Today people at my table said a dealer told them when the tournaments start , they will bring WPT . If true this is the greatest news I heard since opening

Yes, they pool tips. So dumb.

What?

20 of the 22 tables currently in use according to Bravo.

What's the call ahead rules? None allowed, 1 hour or 2 hour?

Thanks

No call ahead for now , they said soon will be on bravo and can check in on bravo app.
Also on bravo app it said coming soon .

How much money do you have to bring to each game to handle the 5× straddles? $1–1.5k for 1–2 NL, $2–4k for 2–5 NL, and $5–10k for 5–10 NL?

played 8 hours of 2/5 nlhe yesterday and biggest straddle all day was to $10. Very different table from wednesdays 2/5 session. Saturday's table was a typical average 2/5 versus the wild big $25 straddlefest by 50% of the table game from wednesday. i am sure that all the $25 straddle players felt they had a skill edge over the table. Perhaps most of them did. A new player buying in for the $1000 cap would only have 40 big blinds for the $25 hands. i think then an adjustment is in order when the button straddles to $25 and a tighter opening range must be used. In the crazy game wednesday I opened in the sb to $75 over a $25 button straddle with 9c9s. Mp raised to $225. MP was new to the table and the effective stack with $1000. Action folded back to me. What is my best decision here? 4! all in for $1,000? 4! to $600? Call? Fold? I folded. i did not like the idea of flat calling with 99 and then playing 99 oop with an spr under 2. And i did not want to 4! into an unknown. Bring a minimum of $3,000 three buy ins for the $2/$5. Tighten your normal range in $25 button straddle hands and consider folding 99 in sb. (that just sounds wrong!!??)

All 22 tables were being used yesterday. 8 $1/$3 nlhe; 7 $2/$5; 2 $5/$10 (seems to be dynamic whether its $2500 cap or match a stack) maybe 3 $1/$2 plo and 2 $2/$5 plo. By 8:00 pm the line was 60 deep for 1/3 nlhe and 40 deep for 2/5. Long lists of "interest" for bigger games. The room was amped up and very exciting. I am not sure when I might return to the Shoe. I will always have fond memories of the many years played at the Shoe and all the people and everything about it. I really liked the Shoe and I learned the game of nlhe there. i used to tell people not from Chicago that the Shoe was hands down the best option for poker in the area. But... Rivers, so far, is so much better in so many ways.

Saw a hand where button straddled to $15; mp 4! to $200 with a flat, then straddle completed (slow playing AA) and ep 3bettor flatted with 44. $800+ 4 way action to the flop. AA and 44 got about $4,000 total in the middle ott after K high flop checked through and 4 hit ott.


****

what I meat was:
`
Saw a hand where the button straddled to $15 and a player in early position raised to $60, then a middle position player re-raised (3!) to $200, the middle position player that had raised to $200 was so loose aggressive that the cut-off flat cold called the $200 bet, then the fish on the button with AA decides to slow play and also just flat called. The initial early position raiser then called the $200 bet for only $140 more with only 44. With this pre-flop action there was $800 in the pot pre-flop with four way action. Unusual in a $2/$5 game to play 4 way for $200 each pre-flop. The flop is then Ks 7h 2c and all four players check. Button with AA checking this spot is continuing to play like a fish, with an even fishier decision otf - four way with a K otf? what exactly were you hoping for when you flatted a $200 bet pre-flop and got 4 way action w AA? When the 44 player hits his set of 4s ott sparks fly - 44 bets $400, AA raises to $1,000; 44 reraises all in for about $2,000 and AA snap calls.

This is a table you want to be playing at.

Played about 6 hours of 2/5 PLO. Game was pretty damn good. I ended up being down ~600. Couldn’t hit a hand. Made one medium-sized bluff that worked out, but bluffing too much in that game would have been disastrous. A solid older guy ran 500 to 5-6k in about a hour by hitting hands and holding. There was some pretty crazy stuff going on when the action was at its best. Can have a very solid win rate playing standard TAG/Nitty, but there will be sessions where you lose your shirt and then some. I was definitely viewed as a nit, but still got 3b 3 of the first 4 hands I opened, which coincidentally were all in EP.

The room was very nice. Some thoughts:

• Button/UTG were allowed to straddle up to $20 preflop. It seemed like the dealers didn’t know if the max was $20 or $25, but the first dealer said it was $20, so the table stuck with that. Not sure who has priority if both positions want to straddle.

• Speaking of the button straddle, it was apparent players weren’t used to it. Saw way too much limping/raising from the blinds preflop.

• The dealers were fine overall, especially with some being beginners. One or two admitted they haven’t really dealt PLO before so the table was helping out as much as possible.

• Thank you to whoever suggested parking on the 3rd level of the ramp. Poker Room is a 15-second walk once you enter the casino.

• The room was VERY strict on not exchanging cash for chips with other players at the table. Didn’t seem to care if you were 10 feet away from the table though.

• Phones weren’t allowed to be placed on the table. You can be on your phone, just couldn’t put it on the table/rail. Not a big deal as you can just put it in your pocket but thought it was kind of a strange rule.

Don’t play live too often, but might find myself coming 2-3 times a year.

Ah, so you have to park on the third level to get to that entrance...will note for next time.

Giving this room another shot. Only game in town on a monday. Still have no dealers...60 plus on wait lists. Stop advertising 22 table room when most times only 11 being used.

Being the only room open on monday, you would think management would be smart enough to schedule some dealers.

Still not worth the hype.

RCG is open today too. LOL at writing it off already because of the ridiculous demand.

A 5X straddle at 1-3 is $15 and that's little more than a pot sweetener at GVC $1-3
And once a 2nd player calls $15 sure as poop it's going 4 or 5 ways to the flop
I imagine this 5x button straddle must make Rivers 1-3 even more wild
if the action at Rivers>GVC which I've read and heard is happening


I specifically wont play GVC 2-5
since it's just way too spewy
and I dont want to deal with frequent $1000 swings
So, with this 5x button straddle I definitely wont be playing 2-5 at Rivers
A man must know his limitations, amirite?

Oddly, when I go to Vegas, the Bellagio 2-5 is just right for me.
I never would have imagined that a Vegas 2-5
would be more playable than a local one

And by "playable" I mean, you actually have to make decisions
other than "am I willing to go all the way with this hand?
Since odds are to win this pot at some point
I'm gonna have to shove most of my stack or am gonna have to call most of my stack"
Any check raise semi-bluff on the flop is going to have be half your stack due to the bloated pots
And by the turn? SPR's so small you need a microscope to see them
Just not my game.

For example . . .
Button straddle $25, someone makes it $75, two callers, pot is now $225ish
flop comes gonna have to bet $150+ or so to take it down, doh! get a caller
Pot is now $550ish and we havent seen the turn or river
Your turn bet is gonna be at least $300, and a $500 buy in is all in on a normal hand
IF you bought in for $1000 and there is any action on the turn and river, you also will end up all in or close to it

I love to watch the 2-5 games at GVC while waiting and just think,
"this is a level of poker I could not handle and do not understand"
To the 2-5 guys, is it just naked aggression with little thought
or indeed high level plays are being made?
I tend to just see a shovefest.

I agree with you. It's a bunch of calling stations donking off their chips. I can't wait until tournaments starts here, because these calling stations will get knocked out early and the real players will go far if they just play TAG.

Here's a decision for you: don't check-raise semibluff in this game.

How exactly is this a bad game?

It is bad for people who think poker is about betting big and putting people to the test because it feeds their egos built around a self-image as an alpha male. They sometimes get mad at me and yell that I should bet my hand when I check-call them for three streets.

It's not a bad game in theory,
long term, that's the game type I want to play at,
but when the stakes are so high you hold yourself back from optimal play out of fear,
then it becomes a disaster.

I cant endure swings the size of mortgage payments and still maintain my ability to play my "A" game

About button straddle it really depends off the day / table . Last week I played at a 2-5 table where almost everyone button straddle , today I played a 2-5 table for 6 hours and I've seen 2 or 3 button straddle .

Because i play to win, not gamble. And i take poker more seriously than people who gamble.

If you're playing to win, a table full of "calling stations donking off their chips" sounds like pretty ideal table conditions to do just that.

This is real life "you should move up to where they respect your raises".

And you do gamble. Poker is gambling.

If you don't want "people who gamble" at your table, I question your dedication to the statement that you "play to win."

I've found the best games are the ones where you don't need to bluff and bluffing is pure spew.