Played in the new room for first time

Full capacity, nine handed, no plexiglass, MASKS OPTIONAL in whole casino. Not positive official mask policy but few wore them and security nowhere including casino and poker room entrance security. All staff still wear masks.

Games were spotty but very soft. Dealers are horrible but not really their fault. They are rotating in pit dealers to deal poker. Whole litany of dealing errors, too many to list. Horribly slow and no control of the game. One particular dealer was upset that she did not get a chance to brush. Ther was one dealer who was starting to get the hang of dealing poker. But he has been doing only poker for three weeks and is rotating back to pit games. Most rotate by week or even by shift. This is stupid and not fair to players or dealers.

They did have two dealers I recognized from the old room. They were dedicated to dealing the PLO game running. Thank goodness for the PLO players. These pit dealers trying to deal that game would never work. These dealers are also doing some coaching of the pit dealers but not much.

I don’t think it stops at the dealers, floors were not much better. Bravo was a challenge for them. Had a must move and a main game. There was no reason for a must move on Friday night with reasonable wait list. But seating was random, some went to the must move but often new players were sent to the main game. In fact I never saw anyone must moved. If you wanted to go to the main you had to request it.

Only saw one floor decision. They got it right but barely. When I cashed out leaving I had a very easy to count $795 in chips plus a $5 bill but it challenged him. Both times I was seated it took a LONG time.

Overall was a winning session but poor experience. Won’t say I won’t go back but will be next door at GN much more. Maybe they will be able to get some experienced poker staff back.

Well the experiment of a room with no poker mgr and continuous pit to poker to pit dealers is over. LB LC is closing permanently the day after Super Bowl. The will be distributing promo funds this time since it is a permanent close. Heard a rumor how but since just rumor with no verification I won’t say more.

Btw another fail I heard of…knew the dealers were pooling tips (meh) but found out they were not just pooling with poker dealers but with the entire pit pool. No wonder none really wanted to learn and become pure poker dealers.

As poor as it was, still hate seeing the room close. Esp. with GN still short security and dealers and closing at 1AM. But GN will be only local room until ~Sept when IoC reopens as Horseshoe. Horseshoe currently will have a room about 9 tables.

Thanks for the update Fore.

Hate to hear that about L'Auberge.

Looking forward to the Horseshoe opening.

With Horseshoe being a Ceasar's property, would be cool if we could get a WSOP Circuit event or something along those lines in Lake Charles when they open up.

The new Horse shoe room won’t be big enough. Before the change in law, except for Harrahs NOLA, any tournament had to be on the boat. This generally meant in the poker room or the casino had to remove tables or machines to make room. That was not generally practical.

I am not sure how the new land based boat limits are managed. But if there are still limits based on positions or sq ft, even if Hourshoe wanted to use a ballroom, they would have to shut down sections of the casino floor possibly.

In general, LA gaming regs are not friendly to tournaments. But maybe the revisions have or will change this. But honestly I don’t see the area supporting such an event. Would seem to be easier to pair up with some room in Houston

Did they ever run circuit events in Shreveport?

They did in Bossier City if that counts.

I’ve never stayed at GN Lake Charles, how is that compared to L’Auberge? I want to say that without the poker room there’s no reason to stay at L’Auberge anymore but the last couple trips I didn’t play anyway.

If we go to Lake Charles in May, will GN be the only poker room available?

I am not sure why they stopped having Circuit stops at Horseshoe Bossier, looking back at Hendon Mob it looks like the turnouts were always decent.

Yes, I am not sure when Horseshoe will be finished but I was in Golden Nugget on Friday night. They had 5 or 6 tables going all with pretty good games. Room is small but lots of TV’s and a couple of sports betting kiosks if that’s your thing. Overall the Nugget is a nicer casino.

Shreveport/Bossier, I can never keep straight which side of the river is what.

From what I have been told by one of the isle/horseshoe folks still on salary, the new shoe room will have 9 or 10 tables only. Precovid Bossier had 20+ tables iirc. Maybe 20 is enough or maybe there was other on boat space (but I don’t have a clue where it would be) but if 10 tables is enough to run a circuit event, I doubt that event is worth having. But again the rules may have changed so HS will be able to use a conf or ball room.

If you come in May, I expect only poker in LC will be GN. Last I heard HS was to open “late summer” and much greater chance that slips than comes sooner. Of course also games will be at Coushata not too far away.

The rooms at GN are comparable. It is newer so maybe a little better at GN. We have stayed more at GN but I always had a slight preference to staying at LB. The non gaming amenities and restaurants seem little better to me.

Speaking on restaurants, GN really hurting for staff. Restaurant hours very limited. Grotto only open couple of days a week but with extremely limited menu; like 3 entrées. Cadillac not open at all. Sometimes Bills burgers open in that space. Claim Jumper is only open 7am to 2pm, no evening or night hours. Laundry’s is open till 10pm but very busy. Same with Saltgrass. V&A hours and menu normal but limited days.

So at 11pm (10 weekdays) your only choices are Asia (till 1am), CJ Express (limited menu) or go grab candy or chips from Essentials

Some heads up on GN. The room is down to only 5 tables. Seems they have been getting 4 games consistently, deep 1/3 games, since LB sd. Were seldom getting more than 3 before LB sd. But Friday they had plenty of players on the list to open 5th game, but did not because they did not have a dealer wo locking in. There have been occasional lists for PLO but have not seen a game. LB did occasionally get a PLO game but no luck yet at GN

The floor are all dual rates. This is fine and most are not bad, there are a couple of weaker ones, but on nights like Friday if they had FT floor, that dual rate could be dealing.

The room is open 7d from 11am to 2am. A list is supposedly started at 10am somehow (never been there to find out how). They are open until 2am but since they are short staff, particularly security, so the last hand is dealt at 1am. They use the last hour for cash outs and closing the room such that security can be gone at or before 2am.

If you did not know, they moved the room off the main floor; tech it is off the boat now that such is allowed. So the slot noise is gone but it is next door to the Blue Martini. When they crank up, the bass can be brutal sometimes even through noise cancelling buds in transportation mode.

Ignoring poker where GN is obviously better, the LB casino games are better. I don’t degen much, only a little with wife, but she degens plenty. Video poker much better at LB, BJ and craps also. Wife also says slots are looser at LB. Wait service better also.

I feel like the WSOP brand still carries some weight, especially with the WSOP hosting that "Tournament of Champions" $500k freeroll at the end of WSOP in vegas for all circuit ring winner. I would bet the Houston player population would support a stop in Lake Charles. I cant see any major partnering with a Texas room with the shady legal grounds.

That's very helpful, thank you!

In theory, Coushata would be a good option. But realistically, if I get to play at all it's going to be at the hotel we stay and Coushata is too far away from LC for that. So we'd probably just stay at GN and if somebody asks why not L'Auberge I tell them that I wanted to try something different.

Availability of restaurants shouldn't be too much of a concern. We're pretty set on the tourist stuff (Steamboat Bill's, Ember Grille) and stuff that the local relatives like, like Pat's of Henderson and Seafood Palace.

If I can get in a couple hours on two nights at GN plus potentially a little bit in NOLA, Biloxi and Tunica, that would be a decent trip.

Since I'm already in here, does any of you guys know about the Houston poker scene? Is there a good option to play during the day on a Wednesday? I'll fly out there for a morning meeting in two weeks and have a flight to Europe from IAH at night. Since I'm supposed to be at the airport at least 3 hours prior to that, I'm realistically looking at maybe noon to 4PM to play. Ideally the room would be located somewhere between The Galleria and IAH so I don't spend a fortune on Uber.

Also recommend Drago's in Lauberge if you like chargrilled Oysters. They are famous for them. Regarding Houston, Texas Card House in Spring is closest to IAH airport and is a nice room, usually has tables going around the clock. You have 3 rooms near the Galleria. Prime Social, 101 Poker Richmond, and Legend's. Prime is the nicer room by far, but download pokeratlas app and you can see how many games are running in real time at each room.

Pat’s is still closed from Hurricane Laura. They have pulled done temp construction fence recently so I think they are getting close to reopening. In fact passed by yesterday afternoon and it looked like from parking lot vehicles it MIGHT have been staff and not contractor. So maybe they are bringing back staff prepping, stocking, etc. But that is a guess and as of right now they are closed with billboards saying reopening soon which have been up months. Their building took a MAJOR Laura hit and appears it was a complete gut and rebuild internally.

Both Steamboats open
If you have locals and want southern fried chicken FOR REAL have them take you to Ball’s. I THINK Main restaurant not open that part of town hit hard by Laura. I think the one by McNeese might be open. Check to be sure
For local Mexican I rec El Tapatio (4 or 5 locations); wife prefers Casa Manana
Agree Dragos is VERY good. I wasn’t crazy about weekend brunch and the don’t serve lunch. Their dinner I really like. Much much better than Landrys in GN
Vic and Anthony’s in GN is SLIGHTLY better than Ember. Their crab cake appetizer is incredible and most bar prices better than Ember
But I still love Ember as well. We plan to eat at the bar there tonight if we can. My personal favorite is their bacon wrapped barbecue shrimp and grits. Often get a double order as a entrée/meal
Never been so know nothing about Seafood Palace but will put on my list to try
I think Mazens is open many love was never my favorite
Daryl’s is open

See my/others comments on NOLA. Might get relaxed but currently not only mask req’d but must be vaxed (they check everyone’s card at entrance, also restaurants) or negative test good for 72 hrs

Biloxi is open back to normal. In fact Boomtown opened a small room that a few locals play 4/8 at. Nothing like Beau but to get a chip if you collect…