Reno Trip Report

Well on Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend I drove up to Reno to meet an old friend who would be arriving Sunday. I kind of got this guy into playing poker online a few months back, and our plan was to hit the poker tables there. This would be my first time playing live poker.

I read a bunch of stuff on 2+2 about Reno. The most talked about poker rooms are Peppermill, Eldorado, and Circus Circus. I was staying at Circus Circus. I walked into the Circus Circus poker room at about 9:00pm. As soon as I walked in, the floor manager said to me "We have a no limit seat currently open.." The games they had running were 2/4, 3/6 and 4/8 limit, and this no limit game. They had probably 6-8 tables running.

I asked "what are the stakes in the no limit game?", hoping for an explanation of the blinds. The guy behind the counter just said, "Its no limit! You can bet as much as you have in front of you." After further questioning it turns out this game had two $2 blinds, a minimim bet of $5, and a max buy-in of $250. I thought about it for a while and decided to play 2/4 limit. This was my first time playing in a casino and I thought I would be less intimidated by the 2/4 limit game.

I bought $100 in chips and sat down at the 2/4 table. Play was loose/passive. One thing I thought was odd was that there was only one blind ($2). The rake was 10%, which I think is standard. Anyways, lots of ppl seeing the flop. It didn't take long to figure who the good and bad players were. I could tell that I wasn't the only person playing in a casino for the first time. I ended up playing for like 5 hours, and it was a lot of fun. Players and dealers were all very friendly. I'm not a good limit player, but I was able to stand up with $130.

After cashing out I went over to the Eldorado poker room. This room was way more crowded than Circus Circus. Probably 10-12 tables running and a bunch of people who seemed to be waiting. They also had NL. I guess this is a dumb way to phrase the question, but I again asked "what are the stakes for the no limit game?", and I again got the response "Its no limit! You can bet as much as you want!" Further questioning revealed that there were 3 blinds and the min bet was $10, and there was NO max buy-in. I also noticed that the eldorado had higher stakes limit games. They did not have 2/4. I know they had 5/10, I don't remember if they had higher than that. I didn't play at all at Eldorado, as it was time for me to sleep.

Met up with my friend the next day and hit the Circus Circus room. This was sunday during the day. The room was less crowded (only 3-4 tables running) and the players were a lot better. We played for probably 4 hours and I lost $1. I got slaughtered on a hand where I caught 2-pair with K8s on the turn. Another guy had flopped a higher 2-pair (K's over Q's) and slowplayed it. He ate me for lunch. Other than that, I played well.

My friend also played at the Atlantis on the previous weekend, and he said the lowest stakes game they had was 3/6.

I highly reccomend circus circus if you're looking for low stakes poker in Reno. I don't have anything to compare it to, but I don't know what else you could want in a poker room. The dealers and floor people were all extremely competent and friendly. High rollers, however, should check out Eldorado's poker room.

The rake was 10%, which I think is standard

The key thing to look for is the rake cap, IMO. I have yet to see a live table that doesn't rake 10%, but you're much better off at a table that caps at $3 than one that caps at $5.

Reducing the relative effect of rake is huge incentive to move up limits.