Trip Report: Ocean Jewel, St. Petersburg, FL

[Etaipo]

I had been meaning to visit the Ocean Jewel since I heard that it had (re?)opened. I finally got the chance last weekend when I arrived at Derby Lane too late to register for their daily tournament. Deciding that I was not going to let my poker day be a complete wash, I called a friend and had them get me the directions. It was only about a 15 minute (if that) drive from Derby, and it was in the direction I needed to go to get home anyways.

I arrived around 1:30, in time to make the 2:00PM shuttle boat. Parking is $5 and includes entry. Not too shabby.

You park in a garage, then hop on a tram which takes you dockside. Shuffle into a building, and if you don't have a 'Pirates Club' membership, they swipe your drivers license, and you have your membership inside of 60 seconds, and go through an airport type security check (I even got wanded). Next, you get on the shuttle boat. Nothing fancy, and I believe they seated 100+ passengers. They do have a bar (didn't have a lot of choices, but drinks are free).

It takes an HOUR to get out to the boat, which is 9 miles off shore. That is a damn long time. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The highlight of the trip is that you go under the Sunshine Skyway which was pretty cool.

You arrive at the boat. The crew did a fast, efficient job of securing the ship, then you step onto a makeshift dock, and into the belly of the ship.

Right away you will notice that all of the ''crew'' are VERY friendly (I'm sure Vegas visitors are used to this type of treatment. However, due to Florida's low limit gambling, I've found the majority of land bound casino employees to be full of hatred and contempt, so this was a welcome change) and are easily identified by their tacky tropical shirts.

You immediately are surrounded by the modern beeps and dings of electronic slot machines. I headed straight for the poker room on the third floor, but I did notice that on the first floor they had slots, as well as a large, open, seperate room that contained the rest of the table games, roulette, black jack, and I'm guessing caribbean and 3 card poker as well.

I found the poker room after asking an employee (again, very friendly). The poker room manager was quick, attentive, and very helpful (compared to the Hard Rock. From my experience, complete cuntwaffles).

Unfortunately, I obviously came at a shitty time of day, 2 PM on a Saturday. The casino seemed populated enough, but the poker room was almost empty.

They spread $3/$6 - $20/$40 as well as a No Limit game.

The only games running were a $3/$6 table, and the $300 max buy in NL game, which had a 5 person waiting list.

I had to take the 5:30 boat back (had a home game to be at in Sarasota at 8), so I opted for the $3/$6. I was seated immediately.

Once again, I'd like to emphasize how friendly and professional the staff were. Just complete night and day from my other Florida casino experiences.

The dealers all seemed to have ample experience. They were quick, and I did not witness any horribly judgement (granted, I was only there a few hours, so I only saw a few dealers).

The table ended up being a great table, friendly and chatty, mostly thanks to a lady across the table from me, Barbara. She seemed to be quite the player, and indeed seemed to make the most profit at the table that day. She made a point to introduce herself and get my name as soon as I was seated, then proceeded to introduce EVERYONE at the table to me.

Every time a new player was seated, she did the same thing. It was GREAT. She put everyone at ease as soon as they sat down, and there didn't seem to be any hardasses at the table, and if there were, she loosened them right on up.

It should be noted here that you SHOULD go to the second floor and get ''signed up'' for a return shuttle. The process consists of walking up to a desk, telling them which time you want to leave (they leave every hour on the HALF hour, i.e 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, etc), and they give you an armband. Takes all of 15 seconds.

If you do NOT get an armband, you are NOT guaranteed a seat on the boat. Worst case scenario, you can't get on a shuttle, and are stuck until 3 in the morning when the ship docks. GET AN ARMBAND.

Back to the room. As I said, the staff was great, including the waitresses. I don't drink alcohol, but I don't think the drinks are free, of course coffee and soda is. Maybe drinks are free in higher stakes games? The reason I know they're not free is because after an hour or so Barbara decided to buy a round for the table [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] She's a sly dog that one.

In the end, I played from 3:20-5:00. Grand profit of $26 dollars or so. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I would have loved to have stayed, but as I said, had a previous engagment.

Other notes on the card room: It's small, maybe 8 tables max, if that. The chips are nice, but I'm not an expert, so I couldn't tell you the brand, though they are clay, not ceramic. You can't tell you're on a boat, though it was a calm day, so I'm sure it can be worse on rough days.

The return shuttle is uneventful. Get in line 15 minutes after the hour, board, take the ride home. ALCOHOL IS NOT SERVED ON THE RETURN TRIP. This boat did have a tv though, and was showing a movie, so that was bonus. Wish I had a book with me though.

All in all, I had a great time, and I will be returning, during a better time of day, and for MUCH longer as soon as my schedule arrives.

Now I'm going to rest my hand for a moment or three, then start typing up my next trip report (Hollywood Casino, Aurora IL).

Hope you enjoyed, and SW Florida residents, see you on the boat.