Poker in Perth - REVIEW

Perth is a beautiful city, with clear blue skies almost every time I visit, close drive to vineyards, fruit orchards and wonderful scenery every where you look. This is my second time visiting Perth and both times I rented a car. Highly recommend that you do so. Public transport is not very convenient and taxis aren’t cheap either. Traffic is usually pretty good apart from the city centre and plenty of free parking everywhere. 

Beautiful Perth sky with sweet and juicy strawberries

The casino is also part of the Crown group however they do have a different rake system. There’s no time charge and they fix the rake not by percentage but by different calculation. It ends up being slightly better than the 10% in Melbourne and the cap is at around 4-5 big blinds. There’s no jackpot in play but that doesn’t bother me. The jackpot in Sydney and Melbourne is pretty impossible to hit anyways. 

The most popular game is 1/3, buy-in cap is at 100bb. Occasionally when there are enough players, they will have a 2/5 game with a buy-in cap at 200bb. The game in my opinion is much softer than Melbourne and Sydney with some really crazy players overcalling with one pair or a low equity draw. There are lots of regulars that play there, but most of them are not tough to play at all. 

Had a couple of good sessions there

Dealers are generally pretty good and efficient, however the seem more laid back than their Australian counterparts. I also encountered a rude floor man who made up a new rule just to argue with me and a seemingly racist dealer. He reacted quite differently to a similar situation involving players of two different races. There are no free drinks or food but there’s a water dispenser available within the poker area. 

Perth is definitely worth visiting. The game at the casino is not 24 hours, so you’ll have time to explore the city and its surroundings. On weekdays the game starts in the afternoon but I recommend playing around or after dinner time. Within the city is King’s Park where you can escape the hustle and bustle or go for a nice picnic. The park overlooks the city centre and has great views all around. If you have a car you can drive to Swan Valley. There are vineyards offering free wine and cheese tasting. However I would not recommend that you buy the Cheeses. We bought one that was 3x the price from a local supermarket. In Swan Valley there’s a chocolate factory as well and yes there’s free chocolate. So if you have a nagging girlfriend who’s fed up with your constant poker grinding, you’ll spoil her with the wine and chocolate without spending a cent! 

The other place to visit in Freemantle and Cottlesloe Beach. The water is amazingly beautiful and inviting but unfortunately even though it was the middle of summer, the water was still freezing cold. But it did not deter many locals from diving in. If you’re a dog lover like me, there’s a dog friendly beach near South Terrance at Freemantle where you can see dogs roam free and run around in the sand. 

Dog friendly beach

Cottlesloe Beach

If you’re in town at the right time, you can try some fruit picking. Strawberries were in season while I was there but in other times of the year you can pick apples, mangoes, even lychees. Freshly picked fruit is super sweet and despite the hot sun and risk of sun burn, it was still a fun afternoon. Perth zoo was nothing spectacular but still not a bad way to spend half a day. 

Not bad for AUD 10

Overall Perth is a great place to visit for poker and balanced with sight seeing. If you are not looking for bigger games, it is just nice to play some friendly poker and enjoy a nice vacation as well. If you guys are interested, the Perth Poker Championships are happening end of February (2019)