The thing is that even if people think that, they’ll still pay you off, so it doesn’t really matter.

I'd be more worried about them correctly calling me down in spots they'd otherwise make terrible folds

Games are 30/60 with a 50/100 kill. I have no basis of comparison for "in USA". The old games in Albuquerque were better, but those died a long time ago. I've privately discouraged a number of pro friends from moving out here, because you're talking 1 casino in the state that has a game that is most often 1 table that doesn't run 24/7. Sure, prime nights you can get 2 or more tables, sometimes. There are people who post here who play the game way more than I do (paging Quantph), but I'd say it is a fun place for a Colorado vacation but not a pro destination.



The game plays much bigger than the old Bellagio 30/60. The rake is 10% capped at $5+ $2 BBJP, so in the 30 game, the first caller creates max rake. What is this, effectively 2x the rake of playing Bellagio 40/80? I think if my life depended on playing poker for income and nothing else mattered, I'd think about the Commerce, Hustler, and Bike as my three choices or Arizona (and learn mix games). Surf doc used to laugh at all of us idiots for not learning NL in like 2006. If you add in PLO to your big bet skills, he's more right today than then.

DougL nailed all key points. Rake is high at 5+2, at 36 hands/hr your share is $28/hr. You might get some part of that back if you hit a high hand or whatever promo they're running with the $2/hand jackpot drop. That's a lot more than Bellagio (but the games there tend to suck IME), not sure how it compares to LA or AZ these days. I have heard from an AZ player that he thought he could make more playing 20/40 there than 30/60 in CO but I have no basis to compare the two.

Having said that, there are plenty of pros (people who make the bulk of their income playing poker) here, some homegrown, some who came from other places. A bunch of Canadians show up for weeks at a time, too. On the other hand, one of the best pros who moved here from elsewhere moved back to where he was from, I believe because he just didn't like living here and grinding all of the time.

Like many poker situations, the answer to "is CO a good place to live and play poker?" is "it depends"...Certainly LA has more consistent games during the week if poker is your main objective (and LA has way better food too, but the traffic is horrible as is the cost of living)

One minor point of clarification for the OP: the game is 30/60 with a 1/2 (really, 2/3) kill to 50/100. When 50/100 runs (some Fridays and Saturdays dependent on the line up, including many of the weekends when there's a big tournament in town), there is no kill because of the $100 max bet in CO (you can't play even one hand of 75/150 or 100/200).

There is a longtime AZ player who has been in Colorado for 5+ years? Command Center!

I'm a garbage NL player and I think the high price of mistakes there has uncovered that I go on LAG tilt every live poker session.

May be more appropriate for the Regional forum, but it pertains to a specific limit game...

A few years ago, the daytime 6-12 game at Lucky Chances was kept going by a pretty significant population of middle-aged+ guys from a specific local community. I'm not trying to be coy or anything, the ethnicity isn't relevant, other than something happened to one guy that I'm not aware of and this whole group of guys moved their action to Artichoke Joe's, killing the game at LC.

AJ's drop is set up such that $1 is dropped even if there is no flop, and once the flop comes down, $6 is dropped, so if you get into a situation where there is one limper and it folds around to the BB, do the math lol. Since the daytime game is not as LAG as the night/weekend games, a common practice that had developed is that if that specific scenario evolved, the BB would say something and if the limper acknowledged, then the BB would raise, the limper would fold, and the BB would give the limper his/her $6 back. (Thus only $1 was dropped and not $6)

Some combination of player complaints, inconsistent dealer rulings and inconsistent floor rulings have led to management going from turning a blind eye to this practice, to admonishing players/dealers, to giving people a ban for the rest of the day for engaging in it.

A couple of weeks ago, a situation arose where one of the daytime regs, a LOL with mobility issues as well as hearing issues offered the "chop", and as a result, a member of the aforementioned community who was not involved in the hand handed her chips to the limper. Management was notified and the limper and the guy who handed the chips were kicked out for the day, but not the LOL.

Lots of grumbling has ensued and the game may be moving back to LC.

At least one of the floor guys at AJs has mentioned them potentially getting in trouble from Gaming for allowing that "chop" practice to take place, so whatever, but if that is not really the case, their inconsistent application of their not-so-well-defined rules is going to cost them a good-sized chunk of their daytime LHE revenue (drop in the bucket I'm sure, but most days, the 6-12 has the largest player pool).

#DRAMA

Why do floors and management always make the most twisted, illogical rulings in the name of following rules that they barely understand the reason for.

Things are complicated and different people weight facets of any problem differently

When/why did all you guys start going to hustler for the 8/16 games? Better rake? Better rake back? Free food? Went there for a few hours the other day and got buried 20 bets really fast.

Went to commerce yesterday and made 60bbs in 8 hours. Poker is alive and well in Los Angeles.

Hustler can suck it.

I can probably search for this, but I wanted to write. We are graced with a range of games here in Los Angeles, and I have hopes of eventually stepping up and into some of them

My fellow southern Californians (and tourists), what are your favorite / the best venues to play the different LHE stakes in LA?


8/16 is my current main game. I've made commerce my “home” room, as they have 3-8 tables constantly running, and I luckily befriended some floors and runners. im timing my sessions, so why not everything else? My max wait for a seat has been around 12 minutes, i'll watch the higher stakes if i ever have to. Commerce seems like the spot for 8/16.


However, at commerce, I usually only see 1 20/40 game running. via poker atlas, I usually see 2-3 tables at the bike. bike seems like the venue for 20/40.


now, ive only played at the bike twice, and i prefer commerce. i think that makes me a rare breed... the bike typically has 1 or 2 8/16 tables. that wait is insufferable, add in the must move and the action/players - i absolutely hate it. sure the room is way nicer vs commerce, but their dealers and the crowd, they get to me. not that commerce patrons are better, but at least their degeneracy entertains me. bike feels like a country club with banter that makes me want to cut my ears off


in my 2 sessions there (weekday nights), I've noticed players sitting at 8/16 while waiting for the 20/40, but also stepped back down because "the games were bad." it seems like i will undoubtedly run into them if my future is bright. I plan to step up or at least take a few shots after another +250 BB, is this a bad idea?


With 20/40 as the next level, do I start forcing myself to play 8/16 at the bike to become familiar with players and their habits? Then, if 20/40 becomes my main game, I assume the bike will be my next venue of choice, due to popularity and ease of entry. Does it make sense to try to get a "free look" at my next field?


beyond 20/40, it looks like action is back at commerce. am i over thinking "venue selection"? does venue selection even matter, as much or even as close to game and even table/seat selection? ****, i'm leveling myself - i cant even win regularly, why do i care about where i play?

The regular players at bike don’t usually play the 8/16. The players you see shuffling back and forth are probably props. That or dirty ratholing nits.

Hustler has the best action for 8/16 and the best promotions

HG has, by far, the best 8/16 action in Southern California. It's not close. And Hollywood Park is second. Hustler is in a distant tie for 3rd with Commerce.

But Hustler does have better promotions and also takes only $1 when there's no flop, whereas HG and Commerce take $2.

Having said all that 8/16 is enough of a raketrap that you really only should be playing for fun.

If you want to play seriously to make money, your minimum should be a yellow chip game. Commerce generally has the best selection at that level. HG's 20 is dying out but carries an $80K jackpot. Hustler has 25 and Hollywood Park has 15-30, if you prefer a different limit.

Really? I find HG to be nitty for 8/16. Their 20 is good though.

Bike also only takes a dollar and the games are very loose passive.

That's pretty bad. I thought that was common practice in every Bay area limit game. Was it the dealer calling the floor or the floor just seeing it while walking around?

I would think that if it were the dealer that they basically guaranteed themselves a tipless down.

I wasn’t present, but it’s more likely the dealer reporting it.

Idk why the dealer should be penalized when it comes to enforcing the rules. If it’s against the rules to do that and the dealer enforces it, they are just protecting themselves and their jobs.

That's a rational viewpoint. The degens aren't going to think that way tho.

You never really know what people are going through. We all see the universe through different eyes. However, the constant among us is that beating yourself up over mistakes will make you feel shitty. The world around you will do a fine enough job of beating you up. Sometimes the playing field shifts without warning in this life. Friends of mine recently had a house fire and they're starting over now, for example. Those goalposts must seem very far away for some people. This is why I don't judge a man by his faults and weaknesses, but instead by his ability to recover from failure in spite of those faults and weaknesses.

good luck

<throws chessboard and pieces fly everywhere>

fin

Disagree. I'll definitely judge a person by how they treat "the help". Which, in the case of poker, are the dealers.

I’m down with that as long as we’re including the treatment of animals in the judgement zone.

Definitely