Sahara Pokerroom Review

[Xelent]

I went to go check out the Sahara last night and play in their tournament and maybe some cash games. I arrived a little late for the 7 PM tournament so I played cash games until the 11 PM tournament started.

The two cash games they had were 2/4 limit holdem with one $2 blind and 1/2 NL with $100 minimum $500 max buyin.

I played some 2/4 until the NL game started. I sat just around the time that a new dealer pushed in. He was flipping a lot of cards over when dealing and was complaining that the cards were sticky. I asked him to get a setup for new cards to fix the problem. The supervisor came over with a setup and berated the dealer in front of the entire table. He yelled at the dealer and told him to never ask for a setup again. I found this completely absurd and innapropriate.

Once the NL game began, I sat down and the action was very slow. The dealers were talking with the players WAY to much. I usually don't mind this, as long as they can talk and deal at the same time. Instead, they basicly stopped dealing or completely stopped following the action to talk to people. It slowed the game down and confused people.

The tournament was a $40+2 with an optional $20 rebuy in the first hour. The tourney chips were moldy and all sticky just like the cards. My first table dealer was talking with the players he seemed to know well at the table and joking around with them. Early in the tourney, I was in the SB and saw the flop for free. I checked my crappy hand and 2 players behind me checked quickly after. The dealer than made a crack at me and told me it was my turn. I told him I checked a while ago.

The tournament structure is actually decent other than the high percentage the house takes making it practically unbeatable. The blinds get rediculous just like all low buyin tournaments, but at the beginning there is some leighway(sp?) for play. The tournament is the only thing keeping that room alive.

The best part of the room was the sandwiches they give at break. Delicious. Other than that, the room seemed quite aweful and terribly run. I also got to play with a kid who was on saved by the bell.

One dealer went to push another dealer, when the supervisor (the same one that yelled at the other guy) told him he was on break instead of pushing. The dealer got very mad in front of everyone and said he only has had 1 sit. The continued to yell at eachother and swear at eachother behind the main desk until the dealer asked if he wanted to take it outside. They went outside and returned 10 minutes later in a much more calm demeanor.

Terrible room, this gets my worst rating ever, 7 thumbs up.

[OilMan]

I got pissed off just reading about this poker room.

[nightlyraver]

Thanks for the review. I will be in Vegas in a couple of weeks and I was actually considering playing at the Sahara. I now know to avoid it.

[Xelent]

Also you don't necesarily have to avoid things just because they are run poorly. Sometimes it is worth the hassle and slow play for some REALLY crappy players and fun times.

I just get upset when all these new poker rooms are being opened and they are being run terribly.

At the Wynn, if it's a slow hour and they have extra dealers sitting around doing nothing, I can get a heads up or three handed game going, and they will charge no rake to get the game going. They are paying the dealers anyway, by giving the players something to get a game started, there is a good chance the game will fill and they will get tons of rake over the next couple of hours as well as dealer tokes.

At the MGM, I tried to start where 6 were on the list. Only 2 of the people including myself were willing to start it shorthanded. I don't mind shorthanded play for one, and second, I understand that once you start the game, it fills usually within 10 minutes. They would not allow us to start the game heads up unless they took a FULL $4 rake. I knew I couldn't beat this and the game never got going. I would of even been willing for $1 to get the game going, but they wouldn't budge. The result was another empty table and a dealer sitting around getting paid anyway. Instead of having a good chance at filling the game, they made it impossible to even start it.

[PoorLawyer]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review. I will be in Vegas in a couple of weeks and I was actually considering playing at the Sahara. I now know to avoid it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I played in the 7pm tourney saturday and had a lot of fun and had no problems with the dealers or the chips. the structure is good in the first 2 hours and then it escalates quickly. I was all in at the 2000-4000 level and quintupled up with QQ and thought I was going to sneak into the money until I tried to steal with 88 and ran into KK....ended up 21st out of 172.

This tourney has the best structure for a low limit under 100 buy in (at least that I have heard about). All the other ones at luxor, mandalay, etc have only 300 chips and are just a crapshoot from what I have heard. I was talking with a dealer at MGM about it the next day and they agreed it is one of the best. And, yes, the sandwiches weren't too bad.

[Xelent]

That is why I told the guy that he can still go there if he is looking for some low buyin tournament experience. Solid early structure to get chips from the crappy players before the blinds turn into a crap shoot.

[jwp]

How long does the 7pm tnmt usually last, approximately? Or, how long did it take you to finish in 21st place?

Thanks,
JWP

[danvh]

I was there in June. If I remember right the whole thing last around 3-3 1/2 hours. I never saw it run into the 11pm. Though I was only there about 3 days.

[PoorLawyer]

[ QUOTE ]
How long does the 7pm tnmt usually last, approximately? Or, how long did it take you to finish in 21st place?

Thanks,
JWP

[/ QUOTE ]

when the 11PM tourney started I think we were just going down to 3 tables....i think i busted around 11:20-11:30

[Xelent]

I think it lasts about 5 hours, I have never been there when it hasn't run into the 11 PM tournament.