the brook has broken shufflers

If your top concern is a nice place to bring the missus then the only choice is the Brook

Planning on going to one of the following casinos in the end of June during a midweek day/night; Foxwoods, Mohegan, or MGM Springfield.

I have been to foxwoods several times, and up until the last trip (end of June last year) I have always had a decent time. However the last time I went it really turned me off from the place. Miserable regs, casino and resturants were all closed early or super dead. I know it was a mid week day, but literally the only 'crowds' I saw were the poker regs, and a youth dance competition. Do you think the crowds have picked up in the past year?

Based on those three options which one would you spend a mid week night at? Keep in mind I'm putting emphasis on the following poker room hours, action, promotions (foxwoods has the most tables going, but they close the earliest), and night life/crowd. All thoughts would be appreciated.

Solely in terms of action and promotions, MGM Springfield is your best bet. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun don't typically run any promos outside of the BBJ, whereas MGM has high hand promos basically every night. My experiences there have been that the games are more action and have more loose/fun players than the CT games (as well as higher buy-in caps). That may not be everyone's experience though.

That said, I prefer playing at Mohegan Sun. Both rooms are about an hour from me and I play at MS much more regularly. Nicer casino, significantly lower rake, shorter lists, more tables. I would guess that the night life is better at Mohegan Sun than MGM but I can't really comment on that, especially not for a week night.

Where is the best place in New England to play 1-3 / 2-2 PLO? Or something there abouts?

You'll have to define "best." If you want a high end place with free drinks and don't mind high rake, Encore in Everett. If you're looking for lower rake and don't mind paying for your drinks, Boston Billiards in Nashua NH (which isn't in Boston and doesn't have Billiards any more).

Also a solid option is Foxwoods which has daily $2-5 and often $5-10 PLO running.

Has anyone played poker at Ocean Gaming or another casino on Hampton Beach?

Any info is appreciated (stakes, parking availability, etc.)

There's a murderer that likes to play PLO around the northeast. Running scams and selling prescription drugs too. And always trying to build after hours private games. Foxwoods banned him when they realized who he is. He has star tattoos around his eyes now, is a bit fatter, and goes by Brian. 'love over money' is tattooed on his hands.

https://www.patriotledger.com/story/...er/1731682007/

Does any casino in NE other than Foxwoods have both bingo and poker (1/2, 2/5 NL)? We live on Cape Cod and are wondering if we have options other than Foxwoods for me to play poker while the wife plays bingo.

No, they make more money from anything other than bingo.

A bit outside of NE, but Turning Stone offers both. It's over a 5 hour drive...make a long weekend of it!

Lol, got stuck sitting next to this guy at chasers and he was openly bragging about getting released. He was good for the game though. I don't think he was even the sketchiest guy at the table. Chasers is a dump but so is southern NH.

Here is the correct link:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2013/12...olent-history/

Yes, he is a convicted bank robber who likes to play poker in the area. As I understand it, he is no longer welcome at Encore or Chasers.

Yes, some would say that he is good for the game. I have played at his table. I would not recommend playing with him. He has made both subtle and outright violent threats to other players at the table.

I hate to criticize my 'local' room but I feel like I have no choice. I am a frequent visitor to Boston Billiards (I think they have changed their name or are about too) and every time I go there I find my self playing in a room that has 4 or 5 1/2 NL games going that are all short handed.

The table max is 8, and more often than not I see tables of 5 or 6 handed play. I understand why a room would want to maximize the number of tables (more rake, less players waiting, looks to be busy on Poker Atlas, etc.) but it just kills the flow of the game. Any suggestions on how to combat that; do I complain to the floor when there, do I refuse to play 4 or 5 handed?

Also they did a nice job with the new room renovations, and I don't even mind the chairs that most of the other players complain about, but I dont understand how they thought rolling out the same old tables from 3-4 years ago was a good idea especially when they don't even have auto shufflers.

I would go ahead and criticize. IÂ’ve been up there trying to get anything bigger than 1/2 going and itÂ’s been tough. I think they have the ability to be a much better room but I wonÂ’t be going back despite it being a way nicer way to play.

My suggestion would be to up the buyin at 1-2 to $500 max and then get rid of the 1/3 and have 2/5. IÂ’ve been there multiple times recently where the 1/3 wouldnÂ’t go or wouldnÂ’t run. Last time they didnÂ’t fill the seat and didnÂ’t know it was open and it seemed the dealer were told not to let the floor know but they were not trying to fill and then a few players sit out and we are four handed. Really killed the momentum and the game eventually broke.

It seems NH is really people chasing the high hand and itÂ’s not worth playing thr low level with rake and stack sizes at the table. IÂ’ll be playing elsewhere and perhaps the fall will be being better games but I agree they should have rolled it out with shufflers, better promos to get more games than 1/2 going as far as NL. ItÂ’s a great space but I wonÂ’t be back for the future.


Also whatÂ’s your thought on bomb pots? I played Chasers and found two an orbit really killed the flow of the game. I can see the higher limits having them but I canÂ’t see the 1/3 games being better cause of them. More rake, lots of short stacks buying in and leaving when they shove and it really got in the way of how many hands were played otherwise.

Short handed should be reduced rake or no rake.

And if you don't get that, or you don't like playing short handed tables, then sit out. Or pick up your chips and walk away.

Poker Atlas has it now as the Gate City Casino.

Moving 1/2 to 500 won't have much of an effect. People will still buy in small. 2/2 PLO is occupying the spot that 2/5 would normally take and 5/5 PLO has swallowed the 5/10 game. It is too small an area to support both PLO and NLH at those stakes.

I think the new room is trash.

Harshest lighting i've seen anywhere in my life.
The poker chairs were made for midgets dwarfs.

Very solid assessment.

TLDR: My advice is that if you are in the North Shore, have use of a car, and gas money, and a two hour podcast on hand, the new/updated poker room in Gate City Casino is worth checking out.

I went up there to investigate Thursday, first or second time I've been back there since they took out all the pool tables and put the slots in. Because lately, It seems like half the convos I get into with regs at Encore end up on "the grass being greener" if only New Hampshire wasn't an hour haul away.

Boston Billiards was my home poker room in the lead up to Encore opening, and then again in the waning days of the covid panic when it looked like Encore might never reopen their poker room. The games weren't great for a while in there. And then the room lost all momentum. But I've played two sessions now and... the games were good. Really good. I hadn't really fully internalized just how bad the Encore 1/3 games have gotten, like I've been one of those frogs being boiled slowly. I definitely think the lower rake and no waiting and better action are all working in Gate City's favor. What was the wait for a 1/3 seat at Encore Friday evening? 83 people waiting for seats on 12 tables? 3 hours if lucky? I don't know, because I went right back to the Gate. And there were promos running both nights there unlike the Everett game.

Good on you that have never been at the Glass Slipper in Chinatown at 2:05AM - they call 'em the ugly lights. They make you question your recent life choices. Like, "Did she always have that mustache?" Still, you're not all that wrong, but, imo, it's better than a poorly lit game with 3 guys nodding off because their melatonin has kicked in.

Can confirm. Aren't they wonderful? I have a reason to live after all.

Yes. Isn't that wonderful? A casino with open seats that any punter wandering over from the blackjack tables can immediately sit down and play. What a concept. This is hugely +EV.

I can find it frustrating too. In the before times, online I was always a full ring guy -- although ironically the only WCOOP event I ever cashed was a 6-max I reg'd for by mistake. There's plenty of advice in the 2+2 archives about playing in aggressive short handed games. Otherwise, if you want to nit it up between when the fish goes broke and the next one sits down, no one is going to notice, and with luck you'll hardly go broke that way.

Those things eat so many cards and mark the rest I'm starting to think it might be a wash, no pun intended. Definitely a few card-ninja dealers at Encore which is a point in their favor. I've gotten pretty zen about the pace of games but I didn't really notice a drop off in hand count. YMMV!

Just getting back in to poker after about a decade off, used to be a NLH guy but have decided to focus on PLO for a variety of reasons.
Shocked at how little PLO action there appears to be at Seabrook and Dover, been keeping an eye on PokerAtlas for the last two weeks and I don't think it's run once in Dover. Meanwhile, Chasers (Salem) and Gate City (Nashua) usually have multiple tables at a few different stakes.
Was hoping to find some live play close to home, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Beats the old days of having to hike it down to Connecticut, mind you...

Flying into Boston tomorrow morning (Sunday) arriving at 830am. Where’s the best place to go to get into a game as early as possible? Can drive to the NH rooms.

Can you use Poker Atlas to get on waitlists before rooms open?

TIA

Encore Boston Harbor

I'm a few days late here, but GateCity (Nashua) and Chasers (Salem) are where you are likely to find the earliest games in the NH rooms.

If you're staying in/around Boston I'd just hit Encore, as h0trod says