Strategies for a Smooth Poker Road Trip
If you’re just starting to play live, here are some quick tips to make the trips go a little smoother [and possibly cheaper].
1) If you plan on staying for a few days, call the hotel and ask them if they offer a poker room rate. Almost every casino will offer you a significant discount on your room if you play a few hours per day in their poker room during your stay. If the front desk isn’t helpful, call the poker room directly and ask the floor manager.
2) Get the comps! You’ll be tipping people - in live play, the dealer actually moves instead of being a graphic at the top of the screen. Waitresses bring you drinks instead of your husband, roommate, whatever. Those tips add up, and one of the easiest ways to offset [besides being a lame non-tipping cheapo] is to get your meals for free. The floor probably isn’t going to just walk up and hand you comps though - you have to ask. BEFORE you sit down, ask the floor what their policy on comps is - a lot of places make you get a card that rates your hours and comp you based on that, so if you don’t ask until after you play, you might be out of luck for that day.
3) Bring something to read if you plan to play low limit HE. Players at those tables tend to be slow, and the hands count will be slow enough to begin with. If you have a lot of poker rooms to choose from, call and ask if they have auto-shufflers installed at their tables - a table with an auto shuffler deals about 50% more hands per hour than one without. Also, make sure the room you’re planning to play at ALLOWS you to read at the table - some don’t.
4) Make sure you have something else to do. Playing online, you can always walk away and go mow the lawn, etc. if things start going badly live, you’re going to want to have some kind of alternative to poker so you can get away.
