Reno & Tahoe poker report

[DayTripping]

As some of you know I'm on a cross-country trip that started in New Hampshire and has brought me all the way to Nevada. After checking out the red hot poker scenes in Jackpot and Ely, I've spent most of this week Reno.

For four nights I stayed and played exclusively at the Peppermill. If any of you have ever been to the Peppermill restaurant in Vegas (and if you have not, you should go) then you will know what I mean when I say that the Peppermill hotel/casino has the same design. I have never seen more neon and mirrors in a casino. Some might find it tacky but I really fell in love with the casino and in fact I never left there in the four days, save for one quick trip to the Atlantis which I found to be pretty trashy. My room was all pimped out with an electric blue bed spread, a sick Sony plasma television, and lots of mirrors. I only paid around $50 a night. There are a million themed bars in the restaurant and some good (albeit expensive) dining choices. Friendly employees and overall a very fun vibe. Single and double deck 3:2 blackjack with $5.00 minimum. I don't think I'll go anywhere else next time I go to Reno.

As for the poker.... a mixed bag. First of all the room is quite nice with about 20 or so tables and good dealers. The floor was friendly and knew me by name by the second day. For the first three days I asked for and received a $10 meal comp with no problems. On the fourth day I asked a floor who I had not dealt with before and he denied me. That's cool... I never complain about not getting something for free. There are probably 20 flat screen TV's in the room and you will be able to see at least one no matter where you sit.

As for the games, I have to say it was a bit rocky at times. Locals congregate at this place and many times I was the only one at the table who was not a regular. The quality of the 4-8 half kill game doesn't seem to suffer from being infested with locals, as most of them don't play very well and are very loose. The 4-8 is actually a very good action game. On the other hand, the 1-2 game was a shark tank a couple of times I sat it in. Other times it was good, but there are quite a few locals who are ultra tight and some who are ultra tight AND aggressive and actually know what they are doing.

A lot of the locals are actually pretty cool/funny/friendly people and I got to know a lot of them by name. The playing atmosphere is usually quite laid back and friendly, but the NL games just aren't that juicy. There was one incident where a player (not a local) flashed his cards to another player and the dealer took him to task for it. The player denied it, and dealer was adamant that he had committed a violation. Eventually the player told the dealer "Lady, you don't know your head from your ass." The dealer immediately called the floor and the player was escorted from the table to another part of the room where he talked with the floor for about 5 minutes. The player was allowed to return and everything seemed fine. This actually happened right after I sat down at the table on my first night of playing.

About 10 minutes after this I hit four of a kind and got paid $50. They pay $100 for a straight flush and $150 for a royal. I also saw Ken Shamrock playing in the 10-20 game at the next table over. A dealer said that he's in the poker room pretty often.

On my last night in Reno I decided to drink up a little just cuz I was burned out from trying to play serious poker. I hit the craps tables and had a great run, winning about $200. Quite a few bears later I went over to a double deck BJ table and had a pretty good run of cards there, winning over $100 betting $5 a hand. Me and another guy played until about 2 AM when they finally shut the table down.

I was pretty f'd up at this point and decided to go over to the poker room and buy in for $100. I decided my strategy would be all in or fold. My fifth or so hand I got dealt pocket kings and pushed for $100. An off duty dealer to my left called and everyone else folded. She hit runner runner to hit a straight with her 78 suited. Woo hoo.

Eventually we got down to 4 handed and I was down about $200. A player made it $16 to go pre flop, got 1 caller, and I called on the button with 22 hoping to flop a set. Flop comes J72. UTG player bets out $20. Next player pushes all in for about $100. I have both of them covered and go all in. UTG player immediately calls and flips up KK. Next player shows 88 and my set hold up, giving me almost a triple up and putting me ahead for the night.

By about 3 AM we're down to 3 handed and the player to my right has made friends with a hooker who he spotted at a nearby bar. He brings her over to the table and she sits down and watches for a while. She keeps talking about how she's waiting for her "friend" and eventually she goes off to look for him. The guy tells us that her friend has morphine and she's looking for get some from him (???). Apparently the player is looking to get laid even though he has a new girlfriend at home. I have to say that this girl looked pretty clean cut and pretty for a hooker, but still. We were betting whether or not she would come back, and by the time the game broke at about 4 AM she was not back. Guess she found her friend.

Overall had a great time at the Peppermill...

Got to Tahoe today and played a little tonight. Harvey's is across the street from Harrah's and has the biggest room in town at about 13 tables. I played some 3-6 there and as I was playing they got a 2-3 NL game going. Overall the room is nothing special. I guess I'm just used to how nice the Peppermill was because the whole casino just seemed kinda trashy and depressing. The mood in the poker room was pretty blah, but that could just be me.

I walked over to the Monteblue (formerly Caesar's), which has the 2nd biggest room in town with about 8 tables. When I got there there was a tournament going on and one guy sitting at a table waiting to play 2-6 with someone. He said he had been sitting there for 3 hours waiting for someone to play. He asked me if I wanted to play heads up and I was like sure, why the hell not. I was surprised that they were even willing to spread the game heads up. Anyway, this guy turned out to be pretty douchey with the hat and dark sunglasses on and constantly saying "time" when it was his turn to act. 2 more people showed up and I lasted about an hour before I had to leave because it was too depressing. The room is large and spacious but quite ugly with orange chairs like the Brady Bunch kitchen, blue felt, and hideous blue/orange carpet that almost made me ill. Dealer was saying they "sometimes" get the 2-6 game going but that a lot of times it's just the tournaments. She said that weekends are busier and that things pick up during ski-season and summer.

Just from what I've seen tonight the Tahoe poker scene seems pretty depressing, but this is the off season. The town seems like a fun place to be in January, but right now everything seems kinda dead. Things should be better tomorrow night, and then I check out on Saturday and head to San Francisco.

Peace.

[uclaben]

Cool, thanks for the report.