I traveled to Phoenix for the NASCAR race this weekend (lol left turns) and decided to play poker while down here. I stayed/played at the Wild Horse Pass Casino which is technically in Chandler Arizona right out of Phoenix.

Well, to sum everything up, I had a horrible experience and recommend people avoid this casino at all costs. I'll try to be brief in my reasons.

1.) Casino takes $6 per hand

2.) People talking in languages other then English was ignored.

3.) People soft played other regulars all the time.

4.) the hand that made me leave was a limit Holden hand. I open AQo in mp and am 3 bet by the cutoff. The button cold 4 bets and I decide to fold. (I have a nit image, there has never been a 3 bet or 4 bet at this table, and I've been here for about 2 hours). Well the two guys check the hand down. Cut off even shows his top 2 pair to the button on the turn (KQ) this is a guy who has flatted AKo to a spewtards open, and who overlimped JJ vs a guy playing over half his hands. So 3 betting was very weird here for him.

5.) People called out other people's hand even if it was multiway and even when they weren't in the hand. One Asian guy called out my hand when I made a river bet 3 handed. Oh and the kicker was he wasn't even in the hand. So it's not like he was talking his decision out loud or trying to get a reaction from me. He was just being a douche.

Overall I've planned a ton of poker in my life. And even though I play more online then live, I have played in the wsop. I've played in vegas, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, home games, casinos, etc etc. and I can honestly say this is the worst run poker room I've ever been to. If you go and get ripped off, you can't say I didn't warn you. (This behavior was observed over a 3 day timespan, so they can't claim it was just an off night for their staff or one weird table, this behavior was clearly just the way they run the room)

/rant

Friend of mine lived there for a bit. Got to the point where he would only play tournaments. I don't totally know his game, but variance certainly wasn't his friend. GL

My brain read that as Wild Horse Piss Casino. Other than #4, which if an isolated event is just random spazz more than anything, the rest of it makes it sound like an awful place to play. Maybe they --should-- rename it to Wild Horse Piss Casino.

I've played off and on at WHP over the years and OP is spot on. The room has it's own 'culture' that management apparently has no problems with bec, I think, it's mostly regs and this is what has developed. I think that if OP had complained to the players doing this they'd be truly puzzled as to why he was upset.

Re the $6, though, it's $3 for the house drop, $3 promo fund as opposed to Casino Arizona's $4 + $2.

They most recently have the casino arizona poker room in a hotel casino and are calling it, the arena. Has OP played at Commerce, Detroit or Miami, I mean what did you expect at 3/6 4/8? Casino taking $3 per hand.

appreciate the heads-up; that's a shame, every card room I've played in in the Southwest has been awesome

Don't forget though they take $1 before they even deal the cards. And it's $1 at $5, $2 at $10, and $2 at $20.

That's pretty crazy imo.

They take that same dollar at Talking Stick also. The 8-16 LHE at WHP is actually worth the shenanigans, though. The action is often intense, not that it isn't often the same at Talking Stick, w/ the players being PROUD to show that they'd played terrible hands. But I'd rather go to TS bec 1. WHP is 20 minutes further and 2. WHP won't start the game until they have long lists for the 4-8 which has left me sitting around far too often even when they have enough players to start the game.

Technically it's in unincorporated tribal land belonging to the Gila River tribe outside of both the cities of Phoenix and Chandler. The closest non-tribal land to it is the neighborhood of Ahwatukee, which is City of Phoenix. Chandler is almost as close, but not quite.

Nearby Lone Butte Casino (same tribe) is also on unincorporated tribal land, but only a few hundred yards outside of Chandler.

Its neighbors to the north are located outside of Scottsdale and Fountain Hills and are on land owned by the Salt River and Fort McDowell tribes.

http://www3.epa.gov/region9/air/maps...r1100040-2.pdf

Technically.

meh

The stationary I got from the casino listed the address as Chandler.

But if it matters that much to you....interesting.

Really? A Mod? Is this necessary or pertinent to this thread? Sigh....

Funny, last night I was playing the 2-100 game during the aces cracked promo and a girl who proclaimed she "plays there all the time" lectured another sharp player about overplaying AA so he took the house's money when they were cracked instead of other players. When he explained his logic she replied, "well you can go play somewhere else because that's just what we do here."

The fact that this is a tribal casino, and it's location near one of the most affluent parts of Phoenix has a great deal to do with the poster's complaints - the size of the rake (as allowed by the tribal gaming commission and the ADOG), the "overly friendly to regulars" attitudes of the staff, and the quality of play by the regulars.

Adding: The two neighboring Ahwatukee (Phoenix) zip-codes are #1 and #3 income in Phoenix. They can afford the rake.

It also cuts off any question for someone unfamiliar with gambling in Phoenix.

But whatever. The report button is by the exclamation point on the left.

Just my thoughts on WHP..

the op isn't too inaccurate, but it's not like we have tons of options here.. You basically have to play either here or at TS.

-TS is the bigger/better room for sure but they lack a 1/2 game and it's a bit of a drive if you live in Ahwatukee

-The rake sucks and there's not much we can do abt that.

-Haven't noticed any foreign languages at the table but I doubt what you heard was malicious

-Yea There are definitely a bunch of salty old regs that I love to hate, but who cares they all suck and it's pretty easy money.

-random drunks/ASU kids that spew away multiple BIs.

-I actually like all the dealers here

-Food isn't bad from the cafe and is dirt cheap ( 1/2 off ) when playing poker

-Pretty decent promotions including splash pots during most sporting events, aces cracked, royal flush, and a couple different BBJPs.

Overall not the best room, but definitely not the worst and can make for some decent casual sessions.

This sounds like every casino in Miami, with the exception that the casinos take $7 ($5 + $2) rather than just $6.

Ive only played about 50 hrs of 1/2 there

But i havent had any problem w people talking in different languages

As far as soft playing each other. Ive never really seen it, maybe i need to pay closer attention. But whatever

The promos are waaayy better than talkin stick

But the pots are smaller

The worst part is breathing ciggy smoke when u gotta take a leak. Awful design.

Can someone explain how soft playing would hurt me or effect the game negatively??

And were they only soft playing the aces cracked??

http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2011/...-cheating.html

Thanks for the heads-up about the situation at WHP. I'm heading to the Scottsdale area soon and was considering playing at both TS and WHP. I'll just stick with TS.

I do think the quality of player is higher at ts. I played at whp last night and every single player at my table was basically just a recreational player w a couple bad regs.

But man the pots were tiny. It was very apparent last night. Get aces otb w a couple limpers. One or two callers pre. Raise the flop and win like 16 bux. Yuck

But I still think there is enough bad play to earn a nice hourly

In fact im alot more comfortable at wild horse vs ts but i def like ts better

Soft playing aces during a promo (or other situations during a promo potential hand) isn't something that would bother me (in fact, I'd expect fishies to do it, and be surprised if they didn't)

They were soft playing in non promo situations.

As far as the rake goes, where I play it's either $3, $3 +$1, or $2. So for me going from $3ish to $6 was a BIG surprise. (especially the way they took the money....$1 before the flop, another $1 at $5, then $2 at $10 and $2 at $20. At home it's $1 at $10, $1 at $20, and $1 at $30 with a promo $1 taken out on every flop, if the casino even does a promo $1 drop....some casinos do promos out of their own end and don't take the dollar)

Out of curiosity, where do you play? I remember sitting at an 8-16 at Commerce, I'm pretty sure it was 8-16, early in the day to eat breakfast. It got folded around to me in the small blind and I asked the big blind 'Chop?' and he said 'Chop what?' so I looked down and my entire blind was gone. Even if I mis-remember and it was 4-8 it's still bad.

When I'm referring to "home" I'm talking about Spokane Washington and the surrounding area. (Lilac lanes, northern quest, black pearl, aces and the now out of business CD'A casino and owl club casino)

I thought only LV had such low rake. 3-4$/hand is a bargain.

Most California rooms have improved to the point that they take full drop only if there's a flop. In San Jose they take a dollar if the blinds "chop" or there's a raise and everyone folds. They used to take full drop even if everyone folded pre-flop. If you raised and they folded you won zero.

That's better than California rooms. If there's a flop they take full drop. That's why it isn't called a rake, not allowed for the casino to make more if more is gambled. They don't want the casino to encourage gambling. The gummint must protect the public.