Anyone had a chance to play at the new room in Toledo yet who could post a review? What's the rake? How are the dealers? How busy was it? How does it compare to Hollywood Lawrenceburg or the new Horseshoe in Cleveland?

Yea i was surprised there was no thread for this place before it opened. I will prob be checking it out middle of next month but curious to see what others think of the place. From the pictures its definately more spacious than Horseshoe but then again its a stand alone sight.

I haven't seen any pics of the Toledo poker room, but I know it has 20 tables (vs. Cleveland's 30)

There's a pic in a different thread

first difference I see? cupholders

rake is $6, dealers are inexperienced [patience is a must] but overall pretty nice, played a little bit today, was pretty busy for it being toledo, oh on a weekday

Headed down tomorrow for the first time. Hoping to play some of the 1-3 PLO they've been running down there, but time will tell. I'll probably post my full thoughts once I'm home.

Finally made my way over there last night. The floor seemed to be handling the craziness pretty well with regards to getting people signed up and the 3-4 dealers I had were pretty quick about everything except for selling chips. I expected a lot worse and was pleasantly surprised, except for the fact that it was like 50 degrees in the room.

Was there for about 8 hours Friday and needless to say, it was a very frustrating experience. Got there about 11 AM and they opened a new 1-2 NL game about 10 minutes later. I definitely like that the floor has the ability to send text messages to alert you that your seat is available instead of using a pager system (many of the Detroit casinos pagers seem to work very poorly).

As I sat down at 1-2, I was first on the list for the 2-5 PLO game they had running. I walked past the table and noticed an empty seat, so I asked the floor people if it was my seat. They took about 10 minutes before letting me move over to the PLO game.

About 45 minutes into the PLO game, we had two open seats (with 5 names on the list for the game). Those seats went unfilled for 20 minutes. In this time, we went from playing 7 handed to 5 handed and the action slowed down considerably. Since it appeared they weren't going to fill our table, I moved to the 2-5 NL table they were opening. This was a huge cluster as about 15 people showed up for the 9 seats and two floor people had no idea how to solve the problem. Eventually, a woman working brought over a list of the 9 people she called and attempted to solve the problem, but that took much longer than it should have. Also, opening this game killed the 2-5 PLO game because 3 of us moved since they weren't filling the open seats.

The 2-5 game played reasonably well and the dealers seemed pretty good. At one point the tray ended up $10 off, which led to every new dealer calling the floor over as they counted their tray, slowing down the game entirely. This isn't the dealers fault, it's just their procedure. The floor supervisors need to react quicker to this issue so there isn't a big delay in the game every 30 minutes. We basically only got 25 minutes from each dealer because they spent 5 minutes with the tray every change.

About 45 minutes into the 2-5 game, they attempted to open a 2nd 2-5 game. At this point, two friends of mine left their 1-2 game as they were called to play 2-5. Well, only 4 of the 9 names they called for their second 2-5 table actually showed up for the game. Unfortunately, in the process they filled the 1-2 seats my friends had been sitting in, which left my friends with no game for about an hour (They wouldn't give them their original 1-2 seats back).

As a couple people left the 2-5 game, it seemed to take an extremely long time for them to fill the open seats. Sometimes 10-15 minutes even though there was a decent list for our game. This isn't really a problem when one person leaves, but we lost 2 players on one hand a 3rd racked up and left, so we were stuck playing 6 handed for a while. I like 6 handed, but it slowed the action way down as most of our table wasn't used to playing 6 handed and spent more time complaining about open seats than playing. Eventually, I went around the room to people I knew on the list, told them we had open seats. They went to the floor and said, "I'm on the 2-5 list, they have open seats, can I go take a seat?" and the floor supervisor said go ahead.

A couple hours later, they opened a new 2-5 game. Our game had been really slow without much action for about an hour and two of our players had been at lunch/dinner for well over an hour (with no interest in picking them up from the floor or the dealers). As they opened the new game, we lost two more players that racked up and left. After looking around, I noticed they had both moved to the new 2-5 game, effectively leaving us 5 handed. So, the new game was playing 9 handed and we were stuck playing 5 handed. The floor was called at which point nothing was done. He came over, listened to our frustration, but did nothing about it. At that point, my buddy and I decided we'd seen enough and left.

Long story short, it's a gorgeous room with lots of kinks to work out.

Pro's: 20 tables, lots of tv's, good spread of games (limit, no limit, PLO). No smoking anywhere in the casino is a nice feature for non-smokers. Text alerts when your seat is open, allowing you to play/do something else if no seats are available. Some dealers have issues, but the majority of them were much better than expected and seemed to keep the game moving.

Con's: No cage in the room means you have to walk to the main cashier to cash out. They'll color you up at the front desk (buddy has 900 in red which they turned into black for him), but you still have to walk across the whole casino to cash out. The floor people are trying hard, but don't quite seem to have a handle on things (filling empty seats, keeping people from table jumping). It's also extremely noisy due to how open it is to the rest of the casino (was seated near the edge of the room and could not hear people at the other end of my table when they announced bets/calls/raises/etc). Chip runners are great, but when cash/lamers don't play, it can really slow down the game if you're trying to deal in players who just busted the previous hand and are trying to rebuy for the next hand.

Long story short, the Detroit casinos are much closer to home for me and I can't see making regular trips to Toledo. I'll go down once or twice a month to play some PLO, but I'll keep to Detroit for most in-week play. The floor people will get better about opening games, controlling games, filling seats, etc, but there's nothing they can do about the noise, nothing they can do about the lack of a cage, nothing they can do about chip runners when trying to rebuy (since you can't just walk up to a cage and rebuy to speed up the process)

I've played there almost everyday, and I would say the poster above is mostly spot on with a few exceptions:

- In my experience, the noisiness from outside the poker room depends on which table you are at. In many cases, it was easier to hear at the tables by the edge of the room. The acoustics are inconsistent.

- The 1/2NL seats were getting filled very quickly and the floor seemed to be very active about promoting games with open seating.

I also disagree about the text messaging system. I think they should only take phone numbers for people who ask about pagers because the current system is vastly slowing down the wait to get on a list.

Overall, I've been very happy with the room. The action has been good, and the workers and players are maintaining a very positive attitude despite the kinks.

Ok, I'll agree with you on the table settings. The table farthest to the left and closest to the casino floor was where they set-up the 2-5 table Friday and it was very noisy. The PLO game was more into the room and the noise level wasn't an issue.

Also, the 1-2 seats were filled pretty quickly. It was when we had open seats at 2-5 NLH and PLO that we had significant issues.

I also agree the texting system should only be used if someone asks for it. They need to do a slightly better job figuring out who is somewhere in the room and who is out waiting for a text. That being said, I think that will work itself out in the long run. It was kind of silly when I was sitting at the 1-2 game and they texted me about the 2-5 PLO game having an open seat for me.

I think I'll give it a month, see what games continue to run (I'm not sure the PLO game will be sustainable after the initial rush of the grand opening) and probably head back down in July sometime to see how things are going and give it another shot. I don't expect things to be perfect from the start, but some of the kinks were significant enough for me to not want to go back right away (of course, if I lived 10 minutes away, I'd probably make the most of it, there are just better options up here in Detroit for right now)

I think the 1-3 PLO will run fairly regularly, and may eventually become a permanent game. There are many local regs that are constantly looking for a PLO game.

That would be great. The 2-5 PLO game Friday morning was rather interesting, with a mix of a few guys from the Detroit poker scene and a couple players I didn't recognize at all. If 1-3 or 2-5 PLO goes regularly (Maybe 1-3 during the week and a 2-5 game on weekends??), I could see making the drive down there from time to time once management gets their act together.

Made my first visit yesterday 12-5. Got on lists for PLO andO8 but never started. Not bothered by noise and temp, but dealers and slowness as bad as everyone says. Chairs not as comfortble as they appear. I will play once a week max until things are a lot smoother. Probably will have to show up 5am to get your player card. Lines are 40minutes at all times. When you cash out make sure you go to the chip line at the far right of the cashier.

The lack of a cage in the poker room is the absolute nut low. I went on both fri and sat nights and after coloring up at the podium had to wait almost 30 min to get cash. There is one freaking cashier (w/ like 7 different spots) in the entire casino! Complete joke

I know this thread is pretty much dead but I did get a chance to check this place out. The casino is really nice overall. Easy to get to, right of 75 and seemed to be fairly safe neighborhood. The movie themed design is cool, preferred all the old movie posters on the walls compared to the new trailers and posters of the new garbage coming out. Casino is pretty easy to traverse and very spacious compared to the Horseshoe. Now for the poker room, its alright. They don't have their own cage for some reason so you buy and color up at the front desk then have to walk across the casino to cash out at the only cage in the place. Never seen this before. The tables are decent but feel so small compared to Shoe, but it was nice to have a betting line. The dealers seemed much better than the typical Shoe dealer. Overall the poker room was decent but not very impressive. Shoe=Better poker room and action. Hollywood=nicer overall casino (although they had the advantage of building a new structure so it better be nicer)

ps The action at my table was non existent, I should have switched tables but was too lazy. Someone could have flopped TPTK and wouldn't call one street, so many nits.

At some point, they changed it so you can now buy chips and cashout at the poker podium. This makes it much more convenient to play there.

I didn't know you could actually cash out there. I knew you could buy chips, but when I left I just took my chips with me. I thought you had to go to the main cashier.

I visited the casino for the first time last night. I got there around midnight and live north so like others have said it is easy access right off 75. I went up a few floors in the parking garage just not wanting to drive around forever but I guess I could of probably parked lower as lots of spots were open.

The casino itself is spacious and very clean which early reports in the first few weeks people said their was lots of trash everywhere but I didn't see any of this. I went to the poker room which is located in the back right corner and overall the room is nice but wish it was closed off as slot machine noise is everywhere but I still could hear and talk to people just fine.

Once I walked up they sat me quickly in a 1/2 game and said I could get the chips at the table which I could but had to wait for the dealer to get their tray filled. Their was a chip runner who got me the chips quicker though it took about 5 minutes which is perfectly acceptable by me.

The tables were spacious but I didn't think the chairs were that comfortable. My butt started hurting after a couple hours which usually that don't happen and the cards were much smaller to me then charity poker rooms in Michigan that I frequent most of my poker sessions at. If your sitting on one of the outer seats late at night tired it can be tougher to view the cards is a minor complaint but I got used to it.

As for drinks I ordered a few beers they are the standard over priced at casinos $4 per bottle (domestic) and I already knew they couldn't accept chips so I didn't bother trying to pay that way. Once I ordered one I got the first in about 10 minutes and the second beer I ordered I got in probably 5 minutes.

I didn't eat anywhere but I walked past the Take 2 Grill which is the only place open that late and prices were as expected for a casino but didn't see way outrageous. They have a few beverage stations where you can get fountain pop, water,etc... You can order that from a waitress but one of these stations is conveniently located near the bathroom so fill up free there coming back from your pee break ftw. It was late so I got a Coke for some caffeine and it was watered down badly so perhaps it was just the machine but it could also be the casino cutting corners.

Now for the poker I had probably 5 new dealers within the time I was there and I'd say a few were quicker then others but I didn't have any real issues. Their was one or two maniacs along with others that tilt blew up but other then that most of the players were just calling stations. Their were a few instances I 3 barreled for value and got called on every street which I never got to see villains hands but it could of been anything for all I know. Their were a few nits but overall mostly just passive calling station play some willing to pay you off which is a great thing.

The slowest thing about the room is the change dealers frequently and whenever they do they got to account for every chip on their rack totaling up the cash people give for buying in and what they have on there at all times. This got annoying a bit as their could be a 3-5 minute break each time this happened which can be like twice an hour.

The allowing of string bets everywhere was a bit tilting to me too. Their were a few players really bad at this and it's allowed which sucks. The only positive thing from this is people who regularly string bet every single time you can target as bad/newbies so I guess that tell makes up a little bit of the string bet annoyance.

Once 5am hit I had to go. I cashed out right at the poker podium and left. It was easy getting out of the garage and getting back on 75 which for me is important as I hate bad traffic or being detoured all over to make it back on the highway to go home.

Got my 2 hours of sleep before the phone company came out knocking on my door fixing my landline (not sure why I still have one) and now back to bed here soon.

I'd rate my first visit satisfactory and will go back again probably within a week or so.

Allow string bets??? In what way?

To the best of my knowledge a player can bring a stack over count it out along with another stack and bring some back but once a pause motion occurs from the player like they are done then the bet then is finalized. I have only played here once and saw this type of movement several times and from what people have told me this is the assumption I gather from it.

Since the casino is new I have no issue with them giving players a warning and trying to correct this type of play but if you let it go on forever then try to change it your going to upset these fish who got away with it forever so trying to correct their bad habit now would be better imo.

My understanding is that they require players to call string bets. I personally don't have a problem with this in NL games, but I understand that many disagree. Do what you must to protect yourself.

I went there last Friday and I would say that the casino is nicer than the Shoe, but the poker room is lacking. It's very open and the 2nd 2/5 table was at table one right next to the slots and restrooms. Free parking FTW, although some ******* left their dog in the car with the windows cracked. When they checked my ID I mentioned it to security and he was very specific when asking exactly where the car was parked. If nothing happened, at least he seemed like he cared.

I sat down at 2/5 because there was a wait for 1/2. The dealers were all excellent and actually knew how to pitch cards. There was no lag time when they sat down and the game went on smoothly. There was one issue with a bet size but it was rectified quickly with the floor. I bought in for the max, but the min is 100 (No good). Most people bought in for 200+ so I was a little taken aback when my max BI was the largest stack at the time. There was a lot of action, but the must move was annoying. I was confused when the floor asked for my name once I was seated and wrote it down on a notepad. If you want a players card be prepared to wait in line, they cannot make them at the podium. The dealers keep their tips so I didn't have a problem tipping like in Cleveland.

The main game for 2/5 is in the back corner and I didn't see a waitress for over and hour. The table spacing is poor at best. If I had a tray full of coffee and water, I would't want to bounce around back there either. The tables are smaller, but for myself it makes it easier to see a flop when seated on the far corners. I never felt cramped while sitting. The chairs are adjustable but not very comfortable. I'm picky about bathrooms if it is a place that I may have to poop at. Their bathrooms were ****. At least in the poker room at the Shoe there is a dedicated guy there for cleaning. I've tipped in cash for him to clean a stall when i needed it. Not possible in Toledo. Piss everywhere and no paper towels. There was a guy in there trying to fill them but since they're automatic they kept jamming. I guess that is why I wear jeans.

Overall it was a good experience. I overheard a floor lady saying that they wanted to get a regular 5/10 game. With only two 2/5 tables and no list for anything higher, I doubt that would happen (Not that I would be interested). With the lists being so long at the Shoe on the weekends, Toledo is a great option being only 30min further.

So you mean a player reaches out, with a stack of 20 or so, cuts out what he wants to call or bet in one motion and brings the rest back? That's standard anywhere but Michigan it seems.

Well he can reach for more afterward if the player does it immediately. In some rooms I've regularly played at t if you have them in your hand even if you haven't set them on the table yet and go passed the betting line they must count as the bet. I'm not sure I completely agree with that if you haven't dropped them down but if you do then pull some back or didn't pull enough forward that you wanted to bet so you reach back for more is something I don't like.

In one circumstance a guy tried to raise and put his chips out there then paused long enough not reaching for more and the raise amount wasn't enough to be a legal sized raise so the dealer ruled that a call since he didn't say raise. That is the proper ruling without saying raise but if he does it then doesn't put enough forward I'm not sure what the rule is since this didn't come up but I'd assume he would have to raise the minimum.

Being able to reach back for more without announcing is something I'd call the floor on as it's probably a new dealer...unless the player is just calling obviously.

If the player puts out a bet and half or more it is considered a raise, otherwise it's a call. This is how it should be anyway.