Were the maintenance guys scurrying around like a NASCAR pit crew breaking down the old tables and shoving slot machines into the old poker area as fast as humanly possible?

I checked Bravo around 9:30. 20 tables running total with a waitlist @ 1/2-100 of only 10(!). Maybe I'll finally check the room out. I want to cut my teeth on the 4/8 FL game.

Let's say the game gets 30h/hour. With tip, the house gets 1BB/h (5+2+1). Split 9 ways, the 30BB/h rake is 3.3BB/hour for you and that's 10BB/100. Maybe someone who would crush the 30 game could beat that 4/8 for something positive. Maybe he couldn't. Part of winning big in LHE is pushing small edges, and I think those edges don't exist with the rake that high. Even in the 30/60 the rake matters, being as high as it is.

This to say if you had close to the same skill to play the 1/2/100, the spread limit game allows you to play tight (smaller blinds) and win much bigger pots. Let's say you were a LHE genius and could win $2/hour in the 4/8. I'd guess a sort of ok 1/2/100 winner is looking at something closer to $10 an hour. It could be a NL genius could win more like $15-$20 (not as sure about 10bb/hour with that rake). All this assuming you want to someday fund a 30 shot via playing poker.

I enjoy LHE a lot more, but if you told me you'd played 1000 hours in the 4/8 and lost $1/hour, I'd think you were a decent player.

I said "cut my teeth", not play regularly. I've NO experience with LHE, and certainly wouldn't want to learn by sitting the 60 game. According to Bravo the blinds for the 4/8 are 1/2, btw.

That makes the game worse if it allows the nits sit cheaply and BBJ chase. Remember, the rake is 20% for the first $20 in the pot. If you have a lot of $20-$40 pots, the 20% rake is a killer. In the spread game, the low blinds are made up for by the potentially large bets later in the hand. Those bets are rake free because you've already hit the cap. If you can play in $300 pots, the rake matters much less. This is doubly true in a big bet game where the money can go in for you sick/good. In a LHE game, you're still only getting small bets in with smallish edges.

All this to say that smaller blinds don't help a LHE game.

Agree with Doug that the smaller blinds are absolutely terrible for the game and do nothing other than encourage BBJ-wanting nits. I've seen people win preflop by limping. That's not a good thing.

lol, That 4/8 structure has to be about one of the worst forms of poker imaginable.

Props to Ameristar on the new room, for the most part it's fantastic. They did a good job.

thanks

+1

I played Saturday afternoon/night, loved the new space. Chairs are very nice (but no wheels), TVs everywhere, plenty of space between tables.

You could barely hear the band, it was about as loud as the normal sound system, huge improvement to the old space.

Re the lighting: the lighting at the tables is excellent, they did a nice job on that. But the overall room lighting was pretty dim, a little too "mood lighting" for a poker room. Nothing some bright LEDs can't fix, and the staff is aware of this.

Overall, one of the nicest, if not the nicest, room I've played in (but I've only played in a handful of other places, probably this is comparable in my mind to the Venetian minus the Fiji water, shots of Patron, and food from Grand Lux). Let's see how it stands the test of time...

Sadly, Fiji water is no longer the water at the Venetian. Just generic now.

new A* room is nice. People still play ****ty. colorado for the win.

im going to Astar saturday

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Are you still taking shots at 30/60?

I'll be there too, as will every other poker player in CO. Even with 22 tables, the waitlists are gonna be loooong. But I agree with everybody else - the new room is awesome. I think they already fixed the lighting issue, and the HearHotSpot app is pretty cool.
And Merry Christmas all!!

do the tables really have usb??

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Confirmed yes.
And drink holders built into the padded rail

Haven't been up since the room switch, but looking forward to seeing it.

Assuming they're still using the same old Ebola-laden chips?

With the expanded room, does this raise the chance (even if just 10-20%) of new games being offered on a regular basis? For example, dealers choice or 10-20 LHE. People have stated there isn't enough interest in these games but I don't believe that to be true. It all centers around breaking people's habits with the regular routine and what they're comfortable doing. The key is getting the games going for a few weeks straight, word of mouth spreading around town about how much people enjoyed playing them, and boom, they're regular games each weekend.

I believe a lot of people would benefit from playing 10-20 LHE rather than 1-2 SL or 2-5 SL. A lot of folks are just terrible at spread limit and no limit (like myself) and are better limit players, but can't play 30-60 for bankroll reasons, or 4-8 to beat the rake and crappy blind structure.

I understand this has been discussed over and over in this thread the last year or 2, but maybe we can finally take that next step forward and have serious conversations about scheduling a meet and greet and subsequent 8-16 or 10-20 LHE with a half kill at Ameristar. I think we should set a weekend night date and time at least 2-3 weeks in advance, get an RSVP from anyone that's firmly interested and will show up, and make this happen.

I will start by suggesting Friday, January 10th sometime around 7-8 pm. I would say if we can get 12-15 firm yes responses, this will happen. 8-10 is probably too short and runs the risk of the game just not happening or dying quickly.

* 8-16 LHE with a half kill probably better suits my bankroll at the moment than 10-20. Even with $7 max rake, I still believe 8-16 with regular blinds of 4 and 8 is very beatable, especially with the half kill.

Please respond with your thoughts, whether you'd be interested, what limit you'd prefer, and when is ideal for you.

A 6-12 (Full Kill) or 8-16 (Half Kill) come with these changes. I cannot imagine they tell us no if the table(s) are available and there is ample interest. My thought is it will come down to the players to encourage one or both of these game structures. If a 6-12 Omaha (Half Kill) game was ever started, I may become a believer in Christmas again.

Just a quick question: how differently does the 30-60 game play depending on the time/day of play?

Bravo says 20-40 O8 game at Ameristar, is there no end to the madness?! I can't play tonight 😥

Is there a BBJ in the O/8? If so, is it the same qualifications and out of the same JP pool as the LHE? Either A) no jackpot drop and thus a semi-reasonable $5 drop in a 20/40 game or B) it is so much easier to hit a jackpot with 4 cards, you're equity owning the LHE guys by taking their huge store of cash much more than your fair share.

No O8 jackpot, rake is 5+0. One of my friends confirmed this game is actually running, after a different friend called and was told it wasn't running?

You have made me smile. Hope it runs forever.