Discussions of The Lodge, one of the largest rooms in the state, with over 80 tables and working on expanding further. They host a monthly monster meetup with a 500K guaranteed tournament, have The Lodge Live Stream and are partially owned by Brad Owen, Andrew Neeme and Doug Polk.(Thanks to TampaKn1sh for the info).

Anyone else attending the Fall Mayhem Series? I'm relocating to Round Rock in about a week so will be getting settled in at the start but should be hitting those PLO streets midway through the series.

Also, for the 1/2/5 PLO that runs, is the 5 a straddle, 3rd blind, etc? And are there restraddles permitted?

Hey guys, glad to see this thread up.

Also thanks TampaKn1sh for letting me know about it via dm.

Happy to stop by and answer questions/talk about our room here from time to time!

We have our big fall series coming up Sep 6th, looking forward to seeing people there.

for the 1/2/5 PLO that runs, is the 5 a straddle, 3rd blind, etc? And are there restraddles permitted?

The 5 is the mandatory open. So blinds are 1/2 and if you want to straddle it's 10.

Somewhat weird structure but it's been like that for awhile.

Thanks Doug. Is there only one straddle permitted or are straddles unlimited (i.e. 10, 20, 40, 80, etc)?

If their stream is a representative sample, unlimited.

How many players regularly in the Monday Big O tournament? I see some nice prize pools sometimes for a $70 buy in.

How does Big O or Omaha 8/PLO8 cash look?

Can straddle as much as you want.

Around that tourney on Monday we normally get some Big O cash. I've seen very little PLO8 here but it would likely be possible to organize a game.

fwiw we have tried getting Big O running in the Tampa area a few times, usually a 5/5. It's always been ultra-nitty with no action and short-handed, plus breaks fairly quickly. Might have more success with a mixed game that includes PLO8 or Big O but also other variants to attract a wider range of players than just the nitty ones.

Do the tables at The Lodge have USB ports? Or where can we charge our phones?

Yes USB ports between cup holders.

just wanna say i appreciate what uve done and continue to do for poker doug. ty

don't forget CRYPTO. thank you Doug

There's another thread for discussion of that, let's not thread crap on something that should be a resource for members please

Letting people know about the integrity and trustworthiness of an owner at a venue is helping make this a resource rather than an advertisement.

Ok, well then the fine folks at the Lodge ate a pretty significant overlay on a guaranteed tournament awhile back (something like $334,000)

They also charge an hourly rake of $10 while most places I've played at rake you over the coals (Tampa hard rock was $16/hr, or $20/hr if you had a table in the two-table "private" room). So while I may not be a fan of Dougs crypto situation, I don't think it reflects on what they're doing at The Lodge.

From what I've seen they're doing everything they can to make it a place that caters to poker players and treats them well.

Let's keep the focus of this thread on the activities of The Lodge poker room. I think the activities or ventures of owners outside of their poker related activities can be addressed elsewhere. Lots of casino owners have multiple other businesses but I don't think we want to address those in their venue threads. If you want to continue the discussion about this please move it to the V&C Moderation thread. Thanks

There's already a thread to discuss Dougs involvement with CoinFlex here: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...ssion-1809314/

A more typical PLO max straddle is 'pot', isn't it? We allow 10, 15 or 20 in both the 1/2 and 2/5 PLO games. Some rooms limit the 1/2 game to 15 and allow 20 at 2/5.

Tampa .. yes, this is a discussion that every poker room needs to have with both Dealers and Floors

Is a straddle ..
1) A PF Blind with min raise of 2x the straddle amount .. OR ..
2) A 'raise with option', thus lowering the min raise amount

So in a 1/2, bring 5 game .. when you straddle for 10 is the min raise to 15 (10-5=5 min raise) or 20 (2x the straddle)

The rules Nits say you can't have a 'Blind' for only one street, so it must be a 'raise with option' .. thus allowing them to min-raise their AA in NL for less!

It's been coming up more and more this year .. and the blank looks on staff faces are mounting up since they've not really discussed this before. GL

Just got back from my first session of PLO at The Lodge, on a Monday afternoon into evening during their Fall Mayhem Series.

PROS

Friendly & Attentive Staff
USB Chargers under tables
Free Soda and Water (help yourself or staff can get it for you)
Catered Food for $10 (today was pasta with meatballs)
Great Spacing Between Tables So You Aren't Bumping Into Other Players Constantly
9 handed play but felt like we weren't cramped and on top of each other
Comfortable Chairs
Great Fee Structure ($10/hr)
Padded rails on tables were comfortable and in good shape
Colors on poker chips were good and didn't have any issues with them blending in with one another (although only saw red $5, green $25, black $100 and yellow 1K chips, didn't see the $500's so there's always the possibility they blend poorly with the black chips, but can't confirm or deny)
Cards were in good shape



CONS

Bathrooms seem to need a bit more attention in keeping trashes empty, but overall were clean at least
Lack of options with catered food (one meal seemed to be what they have, if you don't like it, you need to look elsewhere)
Variety of snacks were priced at $2.00 each (like a small box of nerds candy, chocolate bars, etc) which seemed a bit pricy for most of what I saw
Felt on the tables I played at (1 and 3) were very worn down, making it difficult to look at your cards
Chips are basic ceramics, which are slippery. Would love to see some clay chips that stack better, and look better, especially Paulsons



Overall was pleased with my first visit and looking forward to being a regular there

Also forgot to mention in the 1/2 PLO it's a $5 bring-in. Straddles are permitted but they must start UTG to $10 and then go in order (UTG+1 to $20 and next on down the line, no restraddles from any position)

We had multiple hands straddled to $10, 20 and 40 throughout the night. A few to $80 and even one to $160.

A $15 double board bomb pot is optional and run every rotation, don't think I saw anyone opt out of it.

another CON for me was this:

- while there's no smoking permitted inside The Lodge, you'll need to walk through all the smokers standing right outside the front doors while they congregate on breaks. Would be nice to have a designated area away from where people HAVE to walk through all the smoke, but since it's outside I guess they can't do much to control that.

+1, this is just super obnoxious to have to walk through a combination of cigar, cigarette, weed pen, and vape smoke clouds just to try and get some fresh air, take a phone call outside, or go to the main room for some food on break.

I have seen other establishments in the area (not poker clubs) with signs on the door saying people need to be 15 ft away to smoke. I just moved here though so not familiar with the various ordinances and enforceability.

I guess if the smokers would just have some common courtesy it would be an easy fix. They shouldn't need the card club staff to police their creating clouds of smoke all the non-smokers have to walk through.