The (slightly less serious) WSOP 2012 Ongoing Discussion Thread

[The Palimax]

...OK, I'm going to be here on and off for most of the next three weeks, might as well open a catch-all thread.

I'll post *my* experiences when I get back from another one, as my partners in crime have just shown up.

[The Palimax]

So, before I get into my week, I'll start with a quick note and photo from my wife's week in and around the Rio. The glass object on top of that tower is, of course, the marker. Black 22 straight up, and some of those players (as she tells it) were playing for more than a dollar a chip. My wife has the half a dozen or so at the bottom, and ONE at the top "for good luck."



I didn't play a tournament (of any sort) at the WSOP yet. I'm going back up Monday for work, then "full time" for vacation next Friday, but I've only got one tournament on my schedule, and the rest will likely be cash play -- unless I go broke and have to do the $100 deep stacks.

So, uh, I didn't play those deep stack tournament either, but the 6pm/10pm $100+juice re-entry tournament seemed to be their favorite time-passer with a format kind enough to allow for a lot of play.

I've seen nothing but a few chairs at mostly table #219 - plain 'ol 1-2 PLO, and here's what I can tell you:

• Holy Jeezus there's a wide range of skill levels among the dealers. They range from "how the **** did I pass my audition" to downright awesome.
  • "Stephen" (older, faster, keeps the game on track, funny but not overly involved in your business) stands out as awesome, as did a mousy (but pleasant) local female dealer I finally got on my last night -- she's working doubles, the WSOP and her real job (Venetian?) -- and I wish I remembered her name to call her out and thank her for more than the couple of bucks I threw her in the game.
  • I understand that English-as-a-second-language is still more impressive than the one language I speak badly, but FOR ****'S SAKE, as a dealer you should at least be able both understand and pronounce the words: bet call, fold, raise, pot and all-in. I'd also lobby for being able to say a few cardinal numbers.
  • All-in-all, I'd say maybe 35% of the dealers that I encountered could proficiently get one orbit of play per hour at a table of mostly proficient players.
• There was zero uniformity between games.
  • I played 1-2 PLO with a 2-8 UTG option, with a 2-10 UTG option, and once with $5 to bring it in. All games featured a $5 button straddle, although the $5-to-bring game featured a $10 button straddle. While this was mostly simply convention set by the players in the timed-rake game, it almost invariably caused a call to the floor to ask basic questions about how the blinds would be rounded for pre-flop potting. It was *mostly* that the blinds would collectively be counted as a single bet -- which mattered since most pots were button straddled.
  • The 1-2 Big-O game suffered from similar issues. It was 1-2 5-to-bring when I played it, but arguments from the players pushed it back to 2-to-limp and $5 on the button to straddle by about Wednesday night.
  • Add all of this to the problem in the first point, and you get a variety of responses from the dealers, ranging from complete confusion, to parroting what the other table was doing (which was likely different from what you were doing). Add bonus confusion and arguments because random dealers from all over the country were roaming into the game as players.
  • Dear CET. Get a 1-page rule sheet with examples for pre-flop action and provide it to both your dealers and to the players. Have it describe the DEFAULT behavior of the pot-limit games.
• I undoubtedly encountered both a number of online players and 2+2 posters in the game. While I didn't out myself to them, I spotted a few of you. I'm the fat unshaven white guy with the terrible haircut and a happy demeanor. That aughta' narrow it down.

[The Palimax]

In other news, I decided that I didn't want to fight with Lodge-Net, so a few Google searches later, I found how to disable it at The Rio to allow for bring-your-own media players and consoles.

I'll be returning for weeks #2 and #3 with an XBox in tow.

(Disable the RJ45 connector from Lodge-Net, hold the power button on the TV for 10 seconds to force a hard power-off, the TV will "reboot" with full control over switching to auxiliary inputs. Volume still works on the remote, but you'll need to change channels/inputs from the TV's buttons -- or bring along a Universal remote.)

[MSchu18]

Originally Posted by The Palimax

that's effing amazing!!!

run good!

[pfapfap]

They hired even more dealers this year. It sucks, but you need people to fill the spots, otherwise no tables at all. They gotta come from somewhere, and a good dealer will make more at home. There is extensive dealer training this year, more than previous years, but I'm sure it's still a horrorshow out there.

ProTip for time rake players:

Take care of it yourselves. Even if it's a time pot, or if one dude is collecting it, just pay it, as soon as the dealer pushes in. Take care of the house, worry about the rest yourself. They're always hounding the dealers to collect the time, so if you're forcing them to go against what their bosses are telling them as your first impression, it's going to make the rest of the down more difficult for everybody.

The good dealers can handle anything, whatever. But the new dealers are going to be VERY distracted by that, and this sets the tone for the entire down. We all want the same thing here, a smooth error-free game.

[LeadGenDairy]

Originally Posted by MSchu18

that's effing amazing!!!

run good!

The funny part is that we don't see all of the chips the dealer already cleared off. I'd be curious to know what the rest of the table looked like before 21 won!

[pig4bill]

Originally Posted by pfapfap

They hired even more dealers this year. It sucks, but you need people to fill the spots, otherwise no tables at all. They gotta come from somewhere, and a good dealer will make more at home. There is extensive dealer training this year, more than previous years, but I'm sure it's still a horrorshow out there.

ProTip for time rake players:

Take care of it yourselves. Even if it's a time pot, or if one dude is collecting it, just pay it, as soon as the dealer pushes in. Take care of the house, worry about the rest yourself. They're always hounding the dealers to collect the time, so if you're forcing them to go against what their bosses are telling them as your first impression, it's going to make the rest of the down more difficult for everybody.

The good dealers can handle anything, whatever. But the new dealers are going to be VERY distracted by that, and this sets the tone for the entire down. We all want the same thing here, a smooth error-free game.

Look at pfap, play time-rake games!

He's a big boy now!

[rolledup222]

Could be wrong... but I think it was black 24... not 22?

[jrr63]

It's been a few years since I was free to go to WSOP this time of year. At the risk of being directed to "search" or "LVGLS" I'll be up there all next week and I'm wondering how many 5-10 and 10-20 NL games are running at Rio most days, and whether there are "best times" to get a seat. What say you Palimax (or other regs who are there)?

I guess in non-tourney times the best games in Vegas are elsewhere but unless times have changed a whole lot the juiciest games ought to be where the tourney is running. Still true?

[pfapfap]

Yes. There is enough choice at Rio that going elsewhere is unnecessary for most people, especially with Venetian moving to a more "exclusive" model. There are S&Gs, cheap MTT turbos, and long-form deepstacks. There's always a tourney that someone has just busted. There's always a tourney someone is waiting to enter.

The only real downside to this is that the WSOP attracts the "poker people," who treat it more as a convention than a regular room. There's often a lot of table talk, as everybody assumes that everybody else is in on the game. This is more common among the younger players, as the seasoned vets know not to talk about fight club while you're at fight club. But there are usually enough tables at every level to practice some table selection.

Cash games tend to get rolling between noon and 2pm, and fill up by evening. But there's always something going on, no matter the time of day. And a LOT of PLO and Big O.

[jrr63]

Well I should be able to make it there by noon most days

[pfapfap]

You should be able to find a 2/5 game at the very least, with a 5/10 or 10/25 going by mid-afternoon if it isn't already. Or play a S&G 1-table satellite. They're in the same room. Usually NLHE, plus whatever's the evening bracelet event. Wide range of buyins. Have fun!

So many people in the industry are down on the WSOP. I guess Caesars made some mistakes early on, but it seems to be pretty good overall now. It's a lot of fun, the biggest poker convention in the world! Woohoo!

[The Palimax]

Originally Posted by rolledup222

Could be wrong... but I think it was black 24... not 22?

Good catch.

[pig4bill]

Pfap, Caesars still runs a crappy show in the WSOP imo. Someone more competent and less greedy could do a much better job. Many were hoping that someone would be the Venetian, but they fell down on the "more competent" part.

To find cash games at the WSOP, just look on Bravo Live. The bigger Bravo-enablled games are updated in real time, and they said they were going to manually update the lower games manually every 15 minutes or so.

A couple reasons many (including me) don't like playing the cash games at the WSOP are the high rake ($5 max) when other rooms are actually doing lower rake promotions, and that you get no comps. Why play there and get nothing when you can play at places that pay $1.50 to $2 an hour in comps? Some places, like TI, are paying cash as well. Wynn has a freeroll tournament. Etc, etc.

[The Palimax]

I can live with the rake, it's the tier credit that we staving diamond players miss.

I get that it's a PITA putting in trackers on the cash tables, but... ...bleh.