The staff of this poker room started making jokes and cracking wise as soon as I arrived. When I took out a couple of hundred dollar bills to buy into the game, the dealer asked if I wanted to buy the room or just buy into their $2-6 spread limit
hold'em game. When I asked about tableside food service, I was asked, with a smile, if I wanted to eat or play. When I spoke to the floor and asked about some of the rules, the rake, and the like, I was told that they had a strict English-only rule (as if my slight Eastern accent were not allowed). Yuk, yuk, yuk!
The ambiance is simple and understated. There is off-white acoustic tile on the ceiling, comfortable contoured chairs with rollers, high-quality (but not fancy) tables with built-in cup holders, and a large wall of glass that stretches the length of the six-table poker room. There are also four tournament tables. There is tableside eating, made easy with small service tables.
The room boasts many promotions. Earlybirds are treated to a free breakfast sandwich if they play between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. This assures a game when the room opens at 7:30 AM. High-hand promotions are generous: $25 for any player who gets quads, $150 for straight flushes, and $599 for any royals. Cracked aces get a spin of the wheel, with prizes from $20 to $500. And between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, there's a promotion that may be unique to the Tropicana Express. Players are awarded a "chit" for each hand they win. At the end of each hour, the player with the most chits wins $50. That's a big incentive for loose play, and a major enticement for players like me who want games with loose players!
I found the level of poker play, generally, to be very beatable. At my table, where I played for about three hours, there was one good player, two very tight and passive players, and five awful, drunk and fun-loving players just in the game to lose their money, which they cheerily did. This was on a Monday night. Weekend action may be even better. I'll gladly return looking for a similar lineup.
The standard game is the $2-6 spread limit game that I played in. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday night there might be a $4/8 limit game or a $1/2 no-limit game, I was told by the poker room manager, though neither runs all the time. There's a $30 tournament at 6:30 PM on Tuesday and Thursday, and a Saturday event at 2:00 PM. Cash games tend to go at least until midnight – and sometimes all night. Best to call ahead to check on the action if you're planning on arriving after 11:00 PM. When I was there on a Monday night from 10:00 PM until about 1:00 AM there were two tables of $2-6 hold'em going.
The house rakes 10% up to a $3 maximum. They also drop $2 for the many promotions. Players earn $1.25 an hour with a Tropicana players club card. Drinks are free and food is very reasonably priced. Most sandwiches are in the $5 range. There's also a steakhouse that got very high marks from all the players and staff. The menu is pricey – between $20 and $40 for a steak. I was assured it was well worth the money.
All in all. I really liked this room, in particular the festive mood created by the fun-loving staff. Most of all, I enjoyed the action from the loose players; they added to my bottom line. And that's no laughing matter.
Source: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/04/poker-room-review-tropicana-express-laughlin-nv-1352.htm
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