Texas Hold 'Em Question

[vabeach14]

My wife and I are going on the Carnival Pride in June. We're not new to crusing, but we've never been on Carnival before. I have a couple of questions about poker on the ship...

How frequent are the Texam Hold 'Em tournaments? Or are there mostly cash games? Is there more than one table? Is there typically a wait to play? Any details you can add would be helpful. Thanks!

[*Mach*]

Sadly, unless you're lucky enough to be on a cruise with a poker group on board you'll have to put up with the electronic 'Poker Pro' tables.

http://www.pokertek.com/pokerpro.html

 

I don't like 'em but some folks say they're wonderful...

:rolleyes:

[lukegr]

Sadly, unless you're lucky enough to be on a cruise with a poker group on board you'll have to put up with the electronic 'Poker Pro' tables.

 

http://www.pokertek.com/pokerpro.html

 

I don't like 'em but some folks say they're wonderful...

 

:rolleyes:

Thanks for that link, I was wondering what these looked like. I was picturing something like a slot machine. Have you ever played these? If so, do people just play cash games, or are there tournaments?

 

Thanks

[*Mach*]

Thanks for that link, I was wondering what these looked like. I was picturing something like a slot machine. Have you ever played these? If so, do people just play cash games, or are there tournaments?

 

Thanks

 

 

Yeah... I played 'em. There's both cash games and tournies...

You'll see them announced in the Capers...

[lukegr]

Yeah... I played 'em. There's both cash games and tournies...

 

You'll see them announced in the Capers...

Nice! Thanks Mach.

[tommy]

I havent played it on a ship,the only time I played on a ship it had dealers an chips.I think these are completely computers.You give cashier your money they give you a card you insert into machine and thats how much you play with.They do have tournaments also.These do take some getting us to but the games go much faster.

[wileekiottee]

I agree dealers with real cards and chips are better, but these tables are better than no poker at all and seem to be the wave of the future as they are cheaper to operate. We had one on last year's cruise and had a blast. One up side is you get more hands per hour and no dealer mistakes. Another is if you can garner enough interest with folks at the table you can start your own game with real chips in another part of the ship just like a home game . . . . that's what we did and we made some new friends in the process.

[Shaky44]

The pokertek tables are ok at best. I'd rather play with cards and chips personally. The games on the boat can be a little on the loose side. Also, the rake is rather steep (10% to a $6 max IIRC).

On my cruise this January on the Spirit, the rake was 12.5% with no max. We had some $200 pots where the rake was $25. Yes, $25.00. Even with no flop, the rake was $0.75. What are you going to do, head over the the casino down the road?

 

The no cap rake really makes you consider betting the river when you have the nuts, but it's likely to be a split pot (i.e. Ax with a board of KQJTx).

 

By the way, I actually really like the pokertek tables. Seeing the bet and pot amounts make it easy to compute pot odds and the game moves SO much quicker.

 

Shaky

[Cruisin'Trooper]

Just came off the Freedom - There were plenty of 1 - 2 no limit games all night long and only 2 tournaments.

[Hotelfixer]

Put me down as a NON Fan. The poker pro table on my May5 Glory had a rake of 14%. It is like someone said, What are you going to do leave the ship for another casino?

 

There was a reasonably regular group of guys that like the game and played the first few nights... On the second night someone noticed that after the first two hours the only winner was the house. Nearly 600.00 was gone from the game.

 

It is fast paced and every play on a timer. By the fourth night, nobody was playing at all. I myself have some doubt as to the randomness of the table. I witness a Royal Flush beating 4 of a kind on two different occasions. The odds of that just seem so overwhelming it's hard to believe it was random chance. Lucky for me i was not in the hand at the time.

 

They have made it easy to play however. Just insert your sign and sail card and one minute later there is a charge to your account. Good Luck and enjoy....

[JoeU]

On my cruise this January on the Spirit, the rake was 12.5% with no max. We had some $200 pots where the rake was $25. Yes, $25.00. Even with no flop, the rake was $0.75. What are you going to do, head over the the casino down the road?

 

This is absolutely criminal! I would have complained to the casino host and the casino manager. They will probably lie and say there is nothing they can do about it.

 

I would then encourage the people in the game to spread a side game in the card lounge or some other area. You can buy $1 and $5 chips at the cage and play whatever you like, rake free. On the Miracle in May of 07, we ended up running our own tourneys with players from the game because the $6 rake was excessive. If the rake is really 12%-14% with no cap in 2 weeks, I'm pretty sure I won't play. You're odds are better at the slot machine at that point!:eek:

 

Joe