Just got back from Tampa yesterday after my one week trip got extended to two weeks. Long story short, one of our planes broke trying to go home and I was part of the team that stayed to fix it. On to poker...
I played 1/2 NL max buyin ($100
) at both rooms.
The Hard Rock:
I really didn't like this place AT ALL and it's not really due to the fact that I lost...a lot. The poker room is FREEZING. I was shivering after a few minutes and never stopped. Air conditioning is nice, but this was absolutely ridiculous. It's also extremely noisy from the 200-400 people in the room and the hundreds of slot machines right outside the room which is completely open (except for a rail) to the rest of the casino. The tables are packed so close together you can barely move around when you stand up. And forget about actually moving between them. Lastly, the quality of play was horrendous...including mine.
I was completely distracted from everything I said above that I simply couldn't concentrate on the game. The second night I took a sweatshirt and wore shoes vs. flip-flops and I took my MP3 player with me. While I was warmer, nothing else changed and I either couldn't hear my music or anything said at the table.
Enough ranting...go to the Hard Rock only if you don't like money or can overcome the very distracting atmosphere.
Hard Rock winnings - $600 loser over 2 nights. I really need to learn how to get up and leave when I'm losing.
The Silks Poker Room at Tampa Bay Downs:
I absolutely LOVE this place, it's night and day different than the Hard Rock. The layout is awesome...there's lots of room to move around and the tables are comfortably separated. The AC was on, but I was totally fine in a t-shirt and shorts. There was the normal din you'd expect from a 100+ people, but definitely not noisy. The dealers were great, the tables are good and the chips...well, the chips are gorgeous Paulsons. I kept a $1 and a $5...I'll try to get a pic posted soon. I didn't get anything uncirculated, but they have good edges and are only a little dirty.
The play here was more what I expected. A mix of styles at the table--rocks, LAG's, TAG's and a few calling stations. In contrast, the Hard Rock is filled with people that think poker is getting to the river every single hand. I was able to do well here playing mostly tight aggressive but mixing it up a good bit depending on who was in the hand with me.
They also have some cool gimmicks. The best of which is that every winning straight-flush hand (using both hole cards I think) gets paid $200 on the spot that can be put directly into play. There's also the Rack Attack...the high-hand over a given 10 minute period gets to go rack chips. Whatever you rack...you keep. One guy next to me made about $250 that way. All quads get a free (exclusive to quads only) t-shirt and hat and something else that I don't remember. Lastly, there's the raffle tickets you get for various things....like any flush during a certain period gets you a ticket, etc. Then they call a ticket and you get to draw a card and win between $50-$500 depending on the card value.
The Silks winning's - $440 winner over 3 sessions (double-dipped Friday before/after dinner)
All in all I had a good time, but I'll NEVER go back to the Hard Rock.
. I would've liked to, but it just didn't happen. Next time I definitely plan to go to Lucky's, at least....as well as Silks again.
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