Thanks for the update, generally dealers are pretty honest about these types of things but I’ve heard of prospective changes being canned before. Hope it happens - a 1k buy in 2/5 game would be sick and save me having to wait on the 5/10 list for a deep stack game

I normally only play Fridays and Saturdays these days but if I end up on a table with an orange hoodie fella I’ll say hello 😆

My experience travelling around Australia is that aussies can be a bit insular and hard to welcome newcomers into their activities - hope that isn’t your experience though!

yeah, dropped from 48 hrs recently: https://www.pokermedia.com.au/2023/0...asino-players/

I'd be shocked if this happens, but I think something similar happened in Sydney. Makes it really tough for new players.

And if you're in Melbourne for a while, definitely go watch a game or two of AFL. Suggestions:
20 May - Essendon v Richmond
21 May - Carlton v Collingwood
2 June - Melbourne v Carlton
11 June - Carlton v Essendon
12 June - Melbourne v Collingwood

#1 recommendation is the last game (Monday afternoon game, public holiday)

I've been hearing more confirmation of this from additional staff + players in the past days, have heard 22-24 May as implementation dates though obviously remains to be seen.

Thanks for the AFL rec, will try to get a hold of some tickets for sure!

Just reading over at the thread on Sydney's Star Casino, post-covid they started running:

2 / 3 NLH - (100-500) - not sure about live straddles
2 / 5 / [10] NLH - (500-1000)
5 / 10 / [20] NLH - (1000-5000)

Max buy-ins were increased to accommodate the optional 3rd blind.

A Sydney player told me recently that the games at Crown Melbourne were much better than Sydney due to Star's long waiting lists. Can anyone confirm this please?

Melbourne 5/10/20 is definitely better than the games in Sydney in my opinion.
They have must-move games instead of a long waiting list too.

If you are talking smaller stakes I’d say wait times in Melbourne in general are better than Sydney, but the range of game quality varies greatly. The Sydney 2/5/10 is pretty consistent I’d say, but Melbourne 2/5 you might get all drunk bogans or all grinder nits (or anything in between).

If you had to pick one place to play though on a random weekend I’d pick Melbourne any time. I do also like the Gold Coast games but lists can be slow and the casino has much less to do

Corrections

They’ve made the 2/5/10 300-1000 for God knows what reason but it really pisses me off

And I believe the 5/10/20 is now a ridiculous 500-2000 buy in

They’ve also cancelled the jackpot and are keeping the previous $ contribution as additional rake

so they can **** right off

You’re right, all listed here:
https://starpoker.com.au/news/star-p...ney-cash-games

Will be interesting to compare next week when Crown make their changes.
https://crownmelbourne.com.au/casino/table-games/poker

Anyone have news on tournaments coming back if ever to Crown?

Both casinos need to wait for the money laundering restrictions to be lifted

My understanding is that Star has lighter restrictions than Crown - we do have 3 weekly tournies, we’re just not allowed to have ones with 4 figure buy ins and….they have to make payments by cheque!

I’m fairly confident that Crown will not run tournaments in 2023, and even in 2024 is very far from a certainty.

New limits + optional utg straddle are live as of a few days ago. Changes:
1/3/(6) - $100-$600
2/5/(10) - $200-$1000

Both 1/3 and 2/5 remain turbo with shotclock rules, rake is unchanged. UTG straddle is live, any sort of restraddling is not. Pretty sure PLO games did not change and these are NL only changes.

Action has been great, stacks much deeper everywhere. Definitely recommend checking out the straddle rules while they're new and shiny + really encouraging action, many tables are running 100% straddle for now but gotta figure it will die down before too long.

Haven't played in Melbourne for some time but Star has ridiculous waiting lists at almost any time of the day. They seem to be happy to let money go down the toilet by having unused tables and scores of people sitting on the waiting list. 2 hours seems normal to get a seat.

Any changes to 5/10?
Thanks for the update, haven’t played since the change so appreciate you sharing.

Pretty sure 1/3 and 2/5 NLHE were the only games changed. Don't think other NL stakes or any PLO games had any changes, but ofc some chance I missed something.

This looks up to date:
https://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/ca...le-games/poker

I’m at Crown watching AFL and will watch the FA Cup later. It’s unbelievable how bad the TV reception is here, Screens often freeze or get VHS-like interference. And the main screen in the sports bar has the bottom section of the screen obscured, you cannot see the score of the away team.

Yeah the internet is even worse. One of the many negatives that being in a basement holds

While I was waiting for a 5/10 seat on the weekend I played both some 2/5 and 1/3. 2/5 few players were straddling and not much has changed since the change in stakes.

The 1/3 however got way bigger with lots of straddling and really bad play.

Pretty surprised to hear that, since the changes I've played a fair bit and I've probably played more 2/5/T hands than 2/5 hands. Even a good chunk of 2/5/T/20! Definitely varies by table though.

In Sydney, it’s pretty much established now that the 10 is always on at 2/5 and it’s rare when you play at a table when it doesn’t. It does happen when a bit or annoying reg refuses but there’s honestly not much excuse for it now that 2/3 has a bigger buy in

Apparently 8 tables of 1/3 is the maximum Crown will open now, they want to push people up to 2/5. So the 1/3 list will definitely push up to 100 and beyond on weekends.

Crown’s new policy has gone to the next level. They have removed the 1/3 list from view and will supposedly do this on Friday and Saturday nights. The list exists, you just can’t see it and can’t be added to it. If you were on the list earlier you will still get an SMS. When I last checked, the 1/3 list was at about 45

Lol @ thinking eight 1/3 tables wasn’t many. They gradually closed them and converted them to 2/5, there are just three 1/3 tables running, 15+ tables of 2/5 though. I doubt they could have done that without NOT sending SMS alerts to everyone that was on the 1/3 list before they locked and hid it.

Lmao that is crazy

I was speaking to an AM the other day and apparently they are following a strategy that has been sent all the way up the chain. The 2/5 rake must be that much more than the 1/3 rake it’s worth it

The rake is the same but it wouldn’t max out as often at 1/3. It’s crazy that they have removed 1/2, doubled the max buy-in at 1/3 and 2/5 and then on weekends removed the possibility for people to play 1/3.

Less than one month ago a player could go on a Saturday night and play 1/3 at a table where the max buy-in was $300. Four weeks later that same person would have to play 2/5 against players that could buy in for $1,000. It wouldn’t be as bad if the buy-ins had not doubled but the combination of both is going to annoy many people.

This will not bring new players to Crown to play poker. They may come once or twice, buy in for $200-$300, get crushed and never return.