Harrah's New Orleans (Trip Report)

[Ed Miller]

I grew up in New Orleans, and I spent this week visiting the fam. I couldn't resist the urge to stop by Harrah's Sunday afternoon for a little poker, though. Harrah's has moved and completely remodelled their poker room since I was last there (December 2001, my first casino poker experience).

The new poker room has about 15 or so tables. The tables are the highest quality tables I have ever played on... the felt is very plush, a pleasing forest green, and they are very big (plenty of room for a 10-handed game). On Sunday afternoon, all the tables were hopping, so I assume that it is at full capacity relatively often. The games spread while I was there:

3-6 Holdem
6-12 Holdem
1-5 Stud (I believe with a quarter ante)
1-4-8-8 Spread Limit Half-and-Half (Holdem and Omaha High) with 1-2 blinds
4-8-12 Structured Half-and-Half (Didn't notice blinds.. I avoided this game)
15-30 Omaha High
5-10 Pot Limit Omaha High

I am told that the 15-30 game runs all the time (there were two going on Sunday) and that they routinely get a 30-60 Omaha High game going on Tuesdays and when the jackpots get big. Apparently they occasionally get bigger Holdem games, mostly when the jackpots get big.

The games were very soft. My 6-12 game was like butter, and the 15-30 Omaha High games made me drool, averaging maybe 7 or 8 seeing the flop for one bet. I also watched several of the PLO hands, and the players seemed to be definitely on the loose side, with 5 or 6 seeing the flop for a raise and then 3 or 4 callers of a pot-sized bet on the flop on several hands that I witnessed. Anyway, I believe limit Omaha High has a pretty large variance associated with it, but an appropriately bankrolled player could most likely make a killing in this game.

Unfortunately, being basically the only game in town, the rake is pretty high at 10% to $4 and a $1 jackpot drop on all games. My 6-12 game was so soft, though, that it was clearly beatable despite the rake. Also of minor note, the cardroom uses Gemaco cards instead of Kem cards... I did not really like the new look and feel. Of much more major note, the new cardroom is situated very close to a bank of noisy slots, and there is lots of ringing and dinging which is definitely annoying.

Overall, I definitely recommend the room... they are spreading a lot more Holdem than they were a year ago, and the games all looked quite good.

[Dentist]

hmmmm... this is somewhat different than what I experienced in October when I went there for the American Dental Association Meeting.

I saw 1-5 stud (I played this - no ante in October), 1-4-8-8 half and half, and on Saturday night I saw the PLO and 15-30 games.

No individual Hold 'em games whatsoever.

The games were loose, I played even in 1-5 stud and then I played the 1-4-8-8 - my inexperience in Omaha Hi led me to not do as well, but I made up for it in hold 'em.

Limit Omaha Hi is the roulette wheel of poker - there is definitely skill involved, but I saw a lot of bad starting hands get shown down as the nuts and it was annoying having top set get consistently shattered on the river to a straight or flush.

At any rate - this is a nice room - top quality tables and I swear I heard people speaking in Cajun (like Cajun man - adam sandler style) which was hilarious.

Great room - same crappy rake I'm used to in K.C.

[Mangatang]

Thanks for the report majorkong. I stopped playing here a while back because the only holdem available was in a half/half table of omaha. I've been reading in another local's posts that they are playing a lot more holdem nowadays.

I'll have to get off my computer and start playing against some real faces. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[haakee]

I too visited Harrah's New Orleans recently. I played for two hours on a Friday afternoon around 5PM on Memorial Day weekend. They had 3-6 and 6-12 hold 'em. The 6-12 hold 'em game was pretty juicy (although not quite as juicy as a typical northern California 6-12 game). Like you, I found the texture of the cards to be a little weird.

[pokertime]

Their is no ante in the stud games there. Also no straight holdem. Maybe one game.. You sure you just went?? LOL.

ANYWAY HARRAHS SUCKS!

[MCS]

That's the only place I've ever played poker in a cardroom. I played 6-12 holdem during the Final Four. There was a lot of noise from the slots, friends sharing cards and helping each other out, and swearing at the table (though none of it was at the dealer and very little of it was at other players). Overall, a pretty crazy environment.

[Hobart]

I played ther approx. 2 years ago. All the tables were extremely low limit which I played for 2 hours until a seat opened up in a 30-60 game HE and stud rotation. One of the wildest games I've ever played in. Pots of 2,000. were not uncommon. I ended up winning 1,700 but the swings were unreal. I'm going back in Sept. or Oct. Can anyone advise if the bigger games are this wild consistently ?.