Hard Rock @ Hollywood, FL

MartyAce

MartyAce

Well-Known Member
Was just there and thought I would touch on the place.

To my surprise on a weekday afternoon, you will NOT find any limit below $15. It looks like they have about 3 different pits for blackjack (It may be four, but they built that place very well and you can get lost because everything looks similar). I did not look into the high roller pit as it was blocked off with some sort of sheet or tarp.

One entire pit where you will find mostly $15 tables are all CSM.

The other two pits all have automatic shufflers and are all 8D S17 DA2 DAS, penetration seems to be very uniform around 1.5-2 decks, however, if you look around you can find better.

Heat seemed to be very low as each pit seems to only have maybe 3 pit personal for around 12-14 tables and they are always being called to tables for chip transactions.

Some observations about the place: Wonging in will be near impossible anytime after noon. It took me almost 30 minutes on an afternoon to get a seat. You will also need to be well bankrolled to play here because they take the minimums up to almost $25 besides a couple of tables during the afternoon to prepare for the night crowd.

I can't speak for the crowds at the early hours since I wasn't there, but it may be better. There is certainly no shortage of black chip players here as almost all the tables were full including $50 and $100 dollar tables, so higher stakes players will not stand out at all.

The conditions here are decent due to the penetration (I found a particular table who gave better then average pen). However, wonging in like I said will be nearly impossible because as soon as a seat opens you see a bunch of people moving in for the grab.
 
sagefr0g

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
don't worry, nothing against the messanger

MartyAce said:
Was just there and thought I would touch on the place.

To my surprise on a weekday afternoon, you will NOT find any limit below $15. It looks like they have about 3 different pits for blackjack (It may be four, but they built that place very well and you can get lost because everything looks similar). I did not look into the high roller pit as it was blocked off with some sort of sheet or tarp.

One entire pit where you will find mostly $15 tables are all CSM.

The other two pits all have automatic shufflers and are all 8D S17 DA2 DAS, penetration seems to be very uniform around 1.5-2 decks, however, if you look around you can find better.

Heat seemed to be very low as each pit seems to only have maybe 3 pit personal for around 12-14 tables and they are always being called to tables for chip transactions.

Some observations about the place: Wonging in will be near impossible anytime after noon. It took me almost 30 minutes on an afternoon to get a seat. You will also need to be well bankrolled to play here because they take the minimums up to almost $25 besides a couple of tables during the afternoon to prepare for the night crowd.

I can't speak for the crowds at the early hours since I wasn't there, but it may be better. There is certainly no shortage of black chip players here as almost all the tables were full including $50 and $100 dollar tables, so higher stakes players will not stand out at all.

The conditions here are decent due to the penetration (I found a particular table who gave better then average pen). However, wonging in like I said will be nearly impossible because as soon as a seat opens you see a bunch of people moving in for the grab.
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man that just makes me sick.
and to think, that joint's 'ground breaking' offering of blackjack in Florida was part of what brought about the demise of Sea Escape which did infact offer excellent games. :vomit:
 
FLASH1296

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
I am posting from The Seminole Hard Rock:

MartyAce is dead wrong on several accounts.

1. There is heat.
2. In the mornings there are many $10 and $15 tables that are not C.S.M.'s. By afternoon the $10 tables all become $15.
3. The pits are top-heavy with Pit Critters. So many that they are often banging into one another.
4. Penetration is almost always 2 decks on the 8 deckers.
5. The High Limit room is enormous and offers $100 (and up) 6 deckers with 75% pen'

MartyAce is correct though re: one factor:

Unlike the rest of the country this casino has a monopoly on BJ and it is bizarrely crowded at almost all hours.
 
M

mdw

Well-Known Member
My wife and I are about an hour north of the Hollywood Hardrock. Both of us have day jobs for income. We like to play blackjack at $5 and $10 dollar tables. We have not been to the Hard Rock since they added Black Jack We did go once to play their "bingo" style slot machines. Hated those. I have heard the same, that you can't get a seat and table minimums are higher than we are used to. I'd rather fly to Biloxi where I can easily find a seat to play black jack and table minimums to meet our budget. The bummer is we were looking forward to having Black Jack in our back yard. Biloxi offers packages that included flight, room and some meals. The Hard Rock in Biloxi compted us two dinners and two breakfasts. We were flat betting on a $5 table that time. Hollywood Hard Rock will not be getting us in the door soon. To be honest I am suprised that the minimums are so high in these times. Most working people don't make $25 and hour and we're expected to play $25 a hand. No thanks.
 
sagefr0g

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
mdw said:
My wife and I are about an hour north of the Hollywood Hardrock. Both of us have day jobs for income. We like to play blackjack at $5 and $10 dollar tables. We have not been to the Hard Rock since they added Black Jack We did go once to play their "bingo" style slot machines. Hated those. I have heard the same, that you can't get a seat and table minimums are higher than we are used to. I'd rather fly to Biloxi where I can easily find a seat to play black jack and table minimums to meet our budget. The bummer is we were looking forward to having Black Jack in our back yard. Biloxi offers packages that included flight, room and some meals. The Hard Rock in Biloxi compted us two dinners and two breakfasts. We were flat betting on a $5 table that time. Hollywood Hard Rock will not be getting us in the door soon. To be honest I am suprised that the minimums are so high in these times. Most working people don't make $25 and hour and we're expected to play $25 a hand. No thanks.
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just curious mdw, did you ever sail on and play on the sea escape before it went out of business? lol, i practically lived on it for a few years.
 
Lonesome Gambler

Lonesome Gambler

Well-Known Member
Not to mention the fact that the Hard Rocks in FL don't comp ANYTHING. It's unbelievable that you can sit there betting quarters for hours and not even get a cocktail. Seriously. I have to say, they've done a great job promoting the blackjack games because even the $25 tables are practically full every single night. If they open $15 tables, you can pretty much expect to wait for a seat. Ridiculous.
 
HockeXpert

HockeXpert

Well-Known Member
HR Hollywood will give food comps, just ask pc's...

not that they have any great places to eat but it does slightly raise your ev on the crappy games they offer:) And I must add that FLASH1296 hit the nail on the head with his summation of the place.
 
J

johndoe

Well-Known Member
My take

I just got a chance to check this place out myself.

I'd say that the basics of what was written above is still accurate, mostly 1.5-2/8, all ASM, and a few CSM around. Table minimums were 15-25 depending on time.

No surrender. Not the best game in the world, by any stretch.

But I did find it beatable with fairly aggressive wonging - and I noted no (apparent) heat. I'd often hang around for quite a while, and hop in with a couple spots of black, and no one batted an eye. No "checks play" either.

I have a decent act, of course, but I'm no pro. I did this for the good part of a day (moving around), also spreading like crazy with almost no bet/play cover and all was well. It was fairly crowded, but not crazily so, and I could usually find a seat. It's easier to wong on the $50 tables, many more seats available. Lots of people are standing around watching so it's easy to blend in. Lots of black being thrown around so they didn't seem to sweat it.

As for comps, these flowed freely, at least when the pit notices your big bets (and likes you). Yes, I had to pay $5 for cocktails as is standard policy (I didn't ask for freebies there), but I think cheap beer (bud etc.) was free.

So it's not a great place, but it is certainly beatable, and was overall enjoyable for me.
 
FLASH1296

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
johndoe said:

"Yes, I had to pay $5 for cocktails as is standard policy (I didn't ask for freebies there), but I think cheap beer (bud etc.) was free."

All alcoholic beverages are forbidden as comps due to a clause in the state compact agreement.
 
J

johndoe

Well-Known Member
FLASH1296 said:
johndoe said:

"Yes, I had to pay $5 for cocktails as is standard policy (I didn't ask for freebies there), but I think cheap beer (bud etc.) was free."

All alcoholic beverages are forbidden as comps due to a clause in the state compact agreement.
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I may be mistaken, I had thought that cheapo beer was free. I was buying all my (few) cocktails anyhow.
 
X

Xur

Well-Known Member
I went there while in Miami on vaca only due to a free $50 promo they were offering....drove about ah hour or so there....waited an hour and a half in line to get my promotional money....they gave me 25$ and said if I wanted the other 25 I'd have to come back that sunday.....wtf. My plane left before then. I even called on the phone and asked about it...no fine print or anything on their website...i made sure to check...worst part was the person on the phone lied when I asked if I could use it at the tables...ended up breaking even from a shitty slot machine and then go look for a table....nothing under 25$ a hand...needless to say I didn't turn my free 25$ into a damn thing, and wasted 2.5 hrs driving, and dinner money...Hard Rock pwnd me
 
S

sevencard2003

Well-Known Member
so does FL have any VBJ machines? what about the gulf coast of MS? u know the kind that pay correct on a BJ, and where u can play up to 5 spots.
 
D

dumbWinner

Active Member
I went to hard rock in hollywood this weekend. One more thing i noticed in addition to what others have posted is side bets. I never saw a place with side bet option before. They have the match the dealer sidebet. The pen was better than most reported. I played with 5 different dealers in 2 days and it was about 1.4 to 1.6 or so. You can play upto 3 hands. The count skyrocketed once and i spread to 4 hands and the dealer said i cant. So i gave the money to the guy sitting next to me and told he can play it for me , Lol. One interesting aspect that i noticed here is the CSM tables are equally full as the ASM tables. When i went on sunday morning, the CSM tables were busier than the ASM. Table limits are ok , 10-1000,15-1500,25-2500,50-3500. I dont know if the dealers can give you heat , but all of them except one asian gentleman seem to be pissed and throwing chips into their bank with a loud crash and etc. The pit bosses seem to be ok with 1-8 spread. I was acting like a drunk anyway :grin:.

Few important things :

Friday Night was the Worst. It took me about 30 mins to find a parking spot.
Saturday night was not so bad , but still table min will be 25 for almost all the tables but with lot of empty spots. In fact there were like only 2 people on most tables.
No comps for average players. The casino doesnt have a welcoming feel due to some reason.
Finally S17 , i was surprised at how much difference S17 alone could make. This is the first time i played a S17 too.

And over all the trip was a good scuccess with a little bit of + variance. :cool2:
 
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H

halbruno

Member
Trip report Hard Rock Hollywood-Seminole Casino

Just visited the Hard Rock Hollywood casino and The Seminole Casino Hollywood this past week (March 2011).

The Hard Rock Casino offers 8 deck games with automatic shuffle with minimums typically at $25. Before 6pm you can also find $15 mins. As you all know the game is H17 with no surrender. Splitting 10's is allowed. Penetration is to 1 1/2-3/4 decks. Splitting allowed up to three hands, DAS allowed. If you are there late, after 9pm, table minimums go to $50. Wonging is possible depending on the time of day. If you are there late it can be difficult to find a seat.

There is also a group of 10-12 tables with continuous shuffle machines. The minimums are typically $15 and sometimes $10 earlier in the day. So, no counting is possible!

There is a high limit room with $100 minimums and S17. If I remember correctly, the games were 6 decks.

Better conditions can be found just across the street at the old Seminole Casino Hollywood. It is not a pretty place, but it is a short walk from the Hard Rock. This shop has eight max BJ tables. The game is six decks with a few hand shuffled games also H17. One table had a $5 minimum/$500 max and was hand shuffled. There was also a $10 table with a $1000 max bet still hand shuffled. Only one or two tables had a CSM. It is a little more laid back than the Hard Rock and when I was there in the late afternoon, wonging/finding a seat was not difficult.
 
HockeXpert

HockeXpert

Well-Known Member
FLASH1296 said:
What does this mean:

"This shop has eight max BJ tables."
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After reading his entire post, I figured that he meant that they have 8 tables at most. There are some errors in his reporting but it's mostly correct. Most importantly you will not find 1 1/2 - 3/4 decks cut off. 1 1/2 - 2 1/4 would be more accurate. Also, I don't recall seeing any hand shuffled games at Seminole Hollywood (not Hard Rock) but I could be wrong. The pens so bad and the shuffle too tough to even bother with either.
 
FLASH1296

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
TRIP REPORT (abbreviated)

Yeah, pen is awful in Tampa and Hollywood. Completely unplayable games.

I recently found myself in the Florida swamps, armed with $50 in free match
play, and decided to play a little at the Seminole Immokalee Casino.
A free tourist guidebook, picked up on a street corner in Naples, garnered
my spouse and I a pair of lovely $25 match play coupons. The offer was for
those without a Seminole player's card. We were in their data base from the
old days, but they gave them to us anyway.

What they offered, (midday / midweek) besides CSM's, was their no-frills
high-roller pit. There were several $25 tables, and one $50 table. EIGHT
decks, with a uniform 2 deck cut-off. S17. [H.E. = -.43%]

It was the worst game that I have played in many years, but I was [literally]
in the swamps. They had a surprisingly good pair of restaurants at least, and
comp's were VERY easy. NO hotel, and none that I would stay at within a 40 minute drive.

Curiously, I could no wrong as I spread from $25 to 2 x $75 — almost a
break-even game — and quickly won several thousand bux.
Just one of those semi-spooky lucky days, pocketing > $1,000 an hour.
 
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