I will be going to the cherokee casino in the middle of june, untill reading this thread I had no idea what a poerpro table was. Just to clairify there are no poker tables there with actual dealers or chips right?

Also they have sit n goes that run every wednsday in june, has any one played in one of these, if so how are they?

Has anyone ever heard of a stud8 game running out there?

And it seems there is going to be an expansion of the casion, what all will this entail?

Thanks.

Correct, there are no actual cards anywhere within the casino, and the only game that uses real chips is blackjack(everything else is digital).

I haven't played a sit-n-go there in a few months, but unless it has changed, the structure and play makes them almost total crapshoots. The blinds escalate very quickly in relation to stack sizes, and they are typically over with pretty fast. In the past, I've heard this was due to the lack of tables in the room and large amount of players on the waiting list waiting to play, so perhaps with the expansion and adding of new tables they have changed the structure to more of a traditional casino tournament structure.

The tables are capable of spreading stud games, but I have never heard of any Stud variant being played there, and in none of my 10+ trips since the poker room opened have I seen a stud interest list.

I don't know much about the expansion, other than the new parking garage being massive and them building an entirely new building that will be completely smoke-free, but I'm headed down tomorrow for the week and am curious about the expansion and seeing the new poker room's location myself.

The new poker room is in the expansion area over toward the show room they are building. As you go into the new area you run right into it. Last night was the first full day and it was very busy, but with the additional tables the wait list was pretty short. At 8 pm they had 8 1-2 NL and 2 3-6 limit tables going with about 8 people on the 1-2 list and 6 on the 3-6 list. PLO never got going, but 6 people on that list. Nice room.

Thanks alot, please TR what you see in the new expansion, would be great to know.

Went up to the new poker room yesterday. It's very nice. It's right beside the Fresh Market Express.

10-Tables

Some folks thought the music was too loud, and it's close to some new slots, but again, a very nice room. It's a no-smoking room, but smoking is allowed on the rail. I don't smoke; it didn't bother me, but some folks said it did.

Wanted to play some O8; had several people on the list, but it never went. Played 1/2 Holdem for several hours.

I parked in the new covered parking area; could still smell the fresh paint. Overall, the new area is very nice. It has an upscale feel to it.

The music is excessively loud to the point that you should not think of going without ear plugs. Its louder on the side near the slots, towards the back where the new tables were placed its not so bad.

Still the music is so loud that its quieter in the middle of the main floor right in the midst of all the slot machines. So if you have ever been irritated by the sound of slots, the music is like slot hell v.2xx.

So earplugs will be needed to prevent both short term hearing loss and long term damage. Casino personel this was discussed with have indicated that they "simply don't care and if you have a problem with it you can leave".

As for smoking some of the tables are directly adjacent to the rail so in some cases people will be sitting within 4-5 feet of anyone smoking on the rail. The tables most exposed to the blaring music are also the ones most exposed to the smoking in the adjacent slot area.

It was clear that the staff needs to get a clue regarding table management. For much of the weekend there were more than sufficient players on the list for the $2-5 game and Omaha, but the tables were simply not opened.

The 30 minute sit out rule is still in effect with no 3rd man rule. Thus tables sit short far more than most players like. If someone busts and a hold is placed on their seat, but fail to return, this results in the seat being empty for 30 minutes plus the time it takes for someone at the table to notice it, report it, and then for the staff to fill it. It all adds up to just too many empty seats.

On the plus side there were two staff persons assigned to the room during peak times which helped with seating.

Thanks for the report. I will be taking my business to Tunica and Biloxi. Great air and package deals from Atlanta.

Not my intent to bash Cherokee or encourage players to go elsewhere.

I love the electronic tables. More hands, no dealer tipping, far less confusion and fuss steming from dealer error or player misadventure. Win, win, win. The action is at times outstanding.

But these are issues that management needs feedback on, issues that can be addressed pretty easily.

I agree and yesterday the music was real loud and we mentioned it to Teresa and she got her boss who got the guy who controls it and in a matter of minutes it was much better. Someone asked about the "3 man walking" rule and why they didn't do that and were told it was part of their regulations that they couldn't tell how many people could be off a gaming device at one time, but they could enforce the 30 minutes.

Good to hear about the music, thanks.

On the other issue, I understand they have little appetite for risk in terms of possibly being found out of compliance in their agreement with the State. That just a side effect of sucky politics and I guess we just have to live with it. I know that they can't even use the software to change the color of the cardbacks on the display without an act of the Legislature, or was so told.

Heading up the mountian tomorrow (Monday) to check out the new room and play for a couple of days. TR to follow.

Played this past Friday and Saturday in the new room, for a total of about 27 hours of play.

Interesting note with the new room, they have some new chairs which, although they look similar, are significantly more comfortable than the old chairs (which they still have too) so look to score one of the comfy chairs if you're in for a long haul.

The music is an issue at some of the tables. Pretty disappointing as it really affects the conversation. The floor did get the music turned down after asking, but it doesn't ever go away.

Also if you're affected by smoke, this isn't as great as the old room since, although the poker room itself is non-smoking, it is in a larger smoking section. Especially bad is that people can stand at the rail and smoke. Some of the players would leave a butt going in an ash tray on the rail and go take a few drags between hands. If you have four or five people smoking on the rail you get a fair amount of smoke drifting into the playing area. Most of the time the smoke wasn't noticable, but occaisionally it was, and one cute (married) girl at my table said it was really bothering her. My take, it's worse than the old room (where there was nary a whiff of smoke) but not too bad most of the time.

Having said that, I love the new space and the new tables. Friday we never got more than seven tables going, but Saturday, with ten tables going there were still no long waits. I used to try and wolf down a meal in thirty minutes to avoid being booted from a table and having to face the two hour wait lists, but there was never a long wait with the ten tables available, 20-30 minutes tops and often shorter to get on a table.

I don't know if this is related to the new space or not, or just one of those random things, but I was in significantly better games almost the entire time I played than I've been in the last few trips I've made. Perhaps the regulars are more diluted with the extra tables or perhaps more fish with the greater walkby traffic. Rarely saw a table pot average drop below 50 bucks a hand and spent significant amounts of time on tables with 80-120 dollar average pot sizes.

Hit the bad end of variance on one of those juicy tables at the very end of my trip after having ground my way back from a series of tough beats earlier. Sitting with 477 before the hand I got all in with the nut straight on the turn against two stacks that both had me covered! (Ah that was a sweet sweet table). One of my opponents had a set, the other two pair. Because they shared a card, I only had to fade eight outs on the river. As you might expect, the full house on the river sunk me. 1400 dollar pot slipping through my fingers. Sigh.

So, bigger room, shorter waits, juicer tables (in my small sample size). Nice improvement despite the smoke/noise issues.

Final note: the parking garage is open and free. Park in it, and walk right into the casino from the deck. The shuttles were fine, but this is much better.

Working weekends for the next couple of months so won't be back for a while, but appreciate TR's on the new room conditions from those who go for a larger sample size on the the new conditions.


PS: Aside to Pokertek Lou if he still follows this thread. Is there any reason if you have automuck checked that the software has to wait 2-3 seconds to muck your cards after it declares you the winner when there is no showdown? Lets save a little time here and automuck faster. Also, not as much of a time savings, but when I'm under the gun if I check my cards immediately when they come up, I have to wait an additional second or two before the action buttons comes up so I have to pause before I fold my 8-2 offsuit. Seems like an unnecessary waste of time.

So do they have live tables now or still the electronic ones?

I'm from Charlotte and I'm going to be visiting home next month , may swing by and check the new room out.

No dealt cards for anything there. BJ, 3CP, poker, etc. God bless Jim Hunt.

Just returned from 48hrs in Cherokee.

Asside from the previously discussed smokers on the rail issue, the new room is much better then the old. I was told that this will be solved once the expansion is complete and the poker room will have it's own area on the second floor.

Not much to report action wise. I played 2 8hr stretches and the tables were both filled with the usual tight fishy players. Managed a $840 profit for just over 16hrs of play.

The sweetest part of the trip was the $10 fre slot play coupon they sent me in the mail. I put it in a blazing 7's machine and hit the jackpot for $1073 on the 4th spin :-)

Headed back up Saturday to check out the weekend action which is said to be considerable of late and possibly play some SNG's on Sunday.

Being that they are using the PokerPro tables. Let's talk strategy, tells, etc. Just curious about people's experiences on these tables and how it can be either good or bad compared to a standard live game.

I like the All In, wait I check, wait I bet $150. You have to confirm your action each time. I used this to my advantage when they had these at Excalibur in Vegas. I had a flush and tried to look confused or lost. I ended up betting the $150 and I induced a smaller flush, who thought I was week, to then insta shove over the top and I stacked him.

While on vacation last week I drove a couple hours out of my way just to play poker at the casino and didn't know they had electronic tables. Just packed up and went back to my room. If I want electronic I will play on line. There is a reason it didn't work in vegas. Watched the tables for about a half hour and never seen such a quiet bunch of tables in all my life. real boring with no one really making any conversation. just staring at their computer screen in front of them. Takes out the reason I like to play live. Never realized how the cards, the chips, the dealers add something extra and enjoyment to the game. Just took most of that for granit before. Will appreciate live with dealers, etc. even more now.

6/15-6/17 TR TL;DR

Got out to the Cherokee casino around 1:30 mid day on the 15th. Was walking through the casino and was trying to find the poker section. Asked a patron in an orange shirt to point me in the right direction, he told me to go in the exact opposite direction, so I spend the first 20mins walking about the smoke filled floor looking around for something that was on the other side of where I was. When I got over to the tables I found out that in order to play you have to put money on your rewards card, which makes sense given the poker pro tables, so I went over to the cage with no cash in hand, I inquired about how to add money to the card and you have two options, pay in cash or if you use a credit card the house takes a 6% fee on the total amount that you place on the card. So I passed on that option and went over to a nearby atm and used it, and its four dollar withdraw fee, got some cash and headed over to the tables.

I joined in a 200nl game, and was sat next to two ~55 year old men, both of which helped me greatly as far as understanding how to use the tables software, and the fact that your card or finger nail often are better options for hitting buttons on the touch screen rather than your finger. Anyway the first session was uneventful for myself, there was the standard open limpfest followed by nothing but checking until someone hit top pair+ and put out a bet. Did see one hand that I dont think ive ever seen before. Action was three handed on a Qh 2h 6s flop the SB checked the BB checked and a UTG raiser bet out on the flop (I forget the exact amounts) both players called, turn was a 10d, all three check, and the river was the 3h SB checks BB bets all in which was slightly more than the pot as he was no in for 100BBs, the utg guy says something to the effect of "well if you got the nuts I guess Im stuck calling" and he goes all in and the SB insta calls off his stack after this. All three have a flush and no one has the Ax of hearts the UTG player scooped with KJhh, and the BB had J9hh and the SB over called with 104hh LOLOLOLOLOL. All in all I ended up a ballin 10$ winner that session.

Came back the next day mid day and knoticed that some Sngs were running, I decided to join a 50+10 sng (lol at the rake) and figured it would be fun. By this point I felt much more comfortable at the poker pro tables and thought I would be massively +EV in a sng vs live players as I have a great grasp of ICM and used to play nothing but sngs online. Any who, 2nd hand in at blinds of 25/50 an UTG player, at this 10 handed table, who was clearly A) not good at poker and B) uncomfortable clicking the buttons as opposed to betting with chips, raised to 125. I was in MP with KK and three bet to 550 he thought about it for a while clicked the all in button and confirmed it on the screen and I snap called it he shows the ol AJoff and binked the Ace on the flop GG me. Went over to the cash table following the early exit and jumped right in. I was fortunate a couple of hands where I had the nuts and other (bad) players had the 2nd or third nuts and we got stacks in. Ended the session up about 2 by ins, as the players I was fortunate enough to stack were only in for between 50-80 BBs.

After about 3hrs of play I wanted to get something to eat and hang out with my gf and family who were also at the casino/hotel. I ended up back in the card room about 12:30 AM to find just two 200nl tables running. I was sat at what turned out to be a somewhat unusual 1/2 live table. People at this table actually raised and three bet pre flop. I had only seen two three bets in the two previous sessions and both were by me, although it is hard for anyone to three bet 3 open limpers imo, so this table actually had some people who could think about the game rather than look down see two suited cards and hit the call button. Which of course sucks b/c live 1/2 tables are supposed to have 9 bad players and you at them. The table played like a comparable 50nl table would online. Three or four ok to good players and 5-6 hbl monster fish. I played one interesting hand in this session, I was in MP with QQ I opened after two limpers to 13 a super station to my left called as well as the SB. The flop was 47J rainbow, the SB who was in for a little less than 70bbs checked I bet about pot which was around 40 the station man called and the SB decided to c/r all in to which I had no choice given stack sizes but to call, (I would have just jammed the flop but I was not able to as the SB did not double the bet I had made) given the flop action I felt I never had the best hand when a player c/shoves into two people, but one must remember that its live 1/2 and people just plain suck. The station over called the flop shove, the turn was a 3 putting two spades on the board I jammed the remainder of the chips in, and station dude called after 10 seconds of deliberation. Every ones hands were Hero QQ Station fish 99 and SB 75off ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? The river was a brick and I was not unlucky and scooped a nice pot. After this hand was played the table, which had been quiet, came alive with table talk, as I found out that a couple of 2p2ers were at the table, we discussed funny things that had happened over new years at the Cherokee, 2p2, and random other poker related things. I left the table a couple of orbits later only a buy in up as I had lost some standard pots before the QQ hand.

Needless to say I had a fun time at the Cherokee, and would like to go back someday. I have read itt that people have complained about the music being to loud, I can say that I dont even remember hearing the music while I was playing. Also the poker pro tables are meh at best, I do prefer a normal live table. I do like the fact that there is no dealer to tip, and you can average ~50 hands an hour live. I just prefer to see and feel the chips and the ability to peel back cards and toss them in or flip them up when I win/lose a hand. There also seemed to be more action at these tables compared to other times that I had played live at a "normal" poker room. Furthermore the options you have to bet at the table are a one dollar chip, a 5 dollar chip, a 25 dollar chip, and a 100 dollar chip, you click them x number of times to get to the bet size that you want. I noticed in the ~9 hrs of play that people would just rather click the $25 chip once and bet even if the pot size was 45+. People would seem to get stuck into making the same, often small, bet sizes because of the was the chips were set across the monitor, this made it easier to draw to hands and cheaper to bluff raise b/c the bet was so small in relation to the pot. As a final note, I do not smoke and the smoke from the people on the rail was bothersome at times, but there is a cooler in the back portion of the poker room that is loaded with free water, which was a godsend to clear out the smoke that would get caught in my throat, also you don't have to tip the waitress if you get water from there. Speaking of which I have never seen so many ugly cocktail waitresses in a single casino ever, good god Cherokee hire some one under the age of 42 plz.

Heading up this weekend....hows the action lately? any 2/5 getting off?

2/5 spread last Sat. Lots of action in it. At times the pot avg. was around $300.

what's the story on some SNGs or MTTs in cherokee is this a possibility?

They already spred SNG's on Sunday and Wednesday. Single table only $50 + $10 and $100 + $15.

Blind structure stinks and they are mostly shovefests.

Did anybody get a chance to play against "Action Dan" Saturday? This guy was just shoving All In preflop. He fattened up some bank accounts.

Was not there this weekend but I have played with him before and have found myself richer for the experience.

Going to head up the mountian for a couple of days.
Will be in the poker room around 4pm and staying (not in the poker room till Thursday afternoon. Any other 2+2's gonna be there?