Our Recommended choices for casino com

The Yavapai casino is a tiny spot along highway 69 (1505 East), but big brother Bucky's at the top of the hill includes a 162-room resort with a nice mixture of slots and table games.

When you get there you can have a nice sandwich at Bucky's Cafe for $3.99 (with a player's club card) and then wash it down with $1 drafts.

Once slated, you can head to the pit and play a little blackjack for as little as two-bucks a hand. Yeah, that's the Old West!

Bucky's also features a spacious poker room on the third floor. If you're in town, take a drive over to the casino and check it out. The games are lively and friendly. Expect the Texas Hold'em games to be $3/6.

A Day in Prescott, Arizona originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Friday, April 20th, 2012 at 16:28:54.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Goodbye Amarillo Slim Preston! You will be greatly missed by the poker community.

Amarillo Slim, World famous gambler, 83, died overnight in hospice care in Amarillo. He leaves a legend bigger than Texas when it comes to tall tales and tall mountians of chips he won in poker games, ping pong matches, pool halls and dance halls. The man never met a bet he didn't want to find a way to win. He bet on everything and anything, as told in his memoir, Amarillo Slim In a World of Fat People.

A long-time pool hustler and poker player (who partnered with Sailor Roberts and Doyle Brunson in the 1950's), Slim was well known in the poker world when he won the WSOP Championship in 1972. He wasn't known much beyond the Texas circuit of poker games and Las Vegas, however. But after the championship win, the never-at-a-loss-for-words Preston became a favorite on TV shows after stories of his championship ran in Parade magazine, which was inserted in millions of Sunday newspapers across the country.

Afterwards, Preston was a regular on The Tonight Show and was seen on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, To Tell The Truth and even What's My Line. He was colorful, brash, funny, and a perfect ambassador for the poker world. He will be missed.

This year's WSOP starts on Sunday May 27, 2012 with the $500 entry Casino Employee, No-Limit Hold'em tournament. It's a great kick-off for the summer.

Besides the WSOP, I'll be heading to Lake Tahoe for a few weeks of R&R, and maybe back east for the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival. If you haven't been to Caesars Entertainment's properties during the last week of July to drink down your share of the wine and feast on dozens and dozens of food station goodies, you just don't know what you are missing.

The festival starts July 26.............don't miss out!

Goodbye Amarillo Slim! originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 17:49:45.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

"Nick the Greek" said, "the only thing better than betting and winning, is betting and losing." Well, I hate to lose, so I say the only thing better than betting and winning, is getting a bunch of freebies. If you haven't joined a player's club or slot club, you won't be able to take advantage of all the deals out there right now, so join the fun!

I spend more time in Nevada than in casinos on the east coast, so I'm used to getting all my drinks for free. Sometimes I even get a bottle of apple or orange juice for later. And since the drinks are free, I don't mind tipping the cocktail servers because they deal with crazy gamblers all night. That can't be easy.

Drinking alcohol and gambling is like those rear view mirrors with the sticker that says "objects in mirror may appear larger than actual size," your bankroll may appear larger than it is if you drink, so be careful with those free cocktails. Beyond the drinks though, it's always nice to grab some freebies. Look for clubs that offer double points or even 5x points on certain days. The South Point Casino in Vegas has a 5x slots points and 2x video poker points day on the 28th of May. They also have $49 room rates and $59 2-night packages. You can probably pay for that with your points if you put in the hours! At the South Point, 1000 points are worth $3 and every $1 in action gets 1 point.

At Station Casinos like Fiesta and Boulder, 1000 points are worth $1, but you get 3 points for every $1 in action. Several of the Station casinos have room rates as low as $39 a night, and points can be used for cash back, food, movies, bowling, etc.

At Coast Casinos like the Orleans and Gold Coast have room rates right now from $26 per night. With the Coast's B Connected club, earn 25,000 points and then you get 2x points all the time!

The Aquarius offers loyal players double points and energetic players can increase their points to 3x and even 4x.

The Riverside offers Bonus Points for cash. Every $5 coin-in earns you 1 point. Every 1000 points receives $10 cash, and room deals (often free) are offered to all club members.

The Colorado Belle and Edgewater offer $5 in slot play to new club members and an incentive of up to $250 for 48 hours. Earn 1000 points and receive $25.

The Avi casino has 2x points every Thursday.

The Tropicana and River Palms have 5x points on video poker and 15x points on slots for new members.

The Pioneer offers 5x points for new members and 3x points on special days.

At Harrah's, you can see Sheryl Crow in concert for $179 with a 2-night stay package for two guests.

Don't settle for just a free drink. Go out and get some real freebies!

Where's My Free Drink? originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at 18:58:24.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

I mentioned recently that Fitzgerald's casino in Downtown Las Vegas was going through a major refurbishing and a name change to The D. Well, fortunes are looking up for the new owners!

I have to admit that on my last trip I stayed down the avenue at the Golden Nugget. But it appears I missed out on $27 room rates Sunday through Thursday. Bummer!

My friend Emma did stay at The D and found the rooms to be clean and nicely furnished, especially for the price. Apparently the room fees included a free breakfast. That's a nice extra.

What we both experienced was a very large crowd in the downtown area Friday and Saturday night. Unlike years ago, Downtown Vegas is now a happening place on weekends. There are live bands, kiosks with souvenirs, margaritas, and lots of twenty-somethings.

Unfortunately, that also means that inside the casinos the music is loud (very) because a heady crowd of young gamblers are there to party. It's kind of like Spring Break with no beach. That's good for the small casinos that need the play.

As a more sedate gambler, I could do without the dancing girls on platforms, but of course I've seen the same thing in a pit outside the poker room at Caesars on the Strip. So, as Emma mentioned, it's not likely to be our first choice to play craps since it's impossible to hear the call of the dice.

One of the things I love about craps is the occasional stick-person who has a personality that completely transforms the game into Craps Land where the calls are colorful, the jokes flow, and the dice run hot. That's a gambler's heaven.

Heck, even choppy dice are tolerable with a good craps crew! So, don't be afraid of the new D. Just be ready to party more than gamble.

Trip Report - The D in Las Vegas originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 at 16:05:07.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

A fellow told me a story last night about ordering a drink from the cocktail server at a poker table. She was cute and quick, but she spilled his drink on the way back from the bar, so she said, "Gee, I'm sorry, I spilled half your drink here." She set down his drink and a very wet napkin, smiled, and added, "Now don't you worry, I'll get you another." She then disappeared for ten minutes. When she came back she smiled and said, "You thought I forgot about you, huh? I didn't, here's your clean napkin!"

Now that's funny. But that's not all, because a floor supervisor had heard both discussions and he said, "Hey, let's get this guy a new drink, all right." But the server said, "No, I'm sorry, it's after 2am now and we already had last call, give me your glass." Now that's a bad beat story. And, it's the first bad-bead story I ever heard that was funny, or I was actually interested in.

If you don't know what a bad-beat story is, consider yourself lucky. There are plenty of poker terms that every player should learn, but all those lucky player bad-beat, suckout, and tournament bubble ones should go straight to the trash bin. Sure, I've told them myself, but I'm not sure why. Probably because I like to hear myself talk.

On the other hand, there are plenty of funny things that happen on games that should be repeated. I thought it was funny when a young player begged several times for a pretty woman at the table to show him her hand after she made a large reraise and he pondered and tossed his cards in the muck. She also pondered, then tabled her cards, showing a busted flush. He looked at her with such a hurt look I almost felt sorry for him as he said, "Girls aren't supposed to lie!"

Oh yeah? Welcome to the new world! There are plenty of ladies out there who can knock your socks off with their poker playing. And, most of those ladies have a pretty good sense of humor! Enjoy.

Say What? Heard at the Poker Table originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 18:43:46.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

I was waiting impatiently for a playable hand in an Omaha-eight game the other day and my mind wandered off without me. I started thinking of the way things have changed over the past decade or so in poker rooms. The best thing I could think of was that many poker rooms are non-smoking now. After spending the previous decade sucking-up second hand smoke and having my eyes continually bloodshot from the perpetual cloud of toxins around the game, my body is much happier now! That's progress.

I'm not sure I like having TV's all over the walls, because I get distracted by them, and I can't figure out why. I mean, how many times can I watch the same highlights on ESPN? Many times, apparently. I am happy the chairs are better now though. Some joints used to have the worst little chairs, no padding, and they didn't roll around or anything. The horror!

Poker terms have changed, but it really doesn't matter whether you spike a set on the turn, or catch trips, it's still three of a kind. And, it's still nice when players exhibit some manners. That's what I thought when my mind returned from wherever it went to. Probably because there was a young lady playing in my Omaha game who smiled, spoke pleasantly, and even showed down some obvious losers when calling.

She didn't fire her cards into the muck with disgust when she lost. She just tabled her hand and congratulated the winner. I got to say, "Thank you," and rake the chips on several occasions myself, and you know, when I got counterfeited on a big hand and she scooped a monster pot, I just showed my hand and smiled. It only hurt a little.

It never hurts to show some poker etiquette, and, players don't mind losing so much when the game is lively and friendly. And, if you spend your life on the green felt playing table coach, knock it off. Nobody on the game cares how much you know. The dealer is likely to be able to handle any situation, give 'em a chance.

Which reminds me, as much as today's new players might think they are different than yesterdays, they really aren't. Why? Because no matter how experienced and well-read (within the realms of poker strategy books) new players are, the percentages haven't changed any since twenty years ago. The hands are still made just as often, the pot odds are calculated the same, and......... somehow there is still the same percentage of good players and bad.

That's right. Amazingly, the game still produces the same number of winners and losers once the year ticks past and New Year's Eve ends. So, as always, you have to put your best game on the table to take down the chips. And, there's nothing wrong with being polite. It only hurts a little.

My What Nice Poker Etiquette You Have originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 18:32:25.

Permalink | Comment | Email this