my first trip to winstar, TR, tl;dr

[TxRedMan]

I live in Dallas, so I guess I was due to head up 35 and check out winstar. I took a few posters suggestions and exited in Gainsville for some Taco Casa or something like that. It was meh, but it was amusing observing small town kids who wanted to be big city thugs.

I pulled up to Winstar and my first reaction was 'I hope it doesn't deflate'. It looks ugly as [censored], like a makeshift circus tent with a foundation. I parked and walked inside, got directions to the poker room, and proceeded to walk through a black casino, with black walls, black ceilings, dark floors, and red accents. The casino was by far and away the ugliest I had ever seen. I noticed a blackjack table that had a 25$-$200 spread, and that seemed really low to me. My only conclusion was that I would never, ever, ever, ever gamble in a place like that. I rarely ever play tables games in Vegas, I feel like a sucker if I do, but I'd feel like a degenerate sucker if I played a single hand of anything besides poker in that [censored] hole. IIRC, people were ante'ing to play blackjack. Meh, I waded through ciggarette smoke and squeaky tight slot machines to the poker room.

The poker room was decent. The chairs were so-so, not bad, but not very comfortable imho. It was freezing in there, and that says a lot coming from me. I walked up and got in a $5-$10 NL game as soon as I put my name on the list. I also put my name on the list for $5-$10 plo, but it didnt make until I was leaving.

My biggest complaint is the [censored] bad beat jackpot, and the fact that they take the $1 drop from the small blind, regardless of whether or not you chop/see a flop. For [censored] sake, just forget about the badbeat jackpot, everyone knows it's just a way to rake more money, and it probably gets hit 5x as often at $4-$8 limit than it does at $5-$10 NL.


The dealers I had were all good. The chip runners were quick. The overall atmosphere provided enough that I will probably be back tomorrow. I also happened to be in an insane must move game. If you're not from Texas, you dont know about all the cowboy gamblers there are around here. And on the TX-OK border, there's plenty of them. We were 7-9 handed most of the time, and there were only 2-3 tough spots at the table, everyone else either spewy or just mediocre. One kid who looked like he was 15 who played a decent LAG style preflop but didnt switch gears very well post flop, and another preflop LAG who seemed to play solid post flop. I caught queens or better four times preflop, and nine-five or ten-three everyother hand. Got it in on the turn in one hand like this, with QQ

Two limpers to me on the button, I raise to $60 w/ QQ (the table had seen me limp KK utg previously) SB calls, one limper calls.

Flop J-9-2 w/ a club draw, checks to me I bet $200, SB calls.

turn

4, no flush draw, he shoves for $310 and I snap call, he says he can catch an ace, river brick, gg. I probably saw 15 pots > $700 in two hours. The game had two or three preflop and flop stations in it, and those guys give a lot of action and generate a lot of action.

I didn't notice what the rake was, but probably too much. I was really shocked when one of the LAG kids would scoop a $1000 pot and tip the dealer $15-$25 each time. Good for the dealers I guess.


Anyways, I'll be playing there more frequently now, and I dont reccomend any solid tag 2p2'ers ever play there. I'd like for that place to stay just like it was today.


-Tex

[wonderwes]

Excellent review. If you take 75 north you can drive over to Choctaw. It is nothing like winstar, but some people like that it only has 20 tables.

The rake is BS. You are at higher limits. At lower limits, it really eats away. Floor is decent there. It usually is a freezer in that place.

There has to be at least 20 something Texas 2p2'ers going to Winstar on periodic basis.

[swope]

very cool tr. the second i read about the 5/10 plo game being spread, i started pricing hotels in gainseville and flights to dallas from sf.

[sirtimo]

its 2/5 plo most of the time

[hime]

Yeah, sirtimo is right. Almost always 2/5 PLO when it goes, but sometimes they'll have 5/10 HO (round of each). From what I hear sweating the table one night, they actually do the H part as pot limit too.

[Sweet James]

I was there yesterday too, playing on the 2/5 nl game they had spread in the high stakes room. It was a decent night, I turned 300 into a G. However, I busted out my first buy-in as I was at a table with some true pros. One guy that had 3 wsop bracelets,another guy used to run Cheetah's strip club in Vegas before it went corporate back in 2002, and also played poker semiprofessional. The rest were decent online players or b&m regulars so it was tough. But like I said, I changed from this newly formed table of pros and did well.

This is my third trip up there since they opened the new room. Like the OP said, Oklahoma sucks, the winstar casino is the worst, but the poker room ain't half bad . The rake sucks if you're playing 1/2, but it's such a loose cirucs I'd stay away from those games. It's also 18+ and they don't card anyone so you see kids that gotta be 14 in there. Anyways, the games are usually beatable so it's a good place to make some money. I still prefer the trip to shreveport, but if i just got the night to play i'll go to winstar.

[sirtimo]

[ QUOTE ]
I was at a table with some true pros. One guy that had 3 wsop bracelets,

[/ QUOTE ]

really? who?

think someone was pulling your leg
[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[xxxslicknick]

i would have to agree

[westhoff]

I think it's funny that on HSP they tip the dealer $5-$10 and at winstar any pot over $500 the dealer gets 20+. Yeah the rake sucks, 5+1 on all tables, especially the jackpot drop before the [censored] deal!! Every other damn hand when it gets to the small blind in a 1/2 game he looks puzzled as to where his small blind is and throws in 2 then the dealer throws one back, and it goes on and on til he realizes what happened.

[rd2121]

it's a decent poker room there...i go on the weekends and theres plenty of fishes there...the 5/10 is the biggest nlhe they usually have and it can get really action packed...the 2/5 game is beatable...some good players but lots of fishes on the the weekends i've noticed...