What are you seeing in your live games?

It's tough for me to get out and play live very often these days, due to my responsibilities with Benjamin.

However, in the times I've played, the game quality is still surprisingly good given the circumstances. While the frequency of middle and high stakes games is much less than it used to be, the games themselves are pretty good when they do go. Occasionally, they are excellent.

What are you guys seeing at the live games you're playing, and how does it compare to a few years ago, when poker was seeing better days?

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

It's tough for me to get out and play live very often these days, due to my responsibilities with Benjamin.

However, in the times I've played, the game quality is still surprisingly good given the circumstances. While the frequency of middle and high stakes games is much less than it used to be, the games themselves are pretty good when they do go. Occasionally, they are excellent.

What are you guys seeing at the live games you're playing, and how does it compare to a few years ago, when poker was seeing better days?

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As I have stated before, I am predomanitely a limit hold-em player playing between 4-8 and 8-16. These games used to be very juicy but now they are played very tightly. A lot of the docks that frequent those games now are playing the 5 card Omaha games due to the fact that they believe they can get more action. I play primarily at the Pechanga Casino due to the fact that I like the atmosphere of being at an actual casino compared to say the Bike, Commerce or Oceans11. I am not a fan of the clientele that frequent my proffered games there.

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

As I have stated before, I am predomanitely a limit hold-em player playing between 4-8 and 8-16. These games used to be very juicy but now they are played very tightly. A lot of the docks that frequent those games now are playing the 5 card Omaha games due to the fact that they believe they can get more action. I play primarily at the Pechanga Casino due to the fact that I like the atmosphere of being at an actual casino compared to say the Bike, Commerce or Oceans11. I am not a fan of the clientele that frequent my proffered games there.

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Serious question:

Can you beat 4-8 and 8-16 these days, given the high rake? Add in the expected dealer tips, and I think it would be hard to consistently beat these games, unless the players were horrendous.

I guess you could squeeze out an okay profit at 8-16, but the 4-8... I just don't see it.

i play 1-2, and 2-5 at a local casino in WV. recently on firdays and saturdays the 1-2 PLO game has gotten alot of action. mainly becasue the only other PLO game is 5-10. but the 1-2 PLO game is for huge degens, i tried to play it one day but it seemed to not even be poker. (people just shipping stack all around the table). the 1-2 NLH game is super juicy on weekend dude to the insanely huge crowd of country degens. i plan to make alot of money this summer. especially when those degens are in the 2-5 game

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Serious question:

Can you beat 4-8 and 8-16 these days, given the high rake? Add in the expected dealer tips, and I think it would be hard to consistently beat these games, unless the players were horrendous.

I guess you could squeeze out an okay profit at 8-16, but the 4-8... I just don't see it.

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Yes I still do make a profit (between 3-4 big bets an hour this year) The main reason is that there are still some novice players in the 4-8 game. The unfortunate reality is that the 8-16 game seldom happens :(

Having played at gay101 recently I can say the players at mistakes nlhe are as bad as ever. Garden city is still rocking and I like it more for steady play but on a good day at bay101 you could pull in a few grand easily which is tough to beat.

Lucky chances is a waste of gas. All of the smaller casinos like artichoke joes and some places in the east bay either closed up or have such little action it's a major waste.

All forms of holdem aside from 3/6 are very beatable at bay101 and garden city. Only bay has the higher lhe games tho, I think garden is still stuck at 20-40 but don't quote me. I know for sure bay has 100-200 playing on the reg. If you have the roll for it the 10/20 should be running twice a week at LC and THAT is probably the best game in the bay area.

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Originally Posted by 408Mike

Having played at gay101 recently I can say the players at mistakes nlhe are as bad as ever. Garden city is still rocking and I like it more for steady play but on a good day at bay101 you could pull in a few grand easily which is tough to beat.

Lucky chances is a waste of gas. All of the smaller casinos like artichoke joes and some places in the east bay either closed up or have such little action it's a major waste.

All forms of holdem aside from 3/6 are very beatable at bay101 and garden city. Only bay has the higher lhe games tho, I think garden is still stuck at 20-40 but don't quote me. I know for sure bay has 100-200 playing on the reg. If you have the roll for it the 10/20 should be running twice a week at LC and THAT is probably the best game in the bay area.

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I remember playing at Bay 101 back in 2007. Bought in for $200 in the 6/12 and walked away with $3000. Ah the memories.

Like many, I really never played live poker - unless it was a really small > $50 type buy-in game.

The only live poker I've been able to play post BF was at an Indian Casino in Arizona and a few $20 Turbo at a card room about 1 hour away.

I played 1/2 at the Indian Casino in AZ and found the game incredibly soft. There was a 'Sam Grizzle' type guy that had at least 5 beers in the short 2 hours I played with him (not to mention the rounds he had before I sat down). The best player was a lady who was also a dealer at the casino - but she was just firing at pots and laying down when you played back at her. I think I ended up stuck about $10 at the end of it, but if I could have stayed in the game longer, I felt like I could have booked a small win.

The $20 Turbos at a local card room are really fun, and I'm actually glad I live about 1 hour away, because I'd probably play almost everyday if I was closer. The fields are incredibly soft. There was one hand I remember that can give you an example of how the play is.

Blinds are aprox $100 - $200
I have about 4.5K in chips,
About 3 or 4 people limp in ... putting the pot at around $800.
I raise to about $750 with JJ on the button.
Everyone folds except 1 guy to my right who calls.
Board comes something like AK8 rainbow.
Guy min-bets $200 ... into a pot with over 2K in it.
I instantly fold.
He shows an Ace.

If he had bet $1700 ... I would have at least thought about it longer.

I'm still getting used to handling chips and I even made a string bet that didn't count and had to min-raise my last time out. However, I found that playing in SNG's and other MTT's online helped me know where I needed to have my chip stack in relation to the blinds when playing live MTT's. The hardest adjustment has been bet sizing. Online it's pretty simple to cut out the right bet/raise - but live you have to think about it more and add up all the chips in the middle + add up what your opponents stacks are. Probably not really a big deal when you've played a few 1,000 hands live, but I'm probably still getting to my first 1,000.

I'm going to Vegas next week! I didn't play live when I was in town last year, but I'm hoping try a ~$100 tournament, or try some $1/2 one night if I find a game that looks okay.

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 408Mike

Having played at gay101 recently I can say the players at mistakes nlhe are as bad as ever. Garden city is still rocking and I like it more for steady play but on a good day at bay101 you could pull in a few grand easily which is tough to beat.

Lucky chances is a waste of gas. All of the smaller casinos like artichoke joes and some places in the east bay either closed up or have such little action it's a major waste.

All forms of holdem aside from 3/6 are very beatable at bay101 and garden city. Only bay has the higher lhe games tho, I think garden is still stuck at 20-40 but don't quote me. I know for sure bay has 100-200 playing on the reg. If you have the roll for it the 10/20 should be running twice a week at LC and THAT is probably the best game in the bay area.

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I remember playing at Bay 101 back in 2007. Bought in for $200 in the 6/12 and walked away with $3000. Ah the memories.

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I am heading tomorrow to play some spread nlhe. Shooting star final table is tomorrow, buddy just got back said action is hot. Trip report to follow if it isn't boring.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NorCal Sports

Like many, I really never played live poker - unless it was a really small > $50 type buy-in game.

The only live poker I've been able to play post BF was at an Indian Casino in Arizona and a few $20 Turbo at a card room about 1 hour away.

I played 1/2 at the Indian Casino in AZ and found the game incredibly soft. There was a 'Sam Grizzle' type guy that had at least 5 beers in the short 2 hours I played with him (not to mention the rounds he had before I sat down). The best player was a lady who was also a dealer at the casino - but she was just firing at pots and laying down when you played back at her. I think I ended up stuck about $10 at the end of it, but if I could have stayed in the game longer, I felt like I could have booked a small win.

The $20 Turbos at a local card room are really fun, and I'm actually glad I live about 1 hour away, because I'd probably play almost everyday if I was closer. The fields are incredibly soft. There was one hand I remember that can give you an example of how the play is.

Blinds are aprox $100 - $200
I have about 4.5K in chips,
About 3 or 4 people limp in ... putting the pot at around $800.
I raise to about $750 with JJ on the button.
Everyone folds except 1 guy to my right who calls.
Board comes something like AK8 rainbow.
Guy min-bets $200 ... into a pot with over 2K in it.
I instantly fold.
He shows an Ace.

If he had bet $1700 ... I would have at least thought about it longer.

I'm still getting used to handling chips and I even made a string bet that didn't count and had to min-raise my last time out. However, I found that playing in SNG's and other MTT's online helped me know where I needed to have my chip stack in relation to the blinds when playing live MTT's. The hardest adjustment has been bet sizing. Online it's pretty simple to cut out the right bet/raise - but live you have to think about it more and add up all the chips in the middle + add up what your opponents stacks are. Probably not really a big deal when you've played a few 1,000 hands live, but I'm probably still getting to my first 1,000.

I'm going to Vegas next week! I didn't play live when I was in town last year, but I'm hoping try a ~$100 tournament, or try some $1/2 one night if I find a game that looks okay.

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The tourneys run at the Aria are the nuts. $125 buy in with a great structure, great cocktail waitresses and overall a very pleasant experience IMO.

Had a business meeting today near the Chumash Casino so I stopped in to play their Wednesday night tourney. $35 entry about 60 players. Players were AWFUL. One guy at my 2nd table raised, got re-raised to put him all in and he says to dealer that he will have to fold because he doesn't have enough chips to call the re-raise. LOL Naturally I picked up AA vs 77 vs KQo all-in preflop......7 T J 6 9........lose main pot and side pot LOL. Good news is I had a $5 slot credit....played 100 credits on a nickel machine and won $85 on 1st spin. Cashed out and put $20 in another machine and cashed out $100 4 spins later. Obviously proving Micon is correct.....you can beat the slots. LOLZ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Had a business meeting today near the Chumash Casino so I stopped in to play their Wednesday night tourney. $35 entry about 60 players. Players were AWFUL. One guy at my 2nd table raised, got re-raised to put him all in and he says to dealer that he will have to fold because he doesn't have enough chips to call the re-raise. LOL Naturally I picked up AA vs 77 vs KQo all-in preflop......7 T J 6 9........lose main pot and side pot LOL. Good news is I had a $5 slot credit....played 100 credits on a nickel machine and won $85 on 1st spin. Cashed out and put $20 in another machine and cashed out $100 4 spins later. Obviously proving Micon is correct.....you can beat the slots. LOLZ

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Hut do you play often at Chumash. That was my home base when I lived in Ojai a few years back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Had a business meeting today near the Chumash Casino so I stopped in to play their Wednesday night tourney. $35 entry about 60 players. Players were AWFUL. One guy at my 2nd table raised, got re-raised to put him all in and he says to dealer that he will have to fold because he doesn't have enough chips to call the re-raise. LOL Naturally I picked up AA vs 77 vs KQo all-in preflop......7 T J 6 9........lose main pot and side pot LOL. Good news is I had a $5 slot credit....played 100 credits on a nickel machine and won $85 on 1st spin. Cashed out and put $20 in another machine and cashed out $100 4 spins later. Obviously proving Micon is correct.....you can beat the slots. LOLZ

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Hut do you play often at Chumash. That was my home base when I lived in Ojai a few years back.

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I played there quite often about 5 years ago. Now I really only go when I just feel like playing for fun. I probably wont be back there until May when they host the Central Coast Poker Championship...It's usually a $240 buyin with a guaranteed $100K prizepool. Next week I am gonna go play at a small local card room for the first time. They only have a few tables. Monday - Thursday they spread $3-6 and $4-8 and on Fridays they have a $6-12 full kill $300 buy-in game and on Saturdays a $10-20 1/2 kill $500 buy-in game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Had a business meeting today near the Chumash Casino so I stopped in to play their Wednesday night tourney. $35 entry about 60 players. Players were AWFUL. One guy at my 2nd table raised, got re-raised to put him all in and he says to dealer that he will have to fold because he doesn't have enough chips to call the re-raise. LOL Naturally I picked up AA vs 77 vs KQo all-in preflop......7 T J 6 9........lose main pot and side pot LOL. Good news is I had a $5 slot credit....played 100 credits on a nickel machine and won $85 on 1st spin. Cashed out and put $20 in another machine and cashed out $100 4 spins later. Obviously proving Micon is correct.....you can beat the slots. LOLZ

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Hut do you play often at Chumash. That was my home base when I lived in Ojai a few years back.

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I played there quite often about 5 years ago. Now I really only go when I just feel like playing for fun. I probably wont be back there until May when they host the Central Coast Poker Championship...It's usually a $240 buyin with a guaranteed $100K prizepool. Next week I am gonna go play at a small local card room for the first time. They only have a few tables. Monday - Thursday they spread $3-6 and $4-8 and on Fridays they have a $6-12 full kill $300 buy-in game and on Saturdays a $10-20 1/2 kill $500 buy-in game.

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Are Yuri and Jesse still there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bootsy Collins

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hutmaster

Had a business meeting today near the Chumash Casino so I stopped in to play their Wednesday night tourney. $35 entry about 60 players. Players were AWFUL. One guy at my 2nd table raised, got re-raised to put him all in and he says to dealer that he will have to fold because he doesn't have enough chips to call the re-raise. LOL Naturally I picked up AA vs 77 vs KQo all-in preflop......7 T J 6 9........lose main pot and side pot LOL. Good news is I had a $5 slot credit....played 100 credits on a nickel machine and won $85 on 1st spin. Cashed out and put $20 in another machine and cashed out $100 4 spins later. Obviously proving Micon is correct.....you can beat the slots. LOLZ

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Hut do you play often at Chumash. That was my home base when I lived in Ojai a few years back.

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I played there quite often about 5 years ago. Now I really only go when I just feel like playing for fun. I probably wont be back there until May when they host the Central Coast Poker Championship...It's usually a $240 buyin with a guaranteed $100K prizepool. Next week I am gonna go play at a small local card room for the first time. They only have a few tables. Monday - Thursday they spread $3-6 and $4-8 and on Fridays they have a $6-12 full kill $300 buy-in game and on Saturdays a $10-20 1/2 kill $500 buy-in game.

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Are Yuri and Jesse still there?

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Yuri is still there, I don't know about Jesse. Yuri is a good guy, funny as hell.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommyt

i play 1-2, and 2-5 at a local casino in WV. recently on firdays and saturdays the 1-2 PLO game has gotten alot of action. mainly becasue the only other PLO game is 5-10. but the 1-2 PLO game is for huge degens, i tried to play it one day but it seemed to not even be poker. (people just shipping stack all around the table). the 1-2 NLH game is super juicy on weekend dude to the insanely huge crowd of country degens. i plan to make alot of money this summer. especially when those degens are in the 2-5 game

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Are you playing at Charles Town?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NorCal Sports

Like many, I really never played live poker - unless it was a really small > $50 type buy-in game.

The only live poker I've been able to play post BF was at an Indian Casino in Arizona and a few $20 Turbo at a card room about 1 hour away.

I played 1/2 at the Indian Casino in AZ and found the game incredibly soft. There was a 'Sam Grizzle' type guy that had at least 5 beers in the short 2 hours I played with him (not to mention the rounds he had before I sat down). The best player was a lady who was also a dealer at the casino - but she was just firing at pots and laying down when you played back at her. I think I ended up stuck about $10 at the end of it, but if I could have stayed in the game longer, I felt like I could have booked a small win.

The $20 Turbos at a local card room are really fun, and I'm actually glad I live about 1 hour away, because I'd probably play almost everyday if I was closer. The fields are incredibly soft. There was one hand I remember that can give you an example of how the play is.

Blinds are aprox $100 - $200
I have about 4.5K in chips,
About 3 or 4 people limp in ... putting the pot at around $800.
I raise to about $750 with JJ on the button.
Everyone folds except 1 guy to my right who calls.
Board comes something like AK8 rainbow.
Guy min-bets $200 ... into a pot with over 2K in it.
I instantly fold.
He shows an Ace.

If he had bet $1700 ... I would have at least thought about it longer.

I'm still getting used to handling chips and I even made a string bet that didn't count and had to min-raise my last time out. However, I found that playing in SNG's and other MTT's online helped me know where I needed to have my chip stack in relation to the blinds when playing live MTT's. The hardest adjustment has been bet sizing. Online it's pretty simple to cut out the right bet/raise - but live you have to think about it more and add up all the chips in the middle + add up what your opponents stacks are. Probably not really a big deal when you've played a few 1,000 hands live, but I'm probably still getting to my first 1,000.

I'm going to Vegas next week! I didn't play live when I was in town last year, but I'm hoping try a ~$100 tournament, or try some $1/2 one night if I find a game that looks okay.

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I was in Vegas 6 weeks ago and the 1-2 games were very soft. You do have to table select a bit though, if you find yourself at a table full of local grinders dont be afraid to request a table change or move to the next casino.

I suggest starting at Flamingo, then Ballys or Planet Hollywood.

Hit us with a trip report when you get back.

The live games here in florida are very good games but I am seeing alot of pros moving here from L.A.,Vegas, AC, So the games are a little tougher then they were but I play in the morning with alot of snow birds who have alot of cash so I work hard everyday to try and pry it out of them but even they are playing better, The biggest games we can get is 5/10 on the reg

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Originally Posted by Goodpoop

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommyt

i play 1-2, and 2-5 at a local casino in WV. recently on firdays and saturdays the 1-2 PLO game has gotten alot of action. mainly becasue the only other PLO game is 5-10. but the 1-2 PLO game is for huge degens, i tried to play it one day but it seemed to not even be poker. (people just shipping stack all around the table). the 1-2 NLH game is super juicy on weekend dude to the insanely huge crowd of country degens. i plan to make alot of money this summer. especially when those degens are in the 2-5 game

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Are you playing at Charles Town?

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He can't be. C-town only spreads 5/5 PLO, and REFUSES to spread 1/2, despite the large amount of interest.

The C-town games continue to be excellent. There is so much money floating around DC that supports that dump. They had a 25/50 (and occasionally 50/100) LO/8 game that ran throughout the summer an into the winter that was amazing. PLO is great. Multiple excelled 2/5 games too.

In contrast, the AC games are pretty mediocre, with the exception of the 30/60 - 50/100 mix. Since the intro of the draw games (badugi, 2-7, badacey/baduci) these games seemed to have livened up. I understand razzdugi is in the mix too, but I haven't played it (nor really thought about how to play it) myself. But the 20/40 and 40/80 hold'em has been markedly suckier than it was a few years ago.

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Originally Posted by Longtime_Listener

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Goodpoop

Are you playing at Charles Town?

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He can't be. C-town only spreads 5/5 PLO, and REFUSES to spread 1/2, despite the large amount of interest.

The C-town games continue to be excellent. There is so much money floating around DC that supports that dump. They had a 25/50 (and occasionally 50/100) LO/8 game that ran throughout the summer an into the winter that was amazing. PLO is great. Multiple excelled 2/5 games too.

In contrast, the AC games are pretty mediocre, with the exception of the 30/60 - 50/100 mix. Since the intro of the draw games (badugi, 2-7, badacey/baduci) these games seemed to have livened up. I understand razzdugi is in the mix too, but I haven't played it (nor really thought about how to play it) myself. But the 20/40 and 40/80 hold'em has been markedly suckier than it was a few years ago.

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\

No im talking about Mardi Gras by Charleston not charlestown.

Thanks guys for all the heads up, I took it seriously and played 2 different night sessions at the Orleans Casino, mainly because that was the place I had a room - but it turned out the games were pretty amazing. Turns out I read that the $3 rake and $1 that goes to a jack-pot is not all that un-reasonable around town and compared to other live casinos.

Monday Night At The Orleans

The first session was Monday night & into Tuesday morning. I never really played 1/2 cash for more than a few hours live before - so I decided to watch the action from the rail for about 30 minuets to see if it was right for me. Turns out the play was decent that night - but a little wild considering most everyone was drinking. I recognized Hal Lubarsky playing in the game, who, if you don't know by name, probably know better as the 'blind poker player' who was featured on the Main Event coverage on ESPN a while back. I actually liked having him on my right because naturally it takes a little longer to act - so it gave myself more time to think and get comfortable playing that night.

Anyway - I don't really remember the exact hands or anything like that, but I remember sitting down and playing for about 2 hours earlier in the night and I left with $157 after buying in for $100. I remember the number because I tweeted it so I'd remember what my first score was in a live cash game was. My biggest hand was a flopped set of jacks where I got 1 guy to go all in on the turn when he made top 2-pair.

That's not really the interesting part though. I noticed a fairly broad shouldered guy that was one seat to my left who was friendly chatting with everyone. He was also somewhat the table captain at that point although there were at least 4 other solid players in the game. The guy had friends on the rail and one ended up joining the game near the end of my first brief session that night. The other guy wore a blue sweater - and they were both drinking tons.

I left the game to regroup with some friends, but they were playing black-jack so I decided to re-join a different table probably around 3 or 4 in the morning. I watched the game from the rail, the broad should guy is in there mixing it up and I see this guy in the blue sweater basically playing almost every hand and he had a few backup drinks on the side-rail. I buy in for a $100, and after a few hands the girl next to me says this is not the game to buy into for $100. I make the point that I'd rather short-buy because the guy in the blue sweater was literally making it $22 or $32 every hand ... and I'd much rather ship for a small number because he was quickly building up a stack into the low $1,000's. The strategy actually pays off when I wake up with a pair of Jacks again and ship for about $100 and he called with 5-10 or something like that because it was only about $60 more for him to call - and no one else at the table is going to ship $100 in pre-flop without a top hand. Anyway, I win that hand but stayed in the game for about 2 more hours before blinding away and having to call big raises when I did make hands. I walked away with maybe about $110, but not anywhere close to the $200ish I had it up to at it's peak. The guy in the blue-sweater was just abusing the table .... but surely if I had more experience - or if there was a top flight player at the table, his money would have been gone. And it might have, I left with my buy-in because the $1/2 game was now playing much closer to 3/6 or 4/8 and I'm not comfortable playing for that kind of money ... even with crazy drunks in the game.

The one hand I remember well from that 2nd session was one where I had AK and the girl that made the comment earlier played heads-up. The flop was AKJ rainbow. She checks, I bet like $30 or $35, she calls. Turn comes 10 .... she leads out for like $50. I pick up my cards, the broad shouldered guy now directly to my left sneaks a peak and I muck. He knuckles the table and I ended up making an easy fold, and one I've made 100's of times online, but it was nice doing it in a live game. Just the hour or two playing with her, she'd never bet there without the straight.


Tuesday Night At The Orleans

The next night I was really excited to play so I went over to the room a litter earlier, probably around 9pm ish. I see a game with 3 old guys lined up in a row, a really weak lady player and few other guys that weren't really that good. I decide to play an aggressive game because there was much more limping and there was no strong player at the table. It works pretty well and I remember raising in position to limper and taking down a few pots pre-flop. I kind of played it like an SNG where you try to pick up small pots early to build a stack for later. I think I build my $100 up to about $140 ish pretty quick. I get some pretty bad hands for a little while, then I had a really interesting hand come up with the previously mentioned Hal Lubarsky.

Right before this hand Hal moves to our table with about $80. The dealer calls the floor over and says he needs to buy-in for the min of $100 because the table didn't move ... he switched tables. After a tiny bit of confusion Hal says that's fine he'll buy-in for $100. The very next hand I get dealt AQ of hearts. Hal raised it up pre-flop and I call in position with 1 more player in the pot.

Flop comes Ax 9H 6H

I have AhQh - and kind of feel like going all the way with this one.

Hal bets something like $25 on the flop and other dude in the hand goes all-in for only a little more ... like $45ish more so I just call and Hal calls.

Turn makes it Ax 9H 6H Jx

Hal leads out again for like his remaining $35 and I obviously call.

I'm not really liking my hand anymore.

River makes it Ax 9h 6h Jx 10x

There's a side pot and I'm disgusted and flip over my cards thinking I just went busto. Hal says 'Straight' and flips over K-10

Dealer lines up the cards, he has no straight ... and quite possibly not being able to see the cards made him somewhat confused on what his hand was, because he bet it like he had the straight. I loose a side-pot because the guy binked J-10 for 2-pair on me.

I'm happy with the win, play a few more hands and walk up about $50 ish for the second night in a row.




Then I pulled an Eric Lindgren and bet my profits on Masters, NBA O/U's and even a few 2013 Super Bowl predictions. :) It's super cool you can mail in your tickets, and being from California I might as well have some added sweat even when I come home!

That's about it, I strongly considered playing in a tournament as others suggested but buying in for $100 to the right $1/$2 game is actually not really a bad move if you have some skill. Fergie72 brings up a great point in that you should really find a good game and not settle if you can, because the spots would have been really good if I felt like playing all night. Next time, I'll keep an eye out for the good tables and be more aggressive as I get more experience with the game flow.

If you're like me used to play lots of .25/.50 type games online ... the couple of times I played $1/$2 at the Orleans, it was almost like the same game except you can see the person. Sometimes you get those crazy guys that raise it up every hand, and sometimes it's a bunch of nits acting like it's the main event. Super fun, but thank god I don't live in Vegas - I'd play everyday, and maybe loose the 'for fun' attitude that you have when it's a privilege to play the game live at a casino.


Hopefully I make a few trips to local casinos in California sometime this year and I'll try to report back on what I see there.

Higher stakes NL games in SoCal have taken a significant hit post black friday. Reg pool post BF went way, way up while fish pool stayed the same. Fish pool becomes even more self-aware they are being "hunted". Far to many highstakes regs embody every negative reg stereotype, they don't provide a light gambling atmosphere. Fish get driven away even faster. They stop playing, move to mixgames where regs are scarce or play invite only private games.

If you're a reg and happen to have enough charisma to get invited to a private game many hosts will expect a % of your wins or rake is absurdly high.