This is a bit off topic, but if I was looking to rent a house near the casino area where would you recommend? 20-25 minutes away from the awful industrial air would be nice. I could get by w/ something around 1000 sq. ft and 2 bedrooms.

I'm told the 20/40 game gets off Wed, Fri, and Sat and that the games have been quite good. Be prepared to pay an additional $1 on top of the $5 rake though. I'm also told they will be instituting a "bad beat jackpot" in this game immediately after the next one hits.

I put the bad beat jackpot in quotes, b/c the entire dollar doesn't go to the bad beat. They pay out whatever they feel like for the bad beat and use the rest on other promotions.

Not sure what your budget would be but Chicago is about 20 min away. I'd go with somewhere near Lincoln Park to catch the night life.

I was only there for 4 days so I can't say whether this experience is normal or out of the norm but here are my comments.

The casino is as nice as I had heard and there was action all around and quite a variety of games. The layout of the area isn't that good from the entrance and continuing into the poker room. The tables on the main floor are packed much too close together and the back of the chairs seem to lean back at about a 20 degree angle so that was extremely uncomfortable.

Thanks to Jeff the dealer for telling me how good the action was here. He was right that it dwarfs the casino I play at regularly. Unfortunately I didn't get in a good 5/10nl game and that's the main reason I drove 5+ hours. The 2/5 games were really good and the PLO was decent.

The dealers were excellent and they were fast.

The girls behind the desk who seemed to double as chip runners were really accommodating w/ all of my table change requests (and there were many) and they seemed to really be busting their ass. They helped me out big time and it was greatly appreciated.

The waitresses weren't bad considering the fact that it looks like they only had 2 on the main floor. That probably isn't right but it seemed that way to me and it looked like they could use another person.

All the floormen and women (except one) were very friendly and helpful, however I'm not sure about the decisions they made with regards to opening a new game a couple of times. There were a couple rulings that needed to be made and they were at the tables as soon as somebody yelled, "floor".


I was pretty frustrated by how they handled the 5/10nl game here and I was just as frustrated at how I handled the 5/10nl game here. I don't like playing shorthanded live. The first night I got in they had a 4 handed must move game going. This was a must move to a must move. No thanks. The 5/10/20 didn't look too great either. The 2/5 was really good action.

The next day there was a really good 5/10nl game and I was 3rd on the list. They broke that game (and left it 4 or 5 handed w/out enough of a list to fill the game back up) to make a 5/10/20 game. Now I can get a seat at 5/10, but the action players went to the 5/10/20 and one guy is at dinner so we would play a must move game 5 handed w/out a list. The players just sat there waiting for a while. Why would I play a game that might break at any time when there are so many other good games to choose from?

Maybe an hour or even 1.5 hour later the game filled up and looked pretty good again. I got back on the list and was first. Well the players at the f'ing 5/10/20 game that they started decided they wanted to turn it BACK into a 5/10nl game again. From what I could tell, it looked to be maybe 6 handed. That's great so now I have to go through a short handed table after they busted the looser players at higher stakes and instead of being next on the list for a good game I can start a game that will probably break soon and play shorthanded.

The next day I got in the 5/10 must move game. After maybe an hour of play they moved 2 people to the main game, then one left and another one went to dinner. So here we are 5 or 6 handed. I racked up too. FWIW I got to the casino between 7 and 8pm each night. Perhaps I need to get there earlier.

Based on my extremely brief experience I noticed that they seem to manage the game to be shorthanded. They call a new game w/ just 6 or 7 people and it stays that way for a few minutes until a person gets called to the main game and then it's really short. Commerce can get away w/ starting a game short because it always fills up.

On the weekend I just played 2/5nl because they had about 15 of those going and I had plenty of games to choose from. I don't even remember what was going on upstairs but I didn't want to get into a game that ended up being shorthanded then finding myself 45th on the 2/5 list and not playing again for 5 hours.

Was my experience at 5/10nl here typical or was it an anomaly?

otter, i have never played the 5/10, but whenever i go on the weekends i always see full tables running. you probably should have done 2/5 on the weekdays and 5/10 on the weekends.

Actually the casino layout is brilliant from a corporate money making perspective. They want you to walk through the entire gaming floor before you get to poker room for obvious reasons. They want you to throw money at the pit or slots. As for the dealers they are pretty good , but just like anything in life there are a few bad ones.

Good point, however I was speaking more to the layout of the cramped poker room.

I'd say you were unlucky to have bad 5/10 games, I just came from back from playing 5/10 plo and 5/10 nlhe and the games were as good as ever. Some guy shoved all in for $2,000 with 36 preflop..wait no, he CALLED a $2,000 all in with 36!!! and the other guy? scooped with K HIGH!

Last week was no different, big action...big games...i dont want to talk a lot about it but all i can say is that the games are good.

The 5/10/20 game just started a couple of months ago, and it has both killed and increased the action, but yea, it's weird. Normal 5/10 will be going, then someone asks if they want a /20, and then chaos.

Oh well, whatever.

I am looking to head to Horseshoe next week just to play there a bit before the Chicago Poker Classic. Can I sign up for the Total Rewards card in the poker room or should I get it before heading to the room to save on time and hassle?

I would suggest getting it before you go to the poker room. It will make the process easier when you check in at the table. You will see the Rewards desk on your right walking to the poker room. GOOD LUCK!

I'm going to be at the Horseshoe in Indiana on February 21, 2010. I plan on playing in their nightly tournament, and then play in some cash games.

Want to know if any 2p2ers are going to be there as well, we should meet up.

Mods move this if its in the wrong forum Thanks.

horseshoe hammond does not have a nightly tournament, they start at noon.... if you're going to the other one, you are in the wrong post

There will be a nightly tournaments starting 2/26 during the Chicago Poker Classic.

Hi,

I will be visiting soon.. and had a few questions.

Do you get comp dollars for playing 1/2 and 2/5 and if so how much

Also how about tier credits how much for each no limit level

thanks

$1/hr comps. I'd also be interested to know what it takes to reach diamond at 2/5 and 5/10nl? Do you have to play so many hours/month or per year at a certain level?

will pre-registration be available for Chicago classic events? or will it be the same 2 hour line cluster**** that happened for the first WSOPC event?

Are PLO games juicer on Friday or Sat nights? 1/2 or 2/5

Also do you expect that the cash games to be slower or busier? 5/10nl in particular

I was told that if you play for an hour in the poker room you get a free buffet.

No, 4 hours in one day this month gets you a free buffet

what's the typical buy-in for 10-20?

denomination of chips?

thanks.

I'm probably headed to the Horseshoe for much of the tournament series, possibly as early as Sunday night. Headed up from Texas, anyone want to split a cheap room (or need a ride from points south) let me know.

$10/20 limit? I remember playing the 5/10/20 and also the 5/10nl w/ $10 chips which took a lot of getting used to. I haven't been back in a little while, but I imagine it's going to be difficult to get used to again after playing w/ $5 chips, $25 chips and $100 chips in the games I play on a daily basis

How do you cash this in? I give them my card everytime, and I went up to the buffet and asked them about it and they looked at me like I was crazy. Same thing with the poker room.