Let me say at the outset that I am a rank newbie.
First visit to one of the legitimate 'homes' of poker and was impressed with both the layout (away from slots)and the history. Tables had a great feel to them and the auto-shufflers are a great boon. Easy to step outside for a quick smoke and take in the sites of the mall... fabulous setting. Watched a day time tourney for an hour or so then tried my hand at a 2/4 table.
I call the competition average, but take that with a grain of salt. I'm no expert and it took me a hour or two to get a feel for the other players and the flow of the game in general. I did notice that many of the players hung in there to the river chasing straights/flushes/aces which was usually good for me, and sometimes bad when they hit their target. Players were a mix from all over the country with one or two locals... all were friendly and seemed more intent on having a good time rather than winning a fortune.
Dealers ranged from late 20s to older than Methuselah but all seemed to do a pretty good job. I particularly enjoyed the patter of the senior dealers as it had more of that 'old school' ring to it. Almost made me feel like Doyle was about to pull up a seat. They were firm and polite in their directions and kept the game flowing.
Waitress was attractive and seemed to be always around when I needed a drink (coke), so no problems on this score.
This was a sour point for me. I signed up for a 2/4 game and was told there would be a 15-20 minute wait so I walked 25 feet over to a tourney and parked my butt on the rail. A few minutes later I heard my name called so walked back to the sign in area only to be told that because I didn't yell out "I'm here" my seat had been reallocated. There followed and 'interesting' discussion between the female supervisor (who had "been in this business for 37 years") and myself that 15 seconds was a bit short a wait before reallocating a seat. I suggested that because of the number of newbies coming into the game she could perhaps demonstrate her immeasurable talents by telling players what the requirements were b4 cutting off their head. She disagreed. Later, another female supervisor berated a junior staffer in a very loud and public fashion, including slamming chip drawers and stomping off in a huff. She demonstrated very poor management skills and was not a good advertisement for the casino. Later, a male supervisor approached me about the "I'm here" issue and I explained my point of view to him also. At least he agreed that both management and I had learned a lesson... although he was really trying hard to contain his displeasure at a 'newbie' suggesting that there may be something wrong in his sanctum sanctorum. Personality, nil... management skills, less.
No idea... I didn't even know there was such a thing.