22 replies to this topic

[Swift_Psycho]

Hey guys, I'm looking for the opinions of people who have played a decent amount of live poker at casinos. I just recently made my first trip to a casino and played a live cash game for the first time. I'm mostly interested in playing LHE, though perhaps with a little NLHE and limit Omaha 8/b mixed in as well (those are the three games which I'm most competent in).I know there's some variance in level of play at different casinos, so I really only want just some general thoughts from you guys assuming you've played a bunch LIVE. I didn't know play was this awful at casinos, and I was just delighted. I intend to start playing live more often from now on, but my goal is to play at the highest limits I can but still be playing against mostly terrible players. The level of play is just horrendous at $2/$4, and I figure $3/$6 is probably close to the same, right? So when does the competence level in live play in casinos tend to hit "kinda sorta decent"? $5/$10? $10/$20? Basically I'm looking for that tipping point in limits where play generally goes from 'awful' to 'okay,' and then I intend to stay on the 'awful' side.Advice on the "tipping point" in the limits of all three of the games I mentioned (LHE, NLHE, limit Omaha 8/b) is appreciated, especially if they tend to have different tipping points.Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

[mtdesmoines]

Swift_Psycho, on Thursday, March 3rd, 2011, 11:01 AM, said:

Hey guys, I'm looking for the opinions of people who have played a decent amount of live poker at casinos. I just recently made my first trip to a casino and played a live cash game for the first time. I'm mostly interested in playing LHE, though perhaps with a little NLHE and limit Omaha 8/b mixed in as well (those are the three games which I'm most competent in).I know there's some variance in level of play at different casinos, so I really only want just some general thoughts from you guys assuming you've played a bunch LIVE. I didn't know play was this awful at casinos, and I was just delighted. I intend to start playing live more often from now on, but my goal is to play at the highest limits I can but still be playing against mostly terrible players. The level of play is just horrendous at $2/$4, and I figure $3/$6 is probably close to the same, right? So when does the competence level in live play in casinos tend to hit "kinda sorta decent"? $5/$10? $10/$20? Basically I'm looking for that tipping point in limits where play generally goes from 'awful' to 'okay,' and then I intend to stay on the 'awful' side.Advice on the "tipping point" in the limits of all three of the games I mentioned (LHE, NLHE, limit Omaha 8/b) is appreciated, especially if they tend to have different tipping points.Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

Depends on the room. I've seen 1/2 played really solid and 5/10 played as a giveaway.

[TraptSteve]

Time & day of the week matter as well. A Saturday night game will have more casual players / non-regulars in the smaller stakes game than an afternoon game mid-week. Make sure to call at least 1 hour in advance during the heavy traffic days.2-5 nlhe is the cut off imo

[Swift_Psycho]

TraptSteve, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 10:30 AM, said:

Make sure to call at least 1 hour in advance during the heavy traffic days.

I'm sorry I don't understand this, I should be calling in advance on heavy traffic days why?

[TraptSteve]

Swift_Psycho, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 7:35 AM, said:

I'm sorry I don't understand this, I should be calling in advance on heavy traffic days why?

Showing up on a busy day without calling ahead will virtually guarantee the longest possible time on the wait list.

[Swift_Psycho]

TraptSteve, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 11:00 AM, said:

Showing up on a busy day without calling ahead will virtually guarantee the longest possible time on the wait list.

Sorry again for my ignorance here, but what good will calling ahead do? Do they allow you to reserve a seat for a certain time if you call ahead? Or would I just be calling ahead of time to see if it's so busy that I shouldn't bother going?

[DinkDonk]

Swift_Psycho, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 3:48 PM, said:

Sorry again for my ignorance here, but what good will calling ahead do? Do they allow you to reserve a seat for a certain time if you call ahead? Or would I just be calling ahead of time to see if it's so busy that I shouldn't bother going?

You can ask how long the waitlist is (to gauge how long the wait will be) and get put on it ahead of time.

[Swift_Psycho]

DinkDonk, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 3:53 PM, said:

You can ask how long the waitlist is (to gauge how long the wait will be) and get put on it ahead of time.

I think the problem with that (for my situation) is that my casino is like a 40-minute drive, and people rarely wait that long for a table (to my knowledge), so putting my name in before I leave isn't really an option since they would likely call it while I was on my way and I'd get passed over anyway.At the casinos you play at, are waiting list times longer than an hour for some people?

[mtdesmoines]

Swift_Psycho, on Friday, March 4th, 2011, 3:48 PM, said:

I think the problem with that (for my situation) is that my casino is like a 40-minute drive, and people rarely wait that long for a table (to my knowledge), so putting my name in before I leave isn't really an option since they would likely call it while I was on my way and I'd get passed over anyway.At the casinos you play at, are waiting list times longer than an hour for some people?

In some rooms, they take "call ins." In some rooms, they don't take "call ins." YMMV

[Pot Odds RAC]

The way it works around here (All Detroit & Windsor Casinos and several "Charity" rooms) you can call in and they will put your name on the wait list and you will progress towards the top as if you were waiting in the room. If your name makes it to the top of the list before you arrive, it just sits at the top and they move on to the next name. Your name remains "active" for one hour after you call in. After an hour they remove it. When you arrive, you check in at the desk and things progress like a standard wait list.This saves a huge amount of wait time. I'll call as I'm leaving my house. I can stop for my $, drive to the Casino, and park and still be standing in front of the desk within 45 minutes. If the list is long, I've just saved 45 minutes of standing around in the Poker Room.

[Swift_Psycho]

Pot Odds RAC, on Monday, March 7th, 2011, 1:08 PM, said:

The way it works around here (All Detroit & Windsor Casinos and several "Charity" rooms) you can call in and they will put your name on the wait list and you will progress towards the top as if you were waiting in the room. If your name makes it to the top of the list before you arrive, it just sits at the top and they move on to the next name. Your name remains "active" for one hour after you call in. After an hour they remove it. When you arrive, you check in at the desk and things progress like a standard wait list.This saves a huge amount of wait time. I'll call as I'm leaving my house. I can stop for my $, drive to the Casino, and park and still be standing in front of the desk within 45 minutes. If the list is long, I've just saved 45 minutes of standing around in the Poker Room.

So you mean that once you check in, you basically become the first guy on the waitlist for the next seat that opens up?I talked to a regular yesterday and he said that they do take call ins at our casino and that they work basically the same way as you just described I think.

[Pot Odds RAC]

Swift_Psycho, on Monday, March 7th, 2011, 1:17 PM, said:

So you mean that once you check in, you basically become the first guy on the waitlist for the next seat that opens up?

If your name has progressed to the top during your drive, yes.

[Swift_Psycho]

Pot Odds RAC, on Monday, March 7th, 2011, 1:54 PM, said:

If your name has progressed to the top during your drive, yes.

Coolio. Thanks for your help.

[MixedGameMaster]

In general people at casinos suck at poker. But it depends on table/casino/day of the week and other factors.

[Pot Odds RAC]

Swift_Psycho, on Monday, March 7th, 2011, 3:45 PM, said:

Coolio. Thanks for your help.

Literally my pleasure.

[lespaul337]

Here in Louisina casinos we have several "regulars" who are rocks and play very well every day. My suggestion is get to know who these people are before you play against them. It isn't hard just show up early and watch. Lots of people will know them and they will be very comfortable. The problem I face in alot of NL games is the largest game offered is 2-5 and you have rich people playing with a 100-200 bank roll playing 2-5. Me and several others are very obviously better players but they will all-in you into quitting. If you can't avoid these people, tighten up and let them make the mistakes when you have the goods.

[Danege]

lespaul337, on Friday, April 1st, 2011, 10:50 AM, said:

Here in Louisina casinos we have several "regulars" who are rocks and play very well every day. My suggestion is get to know who these people are before you play against them. It isn't hard just show up early and watch. Lots of people will know them and they will be very comfortable. The problem I face in alot of NL games is the largest game offered is 2-5 and you have rich people playing with a 100-200 bank roll playing 2-5. Me and several others are very obviously better players but they will all-in you into quitting. If you can't avoid these people, tighten up and let them make the mistakes when you have the goods.

Sounds like you're not fully rolled for 2-5 or else this isn't something you should worry about.

[Nashtak]

I love to play at the casino. It's easier to focus on the action and make sound decisions without all the distractions at home and the internet. Plus, can't go wrong with 2NL caliber players playing 200NL.

[leer]

as a live. casino player. i would say the game is like this up to 60/120 but some casinos have regular groups of sharks. in northern ca for example. the oaks has a 6/12 table where 2 seats are availible for fish, the rest are sharks. but they only stay for about 5 to 6 hours then leave. once they are gone, the game plays pretty much like 3/6 there is a card room where every day they open a 2 2 3 nl table, and 6 regulars come in and dominate the table. after they leave, then the. game gets good. bay101 in santa clara california. has lots of great action on thier 10/20 game.people get stupid on the 12/24 not sure why. to sum it up. yes. california is filled with horrible players that do thier best to give away their bankrolls. some are very successful at it.last but not least. if you sit. down at a table. and cant seem to find any suckers there, your the sucker. so be alert.

[answer20]

Always nice to see new people coming out to casinos ... not too surprising with poker being limited on the 'net. Much like playing a poker hand, the play at casinos and charity rooms (michigan here also) can vary from the time of day and day of the week. You need to develop your people skills each visit and try to figure out who is playing at their highest level and work on them. You want to find the players at levels where the money still 'means' something to them, thus you can play back at them more and push them off hands. Where as the guy with 10 buy-ins in his pocket will stick around a hand more.I think there is a difference between card players and gamblers also. Gamblers can play cards, but they are there to gamble and willing to take more risk so be ready for them to make a 20% call getting 2 to 1. These are the types of players where you can increase your bet sizing and still get a call, but be ready for them to gloat when they suck out on you. Where as card players know the odds and see the long term math involved with most situations, so you have to size your bets to keep them in the hand and hope the math works out in your favor. You also have to find out who is stuck and how you think they are playing when on tilt.I don't have a lot of limit exposure and I know most books tell you to master limit before playing no-limit, but from my conversations where people play limit since no-limit is not available to them they have way more bad beat stories than I do since people see the 'limit' to their risk and make calls they shouldn't. This is great if you run good, not so great if you are running bad and can't get people to fold when they should.I play mostly 1-2 NL and I think the level of play here in Michigan at 1-2 is the same as 2-5 or 5-10 in Vegas. When I sat down to play 2-5 for the first time I was so tight it hurt my results, but once I saw the game was the 'same' then I turned it on and actually had better results since I figured out I was playing cards ... not gambling ... at that particular table ... that particular day and time (noon).Look at the buy-ins ... in Detroit they get 1-2 games going with some tables having a min buy-in of $200, some charity rooms have a $30 minimum ... but you have to figure out what the money means to that person since $50 to us is $5000 to Tiger Woods. That is the biggest challenge to live.Get to know the 'floor' and call ahead to get on the list to limit your wait times ... they will also point you in the direction of the 'right' game for you that night once they get to know you as a regular. Good Luck ...