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Another One Bites the Dust: El Cortez Poker Room Closes

Discussion in 'The Poker Room' started by PopMegaphone, Jan 3, 2014.

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  1. PopMegaphone

    PopMegaphone VIP Whale

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    This one sucks. I loved to play with the rather crazy cast of characters there, including Jackie Gaughan.

    Source
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2014
  2. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    First place I played poker in Vegas. Count me among the many who are surprised to see it go.
     
  3. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Very sad. I thought it would stay until Jackie did not need it anymore. I wonder how he is.
    I knew many of the dealers there for years. I looked forward to seeing them when I came to town.
    Too bad. Really. A huge loss for me.
     
  4. Buddha

    Buddha VIP Whale

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    The end of a classic era, for sure ... I hope Jackie's OK.

    It was always a little humorous seeing those couple tables squeezed into that small side area. But, I had not seen Jackie playing during the last 3 or 4 trips downtown, when we would drop in for a little VP.
     
  5. Sinatraatthesands

    Sinatraatthesands Low-Roller

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    I was just at Treasure Island this morning and their poker room was closed at 8am on a Saturday morning. For one i applaud them for this line of thinking. If the choice is closing a mid strip poker room completely or sucking it up and taking the stigma of being closed from 3am-11am I'm happy to see it. I think Jackie was probably a little to old school to consider having part of his casino shut down part of the day though.
     
  6. sabre

    sabre Low-Roller

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    I hope the regulars at that room find somewhere else to play. I'm sure they both will.
     
  7. TFK

    TFK High-Roller

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    Played a lot of poker there, and win, lose or draw, always had fun.

    Just another item added to the list of all of the things I love about Vegas that are slowly disappearing.

    TFK
     
  8. joshrocker

    joshrocker VIP Whale

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    Every trip I said I'd play poker here and every trip......I never did. Kind of sad I missed my opportunity.

    Poker rooms are closing at an alarming rate. It's hard to breed new players without the internet training ground.
     
  9. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    I did get to play at the El Cortez poker room once (in 2011)... around 11:00 PM in the 1-3-6 limit game.

    I am by no means an aggressive player. But on the turn, raising from $3 to $6... did they all scatter! I felt really weird, and I only played an hour or so because I felt like I was interrupting their socializing.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  10. PopMegaphone

    PopMegaphone VIP Whale

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    Poker is in decline from its heyday, but also today's players want bigger rooms. It's all about the availability of action. That's why you see the Venetian room expanding and the smaller rooms closing.

    Really, this closure shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. It was an open secret that the only reason the room existed was for Jackie to play. Hopefully he's okay.

    Although I've recently moved to NL games, I loved playing in this room and I'm sad to see it go. There was no other room quite like it.
     
  11. airball1996

    airball1996 High-Roller

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    One of my greatest days spent in Vegas was at the El Cortez with two separate trips to the poker room. Here's the date in question (http://www.omaha-rounders.com/ti/2.htm) and here are the main poker highlights:

    Around this time I was starting to hit some flops. I'd nail two pair right away, and it'd hold up the entire way. The chips were coming my way and I couldn't believe how easy this game had become. During one hand I nearly got into an argument with a regular on my left. His name is Brian, and I can only describe him as a skinny biker type (long greasy hair, mustache that needs to be trimmed, smelly, etc.) The board had showed 2-4-A-K at this point. I had turned a pair of kings and one player was all in for his last three dollars. I raised another three and Brian on my left folded. The river was a blank and the pot came my way with kings being the best hand. Brian said he folded an ace since he didn't like his kicker. I had to disagree with him.

    I said there's no way he folded an ace since there was already about $20 in the pot by the turn. "Yes, I did." No, you didn't....if you had any sort of ace, you're going to call the extra three dollars to see the end of the hand. In no way did I agree with his statement, and thought he was blowing smoke.

    Soon a few other players at the table turned against me since I took a few pots from them too. Granted, I hit a few straights and flushes at the river, and the flops bringing out two pair for me were still coming. This reminded me of the no limit session I had at Bellagio in July. I couldn't lose. They'd be mad at me for playing a jack-3 off suite and hitting. I soon had to set them straight. At one point, I got into it with a muscle head who criticized my play for the final time.

    "Dude, do you realize where you're playing? You're playing at the El Cortez in a 1-3-6 LIMIT game. This reminds me of my home poker games when I was fourteen, only easier."

    By now he gave me the "whatever man, keep playing that way" speech and started to put on his headphones. I asked "Do you want me to play with my cards up? Because I will, and I don't think it's going to help you any. I'll still be taking your chips." I also told them I'm not going to fold anything pre-flop to a one dollar bet at this point. I also told them if I have any sort of draw, or over cards after the flop I'm going to chase it.

    Yeah, I got into a testosterone pissing contest at the worst poker game in Vegas. Having good times, and making friends.

    Another thing that turned me off about the poker room, was the fact that no one really had any respect for betting order. You know, that fundamental rule in poker? It did pay off for me, when I had a King-8 of hearts and flopped the nut flush. Brian on my left bet $6 at the river when it was my turn. The dealer looked at me, and I thought he was going to ask me what the rule is in that situation. In any case, I raised another six bucks and Brian called. He could have saved himself some cash if he knew what he was doing.

    When I hit about $213 dollars I packed it up. The few at the table I got into it with were quiet by now. But alas, nothing is easy. I go to the podium to get my cash, and of course no one is around. It's only the two dealers in the room and both are at full tables. I asked one dealer "Hey man, do you guys just want me to get this myself?" I got a few laughs from the other table but finally the manager came scurrying over to cash me in.




    It was a fun day...
     
  12. joshrocker

    joshrocker VIP Whale

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    Completely agree. You want to go where the action is. I just hate to see the little rooms close because more tables in action are better than less in my opinion. We're going back to what it was like before the poker boom. There will be a couple of decent rooms and everything else will be closed or non-existent.
     
  13. joshrocker

    joshrocker VIP Whale

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    From everything I heard about the room i'm not surprised. It was a bunch of old regulars hanging out. And if you know anything about old regulars, it's that they like to play tight tight tight.

    Plus I think you're giving the everyday player too much credit for knowing and understanding pot odds.

    Me though? I don't argue with anyone. I'd just go along with him and let him think that i'm an idiot. No need to poke the bear. Keep letting him fold in those spots and rake those easy pots in.
     
  14. PopMegaphone

    PopMegaphone VIP Whale

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    For what it's worth, I agree with the grizzled El Co poker player.

    Getting 20:3 on your money on the turn to chase an Ace on the river (9% chance of hitting) isn't good odds. It's worse when you consider limit has tons of multiway pots where top pair is no good. Easy fold.

    edit - Doh! Didn't actually read the hand.
     
  15. Avsman17

    Avsman17 High-Roller

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    I just noticed this room closed on allvegaspoker. Kinda made me sad. I have been reading airballs trip reports for years and after the story he posted above visited the place to play. The 1-3-6 was a bizarre game but I won a few bucks and talked with some locals.

    Sadly there are only two real poker rooms left downtown. This stinks.
     
  16. mescalita

    mescalita old and in the way...

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    This does make me a little sad. I'm guessing that Jackie probably isn't in good enough shape to play anymore. He was the only reason they kept a table open, IMHO. Highlight of my last trip back in October was splitting a monster $24 pot with him when the board paired on the river....
     
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