I played the Thursday morning $63 tourny. There were 153 entries including rebuys. Huge turn-out. They were adding tables right and left even as the tournament was underway.

At the 100/200 level I hit a wall. I get pocket fives. There's a raise, fold all around to me. I call. Flop is K85. Icheck. Raiser bets out 400, I raise him all in, he calls with Kx. Turn 8. River 8. I had him covered, but now have 1200 left.

Very next hand I'm BB with JJ. 2 call the BB, I go all in. UTG reraises all in (with KQo) and is called by the other guy (with AKo) who has him covered.

Flop are bricks for all. Turn is A. River brick.

And so it goes.

I had a bad experience already

the wait list was long so I signed up for them all...moved up one by one and they all were fun with great dealers and fun people until....

I was drinking having a good time (after a few drinks) they table was acting cocky (yeah in 2-60 spread, i know) and i had 7 9 , and the flop came 8, 10 2, the guy in the first position bet, and the dealer turned to me and said "time called" i told her that it just got to me, she replied "you don't hit the bad beat with this hand"

How rude. i mean honestly i know it's tiny dollar amount, and i was there for a good time, let's be honest i know the people at that table think they are god's gift to poker but come on....and how in the world does the DEALER think she can call time on me.....

i think she probably meant "time" as a warning to other players that you hadn't acted yet (to prevent people from inadvertantly acting out of turn). afaik there's no clock she can put you on or anything like that. but yeah the comment about the bad beat is real bad. i mean- the fact that the hand is boring to her doesn't matter. you're the one playing.

and i can understand her frustration- 2/60 is a brutally boring game- but come on, it's her job to deal with it.

i'm a very fast player but occasionally i have a decision i have to think about for more than 1 second- maybe whether to valuebet the river or whether to call the river with no pair or something. and i've had dealers say "check or bet check or bet, bet or lets see em" IMMEDIATELY when the action gets to me- just because they expect me to instabet. and then the other guy hears "lets see em" and starts to turn his hand over and its like - for god's sake give me 3 seconds before you start talking a mile a minute and confusing everyone. i know you just came from 3/6 where people don't realize when the action is on them, but it is my right to take 4 seconds to think once every 500 decisions if i so choose.

Having been to RA several times now It does seem to be developing into a haven for the spread limit games (2/10,4/20 and 2/60). These spread limit games are running strong with 3 or 4 tables per night when I am there while the 6/12, 8/16 fixed limits seem to be struggling to even get one table going. There was also only one 15/30 and no 30/60 going last Friday on a busy night.

Do people see this trend continuing and what does it mean for the overall Twin Cities poker market? Do you think it may develop to the point where if you want to play fixed limit you go to Canterbury and if you want to play spread limit you go to Running Aces?

I stopped in to RA for the first time Sunday morning. They had three tables going - a 3/6, a 2-10 and a 15/30. I recognized like the first 3 people that I saw from CP. It looks like they took several dealers from CP and made them floors at RA.

I thought that the room was nice. The chairs were a bit odd at first, but I ended up liking them. Obviously, everything is brand new so you can't complain there. I played all of like three orbits of 2-10, so no idea how the games are. They definitely need a sign pointing to the room once you get off the freeway.

I also stopped in RA this weekend and I was appreciative that were trying to hustle up a 30 game for me. It is a nice room with some familiar faces such as Tom and Young who I always liked at CB, but I have a feeling that they are already losing to CB competition wise. There is no incentive at this point for players who live close to CB or even equidistant to leave CB. The food at RA is pretty bad and much more expensive than CB. They offer less comp dollars, the 15 and the 30 are both healthier at CB and obviously everything runs much smoother at CB. I hope for the best at both rooms and being back at Canterbury made miss the place a whole lot, because the service attitude there is second to none and I think that spirit will probably persist at RA, but is a terrible time in a poker economy to have 2 competing rooms.

One of the reasons I am starting to not like RA anymore. Even though it is about 15 mins closer for me. Spread limit is balls. Off to CP now.

RA is starting to bug the heck out of me (sorry about the rant, this is long)...

The plan was to play there a couple hours a day during the week after work (as time permitted), but even though it's only 20 minutes north of us, I still would almost rather go to CP. I've finally decided to stop playing during the week (or maybe one day per week) and just play online. Then it's off to CP on the weekends.

Things that bug me about the room so far:

1.) The wrist bands. always with the wristbands. I understand I look like I'm in my 20's (I am), but If I've been here every night this week, do you really need to check my ID for the 3rd time in a row, then give me one, even though I've told you every time I'm not going to be drinking? Why can't the service check ID's if you order a drink? The front podeum should just check to make sure you're over 18.

2.) The "automatic-name-list-card-swipe-sign-up-podeum-thingy". If there's an open seat on a table, but there's 8 people on the list, why does it say I have to check with the podeum?? I just want to sign up on the list. CP doesn't seem to have this problem, and they (seemingly) use the same system.

3.) The brush... if you've been to RA nuff said. Again, if there's 8 people on the list and two seats are open on the same table, why aren't they being filled? I guess if the dealers aren't hitting their buttons like they should, then the process doesn't work... but still... the floor people should know better when they see open seats. Your dealers are new, help 'em out.

4.) Green dealers. kinda goes hand in hand with the speed the games are getting filled, but I've seen so many mistakes it's not funny. Apart from the fact that they can rarely keep a game moving at more than a dozen hands an hour (ok ok... maybe I'm stretching it a bit but you get the idea), There's been many examples of where they just have no idea what they're doing.

Here's one I thought was especially bad: I flopped a set of 6's, and one guy is all in on the flop for less than the total action. I'm not sure if she made one at first, but by the turn there was only a main. Another guy is all in on the turn after going about 3-bets 3 ways. It's HU on the river, I bet, last guy folds. The dealer ships me the side pot (from the turn action) without me even flipping my cards(???). I now flip for the main, and guy who was all-in on the turn says MHIG and mucks, and all-in guy from the flop mucks too. She got lucky I actually had a hand. It would have been a mess if someone actually hit something.

5.) I think the one everyone (including the dealers) is complaining about are the chip trays. Dealers do NOT own their own trays, and have to count it in and out every time they move tables. If it's off when they get to a new table, they have to call the floor, which stops the action. This goes on and on.

I was there I think the second weekend or so after they were open, and three dealers in a row(!) at our table had come and gone saying the rack was good, and the very next dealer comes in and says it's off. I know you're all new, but seriously??

6.) Last but not least: I hate spread limit. I thought I liked spread limit the few times I've played it (maybe because I won) but the game is like trying to play limit with a bunch of NL players (pre-flop), and then like trying to play NL with a bunch of limit players post flop (or vice versa). I'd rather take a sharp stick to the eye. And it kills the action and the rake in the room. You're not going to make nearly enough if you would just run all limit. just have your 2-60 spread limit games, and maybe run one or two spread games. That way you can rake to the maxx on your 6/12 and 8/16 games with your 10% rake. Hog wash I say..

When you've only got one limit game of 3-6, 4-8, and an interest list for 6-12 (with 12 people on it, and it never opens!?1) during the week, I think I'd rather try to build my roll online, and head down to CP on the weekends. I was looking for the 4-8 list last night on the board as i was playing 3-6 and it wasn't even on there anymore. I looked at the thing for about 5 minutes straight waiting to see the 4-8 game show up on the list, but it never did. It just dissapeared. I was surprised, and figured the game had broke for the night as it was getting a little late. I got up to go to the bathroom, and looked at the table across from mine, and sure enough, there it was! full of players, but no waiting list to speak of. *poof* it was gone.

Weekends playing at RA can be ok, but I'd rather play at CP for the bigger bad beat, faster dealers (faster everything), and better game selections. Not to mention better comps, and cheaper (but better) food.

If I had one suggestion to make to RA before next racing season starts up it would be this: ADVERTIZE. Radio, billboards, anything to get the word out that you're in the area. Sink some money it to it, and you'll get players. How about a big promotion to grease the wheels? a freeroll tournament, or two? The place could definately use about twice as many patrons as it currently has right now.

Nice chairs tho'...

I'm OUT.

yeah you stay at canterbury. I was at ra last night and i love spread games made over $400 bucks. I am up $800 bucks for the 3 times I have been there. Limit bites nuts.

btw.. thats alot of complaining for 1 post.

lol. this is part of the reason im getting sick of RA too. spread is a great game for people who enjoy poker but suck to not lose too much money.

Best of luck with your poker career. At this rate you will be a gazillionaire by spring.

It should be pointed out that spread limit is an awful, awful game that no one should ever play.

That's fine by me.

Feel free to write the book on spread-limit. I'll definately pick up a copy.
I've been waiting for one to come out too, but sadly so far, all the pro's who publish have largely overlooked this blossoming game.

not trying to make gazillions... not playing 3-6 either and making a 10,000 word post complaining.

i like spread limit way better than limit. alot of the players are bad at 2-10 and 4-20 spread at ra but, i think there are worse players at limit games imo.

did i say that limit sucks ?? lol

i have not been able to find much spread limit strategy... thats fine with me.

did i say already that limit sucks ??? lol

btw.. i am far from knowledgeable enough to write a book about poker.

Is that right?

bob- just stop now. i mean, the guy has a point. spread IS the best game for guys like him. its is bad for me and you that rooms spread it, but i cant blame him for playing it.

The people who flock to spread limit are typically the worst players. These are the ones who hate limit because "why would I raise with KK, cuz ain't no one gonna fold anyway." These people do not understand where the profitability comes from in limit, they only understand that sometimes KK loses to T7o and they hate that. So, they play 4-20 spread so they can make it 20 preflop with JJ and win 6 bucks and avoid the psychological trauma that comes with getting an overpair snapped.

These people THINK they understand what is going on but don't, and thus are actually worse than the guys who are clueless and know it.

And when their JJ get's called they can check raise shove on a AJx board... oh wait.

OK. It just sucks because that new room is beautiful and spread limit is going to kill it. Another few months and I would not be at all surprised if 2-10, and 4-20 were the only games going. It takes longer per hand because the bet sizes always vary, not to mention the players often take 30 seconds to act because they think they are playing NL or something. The house makes less money. The players get less hands. Everyone loses.

what does "guys like him" mean ?? unless you have some supernatural psychic powers... you dont anything about me other than i prefer spread limit to limit..

fyi.. i used to play 6-12 and 8-16 at canterbury fairly often. that was before i had ever played 1 hand of nl and had never played spread limit.

i think the thing that attracts me to spread is charging the dummies $20 to chase.. i know how to play poker..

i like those big ass pots in 4-20 spread.. i did not know that because someone prefers spread to limit that makes them an inferior player..
i dont believe that for 1 minute..

limit is just boring to me..

Bob,
Do you really think that will happen?
I had written that it seemed the spread limit was taking over. I personally like to play both equally but have noticed the 6/12 and 8/16's struggling lately. I also was wondering if the 2/10 and 4/20 spreads could exist in the same room as the 6/12 and 8/16 and I'm starting to think they can't.

Bob what is your opinion on this?

Couldn't agree more. It's so close to my house too... I hate to have to think the only decent limit games in town will still be CP in a year or so.

I just hope they can figure something out soon. I'd almost rather drive to WI to play NL, then play 2-60 max.

We all had such high hopes...

My god, reading Bob's abhorrent distaste for spread limit is so great.

But, it is a comical, horrible game.

I have never worked in a card room and am merely a guy who plays a lot of poker, so keep that in mind when you read this.

Limit can be a frustrating game, even for great players. Stupid things happen constantly. It is the nature of the game. It is not at all unreasonable for bad players to want something different, and spread limit is their mirage in the desert. That is obvious at RA. I was there a few days this week, and there were maybe 2 limit games bigger than 4/8 going, but several 2-10 spreads and at least two 4-20 spreads. It is clear, at least lately, that people prefer this game.

Fewer hands get dealt hourly given the nature of the game, so the house makes less money, as do the dealers. Obviously the players get to play fewer hands as well.

I really think that if RA offered only limit games from day 1, they would have just as many games going as they do now. The bottom line is that the little gambooolers want to gambooool, and if only limit was offered they'd gladly play it.

Is there a poker room in the US that offers spread limit that is thriving other than Casino AZ?. I honestly don't know.