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Thread: Tried playing 40-80 Limit Holdem twice at the Bike in recent weeks... here was my experience

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Tried playing 40-80 Limit Holdem twice at the Bike in recent weeks... here was my experience

    As I've mentioned before, in 2019 The Bike has aggressively been attempting to muscle in on Commerce's virtual monopoly on limit holdem games of 40-80 and above.

    Before you laugh and state that limit holdem is a dying game, be aware that there's still a fairly strong limit holdem scene in southern California, and these games are nice money makers for the card room. Why? Because hands move a lot quicker due to the absence of long decisions, so far more hands are seen per hour compared to their no limit and pot limit counterparts.

    On a typical night, Commerce has three 40-80 games and two 60-120, and often both manage to see one table make it all the way through the night without the game completely breaking.

    Commerce charges a far higher rake for these games compared to Vegas (they have a rake+jackpot for 40-80, and a time charge plus jackpot drop for 60-120 -- and that time charge is nearly double what Bellagio charges), and as you can imagine, these games are quite profitable for them. They also have 20-40 limit holdem in the same room.

    The Bike had a longstanding 20-40 game, but gave up on their 40-80 and above long ago. Until 2019. At that point, they set out to get some of those games, and hired "hosts" to get people over there, including former 2000s poker pro Jean Gluck. They were even handing out perks such as free hotel rooms in their otherwise expensive, fairly new hotel on property.

    Commerce went into a panic and immediately cut their 60-120 time charge in half as a "one month promotion", which lasted for about 6 more months when this promotion failed to kill the Bike's growing action.

    The two card rooms are fairly close to each other -- about a 10-minute drive between the two (even less late at night).

    Anyway, I finally made it down to The Bike a few weeks ago. Their 40-80 game has a half-kill, which annoys me. (A half-kill means that it goes to 60-120 when someone wins 2 consecutive pots, and that winner has to post a blind $60 no matter what position he's in.)

    Late at night, people started agreeing to get rid of the half-kill and just converting it to straight 60-120. However, The Bike didn't love this because, like Commerce, the 60-120 game is a time charge while the 40-80 is a rake, and a time charge is FAR cheaper for the player when it's shorthanded. But The Bike reluctantly did it for awhile.

    During my first visit, the game was good, with few truly good players, and a lot of fish and semi-donks. It was definitely better than the typical 40-80 at Commerce, which is hit-and-miss whether it's good or not.

    However, the game went from two tables to broken completely within 2 hours, so I had to go back to Commerce anyway to finish off my session.

    My second visit was last night.

    This time the game didn't break, but again it quickly fell apart from 2 tables to one short table, and then quickly down to just 3 players -- me and two regulars, both of whom were fairly good.

    I played with them anyway, hoping maybe some fish would show up and sit, but aside from one guy who short-bought and busted, we didn't get anyone. I finally quit at 5:30am, which I warned them in advance would be my quitting time, which is the basic etiquette at a card room when you're playing heads up or 3-handed for awhile with the same person/people.

    Annoyingly, The Bike refused to convert the game to 60-120 when the three of us asked for it, because they didn't want to give up the extra rake. The best they agreed to do was lower the rake per hand to $1 plus another $1 for the jackpot, which still ate up a lot since 3-handed goes so quickly (and they drop the jackpot even if it folds around).

    This is the first time I've ever seen a card room refuse to spread a limit which they are authorized to spread and have spread before, even if everyone at the table agrees.

    One of the regulars said that they have become less cooperative about things like this because Commerce finally raised their 60-120 time charge back to normal, so The Bike now feels they don't need to play ball with anyone anymore.

    In any case, while I give them credit for trying, they aren't going to stay a viable Commerce alternative if they continue with these Commerce-like attitudes. I may actually call in there and tell them that. They need to be the anti-Commerce to succeed in stealing the action, not emulate their stubbornness.

    I'll probably still go back there, but I need to get an earlier start, as their games tend to break earlier, and the fish at The Bike are the ones who usually leave by 1am (or are uncomfortable playing short).

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    Platinum Jayjami's Avatar
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    How many 20/40 lhe games did they have going at the Bike? I’m a small favorite at 40/80, but only in a full game. Were you playing with the half-kill shorted handed? If so, I’d pass and collect a little piece of the 20/40 pie. Know that’s too small a game for you, especially with the rake.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    On a side note, Jean Gluck apparently is no longer working for the Bike.

    That perhaps is a sign that it's going to shit.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jayjami View Post
    How many 20/40 lhe games did they have going at the Bike? I’m a small favorite at 40/80, but only in a full game. Were you playing with the half-kill shorted handed? If so, I’d pass and collect a little piece of the 20/40 pie. Know that’s too small a game for you, especially with the rake.
    They usually have 1-2 20/40 LHEs going.

    You would probably do well at the 40-80 there in some of those full ring lineups, because there really are a number of fish there, at least from what I've seen. The kill sucks though.

    Yes, I was stuck playing the half kill shorthanded. I kept wanting to get rid of it, but one of the guys wouldn't agree. He was willing to go straight 60-120 but they wouldn't let us.

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