The Peppermill recently finished a major upgrade to their previous poker room in time for the Heartland Poker Tour and Jennifer Harmon charity tournaments.
The previous room felt a bit like a dungeon with lighting hand right above tables and was separated from the main casino floor by a 3 foot, curved rail. I appreciated the dim lighting, but hated the incursion of smoke that frequently accompanied the room and other noise from passersby.
The new room is a real thing of beauty. I'm told that the owners did a study of some of the nicer Vegas poker rooms like the Venetian, Wynn and Aria in order to build a room similar to their high-fallutin standards. I'd say they succeeded.
The new room is mostly enclosed by glass and includes a high stakes/tournament sub-area. With 19 tables, it is the largest poker room in the Reno-Sparks area.
The room features expensive chairs (1000 each is the rumor, probably true), very high ceilings, many nice wood features, a shiny metallic red ceiling, numerous large screen TVs (including a massive one in the room's center), a high stakes/tournament sub-room in the back and nice compartmentalization away from cigarette smoke. Part of the initial opening hoopla and recent tournament traffic is in effect, so it's hard to tell what the eventual stable traffic levels will be, but for now it's the busiest room in town. (Opening day was Cinco de Mayo this year). The room features a beverage bar with coffee, tea and sodas as well as soup that is all self-serve and complimentary.
Before the new room opening, the Peppermill had the best game variety in town. While many rooms only spread 1-2 no limit holdem, the Peppermill was spreading 2-4 limit, 3-6 limit, 6-12 limit and 15-30/20-40 limit as well as 1/2 no limit. They also had a regular HORSE and Razz games. Now you'll find 2-3 no limit added to the mix. I assume they get a stud game at times as well.
The room isn't run efficiently and there are numerous delays and problems with their waiting list management, the biggest issue being that they realize that T-mobile text messages don't go through, yet they do little about it. I don't know, but I've been told that Verizon paid for a signal booster to be place in the Peppermill whereas T-mobile wanted the Peppermill to pay for the device and they wouldn't. Quality of dealers is worse than average for the area. Numerous mistakes have required me to closely watch dealers to make sure pots and bets are the correct amount AND that pots go to the correct person.
I've found late on weekday nights (like 2-3 a.m.) 2 games of 1-2 no limit holdem and one game of 2-3 no limit holdem on more than one occasion. Not bad. I suspect the Peppermill is stealing some of the traffic from nearby Atlantis. I know they've gotten some traffic from the GSR poker room, but given GSR's far superior compensation, I can say that the GSR will probably get them back.
There's also two nice lounge areas nearby screens displaying wait lists and table/game availabilities with overstuffed chairs and couches.
I remain unimpressed with the competence and helpfulness of the floor staff. Standing around the main desk and being surprised by customers needing help or having difficulty helping two in succession with grace is not the way to run a room. You need to do better. read more