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Night at TI
I walked over to TI's poker room at about 11:30 one night after my wife went to bed. I had never been there before and had to take two laps around the casino floor to actually find the poker room. Once I did, though, I was glad because it's not actually on the floor - it's a little ways down a hallway. This separation from the floor (as long as you can find it) is a good thing, however - because not only are you not allowed to smoke in the poker room, you can't smoke right outside it, either! They make people go all the way over to the casino floor in order to smoke. This was a big plus for me - being further away from both direct and lingering smoke. It's also nice and quiet because of this, too.
When I got there, they only had 3 tables going. A 2-4 Limit, a 1-3 NL (100$ min, 500$ max) and a mixed game. You don't see the latter one very often. I was curious and surprised....but I stayed away from it and played the 2-4 Limit table. I was second on the waiting list but the first guy must have left because I got the first opening after waiting 5-10 minutes.
As I sat down I quickly noticed a guy two seats to my left who appeared to have had too much to drink and was hemhorraging chips. Unfortunately, I didn't get to benefit from this until one hand later in the night - but several of my table-mates went up several hundred dollars because of this guy.
I found the dealers to be friendly and good at what they do. Not the best I've had but good. One minor drawback - and this may be just a picky thing for me, I'm not sure. I didn't enjoy the playing surface. TI has forgone the traditional green "felt" that's not really felt and is using their own design featuring their "Sirens". And I'm not sure what the material is for the actual cloth they used, but it prevented the cards from really sliding well on the table or moving. Not that I had a hard time picking them up or looking at them...but the cards would catch the table frequently and be tough to pick up. Again, this isn't a big thing but it was a little nuisance throughout the night that seemed to grate on me.
Other than that, I had a fine time there. Drink service was good and at about 2:30 I decided it would be better to cash out while up $83 dollars and get a good night's sleep than to risk losing more AND have my wife run circles around me the next day.
FWIW, they are re-doing all the tables (adding a drop-box for jackpot collections) and re-felting them in the process (some of the tourney tables are already re-done; you can tell by the position of the shuffler and the new drop-box to the left of the dealer). The new felt looks the same, but is much cleaner/smoother.
Ti is my current homebase casino. Though I do not play late at night or LHE, I agree that the general clientele there is of the loose and gambling tourist variety.
Like Pete said, the felt is getting redone on the tables to add the jackpot. Though I personally am not a fan of JP drops, I can see how it will benefit TI in the long run, for room longevity.
The down the corner aspect of the poker room definately has advantages and disadvantages. I enjoy the intimate aspect of the poker room, and the overall "Darker" atmosphere.
I find the staff to be top notch, and amongst the friendliest in town, but that is rather easy for me to say since I have spent so much time there, thus have been able to get to know everyone on a more personal level.
Thanks for contributing your report!