New York City Poker Room Reviews -- Midtown

[Ed. note: This is the sixth in an ongoing series of reviews of the major New York City Poker Rooms. Due to the quasi-legality of these games, no room will be mentioned by name or specific address. While I realize these restrictions limit the usefulness of the reviews, I also respect that most of these rooms are trying to operate without drawing much attention to themselves. Anyone interested in learning more specifics about any club should contact me directly.]

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been over two months since my last review. As an act of penance, I have prepared the following review of Manhattan's newest card club. Maybe the good Lord can find it in his heart to forgive me.

Wednesday is normally my night to attend the weekly game at Above Malibu. Unfortunately, the first game of 2005 was cancelled because a group needed rehearsal space. The nerve! Don't they know that there's a poker game that goes on in there on Wednesdays? As a result, I was all set to wrap it up at work and head home for the 15/30 grind on Party, when my good friend the Duchess posted the following to the Above Malibu message board:

Free Roll Tonight
My friend's club is officially opening tonight and in honor of the occassion the club is hosting a $2,000 prize pool Free Roll Tournament! Starting at 7pm. Tell them you're friends with me!!!

It's a really cute club opening up. Very sweet owners, you guys would really feel right at home there. And it's f'ing free, dudes! Sheffield is a dealer there, and I manage the waitresses!

Who can pass up a freeroll at a brand new club where two of my friends work? Even though I figured the structure would be bad (I mean, hey -- it's a freeroll), it would be a nice opportunity to check out a new room. And it was only two subway stops from my office. I was sold.

Fast forward to 7pm and I arrive at the location, a narrow building that you could easily miss, smack dab in the heart of midtown Manhattan. I followed two guys into the vestibule (it wasn't a lobby) of the building to wait for the antiquated, 1930s style elevator. You know, the kind with a door that opens outward.

A few minutes later, we were all hoofing it up the five flights of stairs to the club, cursing the non-functioning elevator. One of my companions remarked, "Well, at least the club won't get shut down. Cops are too lazy to climb the stairs." There was all manner of trash and debris in the hallway outside the club, making it difficult to get the door open. So far, I wasn't impressed.

That changed once I got inside the club. I'm not sure what I noticed first: the very impressive decor, or the gigantic mob of people crowding around the front desk, trying to get a seat in the freeroll. I had a bad feeling that I wasn't going to get a seat as I pushed my way forward through the throng.

Let's back up a minute, though, so I can discuss the decor. Stylish is a good one-word summation. Lots of exposed brick, lots of triangular red, yellow, white and orange lights hanging low over the tables from the ceiling, and an orange wall (in the places where there was no exposed brick) that somehow managed not to be all that jarring. A large aquarium was built into a wall in the back of the club, behind which was a small lounge, tastefully appointed with a few comfy couches, a large television, and a tray of snacks and coffee. A small triangular "smoking chamber" completely walled off a portion of one corner. It was about as big as a confessional, with the one salient difference being the large window that allowed people in the lounge to see into it. It was quite comical watching six smokers try to squeeze in there and light up without setting each other ablaze.

Five of the seven tables in the club are all laid out along the long side wall of the club, front to back, with the other two tucked into opposite corners. I heard one woman complain that the club was too narrow, and it definitely does feel a bit like walking down a long hall, but not uncomfortably so, and Sheffield said he thinks it's nice to be able to look down a row of five tables. The felt on one of the tables I sat at wasn't exactly tight against the table, but I imagine that's the type of issue which may be corrected at a later date.

Waitress service was top-notch. I expect nothing less from the Duchess, and was not disappointed. The usual soft drinks were available, in addition to the snacks that I already mentioned.

One of the owners of the club, the guy who was organizing the freeroll, was an older man named Ray. He was clearly swamped, a victim of his own success in publicizing the freeroll. He did the best that he could, and seemed like a decent guy. It seems that he and the other owners are going to try to cater more towards higher end players, by spreading games like: $5-$5 NLHE, no max buy-in; pot limit omaha; and 20-40 rotation games on a somewhat regular basis. The question is whether there will be a playerbase to sustain these games. I don't know. There were definitely several high rollers in the crowd last night, and maybe the room will siphon off some of the players from other city card rooms.

Now, a word about the freeroll: at the request of several players, Ray turned it into what I like to call a freebuy tournament -- every one got their entry for free, and then there were unlimited $40 rebuys in the first hour (you could take a double if you busted). As I wound up about ten or fifteen deep on the waiting list to get a seat and had no intention of contributing any money towards the tournament, I was pretty disappointed by this decision. Still, some food had been ordered to celebrate the opening of the club, so I took the opportunity to chow down and to watch a few of the tables. I finally got called halfway into Level 2, about a half hour into the tournament.

My T400 didn't have much of a prayer against the stacks at the table, but I did the best I could. I hadn't played but one hand through the end of Level 3, and was ground down to T250. On the first hand of Level 4, 25/50, it folded to me in the cutoff and I open-raised all-in blind. The button and the big blind called, and my 84o sucked out on the river by making a full house (T-6-4-T-4). That gave me a little breathing room, but I still didn't really have the stack to outplay anybody. I folded lots more crap until finally pushing 550 at the 50/100 Level with A9. I got called by KK, and that was it. None of the players at my table was particularly great (several were decent), I just was so severely outstacked that I didn't have many weapons.

Surprisingly, the tournament was down to three tables by that point, and a few cash games had started up. I'm not sure if the structure we used is going to be the standard tournament structure for the room (20 minute rounds, blinds started at 5/10, T400). It's not the worst structure, but it's also not the best. Mixed marks in this category.

I opted not to sit in any cash games. Maybe next time.

Location: It couldn't be any more central. The closest subway (the F train) is two blocks away, and Times Square, where All Subway Lines in the Known Universe (except the F train) Converge is just a few blocks further.
Hours: 6pm-4am every day
Club Atmosphere: Very stylish, but not in an overstated way.
Extras: Soft drinks and snacks. Plus, cute waitresses to serve them.
Quality of Play: Unknown
Tournament Structure: Average
Cash Games: 1/2 NL, 5/5 NL (no max for either); supposedly other games including PLO, Rotation, and higher limits of holdem will be spread on a rotating schedule. We'll see about that. Before you ask, I have no idea what the lowest limit holdem table is that will be spread. As I stated above, I think the room may try to cater to higher-stakes players.
Playerbase: Well, there were at least 100 people there for the freeroll last night. Hopefully, many of them will continue to play there on a regular basis.
Worth Your Time?: Yes