Poker News

Robert ‘Tag’ Tagliaferri

Robert “Tag” Tagliaferri Poker Shift Supervisor, Gold Coast

Robert “Tag” Tagliaferri was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. In 1971, Tag’s father relocated the family to Riverside, California after being offered a chef’s position with the State of California’s prison system.

In 1984 Tag graduated from Faith Christian Academy with hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. He was playing semi-pro ball with the Bloomington Stars when his career ended abruptly due to a knee injury.

After his short lived baseball career he went into the entertainment business as a deejay playing weddings, graduations and parties. In 1987 he started his own deejay business but shortly there after discovered the world of poker. At the age of 21 his love for the game led him to pursue a career as a dealer.

His first dealing gig began at Lake Elsinore, that was in 1988 before flop games came into play. In 1989 he dealt the very first hand of Texas hold’em at Lake Elsinore.

When Morongo opened in 1990, Tag took a dealing position and his first floor position came in 1992 under the supervision of Jenny and Larry Miranda at Pechanga.

His Pechanga days lasted until 1994, he spent the next five years dealing in various places until he decided to move to Las Vegas in 1999. Once in Vegas he hooked up with some old friends and started dealing at the Orleans.

In 2000, Tag worked his first Orleans Open as a floor supervisor and after the Open was over he was offered a shift supervisor’s position.

In December of 2004, the Orlean’s sister casino, the Gold Coast opened a poker room and appointed Tag, Poker Shift Supervisor.

Tag runs the Poker Room at the Gold Coast under the supervision of Garrett Okahara, the Director of Poker Operations for the Orleans.

DB: What are your duties as Poker Shift Supervisor?

RT: I oversee an eight table cardroom with a staff of 29 dealers and 5 floor people.

DB: How experienced is your poker staff?

RT: We have a lot of break-in dealers and people that are new to working the floor and I’m amazed at how fast and how far everyone has come along. Joe D. is our day shift supervisor, Magic and Tracy are our swing shift supervisors, and Jack S. is our grave yard supervisor. My dealers and floor people will be happy to make your stay at the Gold Coast enjoyable.

DB: What live games does the Gold Coast offer it’s players?

RT: We spread $2-$4 and $4-$8 limit hold’em on a daily basis. We also offer $6-$12 and $10-$20 limit and all games have full blinds and 1/2 kills. On weekends we spread a $100 flat maximum buy-in no-limit hold’em with $1- $2 blinds.

DB: Where is the poker room located?

AM: We’re on the west side of the casino, in front of the buffet and a short walk to the bingo hall. We are close to the race and sportsbook and the south parking garage. The poker room also has eight plasma TV screens for viewing sporting events.

DB: Are you running daily tournaments?

RT: Yes, every day at 10 a.m. with a $22 buy-in with no rebuys. The first hour of the tournament is limit and the remainder is no-limit. We average between 40 to 60 players every day.

DB: What incentives does the Gold Coast offer their poker players?

RT: We have the same comp system as the Orleans, which is $1.25 an hour for the first four hours and .50 per hour thereafter. Players can accumulate up to $9.00 per day. All comps stay in reserve and can be used for rooms, meals, and the gift shop. Player’s can take any portion or all of their reserve whenever they want, if a player has $60 in comps they can take it all if they’d like. We have a High-Hand Jackpot, both cards must play to hit either four-of-a-kind, straight flush, or a royal flush. The Jackpot starts at $50 and we used to cap it at $599 but beginning the end of August we are removing the cap.

DB: Do you have a promotions for the players?

RT: Actually we just finished a $20,000 promotion, “Poker Player Appreciation Days II” featuring the “Buddy Wheel.” Every hour a random player seated in any live game will be drawn for a chance to “Spin to Win” from $100-$500. The spinner will then draw a buddy seated in any live game for a chance to win from $25- $100. This promo will end on August 23 but we try to run a new promo once a month. We are such a lowlimit house that promos are a big part of our business.

DB: With all the new poker rooms opening in Vegas, do you believe there are enough players to go around?

RT: Absolutely, I am very proud of all the casinos that have taken the initiative to add poker rooms to their casinos. In the past casinos have been afraid to put cardrooms in because a bank of slot machines would generate more revenue in acouple of hours than an entire poker room would in a day. Now poker is family orientated, everyone, of all ages, male or female are getting involved and the casinos are being made aware of the importance of having a poker room.

DB: What positives has the Internet had on poker?

RT: It’s amazing how Internet poker has had such an impact on the poker world. I work the floor on the live side for Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure, it’s something I really look forward to every year and I’d like to give special thanks to Mike Ward and Dan Goldman for the unique opportunity.

DB: Is your poker room available for private parties?

RT: Yes, we get calls all the time asking about setting up private events. Private tournaments seem to be an up and coming trend. We can accommodate up to 40 player tournaments, sit and goes, and private games. As long as we have the space and the dealers we will do our best to accommodate these groups and corporations.

Filed under: Poker News