Station Casinos

The Station poker room bad beat jackpot is now up to $290,000 which is higher than I usually see it. It's normally between $150,000 (its reset point) and $200,000.

Right now you have to have quad 5s or better beaten. Every Tuesday that the jackpot is not hit, they make it a little bit easier to hit it. If not hit by this coming Tuesday it'll go down to quad 4s beaten.

I've played many hours in the Station poker rooms and have never had a bad beat nor even a table share. It's tough to hit. At the same time, everyone sitting at any table at any Station casino when it hits will get a share. Since the progressive is so high I'd guess that the table share should be anywhere from $500 during the busy times of day to over $1,000 per person in the middle of the night. If you're deciding where to play poker today, this might be enough motivation to go to a Station casino. (For those of you who have read my past columns you know I hate bad beat jackpots so I begrudgingly recommend this.)

Today they're also offering a bonus for quad 8s. If you get quad 8s in a live cash game you receive $8,888 in cash. I believe that's only for today (8/8/08). I did see someone win this today. He had pocket 8s and two 8s flopped.

One other promotion that Station poker rooms are currently offering is triple comps on graveyard. I believe it starts at 3 am and I don't know what time it goes to. This is a nice benefit because you're now earning $3 an hour in comps instead of $1. I believe that the points can be used casino-wide in not only the restaurants but the gift shops, spa, and other places.

Hard Rock Poker Room

The Hard Rock is planning to enter the poker room competition in Las Vegas with the opening of their poker "lounge" which is currently scheduled for August 11.

I have been given a few interesting details from a couple inside sources, but don't hold me to this info being perfect.

One feature is that when you go on a poker list, you can leave the poker room and when your seat opens they'll send a text message to your cell phone. While a few rooms in town have pagers which are somewhat nice, most rooms require that you stay in the room or very close by to hear your name called. The flexibility of being able to go anywhere your cell phone has reception is nice. I'm told that once they text you, you'll have 10 minutes to get to the room which should be enough time even if you're at a blackjack table or sitting at the bar at the Pink Taco.

Another aspect of the Hard Rock room is that they'll have a few heads up electronic tables. As far as I know these will be the first electronic poker tables in Las Vegas. The theory is that this will give people waiting for full games the chance to play while they wait. My guess is that some people will want to play these exclusively. I'm ambivalent about how successful full 9 or 10-player electronic tables will be, but I think the heads up ones could be popular from the get-go.

The Hard Rock will have 18 tables so it's no just a small afterthought room. They're trying to make poker at the Hard Rock more than just a novelty for current customers and guests. I think they want it to be a feature that attracts new customers that would not already be there.

Word is that a big game ($100/$200 no limit) with many known TV players and other high rollers will be played there at least once a week. While I won't be playing that game and I doubt that most of you will either, it should be a draw to bring in others wanting to see the stars.

The HR is terming their poker room a poker "lounge". There will be a full bar and they're planning on having bottle service like in the night clubs. I have not had the access to see the room so I'm not quite sure how this will be implemented.

I've seen a lot of poker rooms try to attract players and it's not an easy thing to do. I'm guessing that for the first few weeks the HR's room will be busy and the games should be very good. After the first month, I'll be curious to see whether they can keep the seats full. I'm rooting for them.

If the games have people coming in from a night in the Joint or a day out at Rehab, you'd have to think that these could be very profitable poker games. You'd expect there to be inebriated players as well as inexperienced players with more money than brains.

It's always a double edged sword though because if the games are good then the pros migrate to them. One thing that's true about any poker game is that you don't have to play it so if the games aren't soft then I'll look elsewhere. I'm more than willing to give these games benefit-of-the-doubt status though simply based on the clientèle I've seen patronizing the HR.

One concern I have about the Hard Rock poker room is that it will have loud noise and/or music. The casino is extremely loud. When I spend my time there, I'm usually in the high limit slots which is separated by a closed door.

If the poker room doesn't have a good seal from the main casino floor or if they have speakers and play loud music in the room itself then I'll have trouble playing there for more than a couple hours. I'm not capable of the amount of concentration and focus required for playing poker for 6, 8 or 10 hours if there is very loud music or noise. When I play in noisy rooms I do take ear plugs. Ear plugs help, but sometimes you'll miss a verbal clue which can be costly.

If my vote matters Hard Rock, please try to keep the room noise level to a minimum.

My other concern about the Hard Rock room is what I expressed above that I wonder if they can keep a critical mass of players past the grand opening. I've seen rooms in Vegas try, and fail. Poker competition is stiff. I wish them the absolute best and hope it's a raging success.

I'm not just pandering by saying that. I want it for selfish reasons. I think it'd be a great place to play for my own purposes.

One random note... When I was at the Hard Rock 2 nights ago I passed Richie Sambora going through the hallway from the parking garage to the casino. That was kinda cool.