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| - I saw the pre-season mini-bouts so maybe the actual season is a little more exciting. It's set up in the Riviera conference center and the skaters just seem to be on a big dancefloor. The skaters were not very aggressive, probably because if they push too hard, one of the skaters will end up in the crowd. The audience was around the floor in standard conference room chairs, some in stands but most just on the floor level with the skaters. The scoreboard appeared to be a powerpoint setup. Everything just screamed business conference to me. Except for the girls in roller skates and the little kids running around.
Frankly, it was kind of boring to watch and I spent most of the time catching up with friends. The announcer kept forgetting which teams were actually playing, so I don't think he was paying attention either. Beers are pretty cheap - $5 if I recall correctly. And if you buy tickets in advance, you can get in for $10. Just look for the code on the website.
However, it does get pretty crowded. We got there a 7pm and had a hard time finding seats together where we could see. So if you want to watch from a comfortable seated position, get there early. Also, parking is a pain if you don't get there early.
This mini-bout thing lasted 3 hours, which was way too long in my opinion. One hour and we were done. They sell raffle tickets ($1 each), but the raffle is spread out throughout the night so keep that in mind. If you check in on Yelp, you can get a free raffle ticket.
It's a pretty inexpensive entertainment option. Like I said, there are little kids running everywhere, but they aren't annoying or anything. The space is big enough to accomodate that. You can hang out with friends and drink beer and chat, but there are places with better ambiance for that. If they get a space with a real rink, I will definitely be back. But this setup reminds me too much of a work function and the flat track is just too boring.
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