I've been to the Rivers poker room a number of times since moving to Pittsburgh earlier this year. This is a very solid poker room with lots of offerings for both the tournament and cash player.
Overalls the room is run very well. On the cash side, the dominant game is 1/3 NL with the occasional 2/5 and PLO games. They also have 4/8 limit occasionally along with some higher limit games during special events. They also run a number of hourly hot seat and splash pot giveaways that encourage players to stick around. I have rarely had to wait for a table here. The management has done a nice job with their dealer scheduling and if the waiting list grows, there is almost always another dealer available to open a new table.
On the tournament side, they run about 2 tournaments a day and the structures are quite good. They also run special tournament events every other month. Even their standard tournament offerings have good chip stack and blind structures.
As far as the competition goes, the players run the usual mix from pretty good to pretty horrible, from nit to maniac. As far as personalities go, almost everyone I've played has been pleasant to share a table with (even if they're a bad player).
When I first started going there, I found the dealers to be spotty and prone to mistakes. Over the last few months, however, the dealers have improved to the point where I think they're among the best I've seen. They're friendly, knowledgable, and know how to control a table. Kudos to both the dealers and the management for making the effort to get better. Most rooms don't do that.
Food is ok and nothing special, although the rivers buffet is supposed to be excellent. Comps are also only ok, but that is out of the poker rooms control. Another reviewer mentioned the room being dirty. I have not seen that. Perhaps he caught them on a bad night or the problem has been fixed.
If you're in Pittsburgh or if you haven't been here in a while, check this place out. They have good cash offerings, excellent tournaments, and good promotions around both.
