The NEW Isle of Capri poker room in Lake Charles

[David]

Well, they finally opened and I went for a visit this past weekend. The room is at least 10 times the previous size! They have 17 tables set up right now with plans for more. I arrived Friday and they had several white chip games, 1-10/20, and 2-20/40 games going. They have eliminated the 10/20/40 game (THANK YOU!). The 10/20 starts Friday and runs through the weekend (usually at least 1 must move). The 20/40 starts Thursday and runs through the weekend also. The room, while not nonsmoking, is light years ahead of their former room. They actually have ventilation. It was not smoky at all. The tables are at this time spread out nice with plenty of room to walk around. Same old sandwiches and eggrolls. Get 'em fresh and you probably won't get food poisoning. Let 'em sit awhile and who knows!
Their biggest problem right now is the poor quality of the dealers. But, in their defense they are expanding and have just hired several new dealers. They will get better. They are talking about starting Saturday tournaments a couple times a month. Hopefully they will have them on the 2'nd and 4'th Saturdays of the month opposite Grand Casino Coushatta. If you go be sure and tell them to try and set them up opposite Coushatta. If you haven't been since they opened this new room you gotta go and see it. What an improvement! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Oh, I forgot to say....they had a 4/8 Omaha Hi game going Friday with average pots $100+ !!!!!! Unreal! Wish I was better at Omaha. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[sucka]

That is very interesting...

My friends and I quit going down there because the place was such a dump. It was smoky and crowded and quite frankly we weren't that big on the spread games they always ran.

I'm curious though - did they move the room to a new location or did they simply expand the room where it used to be?

I would also have to concur on the quality of dealers although it seemed to get a little better when they started allowing dealers to keep their own tips at some point last year. We haven't been in many months but with this news I might actually consider taking a trip down to check it out.

[David]

They moved the room , it now occupies the entire third floor of the same boat. There are a few slot machines near the restrooms, but they were hardly played last Friday night. I think they just put them there for the poker players to drop quarters in on the way to and from the restroom. NOWHERE NEAR as smoky. I had quit going there because of the smoke too. It didn't bother me a bit this trip. Much better ventilation. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[sucka]

wow that's very promising.

So, are they still running the 3/6/12 or do they have a 3/6 and a 6/12 or a 4/8 HE game?

I'll play the spread stuff but prefer the standard structure if available.

[barrett]

Is the rake still the same?

[sucka]

yup. I called down there this morning...

They are still running the 3/6/12 spread with the structured 10/20 and 20/40 games on the weekend. I asked her if they were running any 6/12 or 3/6 and she said that they weren't...yet. So, I'm not sure if that means that they will or that she just has no idea.

Unfortunately, the rake is still the same and they aren't really to blame for that. The state sets the rake for the poker room. I think they have a choice to drop a jackpot (which they do) but they don't have much say on what gets raked.

[barrett]

Bleh -- that sucks. That spread limit crap kills me every time. I didn't realize the state sets the rake.

Everytime I consider driving to Louisiana, I realize that flying to Vegas is faster than the drive time.

The Hollywood Casino in Shreveport has a standard 4/8 game but it's smoky and there are only a handful of tables. It's about the same driving time to get there as Lake Charles from Austin.

[sucka]

yeah, a local friend and I had discussed trekking up to Bossier City (Shreveport) to play at Hollywood's but when I called and found out they only had 7 tables I decided that would be a bad idea. The person in the poker room said that on the weekends the list goes 30+ deep and it often takes 2+ hours to get a seat. Eh, you'd think someone over there would figure out how to get a few more tables in the room. Morons.

The 3/6/12 isn't a horrible game - it's just the perfect format for those who live to suckout. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

With the jackpot there as well the players are just atrocious but when you have 6 or 7 people playing any 2 no matter how much it costs them it's a definite grind to make any money. Certainly possible though - I'm up a good amount from 4 trips late last year.

We'll probably venture down there and play again just to check it out. My wife has a kid on the way in ~7 weeks so my playing time is going to be severely impacted for a while. [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

You ever play in any games around town (austin) - did you play over at the APC?

[barrett]

You're right about the wait at the Hollywood. I've only played there once -- I took a nap when I arrived after looking at the list and by the time I was done, the wait wasn't too bad. Maybe they'll get the hint like the Isle and expand.

Perhaps I'll give 3/6/12 another shot. It just drives me crazy most of the time. I suppose I need to get all my playing in since my wife keeps hinting at a kid too. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

I never played at the APC. I knew a few people who did and they seem to have no regrets. It just never sounded like a real solid idea for me personally with the legality issues and membership fee. Plus, if the articles in the paper were at all accurate, the owners flat out lied about several points. They claimed to be in contact with state agencies to make sure everything was kosher when in fact there had been no such contact.

I play in two semi-regular home games for small stakes. It keeps me entertained between trips to Vegas. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] If you're looking for games, shoot me a private message. Or if you have any good ones you know of yourself!

[sucka]

Perhaps I'll give 3/6/12 another shot. It just drives me crazy most of the time

I found that to be the case, particularly the first time I played it. You really have to adjust to the game and open up a little - especially from LP. Implied odds are higher in these spread limit games so drawing hands generally go up in value. When you can limp for cheap with suited connectors and Axs you can score big. The variance in that game is pretty high as well so you have to just be prepared for that. I try hard to play solid poker but you should be playing a few more hands than at a typical 4/8 type game - especially down there where -most- of the time it's pretty passive pre-flop.

The other thing that makes that place a mess is the jackpot. People chase that thing like crazy. I made a comment on a post a long time ago about a hand I played there where I folded a small pocket pair in MP with 2 bets to me. I had befriended an old lady sitting next to me and I giggle a little when I would have flopped a set and scooped a pretty good sized pot. She says to me, "You folded a pocket pair?!?!? You should never fold a pocket pair - that's a jackpot hand!".

If you can stomach the swings of playing in a no-foldem type spread game with a $12 pop on the end then it's a good game to play in as the majority of players that I've played against there are borderline atrocious. You just have to be patient and make a big hand now and then to keep your stack moving in a positive direction.

I remember seeing people make big mistakes by not popping the flop with big hands - two pair and flopped sets - only to get sucked out on by runner-runner flushes and straights. You have to make those types of players call more than 1 bet on the flop to make them go away. If they decide to stay at least you charged them the max to hang around and turn the Hoover on. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Slow playing anything but flopped quads or straight flushes in that game is suicide.

As for me, I occasionaly play with a group of guys that get together quite often. I play in friendly very low limit home games on the weekends with a few friends and their wives that play. It's more of a social thing than a hardcore poker game.

If you ever need an extra one or two in your game let me know. I'm always up for meeting some new local poker players.