Where do people on a list wait? I heard you can't sit in the room and wait.

They have a text option that gives you 5 minutes to claim your seat. There's a bar near the poker room, the gaming floor, and areas down and upstairs towards the pool that have seating.

I've visited Talking Stick to play some BJ in an attempt to avoid losing my mind after a long lock-down w/ only mom and her caregiver and I think that they've done a really good job of separating players w/ the plastic and cleaning a vacated seat immediately plus the temperature taking and the mask requirement.

IMO, it's safer to visit TS than going to the supermarket.

But one of those is a necessity and the other is a hobby.

The hobby has turned into a necessity. I just can't stand the near total lockdown we are in, even today. I told mom's caregiver (who was worried bec I was at home so much) that she had her own, personal payroll protection plan and that I wouldn't cut her hours. On Tuesdays and Saturdays she's here from 8am to 8pm leaving me w/ long hours of boredom.

It doesn't hurt that I've been on a epic heater which has to come to an end soon. Am going to give it another go today, wish me luck.

Play blackjack with the caregiver, obv.

I spotted what could be a clue of another poker room opening in the area. Fort McDowell recently posted a job opening on their website for poker dealers. I think their new facility is opening soon so maybe they intend to open with the poker room open at the same time. I know their previous room wasn't very active in recent years but maybe with the new facility and less competition they could be a good alternative.

Thank you!

I've heard the odds of getting C19 on a plane is around 1 in 4000. That's with people sitting right next to you, behind you and in front. Plus it's a much more enclosed area. I would think it's even less likely to get infected playing poker. As long as you are washing your hands after touching the chips and cards on a regular basis and not touching your face you should be fine.

I'm still preferably gonna wait until it goes from moderate to minimal spread. One way or another I'm gonna start playing again in the next month or two. I'm bleeding money right now.

I havent studied or heard that 1 in 4000 number but the people who you will interact with who are going to the poker table and casino regularly are much more likely to be infected than a random person at the grocery store.

I have no doubt that those who have been back playing don't take this virus seriously and probably are more likely to spread it. It does seem that if everybody is wearing a mask the likelihood of spread goes way down. If you are maintaining a reasonable distance, constantly washing your hands and not touching your face the risk goes down further. It's mainly spread from person to person so the dividers must help. It sounds like you need a significant viral load to be infected. I know in restaurants there is the risk the virus could be recirculated in the air. The difference is that in restaurants people have their masks off while eating and are talking and yelling more. It also seems like this is not nearly as dangerous as we once thought if you do catch it.

It sounds like TS is doing a nice job with the safety. I just hope the games are still profitable. I usually play 20/40. My concern it's going to be all tough grinders at the table. I'm sure many older folks are staying away. The bad regs may not have the money anymore.

Yeah, I obviously have no idea. It would be fun to walk through on a Friday night and see who is playing so I can judge them all!

I've thought about doing a reconnaissance mission to see what's up. The games used to be fantastic so even if they are worse they may still be good enough.

I don't think any of us really know what's up. I was terrified when this first began. I feel a lot better now. I'm still concerned but feel that as long as I'm taking proper precautions I have a good chance of staying safe.

Wild Horse Pass is opening with 6 tables??? I wonder if spread limit ever runs or if it's all 3-6 and 4-8 limit tables.

I wonder if it's the opposite... All spread limit and no 3/6 or 4/8. I think that is more likely.

Let's hope it's a few of each.

They are actually standing up 10 tables but, only opening 6 to begin. When the traffic is there for more, I think they will move to 10 tables. I’m thinking both limit and spread will be running.

Limit makes them more money so I would imagine they would be sure to have it.

I went to Wild Horse Pass today. It was the first time I've been to a casino since February and the first time I've been to WHP in maybe 4 or 5 years. Both spread and LHE were running. The plastic dividers and masks didn't seem to affect the game quality or sociability of the players that much. They only got 1 3/6 game going and had 2 2/100 games going at one point but later on only 1. This was a Tuesday night, however.

The problem with the limit game was mostly due to the lack of players. The table is 7 max and when 1 or 2 players would leave sometimes more players would leave and then it would snowball and the game would break for a while. That happened twice within a period of about 4 hours. Since the rake at LHE is so high, you constantly need a steady stream of new players to keep the game running due to people busting and all the money getting raked off the table.

But otherwise, it was a typical low limit game. According to bravo, TSR has a lot more games and players so I would expect the game quality to be higher there too.

I was in town for a quick weekend and wanted to check out turning stone, went Friday and Saturday nights. Played the 5-600 (play 2-5 NL at home, which is still shuttered and I hadn’t played live poker since February).

While being around casino/poker degens isn’t COVID ideal, TS did a good job in the following ways:

Masks all the time, never saw someone without (guest or worker).
Plexiglass
Hand sanitizer all over
Cleaned vacated space within minutes of it being open. Sprayed all sides glass and wiped table edge with a different wipe/disposable.
Temp checker upon entry (maybe lowest of the above measures to prevent spread, IMO)

I enjoyed the experience, yes it is harder to hear a conversation and certainly across the table but....is that a bad thing? I’m not a huge talker at the table so didn’t bother me for a 4-6 hour session.

I’ve never been before so not sure on game quality, but Saturday seemed better. Both days had 3-4 tables of 5-600.

Would go again.

Nice review, thanks. I haven't played live poker since Feb.

Also, it is Talking Stick, not Turning Stone (that is a casino in NY)

Is it now a $600 max and how did that happen?

Talking Stick, correct.

My first time there, but the 5-600 game was min bet of 5 and max 600 (maybe I saw max once or twice at my table). Buy in $300 to $2,000, only a couple players per table bought in with the max upon sitting down that I saw). 3-300 was $100 to $500 buy in I think, never sat at it.

They punish the players who want to play 3,4,or 5 handed until the game fills up by charging full rake. So, we quit and the game breaks. I go back on the list and usually get in another game pretty quickly. Rinse and repeat.
Same with starting a game. Do you guys want to start with 4? I used to say yes but, full rake- no thanks.

Is that full rake thing new? Or just since covid?

Yeah, they should be giving you guys a rake reduction short handed, they can still potentially collect the same amount per hour because they'll get more hands out short handed. It seems like a poor decision if games are breaking over it.