I’m moving out to Rochester, NY soon. After a brief online search for nearby poker games (low-limit Hold ‘em) I’ve found that the Turning Stone is the closest poker room (about an hour and a half drive). If anybody has anything to say about that particular casino’s poker room. At other times when I don’t feel like traveling, I love to log on and play www.777.com/play-blackjack.html because the game play is state of the art and the experience priceless.
Just a couple of additions to the letter posted. There is a 50-100 HE game every Friday and it normally gets a lot of action. Also the 15-30 is one of the best around the country for the size of the place. Of course the one draw back to the little tables is paying $3 on the button. But if you go to 10-20 it is $10/hr time play. Not too bad.
I guess I’m a regular but not every week I still have to work for a living. But if I could win the tournaments every Thursday like I did last Thursday I might consider retiring early. A $1200 paycheck for 4 hours of work isn’t too bad a living. The stone’s phone number can be found at its web page www.turning-stone.com.
Turning stone’s poker room has potential for becoming a class “A” room but the casino management won’t the force that does it. Players will. When the room opened last year, there were plenty of 15-30 and above games spread all the time. By January a 15-30 stud game was impossible to get going. Since the poker room staff will accommodate anything players want (they are tops, btw), enough mid level players will jump start this room. We need weekend players who are interested in more than 1-5 studs. They tried “Spread it and they will come” now we have to “go and they will spread it”!
I plan to make my first trip to Atlantic City within the next month. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? I’ve checked the web for Ceasars, Ballys, Hilton, Sands and Tropicana. They all seem more expensive than what I pay in Vegas, Biloxi, and Tunica. They seem to be going for $150 a night and up. On my last 2 trips to Vegas I stayed at New York/New York for about $80 a night. I have also stayed at the Luxor for about the same. If I spend much more for a room I usually find myself altering my play for comps. Comps are good when you get them but I don’t think you should alter your play to get them. Am I missing something? Where are the good places to stay? I will be going on the weekend. At the hotels I usually stay at they give me the Casino rate. Can I get that just by asking at a Casino I’ve never been too. What Casinos offer the best ODDS for craps? What Casinos have a poker room?
Answer 1:
The poker rate at the Trop is your best value. Contact the poker room for details. Taj is nice, but more expensive. Trop and Taj have the best poker rooms.
Answer 2:
For my $, the Hilton has the nicest hotel rooms in town. If you’re stuck paying a rack rate, you might as well go stay in a nice, clean room. However, if you are really dead set on finding a cheaper rate, the Hampton Inn on Route 40 is less than a mile from the start of the casinos and has decent rooms.
Answer 3:
Except for special promotions, the room rates at the 12 AC Casino hotels are much higher than in Vegas in the summer. But summer at the NJ shore is peak season and bottom season in the LV desert. Ballys might be relatively cheaper but if you want to treat yourself a little my recommendation would be Caesars (they also have a low stakes stud poker room in the hotel).
Are they still regularly spreading 8/16 hold’em, or 10/20, or both?
Answer 1:
They had one and or two tables of 8-16 and that replaced the 10-20.
I was told that the 8-16 is a better game because of the “number” of chips in the middle (mostly $2 chips were used) keeps people in. I also believe that they will start a 10-20 game if there is enough interest but did not see one going.
Answer 2:
There hasn’t been a 10/20 holdem game since 8/16 started and the 8/16 game has been going strong every day. The majority of players feel it’s a greater value.
Answer 3:
But what if the only reason that they are spreading 8/16 is because loose players are attracted to the 4 chip 8 chip betting structure, not because it would be fair to the jackpot players? OK, then what if half of the players are playing the 8/16 for the 4 chip 8 chip structure and half are playing for the free roll on the jackpot?
Three guys go to Vegas for the WSOP and check in at a dumpy downtown motel. Upon check-in the desk clerk asks for $30 for the night. Each man pulls out a $10 bill, hands them to the clerk, and the clerk tells the bellman to take them to room 2. At the end of his shift the desk clerk realizes that he charged the men in Room 2 the weekend rate and today is only Thursday and should have been charged $25. He pulls five singles out of the till and calls to the bellman. Says “Take this $5 to the men in Room 2 and explain that we overcharged them.” So the bellman takes the money to room 2 when he realizes that those cheap bastages never tipped him for taking their bags. So, he takes two of the singles and pockets them for his effort. Bellman knocks on the door and says sorry, we overcharged you – here your change and hands each of the three men $1. Now – Here’s the question…
What is 9×3?
How much did the bellman put in his pocket? So….Where did the other dollar go?
Answer 1:
There is no *other* dollar. The question is misleading. $10 each = $30 originally paid. $5 back from the desk clerk covers the $25 room rate. $2 bucks to the bellman leaves $3 left (split 3ways = $1 per man).
Answer 2:
The amended charge per person comes to $8.33. (25 / 3 = 8.33) They paid $10.00. Their return should have been $l.67. They only got $1.00 back and the porter kept the $2.00 (.67 x 3 = 2.00)
Answer 3:
The problem is in trying to compare the total the men paid ($27) to the original amount paid ($30) even after the hotel has taken the $5 out of the till. Once the hotel takes the $5 out, you need to compare the amount the men paid with the amount the hotel *has* ($25), not the amount the hotel originally had. So, then, “9×3 is $27, but the bellboy put $2 *of that* in his pocket and the hotel has $25.” (You don’t *add* the $2 to the $27 paid, you *subtract* it.)
To fully illustrate, let’s say the bellman didn’t steal any of the $5.
The end of the problem would now read: “$8.33 * 3 = $25. The bellman put how much in his pocket? (0$) What happened to the other $5?” Now the problem seems silly, doesn’t it? You instantly understand that there is no “other $5,” because you realize that the hotel let go of $5 and thus a comparison of amount paid by the patrons has to be made against the hotel’s $25.
I’m coming to L. A. soon and I wondered how the games are going at the new Hustler Casino? I know they opened strong but wondered how they are doing now.
Answer 1:
It’s located on the corner of Pornography Ave and Smut Peddler Way.
Answer 2:
That’s nothing. His daughter has accused him of molesting her when she was a kid. Would you lie about that when you stood to inherit millions? I know many poker players think porn is just free speech, but child-molestation is a criminal perversion and Flynt calls himself “The Pervert.” Of course, there couldn’t possibly be any connection between porn and child-molestation. Think about that next time you are going to play poker in his club.
Answer 3:
Without (hopefully) starting yet another “who owns the Hustler” thread, it is NOT Mr. Flynt’s club. He built the building and is the landlord, but he has no official affiliation with the casino (he can’t get licensed) and as far as any of us who play there are concerned, he’s just another customer.
Need some tactical advice on playing Anaconda (or ‘pass the garbage’) – anybody play this variation who can offer some advice? Or perhaps point me to a web site? Someone has introduced this variation into my regular Thursday night game and I’m losing a lot of money playing it!
Answer 1:
If you’re playing hi-low and 54 is the perfect, never go in with less than a boat or a 6 low after the pass. If there’s much pre pass betting never go in with less than two pair, trips (keep a medium kicker not an Ace) and only try to pull one for a low, but never bet on getting a 5 or 6.
Answer 2:
Definitely be prepared to fold a lot…I only play low if i have low nuts, or a very close proximity. As for high, its anyone’s guess what it’s going to be. This is where knowing your competitors come in handy. The one thing I always try and do, though, is constantly screw the person who is after me. I give him high cards, then low cards, then high cards again (or vice versa). This way you know at least he’s screwed, and if he gets screwed hopefully it will affect the whole table.
Answer 3:
Draw to a lot of flushes.
-Expect to miss them all
-passing 3 of one suit lessens the odds of giving up a flush believe it or not.
-a *lot* of hands go to flushes so consider you high card very carefully.
-Anytime you opponent gives you pretty cards is as good as having high cards showing, since the prick will more than likely advertise the fact for you.
-straights are worthless can be tough because if an opponent gives you a pair then he has very good cards and your boat may be no good.
-Put a lot more emphasis on what you hold than what you give up-you have no idea what he wants.
-I saw AAAA lose once
-since one hand may go to two pair, and the next to a straight-flush: consider your relative position and use it!
-You must learn to fold.
-ONLY bluff heads up!
-bluff a lot heads up.
-Take all of this advice and bend it to fit your opponents.
We had a bit of a dispute in a home game last night about this situation. Game is 5-stud, high/low, no qualifiers. One player has two aces showing; one has two sixes showing. Our house rule has always been that in this situation the aces can be played as “13′s” for high and as “1′s” for low, thus the aces could scoop. The victim was a newer player in the game and insisted that it was an oddball rule. The rest of us see it as clear-cut. What do you think?
Answer 1:
Unless you’re playing seven duece rules, an ace is always a potential scoop card or a potential scoop pair in 5 card stud hi/lo and 5 card draw hi/lo. Because of that scoop potential, which still exists even if it pairs, Ace is a critical card in those games and you pretty much just shouldn’t play without one.
Answer 2:
It’s not that odd ball of a game. Sklanksy talks about it in TOP with replace on the end. Aces usually go both ways in hi-lo games. That said, it is a strange enough concept (particularly to those who haven’t play hi-lo before) so that you should inform a newcomer about it, because you can surely see why he might be ticked off. If you’re playing a “low card in the hold wild” game, it’s also nice to let the guy know if aces can be used for low.
Answer 3:
In home games, the rules can be whatever you decide them to be. Just make sure all new players are made aware of all your rules. (When new situations come up, we usually let the dealer decide what to do during the hand and then vote for future reference when the hand is over.) In my game you can’t go both with only five cards. (You have to win both if you go both.)
