Trip Report...Flight landed at 1:00 on Friday at Reagan from Nashville, sitting at the table seeing cards by right around 3:00 at a 2/5 NL game waiting on a 5/10 seat to open up.
DAY #1 (Friday)
Session Length
16 Hours playing mostly 2/5 and a little 5/10 No Limit
Finished plus $3,500
Good:
*2/5 games were filled with action and players buying in for 1k
*IMO 1K is a perfect buy in for 2/5, would love to see a table stakes option but i understand the idea of 1K max for the rec. players not wanting to sit with someone playing 5K deep right off the bat. Why not have a 2/5 game with no cap like the Beau Rivage as an option? You end up getting some crazy action with people walking in from the pits sitting with 5K/10K at a 2/5 super deep stack.
*Floor was friendly and handled the massive crowd for the most part, controlled chaos
*Security and LEOs, felt really safe carrying my cash around the Casino
Bad:
*Door to the outside, i was actually sitting in the 7 seat right by the door and had to leave a good game because of the cold. The floor and players quickly took care of this design flaw for the most part.
*$500 dollar chips blend on the sides with the $25.00 dollar chips, saw the same lady angle twice and called her out the second time on a river bet with $500.00 on the bottom.
*Parking was impossible, wish there a little better plan for the overflow to the back parking like more shuttles or uber pick up location. I completely understand with all the hype but seemed a little under prepared.
DAY #2 (Saturday)
Session length
18 hours playing all 2/5 same excellent game with a little 5/10 late night with a decent line up
Finished plus $3,000
Good:
*Excellent action again, i think a lot of the Maryland Live guys were a little confused playing a 2/5 with 1K cap in place of the $600.00 cap. Stacking off much lighter than I would expect for some spots.
*Flopped/turned/rivered sets along with getting paid all day, pretty easy to play decent running like this....
*Majority of people were really Friendly, I talk because i get bored in these long sessions and most people put up with me.
*Food was really good but will be much better when the runners start serving at the table.
Bad:
*$500 chips led to some additional angles, most of the regs started to color them out from the rec players as a service. I made sure to have additional chips in my pocket to help people rebuy to keep them in the game and moving along.
*Ginders/"Pro", some of the grinders really need to work on their attitudes towards the fish. I heard way too much coaching and complaining. I am sure most people posting in this thread realize you need to make sure the customer has fun.
DAY #3 (Sunday)
Session Length
7 hours mainly playing 5/10 NL
Finished plus $4500.00
Good:
*FINALLY found a decent 5/10 game without Ipad Regs sitting. Table was in the back left of the room and had a great mix of aggressive Asians, couple solid regs, and some decent recs.
*Floor was really starting to get things down and making sure players were in the games that they wanted for the most part. I didn't see the empty seats with 40 on the wait list on Sunday.
BAD/Odd:
Two items to address IMO..
"Running it twice", decided to sit shallow because the solid reg/loose Chinese players were directly to my left and i feel like 150 BBs is tougher to play against in their seat with 3 betting/4 betting.
HH
($1400.00ish)Hero open to $45.00 with 99 3 off the button
(Covers)Player B flats $45.00 1 off the button (solid reg, that was three betting me a good amount)
(Covers)Player C raises to $185ish on the button (laggy Chinese player)
Flop K93 (two spades)
Hero Checks
Player B Checks
Player C Checks (WTF, how does he not fire that board lol)
Turn 10 (non-spade)
Hero bets $300.00
Player B raises to $1200.00ish
Player C folds
Hero shoves, figured i let QJ get there but too much in the pot to fold and almost impossible for him to have 1010 and for sure no KK based on the preflop action. Figure K10/Combo/Set/QJ all in his range but never bluffing. We both agree to run the river twice without showing the hand, Dealer informs us we can't run it twice because there was a 3rd player in the pot. We call the floor and he agrees we have the option to run it twice, which is correct imo because no pot is ever really "heads up" all the way. Player B had 33 for the set over set cooler so running it twice was kinda irrelevant but in the long run the rule needs to be clear with the dealers, some players might not have pushed the dealer to call the floor. The floor was excellent and actually came back to give us confirmation his ruling was correct which was great for the table.
Mississippi Straddle, my take.
I have played a ton at the Beau and Tunica, I have some mixed emotions on the MS. IMO the MS is great in deeper games like the 2/5 and 1/3 uncapped at the Beau, you get a lot of players to play the 2/5/10 uncapped MS that would never play a regular capped 5/10 game. I don't really like having the MS in a 1K/$2500 capped games. Basically makes the max buy in 100 BBs if the table is doing the MS straddle and kills the money in the small and big. I don't think having a capped and uncapped game with different straddle rules would be too confusing for anyone that is playing those games. 1/3 $500 cap, I would leave the MS out for sure.
Suggestions for good actions games with this player pool...
GAME #1 5/5 w/ a $10.00 Rock, you would get a ton of 2/5 recs to play for the free $10.00 blind, make it a $2000/2500 cap. We play this game in Tunica and makes for some really good action with people trying to bluff for the rock and some fun spots preflop.
GAME #2 5/5 PLO 5/10 NL mix game with a $2500.00 cap, this type of game will get more Holdem players to play Omaha and create a fun mix.
Overall, Excellent Experience and will be back possibly for the new years madness weekend.
Floor/Dealers/Staff solid overall with the exception of some slow/clueless dealers that I am sure will self correct over the next few months.
Casino/Venue/Room EXCELLENT, design, lighting, chairs all great.
Plus 11K after massages, meals, drinks and tips. Still didn't get a $3.00 rake chip after asking about 20 dealers.
Gatorman