Poker News

Ira Cohen Card Room Manager for the Peppermill

Ira Cohen was born February 6, 1960 in White Plains, New York. At the age of 10 his family relocated to Miami, Florida. Ira graduated from North Miami Beach High School in 1978 with a football scholarship to the University of Florida. In 1980 he transferred to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

In 1981 Ira left college to pursue his dream of playing pro football in the USFL for the LA Express. His dream was shattered when he incurred a knee injury that forced him to give up football.

In 1984 Ira headed for Las Vegas to pursue a career in the gaming business. His introduction into the world of gaming came as a craps dealer at the Dunes.

He left the Dunes in 1986 to deal craps and baccarat at the Riviera.

In 1998 Ira decided to leave the casino industry to finish his education. He enrolled in the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) with the intention of earning a degree in child psychology.

In 2001 Ira left Las Vegas for Reno to attend University of Nevada at Reno (UNR).

While attending school he was also working part time as a Casino Supervisor at the Peppermill.

In March of 2005 Ira was appointed Card Room Manager of the Peppermill poker room.

DB: How many poker tables are available for live action at the Peppermill?

IC: When I took over in March we had eight and since then we have expanded the room to 12 tables. We also have 20 plasma screen TV’s for sports viewing.

DB: What other changes have taken place since you’ve been assigned the room?

IC: The room has been remodeled to accommodate two shift manager stations for easy access for our players. We have installed a state of the art computer system, we are the only poker room in Reno to have this system. It has a computerized wait list for viewing, a tournament clock, structures and payouts. The system allows us to swipe a player’s card and it prints a tournament ticket with their seat assignment and table.

DB: What live games are available on a daily basis?

IC: We spread $2-$4, $3- $6, and $4-$8 $10-$20 limit hold’em on a daily basis. Our daily no-limit game starts at 7 p.m. with $2-$3 blinds and $5 to open. The minimum buy-in is $100 and the maximum is $1500. We also spread a $20- $40 limit hold’em game on Monday, Friday and Saturday that starts at 5 p.m. . .

DB: What daily tournaments does the Peppermill offer?

IC: On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1 p.m. it’s no-limit hold’em with a $25 buy-in and one optional $13 add-on. On Wednesday at 7 p.m. the event is limit hold’em with a $65 buy-in. Thursday at 7 p.m. it’s nolimit hold’em with a $115 buy-in with one $110 rebuy. Friday and Saturday is nolimit hold’em at 6 p.m. with a $110 buy-in. Sunday at 2 p.m. the game is no-limit hold’em with a $35 buy-in and one $30 rebuy. Monday is a ladies only no-limit tournament with a $25 buy-in and a $20 rebuy.

DB: Are you planning to add any more tournaments in the near future?

IC: Yes, beginning in January we will have a monthly freeroll for our daily tournament players. The top 60 point earners from our daily tournaments will earn an entry into the freeroll. Our daily tournaments will be separated in three groups and the top earners from group one will play in January, group two will play in February and group three will play in March.

DB: The Peppermill is known for running two major tournaments a year will you be adding to that number?

IC: Last April we held a Celebrity tournament where we invited our top casino pit players and slot players to compete with our poker players. It was our way of introducing our casino players to our poker room and because it was so successful it will be a yearly event. As you mentioned, we also run two events a year, our Fall Poker Classic that’s takes place in November and our Spring Poker Classic in March.

DB: What incentives does the Peppermill offer poker players?

IC: We have a bad beat jackpot that is currently more than $100,000. Any four-of-a-kind beaten by a higher hand with both hole cards playing takes home the cash. We have a lightening Jackpot that takes aces full beaten by a higher hand with each player only using one hole card, that’s currently at $1500. We also have a royal flush, straight flush and four-of-a-kind jackpots. We offer our players comps based on hours played at .75 per hour but we have a very liberal comp policy. We offer poker room rates starting as low as $29 per night.

DB: What promotions are offered at the Peppermill?

IC: We just completed an event based on hours played where players that accumulated more that 100 hours of live play earned an entry into a tournament to win a $10,000 seat into the main event at the World Series of Poker plus $1,000 in cash. We have Monday Night Football Raffles where every quarter we give away a manicure, facial, haircut and an entry into either our Sunday or Wednesdaydaily tournament.

DB: Who is responsible for making you job as Cardroom Manager a little easier?

IC: My team, I have the best team. Because of my lack of poker experience I placed the best people in key positions. I have shift managers, dealers and cashiers with experience and personality. Bobby Helman, my assistant Poker Room Manager, brings integrity along with 20 yearsof poker experience. I also have 100% backing from the Director of Gaming, Joe Ayarbe to our Director of Marketing all the way to our CEO and owners. They want to hear how to make our local players more comfortable and give them a better gaming experience.

DB: Are there any future plans for expansion of the Peppermill?

IC: We are currently in a $250 million expansion that will include a larger even more luxurious poker room, a 600 room all-suite hotel, a convenient new parking garage, a 50,000 square foot convention and entertainment center, a 21,000 square foot casino expansion, a new spa and salon, and new restaurants. The parking garage will be complete in August 2006, the rest will open in late 2007.

DB: I just attended the Fall Poker Tournament and it was held in the Tahoe Ballroom which was quite nice, will they continue to be held in that room?

IC: Yes, they used to be held in the Mahogany Room but they will continue to be held in the Tahoe Ballroom. The room is classy and much more roomy. We had 25 tables with plenty of room

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