subbed

I considered that. But my play is exclusive to LV and live games. So it fits LVL - readers will benefit from local LV talk

just a quick question: why did you not start on limit? I mean, there are a lot of human ATMs (and... sometimes... myself among them) just willing to give you money.

And are you mainly just planning to stay on the strip... or are you willing to go downtown?

Like the idea for this, Gl on your journey.

I have played limit in the past. But that's also how I determined I stink at poker. So I'm focusing on NLHE for the broad availability of games.

Downtown is an excellent question. And yes I do plan on playing there. I have a client in downtown and I can walk to some rooms from there, mostly the golden nugget. The goal is to avoid the large ones like Aria, V and B. I want to stay off that well worn circuit, at least for now.

let me know when you go to the Nugget... I live about a mile from there and play limit there. I had turned 20 to 250 Saturday... heh...

As for limit poker... it has a different edge... especially on 2/4: Old people willing to become human ATMs. when the cards hit... it works out.

But then the flipside is that people don't fold. ever. so raising preflop ain't going to work unless you have a high pocket pair... it is what it is. I haven't been playing 1/2 NL yet BUT from what I've been seeing, it looks soft often at the Golden Nugget.

Subbed. Good Luck.

Subbed and GL!

Treasure Island

I ran a little recon mission to TI. cushlash told me about the promotion they are running with $10 hours paid after you log 40 hours in their room. That doesn't seem like such a bad deal. The details I got was that, in addition to the normal drop, it's $1 for the first $10 and another dollar at $30. They use that drop, in lieu of a jackpot, to fund the time program.

It doesn't strike me as a terrible program if you consistently play in rooms with jackpot. This is your way of getting your piece of the jackpot that you're paying into anyways. It's something to consider since $10/hour adds quite a bit to the win-rate.

Careful

Since there is an extra $2 per hand, you are looking at an extra rake of $5 to $7 per hour

So it's really only adding $3 to $5 to your hourly

Good points. I think it's worth checking out for a session and I'll report on that soon. I'm not saying its the game I'm going to dedicate myself to, it's just an interesting promo that caught my attention. At the very least its the ability to stake your claim to the "jackpot" if you play a room with one.

FTR I suggested that this promo was a bad deal and if someone played all 40 hours they'd be just be getting back the extra rake paid at best and would be better off at a game without a jackpot drop. The only argument to play it would be if it makes for relatively better games than casinos without jackpot drops. I have not found this to be the case in Vegas.

Soft 1-2/1-3 games can be found pretty much everywhere so there's no reason to essentially pay extra rake.

My 2 cents

Surely you aren't suggesting 2/4 limit is beatable?

is it not?

Rake makes 2/4 pretty unbeatable over the long term according to many. I personally have never cared to look into the math beyond listening to others.

I grinded TI quite a bit during my Vegas stay and I can say its not worth it for the most part

Most people play extremely shortstacked, the rake is awful, and most of the regs play a very nitty style. I spew pretty hard in these types of games out of boredom so I stay away

However, I will say that some nights between like 11pm-5am, I played in some of the best 1/3 games I've ever played in Vegas at Treasure Island. You'll get a lot of random people who are staying at TI and just come down to gamble at poker.

I would just grind at Wynn and then take a quick walk over to check out TI. I think they're promotion is really good if you are trying to build a bankroll because you'll play in very low variance games and make $10/hr in guaranteed profit.

Good luck!

Did your coach recommend this? You mentioned avoiding CET, but those three are not. Is it your perception of the games being harder to beat? You also mentioned you wanted the enhanced game selection of NLHE, but you are avoiding casinos with a larger number of tables running. Just curious.

I just perceive them as harder rooms to play. That may be incorrect on my part. But I'd rather play against three guys wearing conference badges at MB (and they do A LOT of conferences!) than any of the regs at Aria, et al

My reference to broad NLHE games is across the city. I mostly play south strip and some of the locals casinos. That may change if I ever move up to 2-5 but for now there's plenty to choose from.

Jim,

Don't avoid PH, unless club music and low light gives you migraines b/c it's called PH for a reason (Profit House) j/k but seriously the games there are the softest in CET on the strip outside of weekends at Flamingo

Thanks. Indeed I have heard the same. But for the time being I do want to avoid CET properties. They are a good client of mine and don't want to risk any conflicts.

they dont care if you play at the properties... I can guarantee you that. if employees can play there, a vendor can as well.

Jim, do you intend on playing at the Mirage at all? I see more tourists percentage wise playing there than at TI.

More loose gambler types at the Mirage in my experience.

It CAN be, if you like playing against old people just waiting to die. saturday went to Golden Nugget with $20, walked out with 250. today, walked in with 20 and walked out with 122.

yeah I lost a little but if you go in the early/mid mornings on the weekday, it can be a big possibility.

That's not 100% true. Maybe if you're a valet employee, they don't care. But I work at the executive level for online poker . . . that's all I'm going to say about that. My contemporaries are not allowed to play at all (I see the memos) so I follow the same rule.

I have not played them as of yet but it's an excellent suggestion. I will definitely add them to my list of rooms that I want to check out. It does fit the "off the beaten path" profile I'm looking for