Might be going out in mid november. Definitely want to check it out. To clarify, 1-2 PLO has a 5 bring in? What's buyin for this game?, 100 to 500? Running it twice and straddling is allowed, correct?

If the games are all mostly Euros, does that mean the games are generally tougher since Euros are generally better than Americans in the game? I didn't like 1-2(5BI)'s high variance during the Borgata Poker Open so I'm definitely wary of playing it against better players but running it twice might help out.

I only played it once, but I believe that the minimum was $200.

To clarify the above:

The buy in is 200-500. You can run it twice, but you cannot straddle. As for how tough the players are, well, maybe some posters can help you with that.... unfortunately, I dont get to play.

Hope that helps.

Tommy

Of course. Thank you for playing in our room and hopefully we will see you again.

Tommy

I played it four sessions in August of 2009. Two times I was one of the "fish," two times I was one of the "sharks." As a point of reference, I consider myself to be average to above average when playing the 1/2 PLO game @ Borgata.

I played on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Predictably, I was lower on the totem pole Thursday and Sunday. Thursday's game featured something like two young pros, two Russians, two Northern Europeans (Danish and Swedish I believe), Jeff Hwang (author of two PLO books), an Egyptian, a guy who had final-tabled a WSOP PLO event a couple years ago, and me. Friday's game was a couple of the same foreign players, but some weaker players thrown in. Saturday was pretty much the same as Friday in terms of player mix. Sunday seemed much nittier than the other three days.

Gross generalization: the foreign players were much more aggressive than the domestic players, but seemed to know when to get away from hands if they were raised and drawing thin/dead. I respected and learned a lot from watching their play.

My cashouts were something like +30, +2500, +500, -1000. I was most proud of the +30 against the murderer's row I played against Thursday night. The big win on Friday was pretty much all because of a 3.1k pot I won when I got my ~750 stack all-in on the turn ahead and my hand held against three other hands in the pot. I played like **** on Sunday and was probably the worst player at the table. Bad combination.

+1

Stayed at the V for a few days a couple of weeks ago. Tommy is a great guy and will really go out of his way to take care of you.

Thanks John, hope to see you again.

Tommy

I mean.... i guess its possible that you drew a tough table or something, but this tourny is so lol soft in general. Its even worth the rake to play these things on a friday.

Well I kind of suck at poker. That doesn't help much.

Day 2 TR... again from my cell phone.
Had a nice dinner a few drinks and caught a show with my wife before heading over for a short session. We got to the desk around 10pm and were immediately seated in the 1-2-5 Plo.

Never drink and play cards has always been my rule but l made an exception last night and my recollection of why I follow that rule in now back intact.

Burning off the first buy in was a real thing of beauty. I played middle set on a AKJA2 board just about as bad as is humanly possible. Getting it back wasn't easy but I managed managed to pick up a couple of hands and booked another small w. The game was not great nor is my ev in at this point. So far I've held my on with bad cards and two really bad plays.

Back in the game again, much better line up but a few to many drinks at dinner may prove my earlier point.

More late.

GS

Hey Tommy,

any possibility on some free food? You have to play for 4 days before you can get a free munch on...been going to aria lately.

what did you have in mind? Next week we will be giving away a free buffet for all Cash game players and Tournament players from 1130am -230 pm everyday. This will start when our Deepstack Extravangza starts on October 28th.

This is just a way for us to say thank you for all the players that make the Venetian their home throughout the year.

On a personal note, ive slipped away and eaten this on several occasions. I must say that the food has been very good.

Tommy

Tommy --

Played one of the DSE's in late June and it was outstanding. Will be back next week to play Thurs and maybe Fri, as well.

I am in Florida and with the change in the buy in limits that gave the poker boom a little bit of a resurgence here. But I think long term the Florida rooms are going to have to go back to promoting good structure and high value-for-the-house rake/cut in order to maintain a base against all the competition. Right now, tournament players are an afterthought for most Florida rooms and seems they view tournaments as a loss leader for the cash games.

They could learn a thing or two from the V.

See ya' next week!

there were a couple of overly aggressive scandis in the game that provided some good spots. i ran really badly in the big pots, but somehow managed to come out ahead over the two days.

in one hand against an aggressive german player, i opened / called 3 bets with AJJT. the flop came 9T4. i bet, he raised, i went all in, he called. we ran it twice. i was up against QQT5. i'm a slight favorite on the flop. i bricked out 4 (!!) times for him to scoop with a pair of Queens.

in general though, the game was good. i did win a couple pots against the same guy when i straight flushed his ace high flush and quadded his top boat.

on thurs, there seemed to be a lot of rando drop ins who were not experienced in plo. good things.

Come say hi at the tournament desk when you come in. Glad that you will be coming back.

Tommy

I love the Venetian. Easily my favorite poker room in Vegas. Now that I'm living in Vegas I imagine it will see a whole lot more of me. I might even have to check out one of the nightly tournaments. Can anyone give me an idea of how late they usually last? Since I've got a 9-5 it might be difficult to play it on like a Wednesday if it doesn't finish until 4AM or later.

During the week, it usually ends 12:30am - 1:30 am.

Tommy

Day 3 TR continued..
Line up was beatable and I had position on one of the better players so I liked my chances if I could just find 4 cards to play.

I had more to drink than I should have, before and during dinner and was completely out of gas when I got to the table. Im not a strong plo player and this is a really -EV spot for me but I rarely get to play live Plo and the room is just to good to pass up.

I picked up more playable hands than day one and two but only hit the flop a couple of times. I hung around even or a stack up all night when the following hand came up.

Cut off pots and I call with AcJ5c6 double suited clubs and hearts I think. Its his first hand so I take the flop for a quarter thinking if I call it will bring a few more. We get one caller and a flop of QT8 with one club. Check, cut off pauses and bets 35. I call with a gut shot and 2 back door flush draws. Turn is the best card in the deck, the 7 of clubs. Cut off bet 65 or 75 and a call. River is the 9 of clubs and he checks. I was stuck try to decide if he had made a straight or a smaller flush and I just couldn't come up with a good bet size. I went for 120 hoping to get called by a wider range and possibly getting raised if he had Kings and made the second nut.

He called and I'm finally up a buy in for the first time in three days.

Burn out beat down and ready for bed I tell my wife to play till the blinds in the 4-8 and ill do the same.

Im getting ready to rack up when I pick up TJQK DS. I raise and the only rock in the game pots it to 65. I call we see a Q8x flop heads up. I check he pots and I make a ridiculous shove thinking my two pair outs combined with the flush draw i turn out not to have was good. I never make this play if im not sleeping at the table. I miss everything and bad play has once again moved me back to even for the session.

Two hands left and I decide to limp the KJ54 clubs because im just too pisses to care. I flop the flush draw in a 5-6 way pot. Everyones checks the flop and turn and I decide to bet 25 on the river. Everyone folds and I muck not wanting to show that im a monkey for playing that trash under the gun. Well at least I won a pot on the way out. WAIT..... I look up and the dealer is pushing the pot to the other end on the table. A player I didn't notice was in the pot called and I have mucked the second nuts.

Perfect ending to a perfect day.

One night left for redemption.

Im planning to grab a nap before the last session.

V sessions this trip

1-2 nl 950
1-2-5 plo +25
1-2-5 plo +35
1-2-5 plo -65

More later.....

Hey Tommy,
I'm thinking of coming to the Venetian the 3rd week of November. I was planning to get there Thursday evening-night and play through the entire night/next day till Friday evening. I was wondering if you could tell what kind of poker traffic would I find on Thursdays. Sorry if the question is too vague .

Venetian is one of the rooms you dont really have to worry about finding a game, 1/2 NLHE goes on all the time and you should always have a seat

During the 3rd week of November we will be having our Deepstack Extravanga under way. You can probably expect 300-500 tournament players per day and approx. 30 - 35 cash game tables going.

Tommy

I've heard the V is very similar to my home casino, Borgata as they are the best casino in their respective towns with the best run room and highest stakes. However, I've heard the V has pretty tough games. The skill level at 1/2 is barely discernable at Borgata compared to the other AC rooms. So for people who played at Borgata, would they say the games are tougher here at 1/2 NL, 1/2 PLO and 2/5 NL?

Just to let you know, tourneys are loss leaders for every casino, they bring very little money to the casino and staff to even justify it, the only justification for it is the large amounts of cash games it produces. If that wasnt the case then tourneys would be non existant.

Just ask to see how much it cost to bring a WSOP Curcuit event to your local casino, the casinos are willing to pay just to lure in the ring games.

Bottom line

Anything higher than 1/2 is going to be tougher anywhere in Vegas than Borgata. There are very few pros in AC and the regs are way worse.

Tommy,

Saw someone mention nightlys, I cant remember details but when I was there during the summer, the nightlys at Caesers had a better feel, I cant remember why, but it was def better.

Hats off to you and your staff for crushing the poker scene out there as that is my only complaint.