Card Room FAQ

What games do you spread?

The most popular game at the moment is $1/$2 No-limit Hold'em. The button charge is not affected by the stakes of the game, but may be affected by other factors. We host a Mixed HORSE game on Saturday nights, $1/2 Pot Limit on the Flop games, $5/10/20 Limit on the Stud games.

Please click here to see our schedule.

What is the membership fee/charges?

Dealers and players are required to be members of Poker Nation. Membership dues are $20 for lifetime membership. You must show picture identification when you sign up and you must be at least 21 years of age.

In addition to the annual fee, costs of operating the room are covered by a $2 button charge on live cash games, which is paid by the player on the button (dealer) prior to any bets, antes, or blinds being placed on the table, and before any cards will be dealt. For tournaments, there is a flat rate seat charge of $5, paid before the tournament begins. This charge may be waived at management's discretion for promotional events, and may also be reduced if the number of players at the table drops. This serves as a rental fee to use the facility, chips, cards, table, and chairs for the length of one hand.

Only the dealer will handle the pot during a hand. The pot in its entirety will be awarded to the winning player. We will not change your pot odds with an illegal "rake" of your winnings! 

Tournaments are exempted from the button charge, but instead the seat charge is paid at the beginning of the event. There are also dealer appreciation add-ons available, which are optional, for additional chips at the start of the tournament. The dealer appreciation add-ons will be split among the tournament dealers, as well as any additional tips our players are generous enough to give.

We have sufficient dealers to cover our current schedule.

Our dealers are volunteers and work for tips only. There is no "tip pool" or house cut from the dealers. They get to keep everything they earn. We only employ professionally trained dealers, or those with significant card room or casino experience.

As a player, this is an important thing to be aware of. Every business that hosts poker games needs to generate revenue in order to remain available to host. Expenses such as utilities, rent, and labor, as well as marketing and promotions need to come from somewhere. There are only 5 ways to generate revenue to cover these expenses.

1) Charge a large membership fee nightly, weekly, or monthly.

2) Rake money from the pot. The casinos here in Arizona take anywhere between $4-$7 per hand to cover house revenue and jackpot promotions.

3) Require generous dealer tips and require the dealers to pay the house 50-75% of what they make for the privilege of dealing there.

4) Charge an up-front per-hand fee.

5) Be good enough at poker to win enough off your players to pay the bills with your winnings.

At Poker Nation, we believe the $2 flat rate is the most economical and the most honest and up-front of all the methods. We believe that our dealers deserve to keep whatever you decide to give them.

Can you tell me about your security procedures?

We take your safety and security very seriously. All players are required to be members of the club so we can positively identify them for law enforcement. The players' money is stored in a locked "cage" room with camera monitoring. In addition, the entire room is monitored by multiple cameras. On busier nights, professional armed security will be present, though it will not always be obvious who it is. The games themselves are monitored by cameras installed directly over the tables. Anyone caught cheating, whether it be a player or a dealer, will be permanently barred from the our establishment and their membership immediately revoked without refund. We cooperate fully and have a great working relationship with the City of Phoenix police.