2/5 almost always has a table running except for dead hours. ~18/24 hrs sounds like it should be about right.

max buyin for 1/2 is $300 or the biggest stack.

Very rare unless you want to play big. There's been a 10/25 running pretty regular in the evenings, but be aware it's semi-private. With or w/o the consent of management (I'm not sure) the players who organized the game and got it running regularly a couple months ago have a short list of players that are guaranteed seats when they open the game. Afterwards they open up the list to the masses, but, again, their regulars will jump to the front if they show up later.

There has been some interest among the 2/5NL regs to get a 2/5PLO going and they did for several hours last night. However that's the first PLO I've seen at lower stakes since the WSOP Circuit last summer.

I remember a few years ago me and a couple friends were hanging out at some bar on Frenchman listening to some good live music and some really creepy old dude, who had been hardcore staring me down, asked if I would do something for 100 dollars. I couldn't quite hear what it was he asked me to do, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to do it, so I shook my head no and got the fk out of there.

Other than that Frenchman was pretty cool.

I just returned from playing 3 days in this room. Overall the room is run very well. Two of my three sessions were at night where the dealers and floor people are truly outstanding. My third session was during the day and as is often the case, the quality was much lower. I just wanted to relate one story from the day shift that I think may well crack people up a bit.

I was playing 2-5 and while I was not in a hand I looked at my phone. The dealer right away jumped me and told me I had to put my phone away. I said okay but asked is that the rule only for out of towners? She said no, why? I then pointed to seats 1 and 2 who were holding their phones high in the air texting. She said that they were allowed to do that because they had ear buds or headphones on. I then asked if that was the case even though it was very clear that they were texting at the table. She said as long as someone has ear buds in they can do anything they want with their phones. I followed this up by asking her what if the ear buds were not connected to the phone. She said it does not matter as long as they are in the players ears they can use their phone as they please.

What makes the story even more strange was that as soon as she sat down at the table two guys who were clearly regulars go up and left. As soon as she finished her down they returned. When they came back I said loudly, "I can see why you guys leave for that half hour." Everyone laughed.

If the dealer is correct that that is the rule, this may well be the worst rule I have ever seen in a poker room!!!

She's right that is the rule

Which dealer ?

I get in trouble on here if I identify a dealer in any of these posts. That was the only reason I did not post the name to begin with. Been there done that.

If that is the rule, then I would say again, that is the perhaps the worst rule I have ever seen in a poker room. However, should I ever return to the room I will take advantage of this rule and bring a pair of ear buds and never even plug them into my phone.

It was Karen. Educated, I was one of those regulars who left; enjoyed playing with you.

Kid, that is not the rule. The rule is that you can use an Ipod or equivalent device, but cannot use phones. Having the earbuds in just gives dealers and floors plausible deniability. The rule is stupid either way, but the actual rule is slightly less stupid than what was explained to educated.

At least you can use an Ipod now, I remember a while back you couldn't use any kind of elec device at the table. I even got fussed at one time for reading a magazine at the table lol, but it's still the softest games I've ever played in so w/e.

Anyone up for 2/5 plo this afternoon and tonight?

Anyone playing here during the Bayou Classic?

I am thinking of going there on Sunday morning. . . .I know I will miss the drunk maniacs from Saturday night but maybe there will a couple of stragglers there before they head home?

TT

Is the rake really $6 a player for 30 minutes of play, at all NLHE stakes, including $1/$2?

If so I have a hard time believing 6 bb's an hour in rake could possibly be beatable.

Have any of the posters in this thread beaten the $1/$2 game in this room, over a large sample size? If so, by how much? and HOW?

I just stopped by last week.

5 months ago I decided to take a break from poker after I went to a casino and realized that I had forgotten some of the basic rules of playing good poker. But I was in NOLA on business and bored one night so I said wtf why don't I go lose a couple hundo at poker. When I sat down at the 1/2 it took me about 5 minutes to realize that there were 6 players who were worse than me. 3 of them were downright horrible. It was the easiest table I've been at in years. If that's the normal game at Harrah's the 1/2 is easily beatable even with the ridiculous rake.

Yes it's $6 at 1/2. I used to play a lot of 1/2 here a few years ago and did very well. The games were def beatable (the best 1/2 games I've ever seen) and I have a few friends that still play there and say the games are still great.

gl

Limit poker is pretty much LIMITED (get it?) to 4-8 at Harrah's N.O. these days, sadly. Back in the day, the 10 game and the 20 game at that cardroom were the best in the damn world (with drunkies wandering in off of Bourbon Street and with local reg's who were good enough to beat the game, but not soooooo good that you couldn't beat them, too). I MISS THOSE DAYS!!! 1/2 and 2/5 NL killed that ****--ya already know!

We used to play (no--this is NOT a type-O) 15/30 Limit Omaha High every Tuesday and Friday, starting at around 11 AM, but even that game hasn't been going regularly from what I understand. That game was, as you can imagine, incredibly wack! You could lose 4 racks in an hour, no problem. To be winner on that game meant a score of $3k or more, minimum--anything else and you left kinda' wondering if you left profit on the table in that hand where the board paired on the river...

Most Friday and Saturday nights, there is a 4/8/12 limit omaha hi/LHE mixed game that is pretty great. If you don't have any experience with playing limit omaha high (and why would you unless you're from the Gulf Coast or are a dealer getting off work in Vegas and have wandered into the Orleans Casino in Downtown Vegas around 3 AM), it can put even the best players on INSTA-tilt! Don't ever bet second nut flush in early position on the river. Period. If the board pairs and there are more than 3 players in the hand, you're no good with a straight or a flush--and probably not even good HU because in that cardroom the guy or lady who flopped bottom set will call you to the river hoping for the board to pair, regardless of pot odds. The LHE rounds can get you a little tilty, too, because the players often see flops with any two (because they're still in Omaha mode--YIKES). Seems like almost every hand in the LHE round is won by two pair or better, even on the driest boards, so don't bother trying to raise to protect your hands. It won't help. I used to buy onto that game for $300. It can go pretty fast, but if you run well, you can walk with well over a dime (and that is soooooo nice when it happens because it feels like the suck-out gods are on your side for once...).

I am not a NLH player, but I hear that the 1/2 games are soft, as are the 2/5 games on the weekends (a lot of Bourbon St. drunkies). The 5/10 game plays VERY high for a 5/10, and you simply MUST assume that there are multiple players playing the same roll on that game (the player pool for big stakes poker in N.O. is simply not that large post-Katrina and post-Tunica, Biloxi, etc.).

I have heard that there is a fabulous 40 game at the Grand Casino just down the road (I-10), but I haven't played in it.

There is A COMPLETE MESS DEGEN 4/8/12 Limit Omaha High game which goes most weekends at the casino across the river from Harrah's at the Boomtown Casino in Harvey, LA. It's a 15 minute cab ride away (you will likely think the cabbie is driving you into the swamp to rob and kill you, and then all of the sudden you see this fake riverboat which is easily the most DEGEN casino on the entire Earth!). If you have serious degen tendencies, and are ever tempted to play a hand of Pai Gow, etc., then this is a must-visit. Other than the limit omaha high game, I think they only spread 1/2 and 2/5 NLHE (call ahead!) and 3/6 LHE. The poker room is REALLY small there (I think 4, 5, or 6 tables?), so I would call ahead to confirm that any game whatsover is going. Whatever game it is, I promise it's beatable. Lawdy Shawty that casino is enormous and is a HOT mess. Hangover Part III, for real!

Finally, as a New Orleanian, I will say that the city is MOSTLY safe. If you do dumb ****, however, I can also pretty much guarantee that dumb **** will be done to you! Don't stagger around ANYWHERE late at night, piss drunk. At that point, you're inviting it. Locals don't go to Bourbon Street (it's an illusion created for tourists), so the hustlers and bangers know that if you're not in uniform (as in, bartender's garb), then you're from elsewhere. That doesn't mean don't go to Bourbon (do!), but don't fall in a pool of your own sick on the street and expect for it to go unnoticed by all. Just don't carry your hurricane/hand grenade/tooter-shooter bull**** around staggering drunk, and you'll be fine. And also don't wander down dark side streets. Really, the Quarter is beautiful, safe, and well worth the trip if you've never been. I am always perplexed why people hit up Vegas and have never been to New Orleans. It's an amazing culture where you will be welcomed with open arms, and there are several casinos right in and around Orleans Parish. (Obv, Harrah's N.O. is RIGHT downtown in the Quarter...)

BOTTOM LINE: NEW ORLEANS IS THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH, AND IF YOU'RE A NL PLAYER, YOU SHOULD GO FOR A WEEK AND PAD YOUR ROLL. Laissez les bon temps rouler, and all that ****. GEAUX SAINTS!!! And good luck, baby. xo

So assuming 9 player tables, rake is $108/hr. Where I play, rake is $4 +2 for BBJ, and maxes almost every hand. If we say $5 on average hand, and 25 hands/hr, that's $125/hr, so even worse. And yet it is very beatable.

What's the charge at 2/5? Coming for to NOLA for the long weekend and might try to get a couple of sessions in.

I'll be staying out by the airport? What's a cab going to run me to get downtown? Should I just rent a car?

Cab is $56 from the airport. 2/5 wasn't that good this week. 1/2 had insane action. Players are very bad.

Cab to the Quarter/CBD from the airport is $33 or $14 per person if more than two people, not $56. And you could rent a car but parking in the Quarter and CBD is very expensive and sometime tough to find. Cabs to take you to from Quarter/CBD/Garden District are not very expensive so I wouldn't worry about a car.

$56 is round trip? That seems incredibly high for a one way that is only about 14 miles.

I'm coming in next week and will be donking up the NL games in the evenings.

$33 one way or $14 per person if 3 or more. The $56 is incorrect.

There was 4 of us in the cab. Sorry for the misinformation.

Well, with free parking at Harrah's and at the hotel we're staying in next to the airport, I just went ahead and booked a car. $70 for 3 days including all fees (Go Priceline!). See y'all after the Saints-Niners game (not going to try to pay attention to cards during that).

Right, but that depends on how you are playing in the game. If I am sitting in a game where I determine it's most profitable to be super nitty, and only play 10 - 15% of hands, a 6/bb an hour rake is going to kill me.

I might only average one huge pot per every 3-4 hours.

Let's say I play a 200bb ($400) HU pot, and I win their stack. The rake would be $4/$5 in a lot of games.

If I do that every 3 - 4 hours, on average, I've only paid $4/$5 rake for the entire 3-4 hours, + blinds.

If instead I was playing this way in the Harrahs NO game, I would have paid $36 - $48 in rake in that same period of time.

There is an absurd difference between those two figures.

If you can play lag successfully and profitably in the game, then a $12 an hour rake might be beatable, but most $1/$2 games are most profitably beaten by playing nitty Tag.

Assumed you were staying in town. Car a better way to go for you for sure.

Yeah, the wife's dancing competition is at the Airport Hilton, so we just booked there. That will make life much easier when she has to be in place and ready to compete at 0830 on Saturday, but is otherwise near nothing of any particular interest. Car limits the drunken buffoonery quotient, but I'm pretty much past my Bourbon Street days anyway. At this point in my life I'm closer to qualifying for Preservation Hall.

Has the 2-5 plo started the run regularly yet? I'm thinking about stopping by in mid March and was hoping a plo game is spread daily.