Below is a "Trip Report" posted to the rec.gambling.poker newsgroup by poker author Lou Krieger..................Andy - Las Vegas

TRIP REPORT: HUSTLER CASINO

Earlier today Casino Shift Manager and RGP regular Michael O'Malley gave my
neighbor and fellow poker player Brenda Nelson and I a guided tour of the
soon-to-open Hustler Casino. First the facts, then the impressions.

THE FACTS:
Hustler is located on the site of Gardena's old El Dorado Club, at 1000 W.
Redondo Beach Boulevard, in the City of Gardena, on the Southwest corner of
Redondo Beach Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, one block west of the Harbor (110)
Freeway.

The El Dorado Club was leveled and an entirely new structure built in its
place. There are 36 poker and 19 California games tables. On walls throughout
the casino are 24 plasma-screen televisions, with flat screens set inside of
what appear at first glance to be picture frames. These television sets cost
$11,000 each. The technology produces vivid and clear pictures that can be
viewed from any angle. The picture quality is as sharp when viewed from almost
a right angle as it is from directly in front of the screen itself. In
addition to the television screens, museum quality paintings adorn the walls,
and statues as well as other objet d'art are placed every few feet along the
wall.

In the center of the building, surrounded by a circular glass wall, is an
atrium with a retractable roof. Inside that atrium are poker tables where
players who want to smoke can play. A separate ventilation system -- climate
controlled to within one degree of the temperature inside the casino, by way of
a series of computer-controlled vertical tubes that rise as architectural
elements at points along the glass wall encircling the atrium -- will separate
their air from mine.

The poker area of the casino has an ultra high limit section, where a $1,500 -
$3,000 seven-card stud game - with a $100,000 buy-in required -- will be spread
three nights a week. Other very high limit games are envisioned for that
section too. There is also a top section, where games ranging from $10 - $20 to
$80 - $160 will be spread, and another section for games up to and including
$9 - $18.

Every square foot of the casino will be occupied by cash games, so there is no
room for tournaments. Two hundred seventy five safe deposit boxes will be
available to patrons on a first come, first served basis.

Adjacent to the California games section is a snack bar with stools, looking
like a high tech version of a retro diner. In addition to a snack bar menu,
there is also a full noodle bar. The second floor features a sports-bar with a
full restaurant menu, including sushi. The area is very elegantly appointed
with high-backed banquettes, reminiscent of a 1940's supper club updated for
the millennium. The entire building is decorated with art on the walls, and
the value of the paintings is estimated at well over one million dollars. A
small gift shop that will be operated by Larry Flynt's wife is adjacent to the
poker area.

The executive offices are also fully appointed with artwork, pedestals with
lavish floral arrangements, and settees that look as though they might have
come right out of the Vienna Opera House, circa 1885.

We were given a tour of Larry Flynt's office suite, which is elegant, to say
the least. Adjacent to the office is Flynt's private bath and bedroom. The
entire suite is wood-paneled, lavishly appointed, with a variety of art on the
walls.

MY IMPRESSIONS
Hustler is unlike any card casino I have ever seen. It is posh, lavish, and
looks for all the world like a gentlemen's drawing room from an earlier age
updated for the 21 Century. The words that come immediately to mind are Baroque
and Rococo -- as well as eclectic. If Hustler weren't a card casino, one would
expect a string quartet to appear and begin playing works by Mozart, Albinoni,
and Vivaldi.

Art, in the form of statuary and paintings are everywhere. The art itself is
rather eclectic in style, though none of it is modern. Some of the paintings
are Asian, while other pieces look as though Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others of
that era could have painted them. A few are evocative of Botticelli and other
Renaissance painters, and many of the landscapes remind me of the early 19th
Century, Hudson River school of painting.

Carpeting if full and plush, and the walls are padded and decorated to absorb
sound. As Brenda and I toured the casino with Mike, employees were busily
dealing practice games; food servers were scrambling about with orders, yet the
entire building was quiet. This is a significant departure from most of the
Southern California casinos, most of which feature hard surfaces that cause
sound to reverberate throughout the building.

Players' chairs have contoured backs, and appear to be very comfortable. Many
familiar faces are now working there. Robert Turner, formerly at Crystal Park
is executive host, and Jimmy Delaney, formerly with Hollywood Park, will be
hosting a pot-limit game three days a week and serving as relief shift manager
the other two.

The acid test comes later, of course -- once the casino is open and
functioning, spreading games, and building a player base. Nevertheless, this
is a casino not to be missed. It's opening in a week. You owe it to yourself
to pay a visit and check it out.

Lou Krieger