The Muckleshoot poker room is in transition. A couple of weeks ago they closed down the original, big room for updating, including new carpet, and shifted the action to the year-old addition.As an extension of the existing room, the "new" room seemed fine to me -- 16 new tables taking the overflow, allowing bigger tournaments and shortening the wait for a game. Plus there was talk of cool new high-tech improvements, like an electronic board to manage the waiting lists and card readers at the tables that would automatically record players' hours for the purpose of promotions. I also liked the direct doors to the outside, so you don't have to walk through the smoky casino to get to the smoke-free poker room.
But with the opening between the rooms walled off, the addition feels cramped and airless, a long narrow hold-em hallway with no amenities save the sports-tuned flat-screen TVs. And so far at least, the improvements are a no-show: They just moved over the old, big dry-erase board to manage the list, and the auto card readers aren't in use. In my couple of visits during this transition period, the dealers have universally grumbled about the room; the tables are uncomfortable for dealing, they say. One dealer said all the furniture was ordered by "someone upstairs who's never played poker, let alone dealt."
I don't know. I was dealt a straight flush on the flop one day last week -- good for a $300 high hand prize in addition to the pot -- and I've cashed out a winner on both trips, so I'm not complaining.
One strange result of the construction: There's no direct access to restrooms from the addition; you have to walk outside, down the sidewalk and then back through the main casino entrance. Kind of a pain.
Last week a kid got up on his blind to make the trek, came back five minutes or so later, then left again after one hand. When he got back I said, Dude, you missed your button. He said he realized he left his watch in the bathroom and had to go back to get it. Some kind of Larry Craig foot-tapping ritual going on there, I think, but whatever.
The old room is scheduled to reopen, recombining both halves, next weekend.
