Four Winds Casino…..I was there

[Sly Selea]

Chicago Joe, I took tonight off. I had to go back to work today, and needed to rest up for the weekend. I'm hoping some of the turnys they had listed will go off. That place is gonna kill me. And besides, Dr Who and Monk are on. I'll be there early Saturday for the weekend.

Very concise review of the room Joe. Don't you think they could use another kiosk for picking your table, and a better wait system, at least for calling the tables? I missed my table a couple times.

And it's just cruel to put the craps tables so far from the poker room. (see above and missing my table)

My intersting story was bumping in to Lyle Berman on the floor Thursday night. I noticed him walking around by himself, and stalked him for awhile to make sure it was him. I'm like that. I introduced myself, shook his hand, and recommended my local business for all his needs of that nature, lmao. I then invited him back to the poker room for a game. He seemed very nice. I'm sure he called security as soon as I left.

[magoo]

[ QUOTE ]
IMHO, E-Machines are the future of poker, especially tournaments with large fields with a large viewing audience.



[/ QUOTE ]

You about summed it all up. That is certainly the way things are headed, especially when you consider the software / computer technology of etables is constantly evolving and will get even better.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IMHO, E-Machines are the future of poker, especially tournaments with large fields with a large viewing audience.



[/ QUOTE ]

You about summed it all up. That is certainly the way things are headed, especially when you consider the software / computer technology of etables is constantly evolving and will get even better.

[/ QUOTE ]

They said that about electronic blackjack several years ago also.

[ChicagoJoe]

[ QUOTE ]
Chicago Joe, I took tonight off. I had to go back to work today, and needed to rest up for the weekend. I'm hoping some of the turnys they had listed will go off. That place is gonna kill me. And besides, Dr Who and Monk are on. I'll be there early Saturday for the weekend.

Very concise review of the room Joe. Don't you think they could use another kiosk for picking your table, and a better wait system, at least for calling the tables? I missed my table a couple times.

And it's just cruel to put the craps tables so far from the poker room. (see above and missing my table)

My intersting story was bumping in to Lyle Berman on the floor Thursday night. I noticed him walking around by himself, and stalked him for awhile to make sure it was him. I'm like that. I introduced myself, shook his hand, and recommended my local business for all his needs of that nature, lmao. I then invited him back to the poker room for a game. He seemed very nice. I'm sure he called security as soon as I left.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will let you know when I plan th be there next. One of the poker room managers said that they are considering having players put there name on the list from the internet.

[magoo]

Four Winds casino's PokerPro tables go live
3 August 2007

Nineteen PokerPro Tables Go Live at Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, MI Thursday August 2, 4:51 pm ET World Poker Tour Poker Room is 100% PokerPro, World's Largest Installation of Electronic Poker Tables

MATTHEWS, North Carolina -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Four Winds Casino Resort, in New Buffalo, Michigan, opened the world's largest automated poker room today, running exclusively on PokerTek (NASDAQ: PTEK) poker tables.

The Four Winds Poker Room features fifteen PokerPro® 10-seat tables and four PokerPro Heads-Up tables.

The Four Winds property, which opened on August 2nd, is owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and managed by Lakes Entertainment. Four Winds has over 3,000 slot machines, 100 table games, 6 restaurants, 5 bars and 165 hotel rooms in addition to the 19-table poker room.

"Four Winds is committed to delivering the best gaming and entertainment experience possible and PokerPro is part of that commitment," said Matt Harkness, Four Winds Casino Resort General Manager. "We are proud to open this state-of-the-art, all-PokerPro poker room."

"The Pokagon Band has been an ideal partner for PokerTek's largest installation to date," said Lou White, PokerTek's Chief Executive Officer. "Their commitment to electronic poker is phenomenal, as evidenced by the size and quality of their new poker room. PokerTek is pleased to be working with an operator whose dedication to making this room a success is only rivaled by their desire to exceed player's expectations by offering such a broad range of game offerings, tournament schedules and major tournament satellite events."

The room will offer Limit and No Limit Texas Hold'em cash games, Limit and Pot Limit Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo cash games, and Single and Multi-Table tournaments with a variety of buy-ins. Players can also play to win seats into major events and compete in heads-up tournaments on one of the four PokerPro Heads-Up tables.

"We're going to offer the best action in the region," said Harkness. "Our tournament schedule is second to none, our games are all reasonably priced and playing on PokerPro gives players more action with fewer hassles and distractions."

PokerPro® is an electronic poker table that allows players to compete against each other in live poker. Players use their individual touch-screen to view their cards, call, raise or fold, while viewing the pot, community cards, and players chip stacks on the large center display. Players will notice that the games are fast with a 50% increase in the hands dealt every hour when compared to a manual poker table, as well as total accuracy and social interaction among players.

[Aviston]

I arrived at Four Winds around 12:30 PM on Thursday, August 2nd. Since I'm completely an Internet player (and not much of one, anymore, at that) I figured I'd add my two cents. Be forwarned: I've never played poker at a casino before. Upon entering the casino we were immediately greeted, handed a map of the premises, and asked where we were headed first. Having driven for two hours, we requested the restrooms. Our hostess then asked where we were headed next, we answered that we were going to the poker room. She directed us to a set of restrooms on the way to the poker room. I thought it was a nice touch.

As others have said, once arriving at the poker room we were ID'd, and set up our players' card. We then proceeded to the cage and added money to our account. Unfortunately, they were not accepting credit/debit cards, so I had to hit an ATM. One of the poker room managers wanted to take some time to see if he could figure out a way for me to add money without paying ATM fees. I told him it was alright, I didn't mind, but again, I thought it a nice gesture.

I only spent perhaps 5 or 6 hours playing poker at 2 different tables. Both were 3/6. Between tables I had a chance to talk to one of the table's representatives. He and I chatted for 15 or 20 minutes. A few points we discussed:

- I asked him about straddling, checking in the dark, etc as I had heard some complaints from others at the tables. He informed me that the software is all set up to accomodate such features but led me to believe they have not been turned on yet. He even mentioned that they are set up to do side bets. Although, I'm not sure of which variety as I didn't ask.

- Apparently, they are working with the casino to allow the cage to sell players chips at the cage as well to be used for tipping the waitstaff. This was of particular interest to me as I'm the General Manager of a restaurant and watching the staff wait on people hand and foot and not being compensated for it is quite irksome (although, at my tables, people seemed to be tipping just fine).

- We talked a bit about how the tables generate random cards. He informed me that they followed the protocol set by online poker and that the cards are randomized as each card is dealt as opposed to randomizing the entire deck at the start of each hand.

Apparently, one of the 10/20 tables (a friend's grandfather told me, who was playing at the table) called over the management after a few hours of play to check the average hands per hour. They were told it was 54. I didn't see this happen, but I have no reason to believe the story was embellished.

All in all, I found the tables to be great. As I said above, I play solely on the internet. I felt that it really was the best of both worlds and was very comfortable. The learning curve didn't seem too steep, and most people seemed to catch on rather quickly. Of course, to me, the 5 or 6 players to a flop was something that I hadn't seen since .50/1.00 Party tables four years ago. After taking out gas, food, beer, and gratuity, I arrived home winning about $200. It was a fun day and one I look forward to doing again soon.

As a side note, a couple of my friends played one or two of their sit 'n gos. Apparently, you start with 1500 chips and the blinds start at 50/100. It would seem these are pretty much a crap shoot from the beginning. Meh.

[magoo]

My trip(s) to Four Winds: It is hard for me, to imagine another joint opening a traditional poker room, (with "live" dealers).

[52s]

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MATTHEWS, North Carolina

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I did a double-take at the origin of the press release, then quickly went to PokerTek's site and yes, the company is based out of North Carolina.

Which I find totally weird (and... ironic?) since poker's banned in NC and the polititians and police of NC have a hard-on for busting video poker operations of any number from 1 machine to 100.

[Kramer.]

[ QUOTE ]
My trip(s) to Four Winds: It is hard for me, to imagine another joint opening a traditional poker room, (with "live" dealers).

[/ QUOTE ]

Was there on Saturday, and I have to say I was a skeptic that has been won over. I'd also say that it's much easier for a new room to start with e-tables than for an established room to switch over.

Here's my mini-review, based on about 4 hours of 3-6 limit.

PROS, in no particular order:
No dealer mistakes
No dealer tokes
No waiting for shuffles/setups/people to post the blinds/etc.
No waiting for anything period -- however, I never had the feeling of being rushed.
More hands to play.
No bad seats at the table, you're never next to the dealer or toke box/rake box. Every seat has a nice clear view of all the action and people at the table
Odds of winning for each hand show up on the table during an all-in (this is also a negative, since it didn't seem like there was a choice to show or not.)
Ability to see cards shown down on the last hand.
The way you get your cards to flip up is pretty slick.
Limited chances for angle-shooting. I couldn't think of any, but I'm sure someone will figure something out.


CONS, in no particular order:
No chips or cards. This didn't bother me at all.
No chops if folded to the blinds. Seems like this would be an easy fix.




Can anybody fill me in on why e-tables didn't work at other places?

[tonybormin]

Figured I'll add my two cents...

I was at the Four Winds for a few hours Saturday evening. Overall I was very impressed with the casino. Here are my thoughts:

Casino Positives:
-The staff/service was the nicest I have ever seen in a casino. The place was packed and their were lines everywhere but they stayed moving. Hor dourves served to those standing in line.

-$1.50 drinks are nice. I sort of did a double take when my first order of rum and coke with a Corona only cost $3. I'm used to the Majestic Star where it's $4 for a beer.

Casino Negatives:
-No cell phone service anywhere in the place. My girlfriend and I got separated and it took over 30 minutes to find each other due to neither of us getting reception. I have Verizon and she has AT&T. Anyone else have this problem?

Poker Room:

I played in the $200 NL game for about an hour. I must say that the electronic tables are cool but overall I still prefer real poker. The games are much more social than what I expected them to be but to me they played a little tighter than other places. I made it $10 preflop three times one half and all three times the table folded around. That would have never happened at Majestic, someone would have thrown their chips in to see a flop. Don't know if it was just my table but people were less willing to put money in the pot.

From a playing standpoint I did like the e-tables more than I thought I would. You get to see everyone's chip stack displayed at all times. The game did move much faster than a real game. I found you don't save time from the players actions but the fact there is no shuffling or dealing or dealer switches or rack fills. That's nice.

Negatives:
-Maybe it was just me but I had a problem with the "check" icon being right next to the "all-in" button. You do have to confirm all your actions but I just thought it would be possible to mis-hit the check button and shove it all-in. I really don't want to relive some of my worst online poker moments.

-I was on a table that is close to the cashier's cage, in a seat facing the cashiers cage. There are no TV's in that direction. There were four TV's behind me. Not a huge deal but I like glancing at ESPN in between hands, in this instance the cashiers cage was not very entertaining.


Summary: Casino was good. Staff was great. Poker room OK. Tables were fun but not as good as real live play.