do you guys see that a higher buyin might be better for skilled players but worse for fish, and do you see why that might impact the way room management structures the games?

Absolutely.

It's the same reason why 2/5 at Sno is 100-300.

Who is trying to make a living in Seattle at 1/3 or even 2/5? What does that have to do with anything? Do you really think the casual fish would even notice someone bought in for $300?

To answer your questions:

Who is trying to make a living in Seattle at 1/3 or even 2/5?

Very few if any. The 1/3 and 2/5 games don't play big enough and there isn't enough loose money.

What does that have to do with anything? Do you really think the casual fish would even notice someone bought in for $300?

Capping the buyins help protect the fish. It's been discussed ITT before. The rooms want the same games to run every day consistently. By capping the buyin at 300 for their 2/5 game, Sno is hoping to preserve that game. The player pool is small enough that if they had a bigger buyin game it might not go every day. The sharks would win too quickly and demolish the game. Same logic for the 1/3 game at Tulalip.

One of the reasons why 3/5 morning game died in Tulalip. There used to be a daily game.

the growth of the "no limit" games and the bad economy were really bad for everyone, but maybe I'm just a bitter old 10/20 player.

I never said there were people trying to make a living at 1/3. (Did you even read my post? I said exactly the opposite.)

Like Justin said, capped buy-ins help protect the fish.

There were a good 15-20 ppl trying to make a living or seriously supplement a living in the 1/3 and 3/5 games at Tul 2-3 yrs ago. Have things really dried up that much?

What is the 5/10 and PLO scene like right now?

there are a lot of negative nancys on this thread. The 5-10 NL and PLO (often with 25 dollar stradle) is alive and well at Tulalip.... Sno on Mondays and tuesdays has big games... Thursday-Sat Tulalip is spreading 5-10 or 5-5 or both. Heck they've been getting two 5-10 PLO games on occassion. While poker has slowed down it will never be as good as it was in 2002-2005... Some people have adjusted and moved on while others bitch and moan.

Things haven't dried up that much at Tul. Sunday had four 3-5 games.... I feel like the people who complain are either broke or can't make any money so they want poker to die.... TRUST ME... the good players are still making a living. and while i couldn't tell you an exact number i would tell you that between those two casinos (i don't frequent muck) that the number is into the double digits.

The demise of poker is greatly exaggerated... I relate it to my friend who after he got divorced told me my marriage would fail (it's doing great!!) and all women were scum. If that correlation makes sense then you are getting where i'm coming from

One indicator that the game has slowed down is the number of tables and starting time of 5/10 at Sno.

Another indicator is the number of 3/5 games on regular basis at tulalip.

Both numbers have gone down significantly. It isn't to say that the game isn't profitable, but the infusion of new money has certainly slowed down.

That 5/10/25 game is an anomaly, and there is no indication that the game will last. There aren't simply that many players that could take 5-figure hit on the weekly basis.

Good. It should die. 5-10-25 with 2000 max buy-in, 500 Max bet is a crap shoot.

Not that they can force you to straddle anyway.

I haven't been in Seattle since ~May 2010, but the PLO game was amazing then. It was 5-5 w a very often place straddle. Late in the evenings it always turned into a $500 limit game by the turn of any given hand - there were definitely five figure swings every night it went back then and it looks like that has been sustaining and growing for quite a while now.

I thought it was a shame that the 1-2-3 PLO8 was a little too big to sustain (considering the player base.) That was an incredible game but the old regs just weren't ready for Tyler to come in and crush them like he did. Did the 3-8 LO8 ever start back up?

you're 100% right especially considering last week a guy took 39,000 off the table. What i can't believe is how much cash those guys carry for that much money to be won on the game. I'd actually like to see the 2-2 PLO spread a little more often.. just to get new people into a different game... But i'm in the minority. The grinders want to gobble up all the money ASAP which goes back to the old saying you can sheer a sheep many times but skin it only once!

I miss that game

When you say Tyler, do you mean the old Omaha forum mod here?

i can say that he does not mean me (i ****ing hate plo ).

Former dealer / local pro, trying to make it big on the circuit. Was always working to get PLO spread. Fixture in the biggest games you could get at Tul. Big hand on TV vs. Elky in WSOP a couple yrs back.

Are there many 10/20 and higher limit games in the area?

Weird. Former mod Tyler here was a big PLO player too. Not the same guy.

Here's what I know about:

• One to three tables of $20/$40 runs almost 24/7 at Diamond Lil's in Renton
• One table of $12/$24 half kill runs in the evening every other Thursday at Parker's in Shoreline

Yes, that's it.

I've heard from multiple people that game is filled with regulars that were sharing the same bankroll (i.e. colluders). Can anyone confirm or deny this is still the case?

It definitely used to be that way, and Lil's does not care about this (nor do they care if foreign language is used at the tables). Can't say for sure if it's still happening, but I have no reason to believe it wouldn't continue.

Can confirm the game looks like mostly regs. Can not confirm or deny bankroll question.

Confirm that non-English is sometimes a problem (I had a post about this way upthread). I still play there and speak up about it when it gets too egregious. Games can still be good so I try to protect myself while not being too much of a nit.

That seemed to be the consensus years ago among people at Parkers & the Muck and it's why i have never set foot in DL's.

Of course i was at Parkers last night and my first 8/16 table was 3/4 asian players not always speaking english but they were mostly playing terribly so why complain? I used to fear stuff like collusion till i realized with experience it's easy to spot and frankly i pity a group of people splitting essentially very little money at those stakes. Half of those people are freinds and old regs / aquaintances anyway so even without collusion you cant trust your reads from the hands they play vs each other.

Parkers was busy last night... 12/24 half kill, 2-8/16's half kill, 4 4/8's, and a 3-12 spread.

Is the Drift on Inn still in business? Last time I was in Seattle it seemed like it was on its last legs...

Also, anyone know the story behind Goldies' poker room disappearing? I came back to Seattle for a visit over a year ago and they only had pit games going on, place still looked like absolute ***** though