I'm going on a week long vacation to Aruba in 10 days and I wanted to get some up to date info on the poker scene. I read some archived threads and saw that NL is only at the Holiday Inn. Is that still the case? What kind of limits are spread? Do they have any games besides limit and NL hold em? What is the rake/rate like? Any other tips or pointers from people that have already been there will be great.

holiday inn and the radisson.

I went there for spring break, they got rid of 1/2 nl. Smallest game is 2/5. Game is loose as hell and fun. Made 1.5k in 4 nights. paid for vacation ftw.

rake is high as hell. 10 max 2 bbj.

thanks bro.

Are there limit games too?
Was it mostly locals or tourists you were playing against?

is it 18 or 21 to play?

I played there last winter break - I think it was 18 to play, not 100% though. Action is crazy sick, both tourists and locals in the room, both equally as bad.

Play at the Holiday Inn - Its actually the Excelsior casino attached to the holiday inn. Small room, maybe 10 tables or so. 2/5NL, 5/10NL, and a 5/10 PLO game that was insane action.

Bring a healthy roll, be ready to gamble and take some beats, but you should rake in the cash if you know how to play. (For example, this dude stacked off with me 250bb deep with AQ off-suit at the 2/5 table). For the record, he was a local.

Yes, the rake is god awful, but the action more than makes up for it.

Good luck. Cant wait to get back down there.

Oh yes, there was a limit game, a 4/8 game played with 2 dollar chips. If you have any clue how to play NL though, I would strongly suggest trying the 2/5 game - buy in short, like 200, you should still do fine. The 4/8 game seemed pretty live to me as well, but nothing compared to the NL or PLO games.

Thanks for the input Boss. I'll definitley give the 2/5 NLHE and the PLO a whirl. Sounds like fun.

250bb with AQ, really? Pre flop or what?

From what I've read online it appears to be 18.

Boss, Maniac or anyone else who knows the answer can chime in on this one...

I just saw on the Holiday Inn/Excelsior Casino website that the poker room opens at 4pm. What time does it close?

Yeah the AQ was preflop against my KK (naturally, I lost, cost me just under $1250). I made it 30 to go UTG, he 3 bet to 90, I went to 300, and he pushed ai for ~1250. I thought for about a minute and reluctantly called, assuming he likely had aces. I'm not good enough to get off my KK to a maniac like this guy.

I am not sure what time the room closes. I know I played until about 7am one day, and there were still a couple games going. I think the room stays open until the games break, at least thats what I remember the floor manager telling me (really nice guy by the way).

As a heads up, be prepared to not feel 100% comfortable the entire time you are in the poker room. Its a really small, cramped room with gross chips and a dry erase board for the list. Another thing worth mentioning is that the dude suspected of kidnapping that American girl also plays semi-regularly in this poker room - he sat at the table next to me one night. They have security in the casino, but very little outside. I cabbed it to my hotel, which was about 25 yards down the road, not because I am that lazy, but it was worth the 10 bucks to be picked up at the door and dropped off at the door. Some people walk down the beach to get back to their hotels, but I would not recommend it. I did it once and was extremely nervous walking around with a lot of money.

Take all of this with a grain of salt, however, because I am totally paranoid about this stuff (I am not thrilled about walking around with money in the Borgata parking lot, for example). Definitely worth playing in this room b/c the action is sick, but bring a friend, and if you cant, make sure to stay safe. It would really suck to pull 5k out of the room only to get held up on your way home and be stuck 2k for the night.

Hope this helps, good luck down there.

One more thing...The room may open at 4pm, but the games dont really get going until later, like 7 or 8pm. They usually have an early evening tournament, like 5pm or so if I remember correctly. After this tournament is over is when the cash games really get going. On most nights, they were still opening new games by the time I got there, which was usually around 11. Most of those new games were 2/5NL. If you want to play the PLO game, I would get there a bit earlier, like 8ish, as they only have one table and the turnover isnt great. People rebuy and rebuy.

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for the info

Wow, great ! Thanks for all the info Boss. I'll give a full trip report when I get back.

Casino closes at 6am