More spilling beans on cash games; and the poker strip club thing, who has experienced this

I was once a regular at the Devils point.

The Lucky Devil's Lounge has cash games.

I thought I'd take one for the community and check out the Lucky Devil strip club cash game. It was a Saturday night, Portland felt unusually content after the Blazers beat the Suns in Game 4, it was time. My first trip report goes down thusly:

I call ahead, and get told the game starts up around 10 and goes until 2. I arrive at 10:45 or so, and find a full nine-handed game, a dedicated dealer, and a naked woman hanging from the monkey bars above the stage. I am in a strip club yet I'm not clenching my shoulders in awkwardness. These are all huge wins, except the time thing. If it could at all hours be so...

I'm first on the wait list, so I get a beer ($4 pints of micro) and try to determine which dancer I want a dance from when I win. This takes not long at all, because you always know, even if you, like me, have never before gotten a dance, and are a nerd. I mean, real talk about strip clubs alert, but even sitting at the rail feels painful because next to the Internet there are all these guys there. And a private dance cannot be easy, because in one's head one has such suave and meaningful things to say, to establish rapport, to get pleasure from the transaction, but, really, in practice you are f***ing this up probably. You aren't reading this to get my essay on strip clubs, you say? Okay, moving on.

The facts: 1-2 cash game. Runs Wed-Sat. No rake. Chips bought from the bar in $1, $5, and $10 denominations. No buy-in cap that I could discern. A young game reg was sitting next to me, and in addition to telling me I resembled Antoine Saout (ouch) he said he'd never seen anyone buy in for much more than $300, but aggro people were known to drop 1k in a night. No such aggros in evidence this night, which guy tells me is very tame by Lucky Devil standards. Only two people straddle regularly, and only one raises his straddle compulsively. Multiple jokers are sitting with four or five stacks of white chips, like this is a 3-6 game. All in all, we're on par with a regular casino 1-2 game, except for the lack of a rake, possibly no buy-in cap, and instead of the cloying clink of a slot machine victory, we're listening to “It Was A Good Day” while a white girl divests herself of her underoos. This is both heaven and one of my few significant complaints: the dancers' music is loud enough to make table talk impossible, save with those next to you. Also, it's so dark you have to hold up your cards and stare at them like a tourist. So ends the complains section.

In my first orbit, I both got AA vs. a straddle and won a decent pot and got the mighty J5o in the BB against a guy who limped AA on the button, leading to an 855 flop and a stacking. I doubled up in 20 minutes and thereafter I was pretty much coasting and soaking in the atmosphere. The game was slow, with much tanking over small pots, and the players temperamentally suited to want their chips in the middle in a game that doesn't run very long soon got LAGgro at any excuse. Otoh, poker in a strip club means being a responsible nit is beautiful. Hands I'd otherwise f*** around with in a slow game slid into the muck with a lovely sound as I turned back to try to see what was tattooed on the hidden wrist of the girl whose visible wrist said “EAT.”

Brief non-poker interlude: The highlight of the night was when a dancer spilled a drink into the lap of a guy sitting at the rail, apologized profusely, then made it up to him by tying one end of her garter (?) to the rail next to him and making a four-step process of stepping out of it, all the while moving further and further away from him, so that as she finally frees herself entirely, it is but a taut string that flies back across the stage and hits him right in the head. Nothing says I'm sorry like some complicated panties all snapping in your face.

Conclusions: For the Portland 2p2er looking to build their bankroll in any serious way, this game is meh. For entertainment purposes, though, it's gold. I didn't get a dance, I didn't see what Shane's other wrist said, and I didn't get to tell anyone “baby, I'm working here just like you,” so I will have to go back. Anyone inspired to check it out, shoot me a PM.

Thanks for the TR. I've always wondered about what went on with the game they advertise there.

So there's a rake free poker game in a strip club that sells $4 microbrews?

What's the cover charge like?

Cover wha? Not in Portland, not anywhere I've been.

Makes me want to drive 100 miles and spend a night or two!

Yeah, free speech in Oregon means full nudity is protected and cover free strip clubs abound. Las Vegas eat your heart out.

ive been playing poker in portland since 2003. i started on stark in barts room (anyone ever been there?) under the bridge that the max goes over leading to downtown? then it moved up the street to 148th. now of course there is the portland players club. check out theyre website portlandplayersclub.com. and there is "aces" in downtown gresham. plenty of action in ptown. gl.

Sellwood Public House now has tournaments 6 nights a week at 8 PM (closed Sunday). .25/.50 NLHE cash game starts anywhere between 9:30 PM and 10:30 PM. $5 cover charge is good for both cash and tourney or just one. Sign up before 7:30 PM and get 2 extra chips for the tourney.

Seven deuce rule in effect in the cash game. Dedicated dealer for the cash game. $10 discount for tourney players to deal their table (deal is not passed).

It's a friendly, fun and cheap place to play.

Monday $10 with one rebuy (most popular).
Tuesday $20 no rebuy.
Wednesday $30 no rebuy.
Thursday $20 knockout ($5 goes to knockout chip) one rebuy.
Friday $30 plus $20 add on at first break.
Saturday $30 knockout ($10 goes to knockout chip) one rebuy.

good to see Portland 2p2ers representing. Anyone have a TR of Last Frontier's 15/30 or 20/40 game? Every time I'm there they only ever have 1 table running and I'm a bit loathe to step into that small of a player pool.

The waters not deep if you know what I mean.

so, really, there's more money to be made just playing the 4/8 kill that runs. Is the O8 still running on sundays and if so how good is it?

edited to add: even if the water's not deep, doesn't mean the game isn't beatable. How would a winning 3/6 online player fare?

Water's not deep means you won't drown, you won't struggle, you won't tax yourself, i.e. what, do I have to draw a picture?

A winning 3/6 online player playing their red chip games would exacerbate his carpel tunnel with all the chips he'd have to stack. I doubt the best 10/20,15/30, 20-40 regulars at LaCenter could beat .50/$1 online.

But TexasLimitKing himself probably couldn't beat the 4/8, the rake is pretty high. Keep the rake in mind also when playing the red chip games, they are raked as well and it affects some decisions, esp. at 10/20.

Like anything, play what you are rolled for so you can just make optimal decisions. With 6 to a flop you are going to have some swings.

The casinos only have spread and limit hold em. The poker rooms only have tournaments. I'm starting to hate portland. Can somebody tell me where I can play NL before I kill myself?

all the reservation casinos have no caps on betting, they spread NL all over the place. Plus I'm sure the card clubs have rake free cash games running...

Didn't Washington change their caps? Is La Center can spread a $100 max bet game? That's not NL, but a lot closer than it was.

Yep, they changed a few weeks ago, up to $100 max bet now

There's a .25/.50 cash game at Sellwood Public House 6 nights a week starting between 9:30 and 10:30 PM. It's on 13th just South of Tacoma. The Lucky Devil strip club has a no rake, no cover 1/2 game every night at 10 PM. It's on Powell just East of the Ross Island Bridge. Sun., Mon. and Tues. nights just started so they might be sparse.

Go to any of the clubs and play in a tournament. Ask the other players where to play cash. You will find a number of places.

i can't stand how all the tournament clubs have some door-fee. i know it's how they can stay profitable but i'm not paying a $10 door-fee for a $30 tournament.

Been going to the Encore Club (which is brand spankin' new) lately, great location (for me at least!), really nice place imo.

heard it through the grape vine that the portland tourney poker rooms no longer offer cash games?

I am on a text list for a cash game at one of the clubs. Not certain about (ahem) "rake". They bill it as a freezeout. PM me if you would like details.

I'm heading to Portland later this week. looking to play LHE 5/10 up to 15/30.
It looks like Last Frontier/New Phoenix Casino are the best places to try to catch a game? I don't like playing 1/2 NL, but I'll kill time until a LHE game opens...Any other places to play that have a low/mid LHE game?

hope you hit Last Frontier while you were up here. 10/20 plus games are a dream come true. They only ever spread 1 table of the MSLHE games, so always call ahead.