Hello everyone,

Yesterday I played at Bay 101 for the first time in years ( and live poker for that same amount of time ). A few things that I have questions about:

1) I was in a pot facing a bet against a player who had a stack of around $100 back, but I couldn't tell exactly how much. I asked the guy how much he had and was told by the dealer "Don't ask that question." Having not played live poker in quite a while, I just deferred to the dealer. I could just eye ball it, I guess. And I understand the player is under no obligation to tell me. However, I've never heard this rule before and was quite surprised. I told the dealer as much and the villain in the pot told me it was more about etiquette rather than a rule. He even went so far as to tell me it was more about my tone when I asked him how much he had. I can say, my tone was fairly normal for asking a player how many chips he has. Oh well. Is this normal?

2) There was a situation in a hand where I was unsure who should show their hand first at showdown. I was in the small blind and check called on the turn. I checked the river and it checked through. I assumed I was supposed to showdown my hand first, as I was the SB. The dealer ( not the same from the first hand ) told me the "player who made the last aggressive action" is supposed to show first. Again, I deferred. Later in the night another player had a similar question for the dealer about who shows first - and this time a different dealer told the guy that the player OOP shows down first. Anyone know what the actual rule is? I asked for clarification but got no answer.

3) There were several times where I had the option to chop with the BB. I feel it might be profitable to chop 100% of the time, given how awful the rake seems to be. They drop $5 when it goes HU SB v BB. ( This is 1/2/3 ). Anyone have thoughts on this?

A few comments:

The games are extremely soft, obviously. I'm confident the players at the table felt I was the fish, funnily enough.

Some of the players did seem kind of rude. One guy told me ( he wasnt in the hand ) "come on amigo" after I'd been thinking for no more than 30 seconds facing a bet on the flop. I can assure you, I play in a very reasonable amount of time. This, of course, after he'd just come back to the table after missing 3 orbits when he got up to celebrate a 350bb pot he won.

There were also several players who hit and run after huge pots, which may or may not be standard. Anyway, interesting experience. I'll definitely be back.

Showdown order on river after being checked around varies by casino, but you're never doing anything wrong by showing before you are required to.

There are times where I might not want to show my hand down though, if I don't have to.

edit: Also, I'm sure it does change casino to casino, but being given two different rules by two different dealers makes me want to clear up exactly what the rule is for Bay 101

Talk to either the Shift Manager or the Lead Floor. Explain exactly what happened.

Alright, I figured thats what I should do. I kind of wanted to avoid having to do it to avoid seeming annoying right before I plan to put in a lot of hours there. But you're right. Do you have any thoughts on my other two questions? Do you play there often?

generally it is last aggressive action on the last round that shows first. if it is checked down oop shows first.
however some places go back to previous rounds to determine that and that is terribly wrong.

you shouldnt be taking 30 seconds to think on a flop bet that isnt an allin.

yes it is not nice to ask for a countdown in chips as you can eyeball them fairly closely.
too often it is used to irritate people. and having the table hate you isnt good for your results despite what some may think.

Well this is absurd, obviously. It's a 3b pot , deep, he makes a pretty big sized bet and I can't think for 30 seconds about what to do? Anyway, glad to clear up the other stuff.

You can think that long if you want to, but be prepared for some players to be annoyed with you.

And of course, if the rule there is that last aggressor on the turn shows first, and you don't want to show first, you are perfectly ok to wait. But it's also ok for you to show if you want to, as you did, and the dealer (or other players) shouldn't be giving you crap about it.

I mean, really.

I can tell from the way you're responding to the thread that there's way more going on than you're admitting.

1. It's ****in' $100. Learn how to eyeball it. You're entitled to a clear view of the chips, but not a count.

2. Out of position shows first. Last aggressor only applies if there was action on the street. It may be unusual nationwide but it's normal in the Bay Area.

3. Chopping is expected by most of the player pool so you'll stick out if you don't. You will have to beat the equivalent of a 83 bb/100 rake if you don't.

Thanks for the input, but what I said before is precisely what happened. Youc an read whatever you want into it.

edit: In any case, I am totally fine playing by the rules. I never said I was entitled to anything. It was simply a question. This isn't something where I felt like something that occurred was unfair toward me, and I didn't complain to anyone at the table. And of course, I'm not trying to just piss people off.

The phrase.."may I see your stack?" ...always works, and is courteous.

How is the new casino coming along? Any word on when they will make the switch?

Apparently they expect to be in it for next year's Shooting Star.

Supposed to be open this Summer, which could be June or September.

In the two times I've played at the 101 in the last two weeks, there have been 4 separate occasions where I've had a $5 chip in for the small blind or big blind and the dealer has neglected to give me my change back. I spoke up each time and they corrected it. Maybe it's an honest mistake, maybe not. I also noticed it happen to one other player as well. Just figured I should mention it as it's happened so many times within a short span of time.

Anyone have information on average payouts for the Bay 101 daily tournaments or any suggestions about where I can find out? How many players normally play, how late do they run? Thanks.

Just go down there when one is running and ask the TD. They usually run till about 4 pm but sometimes last past that a couple hours. It's hard to say on the average payout because they have a bunch of different entry prices, but it's often $8k+. It's enough to be a pro at if you're good enough.

Are there really daily tourney pros in San Jose? Sounds both intriguing and horrifying.

There are Dave & Buster's pros who make a living off of those ****in' carnival games.

If there's even a remote possibility of winning money, there's a determined grinder who has moved mountains to make a living off of it.

I don't know if there are or there aren't, I just said it was enough money to be a pro. I do see a lot of the same guys finish near the top a lot. Go check their satellite "freeroll" leader board they have posted. The top clump of names have way more points than the guys below.

Does the Bay 101 offer safety deposit boxes, if so how hard is it to acquire?

They do offer safety deposit boxes but they say that the ones on the poker side are full and that you have to go over to the other side.

I have been told but have not verified that there are indeed a very limited number of boxes available on the poker side but you will need to play high long enough to convince them to get you one.

Recently started playing live poker again at Bay 101 in San Jose. The player pool seems very passive and I haven't seen many bluffs in big pots.

Player sits down on my immediate left, buying in for max, $200 cap in the 1/2/3 blind structure. We start chatting it up and agree to split in the blinds 100% of the time.

He raises UTG to $7, folds around to me in the BB w/ T T I mistakenly put in $6 to call and he says "Don't worry about it, I'll just make it $6." He then asks if I'd like to check it down. I say no , as I don't really like playing that way.

We are $200 effective going to the flop. Flop is TJ3 I check, he bets $15 and I raise to $40. In retrospect, maybe my raise was too small as he bet the pot. He calls.

Turn is the K This time I bet $70 into around $80, leaving $82 back. He says "You're going to take all my money" and calls.

River is the Q I check, he insta shoves for $82. I recheck my hand to see if I have a Heart, think for a minute, and then I fold getting around 3.7-1.

Obviously a terrible run out. Anyone making this call here? Should I consider his chatter to mean anything? Is this a call w/ the T and a fold w/ the T

Also,

Anyone here have experience with the players at 101? Also, I'm considering moving to the 2/3/5 100bb game when I make about 10 more BI at 1/2/3. I dont feel comfortable enough for the deep stack game is, but I just can't imagine the players are that good. Any observations would be great.

He was being nice but then you told him you wanted to play for reals. He then got more competitive in the hand. When he says you're going to take all my money I would lean towards this being untrue . The insta shove then is an aggressive action meant to look like a bluff but he wants you to call.

If he never turned on the competition and is still being nice throughout the hand then his comment on the turn would mean he has a hand that has a chance to win but he's putting you on a set or AA. So maybe something like AK with a flush draw. Or he has the AA and he will not fold it. When the river comes and he shoves being the nice guy that he is and being concerned with you still being his friend, he shoves quickly to let you know he got there with an ace.

A third scenario which is the only scenario you beat is where he is totally gunning for you after you declined checking it down and he starts making fancy plays and bluffs at you. I think this is the least likely scenario.

I think it's a table talk fold.

FYI, security boxes are being closed out at current location. When the new location opens, you can open a new box there. But you have to close your current box very soon (like in the next few weeks), else they will do it for you and toss (keep?) whatever's in there.