Harveys (and Harrahs) is now posted that masks are required only for the unvaccinated, and it is utterly unpoliced, which means that almost everyone is going maskless. The games in the Harveys poker room are now nine-handed and without plexiglass barriers. Hours remain 3PM to 2 AM Thursday through Sunday. I understand that one of the limitations to expanding the hours is the availability of dealers.

A friend who met me at Harveys told me that Peppermill in Reno is still masked and barriered, and the games are still $5/half-hour, single-blind games. I am guessing that the reason for the difference between Reno and Tahoe is different case counts in different counties, with different county health department regulation.

Eldorado ate Caesars, not the other way around, and retained the Caesars name. It is the top management that used to be Eldorado Gaming top management that is down on poker.

Would they shut down the SL room then? It's wayyy too big

Overheard from several dealers at Pepp:

There is no regular dealer corps at SL anymore, they are using floor dealers from table games to jump in "just in case a game breaks out"

There also is no dedicated poker manager anymore.

The website says open 11am to 3am.....but just below this it says non-stop round the clock action. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but dumb'assed mixed messaging crap like that tells me that different departments are not communicating, the people running the show are pretty sloppy, and a venue like this just really isn't worth investigating or going to.

Its really too bad. The Eldorado room was fun, cramped, great action, kind of old style. A superb alternative to Peppermill and Atlantis (years ago) Now, there is only one choice IMO, but to their credit, Peppermill is taking nothing for granted.

Agreed on so many levels. Word on the street is "The Row" has really gone downhill. The ElDo room was incredible for what it was. I miss it. Great action, no shuffle machines, very old school. They even hand sandwiches brought in at midnight for the players. I miss the good ol' days.

Am going to be in Reno on Saturday during the day for a few hours. Don't know it at all.

From the posts above, I guess Peppermill is probably the place?

Also how do the games play during the day? Anything unusual? Typical loose passive? Bunch of OMC nits?

Peppermill is definitely the place.

Daytime Saturday should be fine for game composition. In the $2 game there will be a lot of loose-passives who will see the flop for almost any price if they like their hand, with one or two OMCs. The $5 game, being uncapped buy-in, attracts serious gamblers, along with the loose-passives. The OMCs prefer the smaller game as it costs them less to get their free coffee.

The peculiar single-blind structure ought to make for really nitty games, but the players do not seem to realize this, and so the games are juicy.

When I was there, the $2 and $5 blind games were both time charged, but maybe that's not the case now.

Still a time charge.
I did stop at Atlantis on Memorial Day; we drove up from LV and spent a few hours at the casino. At 4PM there were 3 1-2 NL games and 2 4-8 Limit games.

The only other poker choice worth it is Grand Sierra. I have not played there in years, but I have heard they spread a good mix . I have to assume the SilLeg regs have gone somewhere; this may be it.

Peppermill is still the best.

(1) The games are still time charged.

(2) The fact that players pay a time charge, not a rake, has essentially nothing to do with how damnably nitty a single-blind game can play.

With a single blind, a pot-sized open is three times the blind. For that bet to be profitable with any two cards, everyone else has to fold more than 75% of the time, and so everyone together acting after the opener need call (or raise) no more than 25% of the time.

When the big blind can play a top-25% range against a button open and not be exploitable, the button has to restrict their opening range to something that holds up against that 25% defending range . . . so they should open rather tighter than they should in a two-blind game. (A 3.5bb pot-sized open in a two-blind game needs to succeed 58% of the time, and so -- if the small blind folds -- the big blind needs to defend 42% of the time, a much wider range than 25%.)

This is Poker 101. If you do not understand it, why are you even playing?

I think you're overthinking this. A raked game promotes nitty play while a time charged game promotes looser play. People don't want to fold for an hour and then have to pay time.

What you call "overthinking" I call "belaboring the obvious."

You should check your math bro... If you open to 3 BBs and get a fold 75% of the time, even if we assume that we make $0 when called/raised, our EV is:

.75 * 1.5 -.25* 3 = +0.375 BB EV

And that doesn't include the fact that we obviously still have some lots of EV when called/raised by BB.

But regardless, MDF isn't the right way to think about BB defense frequency since BTN still has a ton of equity when called/raised and will overrealize given being in position/uncapped. Whether you have 2 or 3 blinds, BTN will be able to profitably open 50%+ hands assuming any reasonably normal rake structure. And the BB will be able to profitably call much wider than 25%.

You should check your math, bro. Required Fold Equity (a.k.a "Alpha," see Chen and Ankemann, The Mathematics of Poker) for a bet is Bet/(Prior Pot + Bet). The opener is risking 3bb to win a total pot of 4bb, and so the open needs to win 75% of the time, leaving out future action, to break even.

You're ignoring the small blind, so it's actually 3/4.5.

But in any case, minimum defense frequency as described by Chen/Ankenman is a purposeful oversimplification that ignores the fact that the bettor can still have significant equity when called (or raised), especially preflop.

So the actual optimal defense frequency is much much higher. There's a reason they call it "minimum defense frequency".

If you don't believe me, happy to sit heads up with you and play a game where you fold the BB 75% of the time and only defend the top 25% of your range. You will get smoked.

at Peppermill, currently there is no small blind, just a single big.

Which is the whole point of the discussion.

It really irks me that they shut down the action packed poker room at El Dorado and now Silver Legacy is practically begging people to play in their oversized room.

It's the same room, the same management. They just moved it from one building in the Row to another.

(You were complaining because it was closed. Now you're complaining because it's open?)

Haha fair. I'm complaining because I miss the old room with drunks and action. And sandwiches at midnight

5/10 going at SL right now?? Wow!

Does peppermill have a consistent 5/10 game that goes? I can't access bravo. Is it a pretty populated room? 10 games a night on a weekday around or more or less? Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

I would say 5 games at most on a weekday night. 5/10 seems to go on the weekends but not every weekend. What is most consistent is the $5 blind game.

Heading there in January for the first time in many years. Staying at the Atlantis. Looks like the daily at the peppermill is the only tourney worth playing? Get many entrants? How’s the poker, black jack, and craps at the Atlantis? Anything amazing I should do? Thx!

Peppermill daily tourney pulls something like 35 or so players on weekdays, fifty-ish on weekends.

I'm bummed because I canceled a two-night jaunt to the Row because of Omicron fears. Looking at case counts, I'm glad that I did.

Thanks. I may give the tourney a shot on a Sunday. Should be a fun time.