Caesars Windsor Trip Report

For a change of scenery, I decided to
head west to Caesars Windsor casino.
It had been quite a while, maybe a year and
a half ? since my last visit. The change over
from Casino Windsor and the $400 million
in renovations are complete. Everything is
very clean, modern looking.

The usually long and boring drive down
the 401 to Windsor is even longer and
more boring since the province of Ontario,
showing great wisdom and forethought, has
closed the service centre/rest stops (which it owns)
between London and Windsor to "prepare the
sites for redevelopment". Makes me chuckle
when I see the provincial highway signs saying
"Fatigue Kills, Take a Break" but they've
closed the only places in a 200km stretch
for you to do that.

I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as
how busy Caesars would be. I had
forgotten to get the poker room's phone #
at home, so I had to look it up the on my
blackberry on my way down. I called ahead
and got my name on the list, just to be safe.

I arrived in Windsor around 3:30pm and
made my way to Caesars. Everything is well
marked, including street signs directing you
towards the casino and to the valet & self-parking.
I took a quick wander through the casino to
check out what was new and then headed
upstairs to the poker room.

The poker room has been redone.
Looks much more modern and fresh.
It has a WSOP theme with large hardboard
posters of scenes from the WSOP and
poker superstars. The tables are all new
and the chairs, while not my favourites,
are the WSOP branded chairs that you see in
most of the Harrahs casino's in Las Vegas.
Brand new chips (photo above), nice design,
and still clean with crisp edges.

There were 4 tables in progress, all $1/2NL
(200max). I had a seat in the waiting area and
chatted with a couple others waiting for a spot.
One regular said the $2/5 game rarely gets going,
and that quite a few of the players in the $1/2 are
just waiting until there's enough of them to get
a Limit game going. Not so good news about
the $2/5 game, but limit players in a NL game
is usually free money.

It couldnt have been more than 10 minutes
and my name was called. Got my chips
from the cage, which is located right inside
the poker room, and wandered over to my seat.

There was quite a bit of action at my table
and the others as well, more than I expected.
A lot of uncontrolled aggression and all-ins.
That can be really profitable, but it is also volatile
and leads to variance and swings.

In the first hour I built up my $200 buy-in
to about $500. Then disaster. I called a $15 raise
with 99. I flopped top set on a board of 2-6-9.
Raise, reraise, call, all-in, then to me.
I push for about $475. Get one caller who
turns over AA. Turn is a J. River is an...... ACE.
Back to square one, time to start over.

There was a $2/5 game started around 5:30pm.
It appeared to be an action game, similar to
when I sat down to my $1/2 table, so I got
my name on that list and kept an eye on it
in between hands. (It was right behind my table).
My timing wasn't too good, when my name
finally came up, the people who had gotten
most of the chips on the table had turned
super tight (they cashed out shortly after),
and the majority of the players were playing
on short stacks. Didnt feel it was worthing
moving from where I was.

Unfortunately, around 6pm back at my table,
the one big stack decided to hit the road with
his $700. Shortly after, the other big stack
cashed out for a little over $900, leaving no one
at the table with more than $300 and the
average stack about $175. Harder to make
lost money back when all that money leaves.

Wasn't catching many cards, but was
patiently waiting for my shot. The guy
sitting to my immediate right was raising
every pot. Didnt really make much difference
to me since I wasnt playing any hands,
but on my right is a good place for him to be.

Around 7pm, one hand I got some chips back.
I limp UTG with Q-Q knowing that the guy
to my right will raise if no one else does.
2 UTG makes it $5 and there's 6 callers (pot $30).
Not the ideal result, but I get to see cheap flop
with a well consealed hand. Flop is 3-5-J.
The "always raiser" to my right is first to act
and leads out making it $15. I raise to $45.
2UTG and initial raiser both call.
Turn is offsuit 8. I push my last $100 all-in.
I can see out of the corner of my eye,
by the way he's holding his cards that the
initial raiser is going to fold, but 2UTG goes
into the tank. Probably good news, means it's
unlikely he has a set or two pair. I'm hoping
he has AJ or a flush draw and will make
the call because of the size of the pot.
He calls and sheepishly turns over AJ.
River's no help, my Q-Q wins.

Took a dinner break around 8pm.
There's a little cafe right outside the back
of the poker room that has snacks, beverages
and fresh made sandwiches. Nice that it's
not a total gouge either. Had a chicken BLT,
large size with real sliced chicken breast &
a grilled mediteranian veggy wrap.
Both were $4.75ea. Not bad for real food.
I think i paid $9.00 for an egg salad sandwich
one time at Niagara Fallsview.

Made my way back to the tables.
Felt much better after having something
to eat, but I'm always cautious as that's
often the kiss of death for people.
In tournaments, a rash of bustouts usually
happen right after dinner breaks. I've
noticed the same thing in cash games,
guy comes back from dinner break and
gets involved in too many hands and
gets crippled or goes broke. Didn't really
matter though, was totally card dead from
8:30pm to 1am. And when I say card dead,
I mean card DEAD. J2, 93, 84.
No suited or connected cards.
Even the ugly rags I was folding weren't hitting
any of the flops that come out. Which I guess
is a good thing, then I'm not tempted to be
calling raises with useless trash.

Over the course of the evening, I saw two
scetchy rulings made by the floor staff.
First one, was just wrong in my opinion.
It involved a player exposing his cards.
Player in question moved all in, player
behind called. There was a third player
involved who had yet to act.
The all-in player thought the 3rd player said
"I'm out". (I was at the other end of the table,
heard her mumble something, but not
100% sure what).
All-in player, figuring action is complete
rolls over his T-T. 3rd player says wait,
I havent folded yet. Dealer calls floor.
Floor says All-in players hand is DEAD
for exposing his hand with action pending.
3rd player ends up calling, I think just because
she didnt want to give the pot to the other guy
without a showdown. She only had AJ, no pair
no draw. As it turns out, All-in guy's mucked
T-T made a flush on the river and he would
have won the pot if the correct ruling had
been made. I checked the posted rules that are
over by the cage, but there's no mention of
any 'exposing your cards' rules. I asked the
brush if there was a copy of the poker rooms
complete rules, he said No and referred me to
the rules poster by the cage.

The other situation was involving a boxed card
(a card exposed facing up in the deck).
It was the King of Hearts dealt out on the flop.
Again floor called over. He rules because it's on
the flop, it doesnt make any difference, it was
going to be turned up anyways. I'm not in the
hand, but I know this is incorrect. I told him,
sir, the rules state a boxed card is to be treated
like a scrap piece of blank paper and must be
totally disregarded. He calls over 2 other suits
who confir in the huddle and agree with me.
The king is eventually put in the muck and a
new card is dealt out. The pot gets checked down
and 2 of the 3 people in the pot turn over a King...lol.

Two of the regulars said that "how rules are
enforced depends on the day and who's on duty".
I guess thats pretty common in Ontario casinos ?

I kept plugging away for the rest of the evening.
I was starting to feel a bit tired, but really wanted
to get myself to even (atleast take a small profit
to cover my gas). I set a quit time of 1am.
Stretched it out to 1:15am and cashed out $345.
Two buyins ($400), so a - $55 for the evening.

Notes:
- Air conditioning in the poker room wasn't
working, everyone complaining about the heat.

- Beach Boys were the feature entertainment
in the 5000 seat colliseum. Probably accounted
for the older crowd in the poker room.
Most reports from concert goers, Beach Boys
weren't very good. I say give them a break
they've got to be in their 70's.

- Use your Harrah's Total Rewards Card,
you'll earn $.50/hour on a $3/$6 Limit game,
$0.75/hour on the $1/$2 and $2/$5 NL games,
and $1/hour on the $5/$10 No Limit game.
Comps can be earned and used here
or in LasVegas, fully transferable.
(Most of Harrahs LV casino's pay you
$1/hr in the poker rooms).
I don't trust their "no swipe" system.
The staffer often just looks at your card
and says ok, he enters the info manually.
I've gotten screwed by this at Casino Niagara
before. They said right to my face that its my fault,
"you I must have forgotten to swipe in/out".
I wish all casinos that give poker room comps
would use the 'at the table' system that the
MGM Grand employs. The dealer swipes your
card into the computer buillt into each table
which logs you in/out, and is connected to
the desk. This also allows the person in charge
of seating new players to immediately know
when a seat is open.

- Total of 11 tables going by end of the night.
One $3/6 Limit, Two $2/5, and Eight $1/2NL.

- At one point there were 26 people on the
waiting list for the $1/2 game. There were
2 empty tables with dealers parked, but they
never opened those tables up. The one was
likely designated for Sit'N'go tournaments.
They ran 3 sng's during my 9 hour session.

- Caesars runs MTT's 7 days a week at 10am.
Tues/Wed/Thurs $50+5
Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon $100 +10
2000 chips, max 60 players.
20 min blinds for first 3 rounds
30 min blinds for remaiing rounds.

- They have a Bad Beat Jackpot,
it was at $7898. If your Full House
Aces over Tens (or better) gets beaten,
you take half, winner takes a 1/4 and the
table splits 1/4. A week ago it was $27,000.

- Great drink service early. Slowed down later
in the evening. Never too bad though. If you are
really thirsty, there is a drink service bar with
bartender right inside the poker room.


Caesars Poker Room Contact Numbers:
1-800-991-8888
1-800-991-7777 ext 22967 (or press 7 on Menu)

Trip Report: Seneca Niagara Casino (NY)

Even though it's not that long since

I got back from Vegas, I was having

some serious withdrawl symptoms

and was craving for live poker action,

so I made some plans for Friday night.

Picked up Chris Markle in Woodstock
around 5pm and headed down the 403

towards Niagara Falls.

The competition at Casino Niagara on
the Canadian side has gotten a lot tougher
over the last year, so I decided to go to
Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls NY.
It seems like 70% of the players at CN,
I know them by name, even though I dont
consider myself to be a regular there.
Just hasn't been enough tourist traffic and
weak casual players to make the game as
beatable as it used to be. (Used to pull out

$200+ most trips without much effort)

Crossed the border quickly, without any hassles
and were inside Seneca by 6:40pm. We put our
names on the $1/2 list. Gina and I were seated
within 10 minutes and Chris's name was called
before we were done buying our chips from
the cage. Heard from some other players,
Casino Niagara had a 1.5+ hour wait,
so they drove over to Seneca.

Seneca has a rather large poker room.
Decent chairs, recently re-felted tables.

Lighting's a little dim. Makes it tough to
see the denominations of the chips at first.
The $5 chips (white with faded red edge)
look very similar to the $1 white chips,
until you've been playing a while and
your eyes adjust. Atleast the chips are clean
(cleaning the chips is probably the reason
they've faded). Casino Niagara has some
dirty ass chips. When you go to pick chips
off your stack and four of them stick together,
its time for the casino to clean their chips !

Seneca has twenty plus tables,
most of them were running.
They're no longer spreading Omaha games,
but they did have some 7-card stud going.
On average, the Dealers were decent,
A few excellent ones, a few that couldnt pitch
cards accurately, but certainly good on average.

My table must have been only opened

recently, as there wasn't anyone who had

more than $140 (It was $100 max table).

It started out quite passively, small raises

($5-7), which I was a little surprised by

since the rake was $3 on the flop.
It was encouraging / funny / sad...
to see people calling $2 in the cut-off
and only the blinds stay. So there's $6
in the pot. Deal out the flop and the
dealer takes $3 for the rake (only $3 remains).
Check, check from the blinds and the cut-off

bets $10 (into the $3 pot), the blinds fold.

The cut-off tips the dealer $1 for a total profit

of ZERO dollars. Risk $12 to win your original

$2 + $1 and then give that $1 away !

I was licking my chops seeing that some people

at my table have absolutely no clue at all.

The other notable difference between CN
and Seneca was that there were more

people buying in short. At Casino Niagara,
it is a mostly rare occasion for someone to
sit down and not buy in for the full $100 max.
The odd youngster will, but its so that
poker doesnt cut into the number of beers
he can buy. At Seneca, there were a lot more
people buying in short. Some would leave
as soon as they busted, others would
just plop down another $50 once or twice more.
One guy rebought for $60... six times.

Surprised there werent more people

taking advantage of the the free alcohol.

Probably the same number of drinkers

as at Casino Niagara, even though

they have to pay for booze there.

I wish I could give you a recap of a bunch
of exciting hands, but there weren't that many
(plus my memory is pretty shitty if I dont
write stuff down shortly after it happens).

One player who I consistantly took chips
from was sitting across from me.
Early on, pot was raised to $7 and I call
with AQ suited in middle position.
Four players ($25 pot). Flop is 2 J J.
Checked all the way around. Turn is Q.
Check, check, I bet $15.
Guy across from me makes it $40.
Other 2 players fold. I ponder if he has a

Queen, or if he slow played a Jack.

That would be a pretty typical way for

a lot of players to play it if they hit trips

with TJ or KJ. They would check on the flop

and bet the turn no matter what card comes.

I chatted the guy up trying to get some info

from him, I even showed him my Queen,

but I wasnt really too sure. The information

was there, I just couldnt decifer it.
I folded, and based on his reaction after,
I was thinking I probably had him beat and
layed down the best hand. I only had $17
invested in the pot, so not the worst fold ever.

BUT, laying down that hand to him early
probably earned me far more money in the
long run anyways. He might have pegged

me as a weak passive player who's afraid

anytime someone reraises them. Over the

course of the next hour or so, I called him down

with just a pair (3 times) and won each time.
Later, in one hand, I purposely took a long

time to make my decision after he bet.

I caught him touching his lips, so I called

his bluff on the river with just Queen high !

and won a very nice pot.

Although there were a couple of action tables
on the other side of the room which had a bunch
of pots in the $300-700 range (Chris was seated
at one of them), I was quite content to stay at
my table and grind out some small-ball profits.
Other than a single early double up hand (I was

down to $65), I didnt have to put my whole stack

at risk the entire night. Compare that to

Casino Niagara where I seem to continuously

find myself in spots where I either have to fold

like a pussy (often with the best of it) or put

my entire stack at risk on a coin flip.

It's a much more relaxing game when you can

control the size of the pots you're playing and
get your money in with the nuts or close to it.

We set a time limit, 2AM. (7hr session)
I cashed out + $280 profit.

Hosting a home game next weekend,

so probably wont be able to go back

until the end of the month.

Poker-Themed Stage Show at Venetian

I'm not big on seeing shows when i'm in vegas.
I'm there to play poker !
BUT, I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO SEE THIS ! !


The Venetian Announces Poker-Themed Stage Show
by Shari Geller

The Venetian is bringing poker and entertainment
together as never before with the launch of the
first ever live, interactive poker-themed stage show,
"The Real Deal!". Opening this fall, the show will
bring to the Venetian showroom some of the
biggest names in poker and will combine humor,
technology, prizes, and poker in what is described
as a "wildly-fun, fast-paced action that will entertain
poker enthusiasts and non-players alike."

The show will provide audience members with
a unique opportunity to play against and alongside
the biggest names in poker both on-stage and
from their seats through the use of wireless
touch-screen devices. The roster of pros who
will take part includes Doyle Brunson,
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth Jr.,
Antonio Esfandiari, Gavin Smith,
Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman, Phil Laak,
Scotty Nguyen, and Todd Brunson.

"Poker fans have been able to view
and enjoy professional poker action for years
on television," said Doyle Brunson.
"This is different. Everyone in the audience
can be in the game and compete with the pros
and other guests. It is a one-of-a-kind-poker
experience."

The audience will have a number of different
ways to play and win prizes. Six members of the
audience will be selected to compete on stage
against two of the poker pros in a Texas Hold'em
tournament format. At the same time, the rest
of the audience will compete for points via
mobile touch-screen devices mounted on their
seats through wagers on the action and various
prop bets, such as the suit of cards dealt on the flop.

Audience members also earn points for their play
of a virtual "ninth hand" which will compete against
the eight players on stage. The points earned by
audience members can be turned into prizes
ranging from "The Real Deal!" logoed merchandise
to home electronics. Audience members will have a
shot at random prizes, logo merchandise to jewelry
and plasma-screen TVs. About 40 to 50 spectators
should walk out with a prize, and sometimes everyone
will get a gift, show representatives say.

During each show, the pro with the most chips,
the last surviving on-stage amateur player, and
the point leader from the audience will compete
in a three-handed finale.

"The Venetian sets the standard for
entertainment in Las Vegas and we are
excited to add 'The Real Deal!' to our existing
line-up of world-class shows," stated
Jason Gastwirth, vice president of
entertainment for Las Vegas Sands Corp.

"When looking for a new concept to add to
our entertainment lineup, we searched
for an entirely new experience that would
promote audience participation while
incorporating well-known personalities
that shine beyond the bright lights of the
Strip -- we found that in 'The Real Deal!'."

The top prize, $1 million, can be won
at each show. Four times during the show,
audience members will select five face-down
cards from a standard 52-card deck on their
hand-held device; the ten with the highest
valued poker hand will advance to a final
round. The 40 qualifiers will then pick one
more five-card hand on their hand-held device.
If anyone hits a royal flush –1 in 649,740 odds-
they will win the million dollar prize.

The announcement of "The Real Deal!"
was made jointly by the Venetian and
veteran Hollywood producer Merv Adelson,
creator of such shows as "Dallas" and
"Falcon Crest." "Never before has poker
been so integrated with entertainment,"
said Adelson (no relation to Sheldon
Adelson, Chairman and CEO of
The Venetian's parent company,
Las Vegas Sands Corp.). "The popularity
of poker is unquestioned, as is the
viability of live game show experiences
in Las Vegas. 'The Real Deal!' will keep
guests laughing and give them the unique
chance to get into the heads of the world's
best pros as they share tips and strategy
throughout the fast-paced game. We know
it will quickly become a hot ticket."

The show's producers are currently
looking for a well-known comedian to host
the show and bring both humor and poker
information to the audience.

(Later announced to be PAUL RODRIGUEZ)

"The Real Deal!" is scheduled to open
Oct. 14. Starting times are 4 p.m. six days
a week (dark on Sunday) and 7 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Prices are expected to be $75
in the afternoon, $85 in the evening.
A limited number of VIP tickets, for $125,
will provide backstage access to poker pros.
Audience members must be 21.
More information, www.therealdeallv.com.

Further proof that Vegas is Hurting.

Boyd Gaming Stops Construction at Echelon

by Amy Calistri

Last week, Boyd Gaming announced it would suspend construction on its 140,000 square foot casino project, Echelon, which had begun on the former site of the Stardust Resort and Casino. While Boyd had secured inexpensive financing for its part of the $4.8 billion project, Boyd's partners were having trouble securing financing for the 300,000 square feet of retail space and two boutique hotels associated with the project.

Boyd said they planned to resume construction within nine to twelve months, once credit markets and consumer spending improved. Boyd has spent approximately $500 million of their $3.3 billion budget on the site so far and approximately 800 workers got their walking papers on Friday.

The Echelon is just one of many gambling related projects and deals that have been affected by tight credit amid a sector hurt by tough economic conditions. Early last month, two private equity companies terminated their $6.1 billion deal to buy out Penn National Gaming.

In June, Australian-based Crown Ltd. backed out of its $5 billion joint venture which involved the construction of a 1,064-foot tower on Las Vegas Boulevard. And although Deutsche Bank is still paying the construction bills for the completion of the $3.5 billion Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino, they started foreclosure proceedings on the property in March after its New York developer 3700 Associates defaulted on a $760 million loan.

Boyd made the announcement as part of their second-quarter earnings report where they disclosed that net revenues had declined by 9.9% compared to the same period a year ago. As part of the announcement Boyd also suspended its dividend payment and released plans to repurchase $100 million of common stock. Shares of the beleaguered stock rebounded by more than 20% on the news, as the suspension of the Echelon project was perceived as risk reducing for Boyd's performance in the near future.

...And More Proof....

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the bond ratings of three casino operators – Wynn Resorts Ltd., Fountainbleau, and Riviera Holdings – from "stable" to "negative". A fourth gaming operator – Boyd Gaming Corp. – was placed on review for a possible downgrade of its bond ratings as well. This followed the announcement on Thursday that Moody's had downgraded bond ratings for Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos in Las Vegas and put MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands Corp. on notice that the bonds covering their debt were on review for a possible downgrade. Moody's cited declining gambling revenue as the driving force behind the downward revisions.

Gambling revenues on the Las Vegas Strip are down 5.4 percent for the first five months of the year and Moody's believes the slump could continue.

End of Vegas trip report

Went over to the MGM to play $1/2 game
to finish out the trip. (Not a) Nice way to close
out the trip, with a super cold, ultra sick deck.

ME ---VILLAIN---FLOP------ACTION

AA ------KK ------ K87---Villain nearly shit himself, I Fold.
93--------?? ------ 995---Villain bets $50 into $15 pot, I Fold.
AK-------??------- KK9---Villain bets $200 into $55 pot, I Fold.
44--------77------- 479----Villain made massive reraise, I Fold.
88--------99------- 89J----Normally chatty villain froze, I Fold.
56--------TJ--------789----Villain reraises big, argggg, I Fold.

These werent the only one's, just a few
representitive examples that I wrote in
my notebook. If there was time before
we had to catch our plane, I would have
grabbed my chips and went to another
casino, but time was short, so i just
yelled "Cocktails!" and ordered
another beer every time the cards
slapped me in the face. Was feeling
pretty buzzed by the time we had to leave,
8 or 9 Corona's later. Amazingly, left only
- $140 down. Considering the cold deck,
I call that a win.

Several europeans at the table. There
were actually a lot of french, german,
dutch, and scandinavian players this trip.
Taking advantage of the strong Euro$
I suspect. Sat beside a young man from
France, probably the best frenchman
I've played against. Considering how much
I loathe French and German players Online
(because they are, in general brutally bad players),
that doesnt say alot. He did give me a
chance to put those 7 years of french class
to good use. I was able to put together
gems like "Cest vingt-deux chips" and
my favorite, "Bonne chance" when he left
the table to play the 7pm tournament.

We left the MGM just after 8pm, returned the
rental car and took the shuttle to the airport.
Always a little depressing having to leave Vegas.

Misc. Notes:
- All the casino's were less crowded
than they were on my last trip a
few months ago (April 08).
Fewer people around was ok though,
it meant casino's were far less smokey.

Unfortunately, this also meant that the
Poker games in a lot of the casino's
were much slower.
(MGM poker room was alway busy).

- Came across more rude casino staff
than expected. I would think when times
are obviously tough, staff would try a
little harder. Obviously some people
arent happy with their jobs and it shows.
Rude cashiers at the Fitz, 4Q and dirty
washrooms at Caesars and Binions.
At the Four Queens, I got an attitude from
the dealer, the floor guy and the cage
when I tried to use a "$15 for $10"
that I got from the Players Club.
You'd think it was the first time anyone
had seen one before and acted as if it was
a major inconvenience to their day.

- Favorite slots this trip: Super Dance Party,
Hoot Loot, Turkey Shoot, Phone Tag

Wednesday cont'd

Went to CAESARS around 1pm
for some $1/3NL. It was dead too.
Only 2 games, and both of those
were really slow, no action.
Slow to the point where I was making
$5 prop bets with the girl beside me
on what the highest card on the flop
would be. We even had hands where
everyone put in $10 totally blind, no look,
check it to the river and winner takes all.
Slow and Boring.

Left after an hour. G +$82.
Will -$64 including prop bets.
The sportsbook is right next to the
poker room, so placed 2 bets.
NY METS to win the baseball World Series
and NY JETS to win the Super Bowl.
Even thats probably not enough to make
me watch a baseball game...lol.

WEDNESDAY July 30

Last day, out of the room at 10am.
Collected valuables from the lockbox
and checked out.

Headed over to the WYNN for Lunch Buffet.
Had heard great things about the WYNN and
BELLAGIO buffets, but hadnt been before.
Buffet and poker room are close to parking lot.
Total for me and G was $50 including tip.
Great layout, people moved smoothly.
Lots of variety, high quality foods.
Selection of fine cheeses, fresh fruit and salads.
Meats (lamb & turkey) were perfectly done.
Lots of different fish dishes. Giant shrimps.
Only negative, sushi was bland. Real cream
for my coffee, nice touch. Was getting used to
that "non-dairy" creamer stuff. Save room
for dessert ! Excellent cakes, pies, cookies
and ice cream. Oh ya, CANDIED APPLES !
Definitely recommend this one to anyone
who wants a great top end buffet.

Poker room (noon - 1pm) was dead !
Casino was busy, but only 2 poker
tables going, 1 No Limit and 1 Limit.
Was really hoping to get to play in this
beautiful room, had heard there's usually
good action even at the low stakes tables.

Tuesday cont'd

Cruised over to the ORLEANS for the
French Market Buffet. Pretty long line up
for the 11am Lunch buffet, but it moved
quickly. 241 ACG coupon. $10.65 total
for me and G to eat. Lots of creole food,
crawfish, jumbolaya, asian, and italian.
The seafood fluorentine and the onion rings
stand out as memorable tasty selections.
Similar food to Gold Coast. The buffet was busy,
crowded and a bit of a clusterfuck.
Fast drink service. Clean bathrooms.

Orleans Poker Room was really hoppin'

for mid-week and middle of the day.
More spacious and modern than I expected.
They had 2/4 L, 4/8L, 8/16L, 1/2NL, 2/5NL Holdem
and 4/8 Omaha HiLo games all going on.
Pretty impressive for 1pm. They even started
an $8/16 Omaha game later in the afternoon.
4 ahead of me on the $1/2 ($300max?)

list so I had to wait about 45 minutes

for a seat. Overall, pretty organized with

computerized list, although its hard to hear

your name called unless you are inside

the poker room, and they only have 1 screen

showing the lists and its inside the poker room

at the sign up desk, so you cant go too far

if you get near the top, or you'll lose your seat.

Played well, but ended the session -$70
(about 4 hours). Could have been a huge session,

but lost a $900+ pot to runner-runner suckout.

The poker room and buffet are both located

right beside entrance doors, which is great

after you've been there once, you can

park right there and avoid a long
walk from the other end of the casino.

Drove over to the VENETIAN around 6:30pm.
Very nice hotel. Expansive and beautiful
poker room. Great table side drink and
food service. Short wait. Very hard to hear
your name called even if standing right at
the poker room entrance. They said
"Will for 1-2, Last call Will".

I guess your first call is also your last call ?.

If you're not there within 10 seconds

of the start of them calling your name,

they wipe you off the list and call the

next name. I recommend you talk to
the brush when you sign up and tell him that
you'll be sitting in the lounge that's inside the
poker room, and make sure they dont take you
off the list because you'll be IN the poker room.
Wasnt much action at my table.
Finished the session up +$65.