ES
I played every day for a week in this room. Here are my observations:
1. Management and floor are very professional, they do their job really well, from seating, table changes, floor judgements, and rules enforcement. The room caters to majority of local reg-fish who gamble every day, but these locals do not RUN this room and/or influence the floor, unlike in other areas. 5 stars!
2. Player types: a very wide range by play style and skill level. When a 2/5 game does not run, you can find 2/5 grinder/semi-pros building up their stacks at 1/3, and often you can find a strategy-clueless sole who wants to have a good time gambling and doesn't care about winning. About 75% of players are local short-stacked reg-fish.
3. Food: attentive attendants, OK menu, decent prices , not overly fast service. There is some room for improvement.
4. Dealers: many play as players on their day offs. Not sure if that qualifies as a conflict of interest. Most dealers are professional, polite, and try doing their job well.
5. Rake: the rake at this room is a daylight robbery. $8 is taken from each pot regardless if it goes to see the flop ( No-flop no-drop rule is not present in this room and also other BestBet rooms). In addition, for every bomb pot the venue charges you $16, and these bomb pots happen every 30 minutes.
6. Security in the area is very good, well-lit parking lot and surveillance.
7. High Hand promotions - these promotions distort the game and should be abolished. Easier to randomly give someone $1000 every hour ( with the condition it remains on the table in their stack). This would increase the stacks and would not affect the gameplay. During the promotion the entire table limps with hands that can make a VERY high hand but can't win in poker, the entire table folds to a small raise pre-flop, and this is the game of poker during promotions in this room. Just raise with everything and collect 5 limps less the rake.
Overall, the very high rake of the room forces a playing style that would only get the money in with premium holdings, and a winning strategy dictated not to participate in bomb pots. Finally, good players should avoid playing during the times when promotions are run.
