Day 5 - Wednesday - Final Day
Between the convention, moving hotels and playing poker into the wee hours of the AM, I'm getting burned out, but I've realized I haven't made it over to Ameristar yet and everyone talked glowingly about it. I decide to play in their 10AM tourney since I have a 5PM flight out. The first thing that struck me is that there were no games playing when I got to the room at 9AM. None. The tourney started at 10:15 with about 25-30 players and I busted out after my queens went up against the Aces of an old dude wearing a suit. In a way, it was better for me, since it was a heck of a lot more comfortable to exit the table in my t-shirt and shorts instead of having to unbutton my blazer or crinkle my vest
So I asked if a 2/5 game was going and the standard answer of the week was "No.". Fine. No 2/5 for me, I'll take the 1/3. After playing 1/3, I wonder why I kept asking for 2/5. I was winning and shouldn't have wanted to upset the apple cart. During the first orbit, I get Kings and raise to $40 pre-flop, (a re-raise over a $25 bet). I get the original raiser to come with me. Flop comes 10-10-6. I bet $50 and he stays. Next card is a 7 and he bets $100. I call with no intention to bet on the river unless a King comes up, and I'm hoping he doesn't have a 10. River is a 3 and we both check. He had a flush and straight draw that didn't come in. Stack is already up a healthy amount. For the next hour, I'm kicking around a few bets and scooping small pots and figure that the action is getting tight, so I rack up and leave. I go to Downtown St. Charles and get a fantastic pork tenderloin sandwich, head to the airport in plenty of time and fly off up over a grand for the week and happy with both the quality of the casinos and the outcome.
Summary of casinos:
Lumiere: Very nice place to play - dealers were very good and friendly. Room was cold and banking at the cashier was a bit of a hassle instead of in the room, but overall, a very nice place to play and a place where the players seemed to be the friendliest. Made for an enjoyable time.
Harrah's: Had the most action going on. Don't know if it was because of the high bad beat jackpot as I heard other on this thread talk about how that drives traffic. If so, it was true here. Room was in the worst shape out of the three I played at, but only by a marginal amount. Dealers were less friendly and the players tended to be a bit more surly and lacking in hygiene, but not a bad place to play.
Ameristar: The nicest of the rooms in terms of size and looks and they had a separate high limit room. I wish I had gone in the evening to see what kind of action was there and table selection. There wasn't much to choose from in the AM and the tourney didn't get that much play.
all in all, I give St. Louis high marks. I was there about 4 years ago and only played at the President, and I swore hat I wouldn't go back. Luckily, the other places are top notch and seemed to be well run. I'll be back.