Yoza. Will do a TR later tonight. Overall good stuff

Ok here it goes:

I was there last Friday. Was about an hour drive from Orlando. The place is hard to find if you follow Google maps: I had to circle the block twice to figure it out. Essentially it's on the south side of Saxon, in a little plaza right by the Fiesta Grande Mexican Grill.

The parking lot was packed. They still had a high hand promotion going on (AAAJJ qualifier, $400, every 20 minutes) and BBJ was already in effect. Place's looks good from the outside, the entry is spacious and has a few spot to smoke. Parking lot is well lit and right in front of the building and of other shops.

You walk in, first room. Bar's at the back, TVs & some horsey stuff on the left. Dining tables on the right. Bar and restaurant (can't remember the name, something tacky) wasn't open just yet so they had the menu from the Mexican grill next door. Some guy at my table apparently got food poisoning from there, so dunno if it should be trusted. In any case by now they should serve straight from the bar, which is good. You can drink and eat at the table, you can also get massages.

As you walk to the desk, you can see the two rooms that makes up the floor. As mentioned, this used to be a cinema so the rooms are airy and big. Tables are new, chairs are new (and comfortable), chips are grim-less and new, but their design and quality are kinda cheap. Thinks plastic with a sticker and a bad logo instead of clay Paulson's. They had some problems with the ATM and the cage had very high fees ($6 per $100) so don't forget to bring cash with you. Max buy-in on most no-limit games is 100bb. Totally forgot to check the rake.

The floor manager wears a beige blazer and has a very nice dead eye all milky and white, and he calls people off on the mic. He's been around. The non-poker staff (cage, reception, waiters) was nice and helpful, but overwhelmed and under-experienced. That'll change soon I am sure. Most if not all of the dealers came from Daytona, so they were all good (albeit a little zealous when came time to rule on stuff; a woman named Chichi wanted to take a seat at our table with two drinks and a full stack, yet was sent back to the desk because she didn't have her table token: I say let Chichi have a good time here dude). No automatic shufflers on the table I was on.

There is 33 tables and that night most if not all of those were filled. The spread went along this: 2 tables of 2-4 limit; 12 tables of 1-2; 10 tables of 2-5; 1 table of 5-5 Big-0 Hi/Lo; 2 table of 2-5 PLO; a couple of table of 5-10 and at least one of 10-25, all of them filled and 9 handed. I think there was even a 10-25 PLO going on as well. There is no private salon yet, so everyone is on the same floor.

Level was soft at 1-2. Somewhat passive. Min buy was 60$ and $200 for 2-5 I believe. A lot of the crowd were regulars in Daytona and things were pleasant at the table. Not a lot of autistic & mute spazz. Mostly middle age parents talking about paying for their kid's astrophysics degree. Real problems. Some people had rotten teeth and smelled of naphthalene, but I would say they were in the minority. Conversation was pleasant, overall.

From what the dealers were saying Daytona is going to dry up and this will pick up big time. I can believe it. It is a real card room. Not a casino "poker room", or a club with table, a real card room. As I said most employees on the floor knew what they were doing, and once the confusion around the move dissipate, I expect the place to be tip top.

Apparently there is also two other theater room that they will convert. I think that they'll use it to add some horsey stuff (right now there is very little), so that should bring more degen influx. Maybe they also plan on doing a private high stake room as well? From the action I saw walking around, there seem to be enough of a pool but it's hard to tell so close to the opening.

So yeah, overall a good room

Forgot a detail: you can straddle both UTG and on the button

I played 2/5 on Friday - got there around 5. The room filled up fast. The max buy-in is $800. The majority of the dealers were from Daytona. They said that they were given the choice to stay in Daytona or go to Orange City - it was an either/or, can't work at both. The games ran pretty smooth, but the majority of the brushes seemed very new. The dealers at my table were trying to get a fill for about 1 hour. Finally had to get a floor to fill it.

My table was mostly Daytona regulars and some people that sometimes play at Daytona. There was a discussion about why anyone from Orlando would go to Daytona to play any more. The general consensus was - no reason to go unless you want to play tournaments. I checked Bravo app around 6pm - 24 tables at Orange City, 19 at Daytona. Didn't check it later in the night.

I'm not sure how much of the crowd was due to opening weekend. I ran into 4 people that I used to play home games with several years ago. A couple of them don't play very often and came over to check out the room and have a few drinks - not sure how much of the crowd was similar to them.

I'm not sure when the restaurant will start serving hot food, but the kitchen wasn't finished yet. They said it should be about a week.

I'll probably head over there tomorrow night (Thursday) and will report back on how packed the room is.

Thx a lot for info good stuff

Friend and I checked it out Friday. Dealers were all really good and room ran smoothly. Good level of lighting and the food at the restaurant food was really good. Level of action was meh but we were only there one night. Lots of people who didn't buy in 100bb at 2/5. I had some guy tank on me for literally 4-5 minutes when he was getting almost 7:1 and two people called clock on him. He then walked off and people said he's a regular and does that stuff all the time.

The location is SUPER weird. It's in a strip mall next to a cell phone store and a Mexican restaurant. It could have been a blockbuster 10 years ago.

Also they charge 1.25 for coffee which is really ludicrous. Never heard of a poker room charging for coffee.

I went a week ago- Monday afternoon, will probably stop in tonight.

I am not a regular live player. Home games only.- I will more than likely become semi regular at this room.

First impressions- It's new, so its a nice room, not much more to say about that. Kind of weird they put the racing monitors right at the front door so you have to navigate the degenerate gamblers to get to the brush. (j/k, but not really)...

The dealers were all experienced and good. They were all from the daytona room- one guy said he has been driving down from jacksonville to deal.

the restaraunt wasnt open yet if anyone cares about that.
They had 1/2, and 5/5 nl games going and 2/2 limit and a 4/8 omaha going while i was there that i can remember.

I played 1/2- max buy in is 200. Pots opened for no less than 15.00. Lots of donkey play but I assume this is normal. I should have moved to a brand new table when they created one because mine was just not fun. That would be my only advice- tell the bruch stand you only wantto play at a brand new table youre willing to wait. That way you can sit down with the same stack as everyone else without being bullied by donks that are on a heater.

They dont run any tourneys or sit n gos which sucks.

Max buyin at 1/2 is 300. The game I was in seemed insanely nitty. Restaurant had opened sometime last week and again, the food was really good.

There is a big separation bw the simulcast and poker room so it's not like they overlap at all. You just encounter it when you go to the bathroom and enter the room. It's not a big deal.

Really, max buyin @ 1/2 is $300?

I thought it was $200 when I went, 100BB

$300 would be nice

I bought in for 300. I only paid for like 6 hands. No one said anything. I could be totally wrong though. It would make sense with the max buyin for 2/5 being 800.

Can someone recommend a nearby hotel, planning a trip for end of April, looking to spend ~$100 per night, thx in advance

I went last week. Was a quick 35 minute drive from Downtown Orlando.

It's very similar to Daytona in terms of the no-frills decor and general atmosphere. It's clean but hardly posh. Given the way they hyped the "Jakes 29 Sports Bar" I thought it would be cooler and be located in its own space, but it's just a bar on one wall of the simulcast area. Beers were cold though. Staff is friendly. It's fine.

It's not clear to me if the restaurant is going to be opened in that adjacent room with the "COMING SOON" signs or if the room you enter into with tables actually IS going to be the permanent restaurant.

By the way, I did go eat at the Mexican joint next door. It's not much to look at but I actually thought the food was pretty decent.

The card room was spacious and fine. Games play exactly like in Daytona. They really need to raise the buy-in cap on the 1/2 to $300 (it was definitely 200 when I was there, as it is in Daytona). I would say that a majority of time at 1/2 you're sitting with at least 3-4 players on super short stacks of ~$60, which I find to be annoying but whatever. Haven't checked out 2/5 yet cos' I didn't bring enough cash but probably will next time. Sounds like it also plays short.

Overall, it's nice to have a room this close to Orlando but I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed considering how much I was looking forward to it. I'll definitely be back though.

P.S. Also re: the shortstackers, a lot of these guys are old timers just playing for the (very good) half hour high hands. The promotions are cool but it does tend to create an old-guys-playing-the-lottery sort of vibe at times.

From their latest email, here are the newly changed high hand promotions:

New High Hand Promotions in the Poker Room
Starting Today, 3/20/2017

Mondays: $200 high hands every 20 minutes from 11:00am to 10:00pm
Tuesdays: $200 high hands every 20 minutes from 11:00am to 10:00pm
Wednesdays: $300 high hands every 30 minutes from 11:00am to 10:00pm
Thursdays: $300 high hands every 30 minutes from 11:00am to 10:00pm
Fridays: $400 high hands every 30 minutes from 12:00pm to 12:00am
Saturdays: $300 high hands every 20 minutes from 12:00pm to 12:00am
Sundays: $200 high hands every 20 minutes from 11:00am to *9:00pm

My opinion/report:
I have about 40 hours logged here since opening. Comparing the dealers to other rooms in the country, I'd say the dealers as a whole are a smidgen below average. The green dealers are to be expected with a new room, but the better dealers in the room are average, I've had maybe 2 dealers I'd consider good.
The wait staff is pretty good for being a new room,I'd consider that to be the staff that's performing best currently.
The food and drink are adequate. For touting this Jake's draught system,they certainly do waste it with the selection. I've only eaten there three times, 2 out of the 3 the food was good. The prices seems fair on the menu. I will say it is still aggravating having to pay for fountain drinks and coffee. But being the only show in town, I get it.
The floor/hostesses/chip runners I'd say are well below average currently. They all have been super friendly, and I'm sure they will improve with time. The chip runners are quick, but don't really know what denominations to bring to the table, fills take a little long because they write down what the dealers want(80 in blue, 140 in yellow 60 in red), and they carry an odd amount with them that doesn't help much in bigger games.
The front podium is filled with super nice people also, but they are usually very slow with filling empty seats. I'd say on average for games I've been in it takes 15 minutes for them to see an open seat if the dealer doesn't call it out. They also handles the must moves along with the dealers. I have yet to see a must move table run smoothly. The list is consistently wrong, and they slow down the game trying to fix it.
I.think the floor has been solid, with exception to handling the issues I mentioned above in regards to runners/hosts. I feel both would improve greatly in a day if they were trained a little better/helped along.
The worst part of the staff currently is the cage. Very green, hopefully will improve. It may be a system thing, but using a calculator and the money counter on every transaction is a nightmare. Plus, even using a calculator they have to count it 3 times due to errors. I've seen a couple fairly solid back there, but the rest need a lot of work.
The decor is meh. On Sunday I asked to watch a game that was on NBC,to which I was shocked to find out they don't have. They also don't have Fox sports Florida, which is also a shock to me. But again, I guess being the only show in town they can get away with not offering much as far as amenities and comps.
Games have been ok. Midweek the 2/5 is ok, usually 1 good game and 1-2 nitty games. Plo is the same. Weekends are much better. 5/10 looked great Sunday, the Plo was great and the 2/5 looked good as well.
Lastly, the chips. They are clean and new. But very cheap and aggravating. The logo in the middle is too high, so they don't sit perfectly flat and slide everywhere. I've also come across numerous mistakes with the coating(globs of the clearcoat on the chips).

Safety:this is my main concern. The parking lot is poorly lit, and with the parking rows angled the way they are, I don't feel safe. I'm not saying I'm not safe, I'm saying I don't feel safe. I would advise anyone living in the area to get a box there. If I lived nearby, I would. I've been trying to play only during the day because of how shady looking it is at night.

Anyway that's my review. A pretty nice no frills room, with some inexperienced, friendly workers. The rake is on the high side for the country, especially given what you get in comps. I'll continue to play though anytime I'm in the area, but won't go out of my way to come here.

Thanks - great review

Was there last night again. I really like the room. The dealers are great. It's close to Orlando. The room feels very relaxed.

There are a few things that might bother some:

There are a ridiculous amount of table hoppers. I saw a guy go from 5/10NL, to our 2/5NL, to a different 2/5NL, to 5/5 PLO, and back to our 2/5 NL all in the span of less than 2 hours. No one stopped him from moving tables.

The cage is extremely tilting when cashing out.

1. They add everything into the calculator (Adding machine with tape), count the chips about 5 times, then have another cashier confirm the the count who counted it twice. Funny thing is her machine read $360 when I walked up and she subtracted $360 before adding up my chips.

2. One of my earlier trips, I tried to give a cashier $5 in cash with my chips so I would only get 100s back and she was completely thrown off. She said to wait until she paid me and then she would give me a $100. I got all my cash then had to give her the $95 with my $5 for $100.

Yeah, it must be illegal to switch tables.....better put a stop to that ASAP

Guess we see it differently. I'm fine with someone moving tables if they do it through the Bravo system, but when someone is jumping tables that often on their own it is extremely disruptive. A guy was called to our table from the 2/5 list, showed up and this guy was in his seat. I was given a seat at a 2/5 table, got there and there wasn't a seat. I had to go up and get put back on the list while 2 people behind me already got seats at other tables.

If they get on list, it isn't a problem. But jumping every 5 hands on their own and the dealers not seeming to care is a problem. The floor and dealers really need to put a stop to it.

100% agree

^^^^^^ this

Moving to new tables on your own, without consulting the floor should be a concern but you left out that "minor" detail in your original post.

Went there for the first time a few weeks ago and agree with the other posters.My biggest concerns overall:

1. Parking lot poorly lit at night,quiet with no Security.It seemed like a invitation to a Rape Fest.
2. Front Desk was very polite,but slow to fill seats.It ran better with players pointing out the open seats.
3. Cashing out was slow. I felt like i needed to schedule an appointment.

Employees were very nice and seemed to want to do the right thing.

Any thoughts on the room? Are they running tourneys yet?

Ok first time report...

I played at OC yesterday and a few things come to mind

* easy access from I-4. Tons of food and hotels around the room.
* very friendly desk staff. had a decent wait list but filled seats quickly
* sports bar is top notch
* tables/seats are good and I did not see any tables that did not have shufflers
* some dealers were fast - some slow
* floor staff was quick to answer calls
* food and drink prices were ok

** Not enough servers on the floor
** dont like that the BB and HH are tied with Daytona
** no tourneys yet. heard they were coming in Sept

*** the food is excellent and portions are huge. Tenders and lasagna were outstanding. fries - not so much

This is about 10 minutes further for me (traffic excluded) than THR - but I will gladly go to OC instead. A great option for Orlando players