Six years ago I wrote a scorching review of the Poker Room at Resorts World Sentosa. I recently visited it again and had a much better experience so let me share it with you.
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| Not all mine |
Let’s start with the good. We got there at around 6pm on a Wednesday and it had 5 tables running. The table I got was the softest I've had in recent months. The smallest stake is now SGD 5/10 instead of SDG 10/20, and I think that attracts the weaker players to come as in most poker rooms in the world, SGD 5/10 is still pretty big. Most Europeans and US rooms I have played in starts at $1/1 or $1/2. The rake is quite reasonable by Asian standards, roughly 5% capped at 3bb. They have removed some of the old stupid rules like verbal doesn't count, the showdown button, etc. Instead they now are recording table talk, I guess in case of a dispute. I am okay with this if this meant the verbal rules apply. And they allow phone use as long as you're not in a hand. This maybe standard for most of you, but for someone who plays at Macau a lot, you will appreciate this.
It's not all great things though. For starters, RWS and basically most Genting casinos has this dingy feeling. The interior design is dated and gloomy, it just doesn't feel classy. Heard a rumor that Marina Bay Sands might open a room of their own, that would be awesome as that casino is on a different level. The room is situated in the smoking area of the casino. How they got the Singapore government to allow this is beyond me. The table itself is smoke free, but most smokers just walk 2 meters to the other side of the barrier and smoke there. Genius.
Going to start a new paragraph as I have a feeling the negatives are going to be long. The dealers and even floor staff are terrible. Of the 5 dealers that dealt on my table, only one was experienced enough to keep the game flowing. 6 of us sat on our table waited 15 minutes for the game to start only to be told that it was our decision. No floor manager or dealer asked us if we wanted to start. It took 15 minutes for my friend to buy in SGD 8000 in chips. The room has reopened for almost a year now, so these really shouldn't be happening. The cards were still dealt in the card box, which is fine, but there is a top card protector as well. I think the person that came up with this rule does not understand poker. The first card is dealt to the small blind, so even in some way the small blind can see what the first card is, it is not going to affect any of his decision. He won't see a deuce and suddenly decide to sit out.
After consulting a friend who is a regular there, my understanding is that the room is open 24 hours, however games usually die off in the wee hours of the morning, and restarts at around 11am. If you miss the first table, you will have to wait 2-3 hours for the next one to open. So unless you time your games properly, chances are you will have to wait a while.
Oh a couple of positives I forgot to mention. You are now allowed to pick your own seat, especially when its a new table being opened. The shuffling is much faster now but it could be just that the dealing is so slow so the machine catches up easily. There's free oxygenated water at the table, coffee and tea at the kiosk right outside the poker room.
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| Otherwise known in Singapore as Atas Water |
There are some other negatives that aren't really the room's fault. These are decisions either by the Singapore government or the casino management. For example, there is a rule where you are not allowed to bring more than SGD 10k of chips out of the casino. Compared to Vegas or Macau where I know grinders keep their currency in chips for ease of carrying around and saving time for the next time they play. There is still only one cashier area in the whole casino, so at the busy time, the queue is going to be long.
I have played poker in 35 countries now, so I guess my reviews carry a bit of weight because I have been to so many. I would consider grinding at this room long term because of the table softness. I can probably live with most of the negatives. The biggest issue for me is the smoke. Of course this is nothing compared to the "chimneys" we were stuck in Chinese private games in the past. But still the air is stuffy and long hours in there would drive me nuts. For my Singapore readers who are contemplating spending the SGD 150 to get in there, I think it is still worth playing, but time your entry correctly otherwise you will waste a few hours waiting.
Final note is I am looking forward to the room at MBS. MBS for me feels to have made better decisions in casino design and I have quite some experience playing at poker rooms operated by the Sands group. Overall they have always given poker quite the priority when it comes to location, setup and processes. I will definitely visit and write another review when that is opened.
