Twin River Casino (Lincoln, RI)
03-22-2023
, 01:04 AM
03-27-2023
, 10:10 PM
04-09-2023
, 11:50 AM
(Excerpted from my House of Blogs thread)
On Saturday I checked out Bally's Twin River Casino in Rhode Island, an hour and 15 minute drive away from my place.
A good portion of that drive lead me down route 146, which is one of those infuriating and dangerous routes that doesn't know if it wants to be a highway or a secondary road, so it mixes in stretches of both, seemingly at random
There's nothing like flying around a corner or down a hill at 75 mph (120 kph) on what's supposed to be a damn 4 lane highway, only to run into a stoplight dead ahead, or to find someone from a parking lot entering the highway from a full stop.
I showed up around 11:30AM, and the single-level parking lot closest to the street was almost completely full. Once inside the doors, I was assailed by a cloud of cigarette smoke, thicker than I remember it ever being in any casino, including Jackie Gaughan's old, tiny Downtown Las Vegas barrio joints like The Gold Spike, El Cortez and The Western.
Given the smoking bans in Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Encore and Chasers, it appears that Twin River is the premiere gambling spot for southern New England's inveterate chain smokers. The upstairs casino, which has the poker room, is smoke free.
A while back, I had read in this thread that Twin River's lowest NL stakes were $2/$5, and that intrigued me, as I figured that at least some of the local $1/$2 players would be biting the bullet and moving up, in order to play poker close to home.
But it's been a while since I checked here, and the poker room now offers a $1/$2 game. In any case, I'd had my mind set on $2/$5, so that's what I played.
The floor staff were polite, competent and engaged. I was on a table within 5 minutes, after having read that the wait times could be very long on Saturdays. I could have run good in that aspect; but still, there was open seating for $2/$5 at least once during my session.
Now for the negatives: tables are 10-handed, something I haven't seen anywhere since The Orleans in Las Vegas abolished it 4 years ago. In addition to being squeezed in with 9 other players, the chairs there are low and uncomfortable. The rake goes up to $8 with absolutely zero promotions: no high hand, no bad beat, not even a t-shirt or a beer koozie for a royal, nothing. Just give them your $8 and be happy they're not asking for $10. You get $1/hour in food comps for playing, which is on the low end of standard.
Cocktails are $16 for well booze, and $18 for premium drinks. I had no idea that I was playing at Yankee Stadium, FFS. I abstained.
The action was good. There were two or three good regs at the table throughout my session, but the rest of the $2/$5 folks were just regular players, indistinguishable from bad $1/$2 players.
I could tell that most of the players were local from their speaking in that Peter/Lois Griffin Rhode Island accent, which is close enough to the Boston accent that it takes a practiced ear to tell them apart.
Most of the players at my table knew each other's names, and it was a friendly atmosphere. I'll post one hand that was fun—not for me, of course, but maybe fun for an observer.
EP, who is a good reg, opens to $20. I pick up J
T in the SB. Normally I'll 3-bet or fold in the SB, but JTs is one of the few hands I'll flat from there, occasionally, especially if the open is from EP and if the BB is not a frequent 3-bettor, which he is not. BB calls.
Pot ($60) - three players.
Flop: 456
I check, BB checks, EP bets $25, I raise to $80. BB and EP both call.
Pot ($300) - three players
Turn: 9
I bet $170. BB calls, EP calls. I begin to sense some distant alarm bells, but I still figure my hand to be best most of the time.
Pot ($810) - three players
No heart. No heart. No heart....
River: 3
I check. BB shoves for $256, EP snap calls.
I am getting enormous odds in a huge pot with a J high flush. I fold without agonizing about it much.
Pot ($1322) - two players (Hero has folded)
SB shows 72 for a straight flush, and EP mucks.
As I walked a long way out to my car after my first and likely last visit to Twin River, I was sharked by two cars looking for a space in the jam-packed lot. Both of them flanked me on either side with their signals on. I thought about staying and watching the potential fireworks go off, but I didn't want to get stuck doing paperwork for the cops if a fight were to break out, so I left quickly.
On Saturday I checked out Bally's Twin River Casino in Rhode Island, an hour and 15 minute drive away from my place.
A good portion of that drive lead me down route 146, which is one of those infuriating and dangerous routes that doesn't know if it wants to be a highway or a secondary road, so it mixes in stretches of both, seemingly at random
There's nothing like flying around a corner or down a hill at 75 mph (120 kph) on what's supposed to be a damn 4 lane highway, only to run into a stoplight dead ahead, or to find someone from a parking lot entering the highway from a full stop.
Spoiler:
I showed up around 11:30AM, and the single-level parking lot closest to the street was almost completely full. Once inside the doors, I was assailed by a cloud of cigarette smoke, thicker than I remember it ever being in any casino, including Jackie Gaughan's old, tiny Downtown Las Vegas barrio joints like The Gold Spike, El Cortez and The Western.
Given the smoking bans in Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Encore and Chasers, it appears that Twin River is the premiere gambling spot for southern New England's inveterate chain smokers. The upstairs casino, which has the poker room, is smoke free.
A while back, I had read in this thread that Twin River's lowest NL stakes were $2/$5, and that intrigued me, as I figured that at least some of the local $1/$2 players would be biting the bullet and moving up, in order to play poker close to home.
But it's been a while since I checked here, and the poker room now offers a $1/$2 game. In any case, I'd had my mind set on $2/$5, so that's what I played.
The floor staff were polite, competent and engaged. I was on a table within 5 minutes, after having read that the wait times could be very long on Saturdays. I could have run good in that aspect; but still, there was open seating for $2/$5 at least once during my session.
Now for the negatives: tables are 10-handed, something I haven't seen anywhere since The Orleans in Las Vegas abolished it 4 years ago. In addition to being squeezed in with 9 other players, the chairs there are low and uncomfortable. The rake goes up to $8 with absolutely zero promotions: no high hand, no bad beat, not even a t-shirt or a beer koozie for a royal, nothing. Just give them your $8 and be happy they're not asking for $10. You get $1/hour in food comps for playing, which is on the low end of standard.
Cocktails are $16 for well booze, and $18 for premium drinks. I had no idea that I was playing at Yankee Stadium, FFS. I abstained.
The action was good. There were two or three good regs at the table throughout my session, but the rest of the $2/$5 folks were just regular players, indistinguishable from bad $1/$2 players.
I could tell that most of the players were local from their speaking in that Peter/Lois Griffin Rhode Island accent, which is close enough to the Boston accent that it takes a practiced ear to tell them apart.
Spoiler:
Most of the players at my table knew each other's names, and it was a friendly atmosphere. I'll post one hand that was fun—not for me, of course, but maybe fun for an observer.
EP, who is a good reg, opens to $20. I pick up J
T in the SB. Normally I'll 3-bet or fold in the SB, but JTs is one of the few hands I'll flat from there, occasionally, especially if the open is from EP and if the BB is not a frequent 3-bettor, which he is not. BB calls.Pot ($60) - three players.
Flop: 4
56I check, BB checks, EP bets $25, I raise to $80. BB and EP both call.
Pot ($300) - three players
Turn: 9
I bet $170. BB calls, EP calls. I begin to sense some distant alarm bells, but I still figure my hand to be best most of the time.
Pot ($810) - three players
No heart. No heart. No heart....
River: 3
I check. BB shoves for $256, EP snap calls.
I am getting enormous odds in a huge pot with a J high flush. I fold without agonizing about it much.
Pot ($1322) - two players (Hero has folded)
SB shows 7
2 for a straight flush, and EP mucks.As I walked a long way out to my car after my first and likely last visit to Twin River, I was sharked by two cars looking for a space in the jam-packed lot. Both of them flanked me on either side with their signals on. I thought about staying and watching the potential fireworks go off, but I didn't want to get stuck doing paperwork for the cops if a fight were to break out, so I left quickly.
04-21-2023
, 10:11 AM
05-08-2023
, 11:28 PM
