The Red Rock

Well thats the end of the 2nd week of this adventure. The cards havent been so kind to me this week as last but im still having a great time. The Venetian festival has now finished and that room has turned back to normal. I have no idea where all the dealers go. Last week there were 60 full tables for 15+ hrs a day. I went in there this week and there were about 10-15 tables in use. I know some must of being doing overtime during the festival but who knows what the rest are doing now. There were still 3 tables of 2/5 going and as I now phone in when im on my way i was top of a short list when i arrived. I managed to get my aces cracked the very first hand and from there stuck for $2k. I got out of it by the time Nancy came to collect me by busting someone elses aces.





We stopped off at the Lodge on the way home a bar at the end of my road. I had the best Burger i have ever had before in my life there and trust me i have had a lot of burgers in my time. We played some pool and had a couple of drinks. Nancy is a bit of a pool shark due to us having a pub before we left. Nancy broke her wrist snowboarding a couple of years ago in Austria. She was working behind the bar with the cast still on but had her top covering most of it. There were 5 guys in the top bar playing pool and the guy getting the drinks in was bragging that he had beaten all of his mates. So Nancy challenged him and of course beat him 3-0. The guy took such stick for not only losing to a girl but losing to a girl in a cast with a broken wrist. Anyway more about the Lodge later.


Most of my time this week I have been playing at the Red Rock. Its a bit of a way off if you have a hotel on the strip but i would strongly recommend you pay it a visit. Its a really nicely done out casino. It always amazes me how much money the spend out to make such everything is top quality. Its not over the top like the strip casinos but you can see the level of attention to detail and you know they havent cut any corners anywhere.



So that me say a few things about the pokerroom itself. Like most of Vegas they have a plasma screen and a computer that controls the waiting list and lets everyone see what is going on. The Red Rock have gone one better. They have an atm size machine just as you walk into the room which you swipe your players card and you can choose which table list you want to go on. Its no big deal but a little extra step they have taken to save you queues and waiting for a member of staff to do it. Next difference no phone ins to get on the list. If your not in the building tough. 1st come 1st served. In most strip casinos you are allowed to buy the button if you have missed your blinds. Not here you can post between the blinds or come back in behind the button and post there. When you sit at the table the dealer asks you for your players card. They swipe you in on a system the same as in the MGM. They have a little terminal in front of them which tells them the names of each player and what seat they are sitting in. So as i get my players card back im greeted by Thank You James good luck. Only a little thing again but for me it counts. When thr dealer changes the new dealer also knows your name and can refer to you by name if he needs to. It also lets all the players on the table know each other by name and makes a more relaxed and friendly place to play.


They also have a bad beat jackpot. Red Rock is a part of the Station Casino chain as is the Green Valley Ranch. All the Station casinos are linked in and they take a $1 rake in addition to the normal rake. This goes into a different pot. The bad beat jackpot starts at $150,000 and is added to everyday that they dont pay it out. To win the jackpot you need to lose with quad tens or better both players must use both hole cards. Each Tuesday the this drops by one level, they havent paid out for 2 weeks for currently you need quad 8s or better. If the jackpot hits the player with the badbeat gets $45k the winner $30k the rest of the table also get a share and then whatever is left gets split between anyone playing at that exact time at all of the station casinos. Also if you get quads at anytime you get $50, straight flush pays $100 and a royal flush $250.

The buy in is from $200-$1000 and i have been buying in for the max of $1000. If i was to do this on the strip they would give it to me all in $5 chips. When the game has been running a few hours the table can be full of $5 chips. The Red Rock gives me $500 in $5 chips and $500 in $25 chips. I know this doesnt sound like much but it really does make a difference and is just that little bit of common sense.


As the Red Rock is off the strip they need to keep the locals happy. The quality of the food and restaurant is excellent. They have restaurants they rival any hotel on the strip.


Your players card gets you $1 per hour played but unlike the strip casino you can use your players card anywhere in the hotel. You can use it in the spa, to go to the cinema or bowling even towards a hotel room.



So with the Red Rock only 2 mins away from the house its a good job that i like it there i guess. Ill still be using the strip but knowing they have 2-3 games running most of the day even midweek is good for me.



Two weeks in and it doesnt really feel like we live in Vegas. Ok the weather is great and we are driving on the wrong side of the road, but really we could be anywhere in the states. We have settled so well our only regret is that we didnt move out here sooner. In the next few weeks people will be coming out to Vegas and ill have a chance to catch up with them and show them around.

I played with a guy in the Venetian the other day who says to me do you rememeber me. I said i do but not sure why. He says to me AA v KK v QQ. I remember straight away. I had played against him in the Mirage some 2 years earlier and we managed to get it all in preflop he had KK i had AA and some idiot was last to call and made a bad call knowing he was behind. Of course the queen arrived on the turn. Why do poker players have this sick memory why cant i just forget about hands that i have played and players i have played against.