions, location, etc?

[/ QUOTE ]

Here you go: Nautica

Re: Cleveland Nautica Charity Poker Festivals
 

Certainly I am not opposed, but I don't believe the Nautica Charity Games are necessarily geared toward the poker enthusiast at this point.

First, take a look at: http://www.nauticacharitypoker.com/open_play.htm

The hourly seat fees are pretty damn expensive. Honestly, from all that I've found out about the game, it's not for the serious Hold 'em player. It attracts the right kind of crowd, your 21-50 year old with disposable income. That's what good location does for you, right in the Flats.

While the prototypical fish is being lured into the game, you've got to consider the fact that you're paying almost 1.5BB/hr to sit; on top of that you're not going to be getting that many hands because of volunteer dealers. As the OP said, many have never even played before. IMO, the Nautica games leave a lot to be desired. While I've never played in the tournaments myself, I hear they take 30% off the top. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're in the Cleveland area, you're best served to call 216-676-4500. That's the Jackpot Festival Gaming hotline (many already know this). Anyway, their games are prime during the summer, mostly the church festivals. Lots of fishsticks to be picked apart, no matter what the limit. If you find the "hall" (as my friends and I affectionately call it) during off-peak season, you're pretty much going to be playing in a rock garden. But there's pretty much always a game on the East side, the West side, and even in the Akron area. That is, however, when the place isn't getting raided. Not that it's a common occurance, but it has been known to happen when the dealers are getting paid.

Just my two cents anyway. I'd love to hear from others that have played at Nautica tho.

-r

Re: Cleveland Nautica Charity Poker Festivals
 

I never made it down to the nautica games once i heard of the high seat charge and bad dealers. I Used to be a regular at a lot of the other charity games (not that their rake was low) but i have switched to totally online play since jan (except for trips to vegas). The smoke in those rooms is so effing horrendous, the rake is 50% higher than vegas, and it is such a pain in the ass to get raided.

I would hit up the nautica games if they had 15/30 (or higher) which should be easy to fill if they have good dealers.