The New Tropicana
Arrived 6-11 got all my wedding junk done and set out sunday morning 6-12 to play in my usual 10 am planet hollywood tourney. Ive played in about 40 of these things over the last 4 years and have always found them fun and profitable.
Not this time. Instead of the 25-30 players they always had before there were a total of 7 players in this thing. 6k starting chips and 100/200 to start. The whole vibe just put me in suicide mode. I was either going to steamroller the whole table or be the first one out. I was the first one out hehe. Ill never play there again anyway.
Headed over to Tropicana where my parents were staying and where our ceremony took place on monday. Noticed that I had missed the 10am tourney there but there was another at 2 pm. 40 dollar buyin 25% juice. 4000 starting chips, 25/50 to start and double every 20 minutes. Basically the same structure we use in my local games over at the bowling alley. Took 1st in that one.
I couldnt play at all on monday because it was wedding day but I made it back on tuesday for the 10 am and chopped with a guy. The 2pm didnt go because of a lack of players.
Wednesday morning we started with 2 tables i was out in 5th but came back at 2pm and took 2nd. 3 cashes in 4 tourneys had 160 invested and won a total of like 400 bucks. Nothing to write home to mike sexton about but since i couldnt play at night and the purpose of the trip being getting married i was cool with that.
About the Tropicana: This place is my new favorite. Not just my new favorite poker room my new favorite casino in vegas period. Its nice and bright in there, classic rock playing at an acceptable level in the background, nicely remodeled, nice rooms etc. What sets it apart from the other casinos ive visited are the people who work there.
Virtually every person i encountered there was just great. From the wedding coordinator to the check in staff to the waitresses to the poker room staff they all had a great disposition. The poker room managers name is Wally and you could tell hes working hard to get that room going. The dealer i spent the most time talking to was a fella named Ray and he also was a joy to have at the table. Its always great to encounter some hospitality in the hospitality industry.
Im going from memory here but the tourney schedule there is as follows.
daily 10 am 40 dollar buyin
daily 2 pm 40 dollar buyin
nightly bounty tournament i think it was 50 bucks plus some juice. 25 to the pool and 25 a head in bounty
they are attempting to run a late night/early morning tourney but havent been able to get it going. on the tourney sheet it says 1am but they switched that to 11pm
I didnt get to play any cash game this time around but ill be sure do do so when i go back in september. If you havent been out to the new tropicana you should try it out. If youre like me a middle class middle aged mid american youll feel right at home.
I stayed there not too long ago for 2 nights, and im staying there in August for 2 more before staying at RIO for 2 nights during my birthday. It was all comped rooms, the only gripe I had was the food selection. You had two options, a food court type deli with prices ranging from 7-15 or the fancy places where you spend $50+ a person. There was no middle of the road selection. I was also disappointed that Nuudles was no longer going to be a part of the property, I was looking forward to late night Chinese food.
That was my only problem with the place, well that and the fact that they wanted a 2nd deposit on the room to watch a movie. I was trying to relax on my last night and was leaving early in the morning and they would not let me watch a movie unless I came downstairs to the lobby and put another $50 deposit on the room.