Was going to be playing in Tampa but hear to many complaints about the place so I'm taking my action to the skc, any one going to be there this week?

THR is terribad. I'll be up there in the late afternoons all week. Probably playing 2/4 since the holidays have actually negatively affected the 5/10 game. Skc is run by Sam Minutello, you shouldn't have any negative experiences while you're playing there. I will be alternating between Skc and a track in st pete this week.

Pm me when you're going to be up there and I'll try to say hi.

Will do! Just got in, staying at the Holiday inn in Lakewood Ranch!

If I go to play, ill be there late at night, from 11 to 2 am.

They close at 1am!

Traditionally it is an early room. There will still be games but the most money to be made is from 11am-2pm and 5pm-10pm. You have your old guys there just to have a good time early and people getting done with work later.

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on the new add-on and rake for the tournaments? I think the new add-on (only 1K in chips) isn't a big deal to the players, but is to the dealers. Also, it looks like the rake for tourneys went from 20% to 30% per buy-in. Is this the standard rake for tourneys?

I personally don't mind the AO. I tend to tip well if I cash, so it's just less out of my pocket since they already have the AO. And if I don't cash, it's $5 or $10, and I get service out of it anyway (even if not for long per tournament lately!) so logically I think an AO is fine.

The rake is a different issue. It's horrendous throughout Florida, and SKC is better than some on some tournaments and worse than some on others. See above about the 300+30 going to 200+30+10. Not even sure what it is now since I voted with my feet and haven't played a tournament there since. An obscene vig is just a slap in the face to your players IMHO, no matter what room it's in, and I won't support it.

Still, it's just that most people in FL don't know better, or don't seem to care. At the end of the day, these rooms are profit-generating businesses and if they make a business decision that their long term results won't be hurt by charging exorbitant rakes in the short term, who am I to say they're wrong.

(Hell, I still remember the old days of state-mandated maximum tournaments that were $32+13, for 4000 in chips, 15 minute levels.)

Oh I forgot to report I got to play against ALL IN DAVE, an Indian guy who goes all in blind for a couple hundo each time. lost about 600 in 2 hours = ( I was in bad position the whole time and did nothing about it, my fault.

the juice talk is scaring me. Is the $440 tourney gonna be a $400+40+10 or something else?

Probably closer to 360+80+10. call the track and ask for Tab, he will be able to tell you the breakdown.

Whoever I talked to on the phone said $400+40+10 and they do not take out a 3% for autotip. Kinda looking forward to checking it out if everyone is as competent as the guy on the phone. I've never gotten information on a FL tournament that easily

Im guessing the $10 is a dealer add on for more chips right?
Obviously they wouldnt take out a % for auto tip when Dealer add on is the tip.

Ya, though at some circuit stops they do both iirc.

Knew I wasn't nuts I think it may actually be standard, though only for circuit tourneys where they have a low buyin and very slow structure relative to the buyin like some WSOPC $300s and these

http://www.venetian.com/uploadedFile...StackIV_09.pdf

That is brutal but those are good tourneys at the V.

Finally played the $440 on the first Saturday of the month. I tend to over-critique tournaments but this is actually a really solid tournament. They run satellites all month which adds about 40 players worth of dead money to the prize pool, 30 minute levels that hit every level you could want, and no dealer add-on. If im not mistaken it starts at 1pm and we were down to the final table around 8:30-9pm. First was a little over $7k iirc.

Tl/dr: Skc $440 on the first Saturday of the month gets two thumbs up from me.

I'm going to be in Sarasota this Wednesday to Sunday and I have a few questions.

Does 8/16+ LHE ever go? What about O8?

What is the cell phone policy at the table? What about iPad? I typically need to read and respond to emails throughout the day while I'm playing and have never had a problem in Tunica or Vegas but I wanted to check about the rules.

I have not played in the past month or so but Ive seen 4/8 limit get off at one point during the week I wanna say it was 1-2 on a fri/sat. Also Ive never had a problem with cell phone. During cash just dont use it during a hand although it is dealer dependent and generally you can make a few last clicks while your hand is being dealt etc. And Ive seen people with the kindle and other such devices and Id think its the same rules as a cell.

Played $1/$2 & $2/$4 NL there last night and I have to say I am totally underwhelmed by this room. It's a perfect example of having no direct competition and worrying more about making money than taking care of the customers who are funding your operation.

When I first arrived there were no $2/$4 seats so I got seated at a $1/$2 table with 5 players at it. One of those players left just as I arrived and someone else asked that the table be broken. The floor was called and we were told they didn't have enough seats to move us despite the fact the table next to us was 5 handed. The floor said "we'll work on getting you players" No ****. If you had the players we wouldn't be playing 5 handed.

The other thing I found ridiculous is the $2 bad beat rake they take for the "high hand". I've never been in a room where the bad beat jackpot effects the play more than this bad beat. I had been playing about 15 minutes and had yet to figure out the jackpot structure when I heard one of the players announce "I need help" and then bet $7. The other player in the hand said "ok, I'll help you" and called the bet. They then checked the hand down. I asked what just happened and was told the guy who asked for help had flopped a set and was looking for quads. I understand the concept and the odds of this play but I find it pathetic the room would offer a jackpot like this.

The one positive note is the level of play. It's one of the softest rooms I've ever been in.

Just curious, is this your first venture into Florida poker? At the 1/1, 1/2 levels mainly the players are there for the BBJ or high hand or any variant of jackpot they can get.

5+2 rake is alot at 1/2 obviously. But in general its always nice when you drop by for a 10PM+ quick session and there are players sitting with $400+ stacks that are used to buying if for $60.

The problem is that 5+2 has become almost standard. Derby, The Silks do it. I haven't played at Lucky's recently, so I can't comment there. I am SHOCKED that Tampa Hard Rock hasn't started it. I played at SKC a few times, I loved playing that Friday 1PM tourney, such bad players that think they are gifts from heaven. Cash games as soft as soft can be. Never really had anything I could exploit, tables were filled with call stations. Level one poker at its finest.

There has been a regular 5/10/20 nlh game going every Monday and Thursday. Right now we are at 9 regs plus 5-8 alternates. Trying to get a second game going so if you're interested stop on in.

Wow. Obviously I haven't been there for a while, didn't think they'd get a game that size going there. How's the play? Swingy?

Given that I just dropped a bunch of coin on an M6, my guess is the boss (wife) isn't going to be too enthused about me pulling cash out anytime soon to roll a 5K buy in game. lol. So I'll have to live vicariously through you.

Not super swingy, but it can always get interesting with a certain aggressive black guy who always plays in it. Very solid game unfortunately, I really wish there were a couple complete fish in it for easy money