Yea It's disheartening to play for the card and then fall short or go through 100's. Obviously for us 1/2 Players $150 card is significant. For the 2/5'ers and higher not so much, but still. Good luck next week fellas.

Ha! I knew you knew !!!

Nice hand, btw. If you had min raised I'd have shoved and you'd have gotten it all that way, but you had to bet out the 6's or flush draws I suppose, so makes sense. You went on quite the tear, by the way. When I left the table you had built up from I think $200 to, what, $700 or so?

Nice playing with you. Sorry for the etiquette misstep!

Playing FLO8 at table 18, seat 9. Mike's hangin out at 1/2, 28 seat 9. Come say hey!

I guess I could've flatted to induce or min-raised there but I was 150% certain I was stacking the KK/AA of the woman to my right. So, better to get the guaranteed money. Your range is pretty wide there and I can't be sure the flop hit your hand. If you have some sort of combo draw you're shoving any of my raises anyway. So might as well maximize versus my two opponents. If I'm sure you have 54 I flat, let you raise, let KK jam and let me scoop. Oh well.

Started @ $160, ended at just over $600. Was up to $700 and tried to bluff two of the older players on a 889 flop in a straddled, raised pot. I took that as my cue to leave haha.

Given your set of 7s and then the hand where you hit the old guy for about tree fiddy with your 999/88 crushing his 888/77, if I'd have been there and the board was 889 I'd have mucked AA to a $2 bet from you.

I just had to delete a ton of general chat-type posts and other posts that did not conform to the guidelines. If you have questions or comments about moderation action, don't post them here; please PM me or use the Moderation Discussion Thread. In that thread, there is a lot of discussion surrounding the issue of chat / off-topic posts in casino-specific threads for you to read if you're interested.

Thank you for your understanding.

Today I finished a two day fly in trip to do nothing but play poker at the Hard Rock. One of the major reasons for this trip is a plan that two years from now my wife and I may move to Tampa and I wanted to begin finding out the state of poker there. Here are some observations:

1. Overall the room is run very well.

a. Tables are opened quickly when there are sufficient players
b. Tables are closed quickly when tables get short on players.
c. Overall (definitely not true of all of them) the dealers are good and largely
shut up and deal. A couple of them honestly believe they
are the reason players come out to play poker.

2. Some fairly unique rules seem to exist that are out of date:

a. Players cannot buy the button
b. There is no ability to have table side food delivered
c. Apparently there is no universal rule on how long a player can be away from
the table to eat. I asked several times and I was told it just depends on when
the players complain about the player being away.

3. There is a complete lack of a meaningful variety of stakes/games
(at least during the week)

a. During my two days the following games/stakes existed:

1. 1/2 No Limit
2. 1/3 No Limit
3. 2/5 No Limit
4. 5/10 No Limit
5. 5/10/20 No Limit
6. 1-5 Stud
7. 3-6 Omaha Hi/Lo.

b. Thoughts on this grouping of games being spread.

1. 5/10 and 5/10/20 are essentially the same game with the 500-5000 buyin.
It would make more sense to have the buyins different. Say 500-1500 for
the 5/10.
2. 1/5 stud and 3-6 omaha do not really offer a variety of games. Both of these
games are not games that players can ultimately win playing. Only the casino
wins at these games.

To be continued after I take my bride out to dinner!

My two cents regarding:

2b) I may be in the minority on this, but I dislike tableside food service. The cards frequently get sticky with random substances and the game goes even slower.

2c) You should embrace the fact that there is no strictly-enforced time limit rule. If the absent player is someone who's donating to the game, the other players should keep quiet and wait for him to get back (assuming it's not been 2 hours, of course). If it's a nit who's been nursing 10 bb's forever, speak up after 30 minutes and open the seat.

3b1) Despite the buy-ins being the same, 5/10 is not the same as 5/10/20. While many of the same players will play both, the standard opens are appropriate for each: it's $30-$40 at 5/10, and $60-$80 at 5/10/20. Players usually start (on average of course) with $500-$1500 at 5/10, and $1000-$2500 at 5/10/25. It definitely plays bigger than 5/10.

The reason the buy-ins are the same is that when 5/10 started last year, many regs wanted to make a mandatory straddle or play with a "rock", but one or two players always objected. To satisfy them, the 5/10/20 was introduced, but retained the 5/10 buy in. BTW, though it rarely goes, they will spread a 10/25 with a 2k or $2500 min.

3b2) It is not the least bit difficult to find a profitable 3/6 O8 game. You should sit in one there some time. 4 ducks will back this up.

Hope you enjoyed your stay, sir. See ya'll in two years.

@educated - congrats on your marriage (I'm assuming it just happened or why "bride")

Your observations are spot-on, especially regarding 5/10 vs. 5/10/20.

Others disagree with you that "only the casino wins" at Omaha, I don't personally play it, but just FYI.

More rules which are fairly unique to THR: Out-of-turn action is generally not binding. Most electronics are allowed at the table, including cell phones being used to text.

1-2 PLO runs on weekends. Sometimes 2-5 PLO. I'm sure not mentioning 2-4 Limit was just an oversight. From what I've heard, the staff had tried 4-8 and 10-20 Limit, but the players didn't have much interest in the beginning. Now, the brushes and supervisors really only push the games which frequently run. (See also Omaha 5-10, 10-20, etc.)

For the most part, the more conservative, "professional" dealers work earlier in the day. In the evening, it's a more social bunch. After midnight, it's a surprise every half hour. You'll find them silent or crass or chatty, some lightning fast, some turtle slow...

Also, not the best decks in play. The shuffle machine tends to wear out the cards. But, from across the table, any imperfections aren't visible.

Anybody here now..

I find everything "ThatsF" said to be true. I talked to one of the floor people (I won't say who since that is troublesome on here) and the floor person said new cards are being ordered that or a higher quality. It has been over 10 years since I played anywhere with cards that were consistently damaged as they are at the Hard Rock. Obviously this was a problem for me for a while but after some time I was somewhat convinced that it was not offering anyone an advantage.

I did simply forget to mention the 2-4 limit hold em game and my previous post and apologize for this. However, like the 1-5 stud game and the 3-6 Omaha games I do not really see these games as games that can be profitable in the long run facing a 5 dollar rake plus 1 for the bad beat/jackpot and 1 for a tip.

Trip Report Continued Now:

I played exclusively 2-5 NL and I do like the structure of the game. The buyin is 200-600. Both nights the action was lively and the quality of play was well below what I have generally found in 2-5 games across the country. The games were certainly much softer than is found in Vegas.

The Hard Rock allows a straddle from anywhere outside of the blinds. In several occasions that forced me to straddle on my button simply to block the cutoff from doing so. That is fine as far as I am concerned; however I do think that oddly enough a button straddle cuts down on action. A traditional straddle increases.

Yes phones and ipods are allowed but not allowed to lay directly on the felt.
Also unless they changed it recently, the only 2 real rules were that you cant be on phone at the table whether you are in a hand or not.
And you could not text at the table, I used to make a joke all the time when dealers would say to me that I cant text.
I would say that I am blogging, skyping, instant messaging, forum posting, etc. lol

While I was there I saw that some players were certainly allowed to have their electronic devices on the felt. One very attractive young female pro had two phones and an iPod on the felt the entire time she played. Of course, no dealer ever said anything.

Basically, like most poker rooms, the rules on these issues seem to be dependent on who is dealing and who the particular player is that is violating the rules. This basic reality of poker rooms was the hardest thing for me to accept.

Ron-where did you hear that one? I've never heard that nor seen it enforced. I put my phone on the felt every time I play, and never has any dealer said anything. I see lots of people with their phones on the felt. I mean, where else would you put it?

I would like to post a self-congratulations on losing $81 this week and obtaining my $150 gift card. $2.76/hr ...I think I'm going to treat myself to a nice cruise around the Caribbean with my profits. G'luck all, see you after my vayK!

Loldonk ---> me.
...............
I don't have any Omaheehaw experience but is variance greater at limit omaha hi/limit omaha hi/lo versus $1-2 NL hold'em? Without much thought I'd think that limit has less variance than NL but since it's Omaha there are more playable hands....and I don't even know if they run limit omaha consistently. Maybe in the future I should try that if my sole purpose is gift cards with a lil' possible profit to go along with it. Just wonderin' if anybody knows...ehem..Corey (haha nice to meet you bro, will catch up more later this month hopefully).

As we discussed earlier it is disheartening to go on a -300 bender and then continue to try for 25 hours. I typically would play 10-15 hours a week but with these promos they do get a degen like me to put in 10-15 more just for a card....

See you guys Sunday and Friday of this week!

2-4 limit is profitable, just not for a lot! Anything over $4 an hour long term would be a solid win rate. If you want to make a living at it you wouldn't sit at a 2-4 limit table even if the rake was zero...

I have heard a few dealers enforce the phone on felt rule but its probably like alot of other rules, 90% of the dealers don't enforce them.
For example, a very simple rule that is used in 99% of room across the country.
If you move away from the blinds more than 2 live players then you have to post the bb.
Guess what over 90% of the dealers do not enforce this at Hard Rock and they just reserve that for people they dont like and make sure they do post.

Its a joke, but I guess it will take years if ever that the room management cares about enforcing rules and makes sure their dealers enforce them.

I dont care about stupid rules like cell phones on felt or whatever, only if they slow down the game. But I do care about rules like I mentioned above.

Yo, Andre! Nice to meet you, bro. FLO8 is definitely lower variance. You eke out a much smaller profit but the swings are much easier on the ol' BR. With this promo running, it's definitely a nice way to pad the roll; without it, it's debatable. The main thing is game selection. Occasionally you'll get a table full of people that are pretty tight/know what they're doing. This is fairly uncommon, though. The only book you need to beat these games is Shane Smith's Omaha Hi/Lo How to Win at the Lower Limits. It's spiral-bound, printed on computer paper and totally looks like someone made it at home but it's got the goods inside. Study this, play how it advises and you can win.

The biggest thing, if you want consistent wins with little swing, is folding A LOT. You think that because you have four cards and thus six hold 'em hands, you can play more. In fact, the opposite is true. Instead of needing only two cards to work together, you need all four to work together. The biggest thing in Hi/Lo games (Omaha, at least, not sure about stud8 but I'd reckon it's the same) is scooping pots. You don't want to be chopping a 3-way pot where $6 is going to the rake and you're tossing a buck to the dealer. You'll end up winning <$10 when you do.

Anyhow, I don't wanna clutter up this thread with my thoughts on FLO8, PM me if you want with your number and we can talk about it more. GL at the tables, guys.

Also, the phone on felt rule definitely exists but as Ron said, only a few enforce it. It's pretty standard at all card rooms in the area. Not exactly sure of the significance of the phone on the felt vs. the rail but whatever.

Was just playing 1/2 at THR last night and found out about this thread (actually I think 4ducks was the reason because he said something to someone about it). Anyway, some of you have seen me around I'm sure considering I basically live there

Forgot to pick up my gift card on the way out as well... greeeeaaattt

You can't pick up your giftcard 'til today, anyhow, so don't kick yourself.

Also, I didn't play any 1/2 last night. Or did you overhear me talking to someone sitting at a 1/2 about it?

The latter, after you left I inquired with him about the forums... I didn't even realize I had a membership already. He told me about this section. Good stuff.

Table 44 seat 5. Will try to remain here for at least 3-5 hours or until I get sleepy.