This is my local casino living in the southern Louisville area (still looking for a local house game! email me!). It's also a local poker room for people from all over the area, as players from Tennessee, Indianapolis, Lexington, and at one point Cincinnati call this room home. I started playing poker here, after my friend introduced me to the game back in 2011.
All around a great place to play. The games range from 3-6 limit, 1-2 NL, 2-5 NL, 5-10 NL, 1-2 and 5-10 PLO, STUD, occasional H.O.R.S.E., but during the week you will mostly see 1-2 and 2-5 NL, and limit game. Monday through Thursday, you see the same people a lot, several tight players with a good mix though. They are all very friendly and talkative, and are welcoming to all players A 2-5 game usually starts on Wednesday in the afternoon (which is usually the best promotional day) and goes all night into Thursday afternoon depending on how many people show up for it, and sometimes goes off and on until Sunday. The 2-5 game has some strong players, and sometimes these games break up and the players end up on 1-2 tables with 8k stacks in front of them. As a result, I've seen 10k pots on a 1-2 table which is fun to be a part of for lower limit players! Even on the weekdays the action is lively and fun, lots of straddles, and at HSI you can straddle from any position for any amount. The 5-10 game is usually a Saturday only game, and creates a rail in the high limit area.
On the weekends, good players can really rack up, but it's not always an easy game. Lots of "hey I saw this on TV and I happen to be here" players, and you can sit back and enjoy the show. I've had people go all in when I've flopped straights and they had middle pairs...things of this nature. At the same time, the good players know this and show up, making some versatile games that are lots of fun. I guess it depends on if you like sitting down with a table of people you mostly know, or mostly don't. You can find yourself going broke sometimes, not thinking enough, or over thinking obvious situations, anything can happen it seems. In the 1-2 games, it can be tough to separate the ok players from the good players, and then you have the complete donkeys to mix in. But like I said before, in general it's way more loose during the nights and weekends. (this is my duh sentence of the review)
The promotions range from aces cracked, splash the pot, and sometimes high hand or "pick a card if you win with quads" type gimmicks with those cards having cash or prize amounts. Their are also late nights promotions at times. As much as I like these promotions, they rarely change from month to month. Also aces cracked can be a double edged sword for a lot of players. I think kings or even jacks cracked, would be more interesting, which they have done before.
The badbeat was recently hit on no limit for almost 300k . Quads 7's or better was the stipulation at the time, now it's back to jacks or better, and only 40k, however the limit games are still chasing almost 300k themselves.
Tournaments are daily, usually the best turn out of the week is the Friday night bounty at midnight, and Sunday afternoon at 3pm. I don't normally play in these, but the blind structure is usually 15 or 20 minutes and it can range from good competition to a donkey fest. They also host big tournaments, like WSOP circuit, and the turn out can be huge.
Also during concert nights or conventions, the room swells into a aquarium of tourist. It's funny when the concerts let out, and about 20 names get on the list....yum yum yum!
Management is always nice and any disruptions and floor calls is resolved quickly. Drinks come often, most of the time, and massage services are available. You can call in and get on the list, and the room uses the Bravo system so you can check ahead of time on your smart phone.
Being my first poker room, I call it home, and feel the most comfortable here. But I have been to Vegas multiple times, and other casinos across the country. This is still one of the best for versatile action, friendly people, and all around fun. If you don't mind taking a 10 mile trip on a dangerous 2-lane highway to the middle of the sticks, you will have a great time!!
