I wasn't complaining, just wondering about last call. After I busted him out (he went all-in before the flop on Q,10 and I had KK) he wanted to reload, but the upstairs cashier was closed and we tried to get him to go downstairs to put more money on his card, but he was too drunk to do that. I personally thanked the Harrah's guy in the poker room who made him chugalug his last few beers. But I do feel a little a sorry for the guy since he was apparently handcuffed by security a little bit later (don't know the details because I left when he busted out, but heard about it the next day).

The main reason for me asking is that I had never heard of 2:00 AM (or whatever) last call at a casino, and wasn't sure if that was regulation for the Indian Reservation (and entire casino) or a poker room only rule.

2 am. North Carolina Law.

Cherokee didn't even serve booze until fairly recently.

That was a good discussion about violations of the 30-minute time limit. A related concern that has escaped mention is PokerPro's inability to control or limit walkers, i.e., players who walk away from the table for any of a variety of valid reasons.

In many poker rooms with live dealers, the dealers are empowered to limit the number of players who can walk away from the table at any one time (unless, of course, they are picking up their chips and leaving for good).

PokerPro and poker-room management appear to have no current mechanism and no interest in addressing this rather obvious promlem -- which often results in full and nearly full tables digressing to short-handed play because two, three or more players choose to take breaks at roughly the same time.

Lou, there are obvious technology solutions to this problem. Is there any reason to believe any of them might be considered in the future?

I don't mind the walkers as bad as I do the guys that continually walk to bathroom or visit at another table without sitting out. I know they are accumulating comps, but just sit out of the game or at least have the courtesy to ask the person sitting beside them to fold their hands.

This subject is a little complicated because the Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation (aka Qualla Boundary) is not under the jurisdiction of the State of NC, rather it is under federal jurisdiction supervised by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. Therefore, not all NC laws apply to the reservation. My understanding is that Indians who live and work inside the Qualla Boundary do not pay NC state income taxes.

One exception to that is gambling which is governed by the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but apparently requires negotiation by the Federal Indian Reservations with states as to the type of gaming that will be allowed within their state boundary, but not sure how alcohol fits in to this. I believe that the Cherokee's prohibit all alcohol sales outside the casino by their own decision, so not sure whether the NC 2:00 AM last call inside the casino is binding on the Reservation (but I simply don't know).
http://theonefeather.com/2012/04/tri...no-on-alcohol/

I can only speak for Foxwoods, but as it is a tribal reservation I'll share some insight. Similarly, Foxwoods is on tribal land and they have their own sets of laws. However, as part of their deal with Connecticut, they observe the CT state law for last call for alcohol (1am during the week, 2am for weekends). This may be explicit through some sort of legal contract, or implicit as a sort of "goodwill" measure, I'm not sure. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Cherokee nation did something similar with NC.

The Cherokee tribe has the legal ability to set their own alcohol policies, they are not under the NC state laws, for over a year now. They were able to get out from under NC's ABC program and now issue their own ABC permits.

The tribal council approves the policies and they opted to adopt the NC ABC laws (by reference) as their own. I think it was a matter of convenience more than anything. Federal law states they must have a policy, so they could either write their own or adopt the state's policies and procedures; which was much easier than writing their own. However, they do have the ability to set the hours to anything they wish. Or drop the state's policies entirely if they wish.

The fellow mentioned in the link above (Bob Blankenship, former TABCC chairperson) gave a presentation on how it all works a year or so ago.

So my girlfriend and I trekked out to Cherokee last Saturday as part of our weekend getaway to Asheville. It was my first time using the PokerPro tables, and once I got accustomed to the experience -- took me a bit to figure out how to use my TR card on the screen without giving away too many tells (not sure if I succeeded, either, but it didn't matter much in the end) -- I really enjoyed it. The game moved at a really good pace, and little features like game stats and such were very nice to see. It felt a good balance between live and online play.

Of course, it didn't hurt that I finished ahead about $333 after a little more than 3 hours of 1/2 NLHE. Managed to win three big pots and about 12 small ones. Treated the GF to dinner at Brio that night and dinner at Red Stag the next. After my Omaha 8/b fiasco at Delaware Park a few weeks ago, I needed a session like that.

I'd like to stop in and play again at some point. Not sure when, given that it's a five-hour drive for me, but I definitely enjoyed playing on those tables and would do so again. Well done, PokerTek.

I appreciate the feedback on the value of Diamond status! I'm thinking about making a December push for it. ~170 hours to go, how hard can that be?
Any thoughts on best weekly-rate 1-star accommodations in the area? My requirements are bed, shower & security latch; heat is a bonus. I like the Motel 6 in Asheville, but something closer would be much preferred. Tried the Scottish Inn in Maggie Valley once, can't really recommend it.

If you are really going for it, why bother with motels? You just need to learn to catch a few winks at the poker tables, or maybe on the benches outside, restrooms, etc. Or maybe a sleeping bag in a Smoky Mountain Park campground. Good Luck.

Personally, I will stick with Gold Status and 3 star accommodations.

Supposedly you can go to the Pocahontas and make the guy an offer for nights and he will take it.

Closed for season. there are still a few places down 441 about 3 miles from casino.

I just bring a sleeping bag in my car

How have the weekends been lately ? Lots of players ?

age old question......when will they bring live dealers to the poker room..... if ever.........i heard by year end back when they approved live dealers......

what is the plo game like on saturday....when does it typically start and how long does it run....

This thread has been kinda empty ever since that one reg poster was banned.

I believe they are targeting sometime next year (logically before the April WSOP circuit?) for live dealers. If you scroll back to old posts, many have suggested it would only be a table or two which would be reserved for higher games (not 1/2 nl).

The Saturday PLO game is generally reg infested but plays loose and has an occasional big donator or really bad short stacker losing multiple buy-ins. It is always the table with the most money in the room and not unusual to walk away with $2k+ stack. It starts in the afternoon by 2pm and runs past midnight.

I sure hope they bring in an outside crew to run the circuit event. If not, then the event will be a total disaster. I've already spoken to Bill Bruce and him and the ptc crew will be working another event during that time. I mean there is just no way at this point that Harrahs is anywhere near capable of handling such an event.

I'm almost certain a 3rd party (TD, dealers, etc) would be involved and it would use an auxillary location within the casino and not the normal poker room.

I'd be willing to bet a reasonable amount that it'll be one of the third party tournament crews that runs a number of the other circuit stops, primarily because Cherokee doesn't have the staff or equipment to run a circuit event.

As for location, it'll most likely be in the event center, not the poker room. None of the circuit events I've attended have had the primary tournament area in the casino/poker room's main poker area.

Right now, I just wish they'd release the event schedule so I can schedule time off of work to play the events that interest me.

I am heading up this afternoon; hope there are enough players to have a good game/quick seating..see ya there..>>Happy T-day...

How many players are they getting for the new Sunday tourney?

Per one of the poker room staff, the circuit event was cancelled. Then same person reported that it was now on again. No way Cherokee can handle it by themselves. As far as venue, the last WSOP event was held in the event center. I was told by an employee that they would not ever put it there again(no idea why), but it would be in one or more of the large conference/banquet rooms.

I'll be up on Friday if anyone is interested in playing PLO. Probably only a day trip as family will be tagging along. If not will stay through Saturday.

Good question above. How is the new'ish Sunday tournament doing ? How many players are typically showing up ?

Same for the Saturday tournament ? How are the weekend crowds in the poker room ?

Sunday tournaments have around 40 participants, while Saturdays are usually 50+. Like everything in the casino, there will be weekly and seasonal variance, but those numbers should be in the ballpark.

The WSOPC is still a go. We will be utilizing an outside team to aid us with the event. It will be housed in the event center, with the possibility of a few other areas being used if needed. The turnout for the event is expected to be rather large based on several factors, so plan accordingly.

Have you settled on the outside company or is it still being negociated? If yes, which one?