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 Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Hotel Review
Well I just stayed there for the week and here's my review.
Hotel: Right off the bat this place is top notch. Very courteous and fast. And being that it's almost less than a year old. Everything is immaculate. Which was in direct contrast with where I was originally staying in Tampa. My wife and I got a Double Queen non smoker. And the room was huge. Plenty of walking space. And any amentity you might need they will get for you. We wanted a crib, they can do that. We wanted an extra refridgerator, they could do that. We wanted to stay free of charge, ummmm....no. Room service was quick and the food tasted great. What I found funny about the place was that although it was a Hard Rock property. There was no Hard Rock Cafe (HRC)to eat at. Three resturants and a food court and no HRC. Go figure. Just on the hotel's merits alone I'd go back to Tampa in a heart beat, but I'd play somewhere else. The hotel accomodates pets also.
Casino: Where, oh where, do I begin? First off. No table games other than poker. So basically, unless you are a slots junkie. Bingo is the only other game in the joint with poker. I hate not having options. The poker room itself wasn't all that bad. Aside from having to deal with catching black lung due to there being smoking allowed. I was happy with the amount of available tables. What really blew was the limits allowed. Due to some Florida/Indian law snafu. Limit Poker was the only thing allowed for ring games and the highest limit allowed was $2/$2. Come on, what kind of crap is that? So here's what was available to me. $1/$2 limit Hold'em, $2/$2 limit Hold'em, $2/$2 Omaha H/L, $1/$2 7CS, and $2/$2 7CS. That's it, that's all. The casino did however have a wide array of tournaments to choose from once a day. This was the only way to get some NL action. And the buy ins were relatively inexpensive, between $85 and $200.
As far as the poker experience goes. This place is fish central. Besides lots of unsuspecting tourists, the gambling age limit of 18 brings alot of inexperience to the tables. And with an $8 dollar cap on betting rounds the games are very loose. Like, Best little whore house in Texas, loose. People would and did play anything and everything. My worst bad beat of the night was having my set Aces beat by, no lie, a runner runner Royal Flush. I looked at the guy and just laughed. And he knew I was luaghing at him. He looked emabarrased to rake in the pot. But whatever, it's poker right. For whatever reason, I have trouble with loose games anyways. I hate crap shoots. Thus the reason I only played two nights out of the week. But I was still able to leave plus $100 dollars playing $2/$2 Hold'em. The wildest games were the Omaha H/L games at $2/$2. The flop, turn, and river were always capped with no exception. And you had at least 75 to 80% seeing the flop. I played it a little and won a few hands, but got the hell out of dodge when my name was called for Hold'em. People actually looked at me funny for folding preflop. Like I was some sort of tourist.  Another thing I found weird was there was no dead button rule, and you did not have to post a blind to get into the action when you first sit down.
One feature I liked was the progressive jackpots the Hard rock ran. Basically I can attribute this to the looseness of the games. Dependent on the game you were playing, you needed a Royal of a certain suit to win that jackpot. For Hold'em you needed the spade royal. Too bad the cock bag that drew out his Royal on me was holding clubs. He still got the $100 dollars for having a royal though, which was the prize for any royal flush.
I guess if you're young and on a limited bankroll the Seminole isn't a bad destination for you to play. The games are loose and fast. If you're a family man or a hardcore poker player. There are other places in Florida to play. Derby Downs was one such place I was told. As well as poker ships that set sail on a daily basis. If I ever make it back there I'll have to look into those options further. And the women of Tampa are hot. Must be something in the water. Plump juicy J-lo like asses all over the place. And I was looking in spite of the wifes evil eye.
So like I said in another thread. I got some real quality time with the family due to the lame poker. And overall I had a good experience in Tampa, even though I missed out on Busch Gardens.
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