Word on the street is that on Sunday Cascades will be increasing the maximum BI to its 1/3 NL game to $500... while also increasing the 10% rake maximum to $9.

Gitain'tdarkyetbutit'sgettingthereG

Yes but they'll give away $250/day for the highest hand from 10am - 2pm until the end of December. I don't think there's an additional drop for this. After that, I assume there will be no give back from the higher rake.

Anyone know any tournaments running in Vancouver in 2023?

Don't think I've ever stumbled upon a lower mainland poker vlogger before... until I stumbled upon the fairly new The Irishman Poker. I'm guessing it will be difficult to maintain getting footage as I doubt any local rooms technically allow this, but at least it is kinda neat seeing local rooms on YouTube.

Ggoodlucktohim,imo,gogogo!G

Hey, taking a shot here….any good dive bars, or low key pubs in the Gaslight/Chinatown area that might be open Christmas? Wife and I here and we wandered around tonight, but only places open were very clubby and young. Don’t mind young, but clubby, not so much. I know there’s always Parq, but looking for something chill in walking distance (we’re on Abbott).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I used to go to Roxy in Xmas, but that is on Granville.

Vancouver seems like a terrible city for this.

But I wish him luck. Perhaps he'll bring attention to poker and we'll get more rooms, tables, recs, etc.

I had a distant friend that was going to hire topless dealers for a bachelor party style poker game. And I used to know another girl who used to be a dealer for these games, though I don't know her well enough to ask questions.

Just wondering if anyone around the lower mainland has partaken in these types of poker games, and how wild/fun they can get? I know that girl was also an escort as well, so I'm sure those types of activities occured there.

Why do people think Vancouver is terrible for live poker? Too many omcs? Bad grinder to rec ratio?

High rake, lower value currency, long wait lists, terrible grinder to rec ratio (and recs in Vancouver are more skilled than recs in other cities), etc.

The last post before this was about 7 months ago.

RIP Vancouver, BC thread.

lol that dead huh? Unfortunate cause I'm actually considering moving to Vancouver eventually.

High rake in Ontario too. We just had a new casino in Toronto where they are trying to make 10% up to $20 acceptable. Surely it can't be worse than here.

Also, I'm quite surprised there would be a bad grinder to rec ratio in Vancouver of all places given how it's the most expensive place to live in Canada (rent for a one bedroom is now over $3000 there). The barrier to entry surely would be very high and there's no way a 2/5 or 5/10 reg making anything less than $50/hr can survive.

I think when someone here refers to grinders in Van, we're talking more about non-pros who take the game seriously. For example, these days I only play about once a month, I'm sitting there on some weekday afternoon, between two guys who know each other but I doubt are pros (it's a 1/3 table for starters and neither were on the list for the bigger game), and they are talking about solvers for multiway. Another guy at the table brought not just his laptop but a mouse to use with it. (He was on the move list fwiw.) And there's almost always 2-3 players watching poker on their phone while griding. And this was where we locals consider the more action-y of the two casinos closest to downtown.

I'm not asking Vancouver to go back to 2008, and I know everyone wants to think their city is the toughest grind, but Ive played in a lot of places and Van is by far the grindiest 1/3 I've ever played.

Yes some money can be made here, but like you said, you'd think we're flush with cash and bad players, but it just doesn't work out that way. Prob the biggest barrier is the lack of tables. Waitlists frequently run over 2 hours. No gambooly rec is still there after calling in, showing up within 90 min, and still waiting an hour. And if they didn't call in, they won't ever get a seat.

Vancouver has tons of potential recreational players, the casino just doesn't do anything to get them to sit at the tables.

SURPRISE

The same **** company owns casinos in BC!

Poor wages, high employee turnover rate, lack of employees in general, long waits at cages, even longer waits to sit down at a table. All staples of GCC casinos.

God I can't stand those ****ing tools who talk poker theory and GTO at the table. It is perfectly fine to learn and study of course, but to openly talk about it at a table like that just kills the fun vibe that poker is supposed to have for the recreationals and gamblers.

Maybe that is just me. I am a grinder myself, but in a live game I just prefer to present myself as a recreation who is there to have fun.

Couldn't agree more.

Seriously. Go talk GTO in the washroom and jerk each other off while you're at it if you're gonna do that.

Sounds like rake is trending worse in Toronto. My guess would be that all other aspects of live casino poker are vastly worse in Vancouver.

I suspect many of the grinders are not making a living from poker and, in fact, rely heavily on family money.

Suggestion: Do NOT move to Vancouver for poker!

The Irishman seems to have gone a little quiet in the last month video-wise, but I've also since stumbled onto BuffaloSam who is spitting out one or two a week.

Ggogogo!,imoG

Rake in my particular room is currently up to 10% max $9 + $1 BBJ drop + $1 high hand drop. But from what I hear (and you've stated), this is nothing compared to how horrendous it is back east.

You'll get various opinions about how good versus bad the games are (and most hinge on how well versus bad the one giving the opinion does in the game). There's a pro in our game from back east who has been likely slaughtering our game for a few years now, although word is he's thinking of heading back home due to the new room(s) opening back there (atrocious rake and all, my guess being that he may have his eye on a bigger game that would run more often). He figures our game is one of the best (although admits the overnight versus day play is, well, night and day).

Think you'd be nuts to move across the country just to play in a lowly LLSNL game, but if you're moving for other reasons, the games are still perfectly beatable for a recreational rate, imo.

GcluelessrecreationalpokernoobG

I remember when our area started to allow button straddling and for months everyone talked about the importance of position, "I might straddle the button but never under the gun". Terrible.

The button straddle should go, btw.

Starlight New West opened their poker room today, any reviews yet?

Hey guys, I just wanted to check in for any updates on the local poker scene these days. Anything note worthy going on? Are there any decent places to play live tournament poker?

I have just been playing online lately on Pokerstars and more recently trying out GG Poker.

How are general accommodation and the possibility of being comped rooms in Vancouver?