They kinda laughed at us when we asked, oh well!

Ameristar waitlist was out of control this weekend - was over 3 hours on Saturday.

President's day weekend has alot to do with it. BUt I expect it to keep up with BB Jackpot reaching 500k soon.

Saturday was insano in all the Black Hawk/Central City rooms (well, A*, Lodge, Gates, Reserve — I can't speak for the Isle, Lady Luck, or Century). Sunday seemed a bit more typical (other than the Lodge not scheduling enough dealers to run their noon — and possibly other afternoon? — tournament).

Sorry if this is off-topic, but I had a question about the HPT in April at the Golden Gates. The HPT website says it starts on April 9th (Monday), but the Gates's schedule shows qualifying starting satellites on Friday, April 13th. My question for those of you in the know, or those with previous experience: are there satellites starting on Monday the 9th?

I remember a few years back playing the 1 table HPT sats, ($60 or $70 entry fee or something like that), in which the last 2 men standing moved on to the next tournament. Do these tournaments start on the 9th? And if so, and if you win one, do you have to play the qualifying tourney? Or can you sell it like at the WSOP? I ask because I live in Grand Junction. I'll be in Blackhawk on the 9th, but probably wouldn't be able to go back on the 13th, (unless I wanted to get divorced.)

Thanks in advance.

HPT starts the 13th with sattys. Not sure on seat selling policy.

There is no max buy in.

why is every game in blackhawk 10 handed? do most players prefer this?

Yes. Standard.

Has anyone played in the Reserve's poker room yet? Does it have a chance against Ameristar/Gates?

Reserve is 2/10 spread only, not going after the same market as Ameristar/Gates/Lodge.

Reserve will start an interest list for any game. Last Saturday night there was a 10 handed 1/2-100 game going as well as three tables of 1/2-10.

On Friday nights they have hourly $50 high hands from as well as free food for active players, served in the room. Their four tables are usually full and there's a list.

Monday through Friday from noon to 6:00 pm they have Aces cracked.

Huh, did not know that, thanks for the info. How often do the 1/2-100 games get spread?

Rarely are the games ever actually 10 handed, seems like always a few people away sleeping in their cars or doing whatever they do.

UTH Update - 2/26/12

Went Up The Hill (UTH) to check out the Colorado casinos while on extended stay in Denver. I'm from Vegas so my report is tilted.

First, the drive sucked. And the weather was decent. Can only imagine what it's like to face inclement weather. Basically a one-hour drive minimum from south Denver (DTC).

Having read about the horrendous wait times on weekends, I opted to wait until a Sunday afternoon when things had slowed down. Hardy har har.

Stopped first at GGate. Interesting how the elevator from parking garage actually opens right IN the poker room. Nothing like being greeted off the elevator by that overwhelming, often annoying sound of thousands of chips being "shuffled" all at the same time.

It was crowded around 1pm. Looked like a tourney in progress. Lots of old farts for sure. It was hard to identify games being offered on the board, so I split to check out the other action.

Across the street at the Lodge, it was almost deserted. Four tables were playing and one more was about half full. Many more hipsters and few old farts. Railed one hand against 2 old farts where they both got it all in on a board that ran out TKTQJ. Obviously one guy hit Broadway (AK) and the other guy hit a boat (QQ). Easily a $1000 pot. Wouldn't think you'd see that much $$ on a limited bet table, but in a way the game can play like PLO at times where you actually end up betting higher amounts despite "betting restrictions."

Headed across the street again to the infamous Ameristar. OMG! Wait time over 2 hours - and this was Sunday around 1:30 pm. What a crock.

Best I can figure, people "prefer" to play there because hey, it's a nice place - by far the nicest in the neighborhood. So they drive and drive and drive to get there, only to get wait listed and end up with no choice but to wait it out to get into a game.

As for me, I'm not picky about what the joint looks like. I'm more concerned about the table action. Needless to say, "table selection" was not an offering for anyone willing to wait that long for a seat - any seat.

Interestingly enough, I noticed a minimum of SIX TABLES NOT IN PLAY at all. Talk about a poorly managed room. Ridiculous!

Had enough. Decided to head up the road to check out the "new and improved" Reserve. One more walk through the GG poker room did not entice me to play - at least not this time. Not even sure what they had available as the staff was basically clueless to the fact that I wanted to ask a question. Ho hum. This ain't Aria for sure. Screw it.

Off I went to find this new bad boy. Pretty scary from the outside. Inside it was nice but yet cheap looking. A really bad imitation of Hard Rock. 2 of the 3 available restaurants were basically closed. Cheap pizza was all that was available.

Headed downstairs to find the poker room. Couldn't find it. Then realized I was standing right in the middle of it.

ONE TABLE at play. Uno!

Four tables available period.

Ha!

No thanks. I'm outta here.

Guess if the itch gets pretty bad, I could stomach playing at one of the BH holes. Maybe the tourneys are good, especially the weekend deep stacks. But as for Ameristar, I just have a hard time patronizing a joint that is so oblivious to the needs of its clientele.

Why in the world would they pay millions of dollars to build that place and then not spend a few bucks to get enough dealers to keep full tables going? Those wait lines are utterly ridiculous.

Dang, I sure miss Vegas.

It's a small market, and so it attracts lower-grade management talent. There are plenty of non-Arias that suck almost as much in LV, as I'm sure you're well aware.

You can call ahead up to an hour at A* and save yourself a little time. The internet up at the lobby is fast and free. You can also sneak up to the pool and hang out there. Bring some reading material. If you didn't play the 30-60 limit game, you really did miss out. There is nothing quite like that game on this side of the planet.

Otherwise, yeah. Save your pesos and play at the Aria when you get home.

jbage007 - Thanks for the review of your trip up the hill.

I am too quite frustrated by the utterly poor management in the Ameristar poker room. Plenty of interest, open tables to use, but no games running??? You mean to tell me that the $5 rake on most hands cannot justify staffing enough dealers even for the weekends? Unfortunately it is the norm from my experience.

I also get frustrated with their inability to fill empty seats quickly. There have been times when the list for a particular game may be 20 people deep, but yet it takes the floor 20 minutes to fill an empty seat. Why?

Ameristar is definitely the most successful room in spite of their management, not because of it.

I have no idea why everybody is complaining about management at ameristar.
Can you give some suggestions and voice them in the room. I found them very friendly and accommodating to regular players.

They've historically done a horrible job with list management and applying favoritism therein. They still do a horrible job with tone and delivery, even when you speak to them on the phone. Some of them are really nice in person.

They continue to do an abysmal job with clear and consistent rulings at the 30/60 game. (Rulings are easier at lower stakes games where there is less pressure on them and the players to get it right.)

They abet dealers slipping into bad habits and inappropriate technique over time. There are some good dealers who simply have been allowed to get sloppy, and those dealers now make mistakes too frequently.

I for one have spent several hours talking with them after sessions about various decisions and processes and how they could be made or done better. They have generally been willing to listen, but I admit that I just don't see the results. Chastising them here is mostly just for fun now, since it's equally clear that they don't have a representative capable of reading this forum. Not surprising, since their room manager doesn't seem capable of reading his email, either.

Here are some:

The rake is absurd. What is with the limit 4/8 - 30/60 jump? I start a 10/20, 20/40, etc. list? They'll post it and grow it up to 7 or 8 people but never actually run it. The 30/60 game just runs the room. There's very obvious sharing of bankrolls and collusion in that game.

Can you share more about this? I'm just a once-a-year Blackhawk guy and I don't want to be the sucker should I sit down in the $30/$60 game on my upcoming visit.

In the old $5 limit days at the Lodge, I would sometimes be the only white guy at the table, but the play was so bad, (and stakes so low) that I didn't worry about collusion.

Regarding the drive. It's pretty scary if you're not used to mountain driving, especially if you take US Highway 6 through Clear Creek Canyon. It's a very curvy two lane, with a rock wall on one side and a big drop into the creek on the other side. Uphill, there are a couple of short stretches with passing lanes, and hardly any safe places to pass otherwise, and usually too much traffic going the other way to even think about passing in the few safe places. Usually you are limited to the speed of the slowest car ahead of you.

The canyon can get really scary if the road is slick. One idiot taking a curve too fast and sliding into the oncoming lane is all it takes to kill you. Fortunately, the Highway department usually does a pretty good job of plowing and dousing the road with mag chloride so it doesn't get too slick. Just be sure not to run out of windshield washer fluid or the mag chloride will have you driving blind in just a few minutes.

It should be noted that if you are going to Blackhawk/Central City from the south end of Denver Metro, the best way to get there is to take I-70 rather than Highway 6, getting to I-70 via C-470 or via I-25 and W. 6th Avenue. From I-70, you can either take the Central City Parkway, or you can take eastbound Highway 6 down the canyon (just 4 or 5 Miles) to Highway 119. If you are going to Central City, the first option is a no-brainer. If you are going to Blackhawk, it's pretty much a tossup which is best.

From the north end I-70 to Colorado Highway 58 (past the Coors Brewery) to Highway 6 is usually the quickest route, as I-70 swings quite a bit south before heading into the mountains. However, the I-70 route works from there if you want to avoid the canyon.

There's plenty of discussion in the old thread, but just watch the game(s) for an hour and you'll see what's going on.

The play is still pretty bad.

OK, I sort of remember reading that; just wanted to know if the alleged collluders (sp?) have moved from the $5 Lodge game to the $30/60 Ameristar game.

Also, I know this question has been asked before, but I just wanted to try to get a March update about mid-stakes holdem. Anything going on between 4/8 and 30/60?

Thanks.