A primer: Colorado casinos happy to assist new players

If you’ve watched poker on TV or played with friends on a makeshift table, you should try your hand at a professionally dealt game. Black Hawk and Central City lie only 45 minutes from Denver and offer a wealth of options for both novice and advanced players.

If you’ve never played poker in a casino, it can seem intimidating at first. Don’t worry; it’s not as difficult as it appears. Dealers and poker room supervisors will be glad to help you, and players are generally accommodating to newbies and will be patient as you get used to the rhythms and customs of the tables.

Poker etiquette is not very complicated. When you arrive at the poker room there may be a waiting list to get a seat, so don’t just sit in any empty chair the way you would at other games. The room supervisors manage the list, so let them know what you want to play. If you will play any level of game from 1-2-100 to 4-8 limit to Stud, let them know, as there will be a separate list for each game. Stay nearby. They’ll call your name two or three times and then move on to the next player. If you miss your call you may wind up on the bottom of the list.

Once your name is called, buy your chips from the poker room cashier and take the seat assigned to you. If you’re new and want help with betting protocols, let the dealer know. They won’t give any advice on how you should play your cards, but will remind you when it’s your turn and will let you know what your options are in terms of checking, betting or raising.

About 95 percent of the games in Colorado are Texas Hold’em. There are two main variations. Spread limit means you can bet any amount between a minimum and a maximum, so a 1-2-100 game allows bets between $1 and $100 or anything in between. Fixed-limit games, sometimes called structured, have less flexibility. A 4-8 game allows betting and raising in $4 increments before the flop and on the flop, and $8 on the turn and river.
Some limit games have a kill button. This is a disc given to a player who wins two hands in a row. When this happens, the next dealt hand is double the limits, so 4-8 becomes 8-16 for just one hand or until the player that earned the kill no longer wins or folds. If the card room prefers a half kill, the limits become 6-12 instead of 8-16. If you are the player who gets the kill button, you must put up a full big blind regardless of your position at the table.

Central City has two card rooms. Fortune Valley has five tables (mostly 4-8 with a full kill) and Century Casino has six tables (4-8) in a quiet and separate room from the main casino. The main action rooms in Black Hawk are the Lodge with 20 tables (4-8, 1-2-100, 2-5-100, 109-20 with ½ kill, 20-40) and Golden Gates’ 22 tables (4-8, 6-12, 4-8 Omaha Hi-Lo, 2-5-100, 10-20). The newly branded Lady Luck is a good room for novice players with seven tables on the lower floor (1-2-100, 4-8 with ½ kill). The Gilpin has a reputation as the tournament poker room, but they also deal live games (.50-1-100, 10-20 Omaha Hi-Lo). Ameristar is a good room for novice players, as the poker room remains fairly quiet with lower-limit betting.

~ Mark B. Lasser is a Denver writer and international poker player. He regularly plays in Colorado, Arizona, California and Nevada. His work has appeared in Bikini Magazine, Blue Travel and Warp. Readers can send questions and comments to him at ColoradoPokerMark@comcast.net.