Do any 2+2ers live near the Oaklawn Poker Room in Hot Springs? Any info you can share on the poker room, level of play, games spread, or overall action?

I'm also looking to get a couple $1 chips from the place to add to my collection. If you can help with that please send me a PM. Thanks!

I live in Little Rock, AR and had absolutely no idea that there was a poker room there.

I'm assuming since it's entitled "Oaklawn" that it's at the horsetrack. If that is the case, then there probably are no poker chips there (all electronic tables)

EDIT: But if that's the case I've got no idea where your pic came from.

2nd EDIT: I really should review your post better next time, I went to the linked Oaklawn website but couldn't find any info on the "poker room" just the normal gambling stuff like Blackjack and Video Poker.

Believe the poker room is being created as part of their expansion. On the main page, there is a link to the right "Expanded Gaming Coming Soon." It's a PDF and the second page talks about the new poker room:

http://www.oaklawn.com/pdf/GamingComingSoonBrochure.pdf

As mentioned, believe the room can only have E-tables.

the blackjack tables at oaklawn are electronic but still have dealers and real chips. i wouldn't be surprised if the poker room works the same way, with real dealers and chips but with the cards on a screen.

i'm hearing that it will open soon.

in the meantime email me if you want to know about home tourneys in hot springs.

How does this work?

the poker room opens up this may. i heard that it will in fact have electronic tables.

Yes, from what I understand, the "cards" will be dealt electronically, with dealers handling physical chips, moving the action, etc.

Think about something like this

http://digideal.com/products/digital21.php

Woops sorry.. We strike again.

Actually only way Oaklawn (or any track in the State) can have poker is electronic like PokerPro. This is state law.

Lou

Update for Hot Springs area poker players...

Oaklawn Poker room is going to open for business (soft launch) this Wed May 13th.

Grand opening will be later this month

Lou

I played at the new casion and poker "room" opening day, actually the first hand dealt. (9988A was the winner of a $35 pot) ( not me). They have two Poker Pro Tables, getting two more next week. The poker area is non smoking but smoking is allowed very close (too close for me) to the tables. Restrooms are close, waitress come around very regular, freee soft drinks, beer and hard stuff cost.
Management seemed very familair with poker. The tables work perfect.
Day two saw some big stacks. ($50 to $200) buy in. I sat down on day two at 5pm there was one $1200, a $700 and a $600 stacks.
The tables are easy to use. no one but me had played on them opening day. Everyone caught on quickly.
Suggestions....get food service and expand the non smoking area.

Come play in the Beautiful Hots Springs National Park.

Does anyone know what games they are running (limits/buy-ins). I live in Little Rock and this would be a much better drive than Tunica.

They only have two tables right now. They were running 1/2 $50-$200.
Already demand for 2/5. They had 3/6 Limit going but had to kill it because the demand for 1/2 was so high.

Two more tables have been ordered and will be installed in the next few weeks. I would suspect they will end up with two tables 1/2NL, and one of 2/5NL, and 3/6LHE asthe regular games.

Then bigger limits and PLO/O8 probably scheduled to run a few times a week at a specific day/time.

Lou

I played quite a bit over the weekend. On Friday night I showed up around 11pm and there was a list of over 13. The joint closes at 3am so I figured I wouldn't get a seat, but the manager, a guy named Michael Collier, assured me that I would, so I stuck around.

I got a seat around 12:30 and played till they closed. I won about $600. The players were seriously awful, some of the worst I've ever seen. I saw guys miscall their hands numerous times, not understanding that a higher pair on the board plays, things like that. Friday night for the most part people played insane preflop and called anything with everything then playing extremely nitty on the flop and beyond.

There were a couple of +$1000 stacks at my table. Both of them said they had been sitting there all day. One guy told me throuoghout the day he saw over 100 people come sit down, buy in for $100, lose it in a few hands and get up. This curiousity factor won't last, but for now it is making the game good.

The last hand of the night three people went all in preflop and the pot was like $600.

I returned on Saturday at 11am when they opened. The day game was much much tougher than the late Friday night game. I saw some of the same players but for the most part people knew what they were doing. I saw guys reraising big preflop after everyone called the $12 raise to pick up the dead money several times. I also saw guys willing to bluff more.

The current location of the poker tables sucks. But they said that they will be moving to four tables this week and that by November they will have a dedicated poker room with 20 tables. They also said they'd start running tournaments once they got 4 tables.

Oh and on Saturday morning there was 3-6 limit on one table, which I was glad to see.

Michael Collier was very friendly and helpful and seemed to understand the game. I think he will do a great job.

Go get the money before its all gone, folks. I had to leave town

Spies... that is a pretty accurate description of the action. I do know there was a $2,200 pot this weekend on one of the 1/2 tables. Thats a pretty juicy 1/2 game, no?

Legal poker is alive and kicking in Hot Springs !

Lou

I went by this room today at about 2 PM, both tables full, with a 21 person waiting list. Did not even bother putting my name on the list. The new facility they built for their electronic gaming does not seem any bigger than the old one, but it did seem very nice, albeit very cramped.

Did not catch what the rake structure is at Oaklawn. Anyone have an idea?

10% capped at $4

Lou

I live in Little Rock and played here last Saturday, we showed up around 11 AM as we were just making a day trip for fun. I sat down with two friends of mine. One a lot more competent a player than the other.

I usually try to get in on the second table that starts at poker rooms when none are running, but since I wasn't going to play for long and was with friends, I sat at the first table. (So 11 AM is time the first table got started) I would say that by 12:30-1 all four tables were full and running playing 1/2 NL.

Views on poker room: Like people said earlier, bit too close to smoking area for me. Was a bit cramp. However the floor woman, April, was incredibly nice, one of the nicest floor people I've spoken with in a long time, and she was both intelligent in helping people and patient as well. Also the tables were great.

Views on players: Worst I've ever seen in a poker room, it felt like I was playing college football against pee-wee players. The entire five hours I was there, I did not see a single raise without the best hand, or even a bet from a weakish hand. Another person hit the nail on the head, loose preflop, very nitty on the flop.

The game was mostly older men who have probably played tight for a long time and have won by letting overly aggressive people play into their monsters, and haven't adapted to the "good" internet players who can be creative in their playing without being caught by easily spotted traps.

I made two mistakes in the five hours that I was there and it cost me about $100, and it was against the most "wild-cannon" type player at the table. (Most people probably thought I fit that description better but I actually knew what I was doing with my action, this guy didn't) And this came from me not playing poker live, or online in around a year. Now I was a pretty serious player before I stopped, (probably around 1.9-2 million hands online in four years) because of work, studying for my CPA Exam, and getting married. I just remembered this thread and decided to let people know.

Anyways, I started with $200 and left with $1,230 five hours later. The avg. pot was around $100 or so before the loose passive player left the table (I personally took about $750 from him). And fell to about $50-65 avg. pot size after he left. We only averaged about 35 hands an hour though, which I would have thought could have been more.

Closing thoughts: Interestingly enough, I'm not sure if I was just lucky or what, but it seems that with the introduction of the electronic aspect of the game, the older people were just soooo much more transparent in what they were doing, (like they weren't before) you just had to watch where their fingers were before they pushed a button to see what their initial response would be. For instance if I'm last to act, and the first person in the pot is thinking, and I see the guy to my right has his finger over the fold button, waiting for a bet, and the first to act checks, then guy to my right checks, I can bet with impunity knowing that at least one is folding. I saw this type of reaction the entire day. Never, ever, did this read fail, not a single time! And if someone does get you on that, all you lose is a 1/2 to 2/3rd pot bet and you know that read is invalid on that ONE person.

Good luck, great games, I'll be back. However, I would warn you that you "can" be an ABC player and do well playing TAG, but you'll be dependent on the cards. If you can successfully play a LAG style pre AND post-flop, be creative, take calculated risks, play position well, and be attentive to the other players habits, their won't be an easier game for you to play, you won't even have to look at your cards.

Just looking for an update of what games are currently being run. Any 2/5 NL games yet?

bump, i'm interested as well.

I haven't been back in a while, but the last mailer I got said that they are spreading like 2/4 limit and 1/2 plo now at certain times of the week. Just call up there and I bet they'll have a schedule.

I just thought I'd give a quick update since I made my first visit there this week. I went in the afternoon midweek and I was pleased with the Oaklawn setup. They have seven nicely spaced out PokerPro tables. Two were running $1-$2 NL when I arrived and I found the talent level to be surprisingly solid at at that hour. Most of my table was made up of regulars who all knew each other. Occasionally a donk would sit down and dump $50 or $100 and then bail. But everyone was very friendly, both players and staff. I had never tried the PokerPro tables so one of the girls at the desk gave me a two minute tutorial on a closed table. I stuck around for the 6 PM tourney that night, which was a qualifier that paid four spots (out of 40) and gave out three seats to a $5K freeroll in February. I got knocked out in third and look forward to coming back next month. I live in Little Rock so it's great knowing I've got live action an hour away now.

i'm pretty sure they mean PLO8

There's usually 1-3 games on weeknights, 2-5 games on weekends. All 1/2 except the occasional .5/1 PLO HiLo.

Plays like a standard 1/2 live game anywhere, very badly. I haven't played FR cash in years and was still the best player every time I sat.

There's a number of winning regs whose most advanced play is raising a flush draw. Forget thin value bets or really any tough spots whatsoever.

There's also several huge, huuuuuge douchebags who frequent the place and are not really kept in check. To out names: JP and Mateo. Bad for the room but the floor won't (claims they can't) handle it. Floor is weaksauce and obviously there are no dealers at the tables.

Games tend to be very limpy but with huge average pot sizes ($90+). Flop the nuts and profit, basically.

Do they also take a jackpot drop and, if so, what prevents players from talking about jackpot draws and checking them down?