Poker-Bridge

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’m going to Vegas next week for a few days. Staying at Luxor. Can anyone tell me if/where there are any regular pot-limit holdem tournaments (buy-in no more than, say, $50)? Also, is Luxor a good place for low-limit holdem? If not, could you recommend somewhere better?

Answer 1:

Luxor has a good 1-4-8-8 hold’em, also try Bellagio for ambience. Luxor has a daily turn. Not sure of limit, but cheap buy-in. Have fun.

Answer 2:

When you get into town grab a “what’s on” magazine or CP. it has poker rm #’s no limit poker tourneys ,Las Vegas. Mirage- $60 Tuesday Orleans Tue 7pm -$20, sun noon- $20, fri 7pm -$60. Plaza, Tue & Fri 7pm -$20. Stratosphere Sun & Wed 8:30 pm- $33

Answer 3:

That’s a little more expensive, or can be — unlimited $40 rebuys in the first hour do tend to swell the prize pool.

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).

At a card table when you have to take a pee break, do you leave your chips on the table? Or do you take them with you? I have only played in casino’s a few times (Trop and Taj). Sometimes players take them, sometimes they leave them. Is it safe? Has anyone ever been light a few chips after a quick bite to eat? Do card rooms have an official policy?

Answer 1:

Where I’ve played, you must keep your chips on the table. I have not heard or seen a case where some are missing. But I wouldn’t doubt that it has happened somewhere. What I think is interesting, in the pot limit games like in Tunica and Kinder, they not only have chips on the table but thousands in paper money…..and they leave it all on the table when they take a break.

Answer 2:

I come from the school of thought that says your money is never safer then when it is in chip form. No tax, and lots of security cameras. But… i also remember the old saying of a great. Trust everyone but cut the cards. Seriously though, you can do whatever you want, but the standing rule in most casinos is that you must put back on the table whatever you took off it, if you are to return to play.

Answer 3:

In Atlantic City if you take all of your chips off the table, you will lose your seat. The chips are what hold your seat. The same is true if you go to eat. If you have $500, you can take off part of the money; say 450, but when you return you have to put the $450 back on the table. It is relatively safe to leave money on the table and leave for an hour.

The game is LLHE.  The following problem seems to come up a lot. You have flopped top pair.  A small pair shows on the flop or turn. You were first to bet on the flop and it is now your action on the turn.  You must decide whether to bet or check.  The following hand illustrates one such   situation that occurred recently. I have Jh9h on the button.  Several callers and I call.  The flop comes 9s5c3h.  It’s checked to me and I bet.  The BB and one other player call.  The turn is the 5h.  It’s checked to me again.  What should I do? If I check, I risk a free card, but I have lots of outs if I am behind.  If I bet, I can charge those who are behind, but I risk a check-raise if one of the players has a 5.  Of course, there’s not much chance that someone has a 5. There are many similar situations depending on position and the type of opponents, etc.  Comments on this hand are welcome, but I am looking for more general ideas. 

Answer 1:

I think a free card here is a mistake.  You have top pair with a flush draw. You should definitely bet here since you likely have the best hand. If you get check raised by a lucky sickout or perhaps another 9 with a better kicker you still have a good chance of winning the hand on the river.

Answer 2:

Maybe I have been playing too much Omaha 8 lately but I would tend to just check in the situation.  You are probably ahead here, but you are just asking to be revered here. Any A,2,4,6,7,8 will probably straight someone in a low limit game,  You cant be happy if an over card hits and you are far away from winning the hand if your runner flush hits.  I may be in the minority but I toss you hand after the flop.  I think you are in real trouble, unless you are heads 
up with this hand. 

Answer 3:

I think you really need to consider the players and the board. 

1) If the board provides other draws (say it was 9s5s3h5h) then you should be more inclined to bet.  There are more reasons for somebody to have called on the flop then just their 2nd pair.  Even with 8s5c3h somebody with A4 would call on the flop.  Don’t give those draws a free card. 

2) Think about the players in early position.  Are they straightforward?  Many players at the lower limits just “bet their hand”.  If one of those guys checks he might as well have told you he doesn’t have a five.  If there is a tricky player who might 
check-raise and make you think about it then tend to check although I think this is weaker then the tendency to bet in #1.  With your flush draw and 2 9 outs you can easily call the one bet (already 5 bets or so). 

3) Are they predictable?  If you got check-raised and you didn’t have the other outs could you fold without much worry?  If so then think about betting. 

4) Think about the preflop action.  A board of AK2K is a board many will bluff at but if there wasn’t any preflop raise your weak ace out of the blinds is likely to be good since many more Kings get raised preflop then (say) jacks (board: AJ2J should be scarier). 

5) I tend to check more on the river in these circumstances then I do 
on the turn.  The reason being that on the river the paired fives is 
going to be as scary to my opponent as it is to me.  If I bet I’m only 
going to be called by a stronger then normal hand.  I have to have a 
pretty strong hand to make this bet.

How do I beat a maniac heads-up in online limit HE Poker? I am up, but I don’t think I’m maxing EV vs. maniacs. What kinds of
strategies and tactics do you recommend?

Answer 1:

Allow him to take the lead, and only play hands that have a greater than 50% chance of winning heads-up. You are letting him dominate you with chips, and he is winning his good hands, the blinds, and win he gets lucky. You need to go hard against him when you have the best hand. The Maniac IE aggressive player has a huge advantage in heads up play. You are the only one giving information about the hand.

His strength is universally unknown, and he is going to win every blind that you do not have a good start on, and he is going to go straight for your stack. You start with only quality hands, bail quickly on bad flops, and continue with pot odds in your favor. Will you win? A maniac is going to put you straight into high variance, who is lucky poker. If good hands come up often enough to overcome the stealing of the blinds, and when he is lucky, and when he just plain has you beat, you will win, otherwise, he will win, a good maniac can often take you down based on blind stealing and otherwise winning hands that you chose to fold. So long as the big loses do not overcome the lots of little losses, well you lose.

A maniac is even more “dangerous” on-line, because there are damn few external “tells” to give you a read on his hand. The other method is just going up stack against stack. Become an equal Maniac. At this point you are going for his stack and his blinds just as viciously as you are. In this case, the poker is little more than cut for high-cards, and you have little long-term ability to win anything, because it is essentially a high-cost coin flip. Welcome to heads-up poker. Being a maniac in this case is NOT necessarily the sign of a weak player. They are removing information, and creating a position where all weakness and domination is felt by the other player. There are very few ways to overcome it, and any method can have dramatic short-term variations that can outstrip your bankroll. They have no fear of their bankroll, and that puts you in a weak position.

A maniac will eat for lunch somebody that plays against them because they are a maniac. That is their primary target. This generally leads to overly tight, weak play, or overly loose, weak play. It is a fine line that you need to walk if you are going to be anything other than an equal maniac. If this is uncomfortable for you. DON’T play. When you get to the final table in a tournament, take the chop. Find another game that suits your style. Ultimately the best way to beat a maniac, may be very well, to let others play them.

Answer 2:

I’m under the impression that the on-line poker sites charge $1 rake on every heads-up hand. If this is true, I’d tend to think it’s difficult to beat anyone but a total fish at one of the on-line heads-up tables.

Answer 3:

My strategy would be “don’t play a maniac heads up in online poker.” It’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me. Why would you get involved in a game where super aggression is your biggest weapon against someone who’s only playing style is super aggressive? Also, there is less in the way of tells you can generate in online as you cannot see the person face to face. Why would you ever want to play a super aggressive person one on one in the first place? I just think that’s bad business…try and find a more passive opponent. Those are the people you can dominate heads up.

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.)