There is definitely no pressure to straddle and no berating of those not straddling that I've seen. I played in games over the weekend where 10-20% of hands were straddled and no one said a word.

The "straddle" was all the rage at Parx when the state first allowed the practice. After it lost its first-time luster, it is just another available table tool.

One thing it does do is make it easy to spot the rookie live player. If he/she has not been exposed to straddling, or in the same case kill pots, he/she will embrace it or reject it. If he accepts in the spirit of the game, he/she stays, participates and figures out what it is for - push action. If not and can not find an acceptable table in the room will either complain or leave.

Best for the room is to offer non-straddle tables for those who do not wish to partake. Best for the players who like the straddle is to take the uninformed under their wing and describe the whys and wherefores of straddle.

It's usually very average players who think straddling really makse the game more action. Most really good players don't see it that way. It's just used as a tool to change things up if the game is getting a little slow, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Mandatory straddling is flat out ******ed most of the time. I love it when the fish push for it because it makes the game "have more action" which is never the case. It may make the game a bigger game, but doesn't mean it's more action. It's just making it a bigger game with three blinds. In cases where the point is to increase the stakes without starting a new game I'm all for it.

All those who are swearing by "SH straddle" remind me of all the players who say the games at the Rio during WSOP are great because of the Mississippi straddle being allowed there. It's doesn't make the games better at all, slightly worse if anything. The games at WSOP are good because there are a billion "tournament pros" mixed throughout all the games who suck at cash. Thats why cash games are great at any casino when a tournament series is in town. Games are tremendous at those times with straddles, without straddles, button straddles, utg straddles. It just doesn't matter. It's the players who make those games have action, not straddling.

Plus, in LHE games, where the average pots are small compared to NL, you're forced to tighten up preflop. There's a narrower range of hands you can play, when you're asked to put 2bb in preflop for a pot that isn't a whole lot more than without the straddle, because the bets on the next three rounds are fixed. Maybe that's why the CET properties in AC allow straddling in NL but not in Limit?

In most low stakes NL games the correct adjustment to the straddle should be to tighten up as well. Because of the relatively high number of short stacks (in terms of bbs with the straddle on) many implied odds nut mining hands like suited connectors and small pps can't really be played profitably. This leaves pretty tight preflop +EV hand selection as the only true profitable strat save for occasional bluffs which may or may not be profitable.

I find it is frequently the bad regs who call with hands that have no prayer of being long term profitable in straddle situations.

The fish make their biggest mistakes post flop. The straddle frequently turns the game into more of a flop / preflop centered game having the effect of shortening the stacks and decreasing the edge the better players have.

When should I break off all the straddle strategy into its own thread?

Good idea.
I think everyone on here has made their opinions known. Hopefully management will take into consideration the views of not just the 2+2 regs, but of all the people who come into the room and play. I have no doubt the straddle will remain in some form.

Now that they're open Raye seems to have disappeared. Having come from Borgata, I had hoped she'd be like Stan was and stop in almost every day.

Hi FromACtoLV! I'm here I just got caught up with the last few posts. I'll be posting later today and answer questions that didn't get answered. Thank-you for all the feedback. Raye

keep this in mind:

Originally Posted by Rapini View Post
Hi Raye, thank you for joining the 2+2 community and for providing information about SugarHouse.

Until you are officially a paid advertiser, you are limited to answering questions asked by users. In order to ensure that you are following the guidelines with respect to poker room representatives, please quote the user's question when responding. Thanks!

ngrund - absolutely. will do. Thank-you! Raye

i meant that for the guy who was saying you weren't posting

YouFold2Me - Thank-you for the post. When we opened the players that were playing the 1-2 PLO like the no max. So we spread it. A couple days later, the players that were playing that day said they wanted a cap. Right now they are playing 60 min/ 500 max. Basically, we're flexible. We want to spread the games for the players who come here. We listen to you. Raye

Sorry for the confusion.

cuserounder - Thank-you for the post. We do have some new dealers. For most - poker is their second or third game. We'll keep looking at the situation and evaluate. Thank-you for suggestion of keeping the new dealers spread out. We did that with their shifts so that the room would be balanced.

Glad you like the valet. We have very friendly security. It took one of my friends from A.C. by surprise...lol.

Unfortunately, in PA you cannot play behind, even when you have the lammers on the table indicating that you have chips coming. If we could, we would let you. It's not our call.

Thank-you for all the great feedback. Raye

Mikey - I KNOW you have been here LOL. We rotate all the sweeties through the poker room. So it is possible you might see them again. Majority are female.

It's $6 PP/PHH. If you ever have any questions and want an answer right away you can call the podium at 215-717-3883. Ask for the shift manager.

Ken1111 - Thank-you for your post. We're just focusing on getting better every day. I will definitely pass this on to Norm and Dave. Raye

Had a couple of spare hours today so I stopped in for my first go at SH. I really like the atmosphere (light years more than Harrahs Chester), just something relaxing about the physical space. Could be the tent-like enclosure, camping AND poker? JK.

Anyway, around 3:15 I sat at a new 1-2NL game (table 2, I think) with $200 and got very lucky fast, turning the nut flush and getting some value on the river. Later, I called $12 pre with pocket jacks. Flop ws Q-5-4. I called $17. Turned a jack and checked it. Raiser bet $40 and I called, then shoved the river and was called (about $50 more). He told me he had pocket kings. Like I said, I got lucky.

Two wins and around $250 in profit. I like this place.

But seriously, I do like the feel of the room. Only could stay two hours, left with $265 to the good. Again, I am just an old, instinct hobby player (easy money to most of you), but really enjoyed the experience. Of course, if I had been felted 2-3X in the same two hours, I would have hated it. I knew the table was potentially dangerous when the first hand yielded a 9-8-8 flop and two players got it in with K8 and 10-8 respectively. Very next hand, a flopped Broadway (two hearts on the board) turned into a shove and a call (two pair), with the caller hitting his boat on the river. That was the first two hands at a new table! I've played many times at Borgata and Harrahs, and seldom saw back to back hands at 1-2 with people shoving on the first two hands dealt at a new table.

Considering it is a $7 cab ride from my house, it's my new poker home.

I know there may be a new straddle thread somewhere for SH, but the any position straddle was only used sparingly at our table (mainly on the button), and no one seemed to care one way or the other.

Raye, keep up the good work. I plan on playing in the daily tournaments once you've set them up. My preference would be for a late morning tournament, $100 buy-in. I really used to like the Wednesday 11 am tourney at Borgata.

The podium is in NYC???? Maybe 215?

Yes. 215

I changed the area code in her post so nobody would use 212 by accident.

Raye,
Put this one is as a vote AGAINST the straddle for limit games. All it seemed to do this week is to tick the other players off. If that's your objective, I guess it's ok, but it really seemed to make little financial sense to straddle a 2-4 or 2-6 table.

I know this is a strange question, but how is the temperature of the room? Is it unusually chilly because of the tent-like enclosure?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using 2+2 Forums

Didn't seem cold to me, but it was 65 degrees outside on Tuesday.