11/6 saturday
driving from el paso to tucson on interstate 10, i drive through a narrow mountain pass surrounded on both sides by giant boulders precariously stacked upon each other. it seems that the slightest breeze will cause them to come tumbling down upon me. it's an unmistakable feeling of deja vu. walt disney must have been here. one of the rides in frontierland in the original disneyland had this same mountain pass! all right!!
if i were to stay in tucson for a couple more days, i'd probably have another "hoo boy! have i got a casino for you!" but i'm moving on to phoenix, and can't put in several sessions to confirm my initial reactions. but i sure liked what i saw at the desert diamond casino, just south of tucson. you take the nogales highway south from interstate 10, and exit at valencia. there's a sign right on the highway which tells you where to go. a couple miles on valencia, another sign, a right turn, and you're there. :) note: the distances on the nogales highway are all measured in kilometers, rather than in miles!
the poker room is separate from the main casino, and adjacent to the bingo parlor. it's a pretty large place, with about 30 tables. they spread 1-4 stud, 3/6 stud, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 6/12, and 10/20 half-kill hold 'em, 4/8 half- kill omaha/8, and a couple other games. you'll almost certainly find what you want here!
i'm greeted almost as soon as i walk in, and am immediately seated at a 6/12 hold 'em game, where they use yellow $2 chips. the two fellows sitting to my immediate left notice my barge chips on the table, and one of them asks me, "do you barge guys mint your own chips each year?" :) both of them read cardplayer magazine, and knew of barge and this newsgroup! in fact, when i told them that my name is "tiger123" one of them actually remembered seeing my name in the magazine! (my screenname has appeared a couple times - nolan dalla has acknowledged my assistance now and then; lou krieger based an article on one of my posts at rgp about rules; mike caro once quoted an entire post of mine composed completely in words of one syllable, etc.)
hey dominick!! hey john!! i hope you find the newsgroup! you're now as big a celebrity as i am! };) it was my pleasure meeting you both! and dom! that fruit cup was *delicious*!! thanks, again!
the room has pretty high ceilings, so smoke isn't too much of a problem. the seats next to the dealers are no-smoking seats, but that doesn't stop the determined smokers from sitting in those seats, lighting a cigarette, and keeping the lit cigarette in an ashtray one foot away from the table. :( cigars and pipes aren't permitted. i thought that the dealers were, in general, pretty good. i didn't see one mistake in four hours of play. that says something, doesn't it? and i thought that the seating control procedures were almost as good as those which i found at the biloxi grand! :)
here's a new one for me: alcohol is not permitted in the cardroom. in fact, it's not permitted anywhere on the casino premises!
some of the usual stuff: cash doesn't play. as a new player in the 6/12, i was required to post (so i waited one hand - i know that much, even if "i don't play hold 'em!"). the rake is 10% to a maximum of $4, but they take an extra dollar for the bad beat jackpot - the fact that the jackpot money is co-mingled with the rake seems quite odd to me. there is food service at the tables, and little side tables for drinks, ashtrays, and food.
i had a chance to speak with shift supervisor ed mcdade, who actually invited me into his office for a little chat. the rulebook, which is not available to players, is derived from an amalgam of various rulebooks, including the las vegas hilton and the common rulebook in los angeles county. they've got a random seat giveaway. they run a $22+3 no rb hold 'em tourney on sunday mornings; the tuesday and thursday tourneys ($12 + 3 and $27 + 3 respectively) alternate among hold 'em, omaha and stud.
the hold 'em jackpot was hit while i was there, but not at my table. at the 3/6 table right next to mine, one player held an a q offsuit. another player had pocket kings. the board was a 2 a j a. four aces with a queen beat aces full of kings. it was worth more than $14,900!!
quality of play? what can i say? i won $192 in less than four hours! i bought myself a souvenir baseball cap, and i'm going back for the tournament tomorrow! :)
11/7/99 sunday
i had too much fun at desert diamond so i had to go back one more time! here are some more observations about the room:
here, as at the biloxi grand, when the seating control person has 12 or 15 names on a list for a new game, they first call out an "interest list" to find out how many people are still in the room and how many people want to play in the new game. when there are enough players to spread the new game, and not disturb the existing games, and when they have enough new players to replace people at the old game, then - and only then - do they call down the new game.
they use the forward moving button rule here. and i saw something that i've never seen so far: "buying the button." a player who has missed both his blinds returns to the table. the button is to his immediate right. under most cardroom procedures, this player would not be permitted to re-enter the game: "you can't come back into the little blind." however, under the rule used at this casino, this player is permitted to post both his big blind (which is dead) and his little blind (which is live) and get a hand.
i guess that last night, i happened to catch all of the good dealers. it was, after all, saturday night. today, i had several dealers who were much slower than what i saw last night, and who made several mechanical mistakes in pitching cards, etc. still, dealers here were, overall, pretty good.
at about 1 pm, they bring in a couple dozen pizzas! everybody has lunch!! :)
at 2 pm, they held a random high hand giveaway. if you win a hand with eights full, or better, you fill out a ticket. all the tickets are placed in a big drum, and drawings are held regularly. this afternoon, my old friend dominick angulla (we met last night!) had his ticket drawn. he walked up to the lottery board, where the winner can select a number of lettered cards. the prizes include cash of $2000, $5000, $10,000, a golf cart, etc. so dominic picks a card! he won a brand new buick sentry!! wtg dominick!! :)
by 3 pm, the room had filled up again. i noted that dealers in this room carry their own racks, and they keep their own tips. two maniacs sit down at my 4/8 omaha/8 will full kill, and immediately the game turns into a shoot 'em up. i have a small loss, and i'm ready to book it, when....
"here's tiger! i found him!! presto!!!"
i'll be damned! david "adb-iceman" trinidad has driven all the way from phoenix to be the first one to identify me at desert diamond! and he wins a green satin tropicana jacket! and that's not all! david insists i cancel my motel reservation and stay with him and his wife, cathy! how nice! :)
so we high-tail it out of tucson, and head towards david's place!! moving westward from tucson to phoenix, i drive through picacho pass, with the stark promontory of mt. picacho on my left, and the massive bulk of black mountain on my right. i don't often use this word: it was *awesome*!
david and cathy live well north of phoenix, in a beautiful and spacious adobe house. there are the usual cacti surrounding the house, and a tiny patch of grass next to the outdoor pool! my entire studio apartment could fit into their living room! ;) david is a programmer for ascend, and does most of his work at home; cathy is a nurse at the national institute of health engaged in research about diabetes. she's also a full-blooded native american (a member of the lumbee tribe), who's got a genuine north carolina drawl! the lumbees are a branch of the cherokee tribe, but each year the cherokees veto the lumbees' attempt to be recognized as a separate tribe. the trinidads are wonderful and lovely people who gave me the run of their house (and pool!). sunday evening, we talk computers, law, medicine and, of course, poker! :)
stay tuned!
tiger
[ Tiger's next stop is the Casino Arizona at Salt River in Scottsdale, AZ ]
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Kenneth R. Churilla