Very interesting....

Do you play there because of a lack of alternative (ie difficulty in moving money around online, lack of Indian casinos in the region, tired of home games...)

OR

Do you honestly believe that giving part of your winnings to charity is a good thing?

Thanks for any responses

Do you play there because of a lack of alternative (ie difficulty in moving money around online, lack of Indian casinos or normal casinos in the region, tired of home games...)

OR

Do you honestly believe that giving part of your winnings (via rake) to charity is a good thing?

Maybe its a combination of both but how relevant is it that the rake goes to charity on your choice to play at a charity poker room?

I play them for a little variety. Different Players and room. No tips. Closer to my buddy's place so he doesn't have to drive all the way downtown. Very personable Floor & Dealers who don't seem burnt out. Safer than Downtown Detroit. Only game being run is Poker, so you don't have to deal with throngs of people/cars and a 40 acre parking lot to handle them. No slot noise.

Frankly couldn't care less about the "Charity" aspect.

I live close by 3 casinos downtown, and i play at the charities all the time. and i'm not giving part of my winnings to the charity, in the cash games the only thing they get is the rake, which is less than what the casinos rake from each pot. and on top of that most of the charity games are filled with fish who don't really know how to play so the games are usually pretty damn good and profitable.

Thanks for your reply, crazyb. When I wrote your "winnings" what I should have written is your "rake".

How do you feel about your rake going to charity?

Cross posting my reply from the "Mother Thread"...

I play them for a little variety. Different Players and room. No tips. Lower Rake. No BBJ. Closer to my buddy's place so he doesn't have to drive all the way downtown. Very personable Floor & Dealers who don't seem burnt out. Safer than Downtown Detroit. Only game being run is Poker, so you don't have to deal with throngs of people/cars and a 40 acre parking lot to handle them. No slot noise.

Frankly couldn't care less about the "Charity" aspect.

Why are you so anti-charity? Or at best, indifferent.

I'm not the least bit anti Charity. In fact I am fortunate enough to be in a position in life where a significant part of my income and effort goes to support causes which I find important.

In this case I just couldn't care less how my $50 in Poker Rake goes to support the "Xxxxx Xxxx High School Band" or whatever. That doesn't motivate me in the least in my decision-making about where to play Poker. There may be certain events in which I choose to participate because of the beneficiary such as some "Casino Night Event" at a local hall.

In fact, I might actually NOT play if the given Charity at a Poker Room was offensive to my sensibilities and personal philosophy.

My point is, my Poker decision-making is generally independent from my political or charitable support - unless it conflicts with my personal values.

I was driving up Van Dyke yesterday afternoon and found a brand new building dedicated to charity poker. Benny's Poker Room I think it was called. I parked the car and took a look inside. They had a guard at the door (in full uniform) and I was greeted by two or three men anxiously wanting to fill me in on the new room (apparently they owned/operated the establishment).

They had about 10 tables and a special room with only one 'final' table which they claimed to use for daily tournaments/bachelor parties. They also had blackjack, roulette, and a craps table.

When I got there around 7pm on Sunday, it was pretty dead. Although they claim to have regular $2/5 games, they had only one 8-person table playing $1/2 NL. They claimed to have JUST opened last Wednesday, and there current hours were 2pm-2am every day. The rake was 10% up to $6 but had no bad beat/high hand jackpot.

I didn't get to sit down and play as I was late for another function, but I am sure I'll get around to putting in some time there.

Has anyone else played here?

Philly,,, Yes i know Nick P. didnt realize that was you.

Tanagra.....all new locations and supply licenses were put on hold...unless they got theirs a while ago........I would say that sounds kind of fishy..........was there a license from the charity posted?

I think Tanagara found an underground club. That sounds very strange. Let us know how it is when you give it a try.

Pillsbarry, I swear I'm coming to see you soon. Took a break for a little while (running bad/ playing bad). Going to Vegas this weekend and then I;m back to a couple nights week, so I should be there soon. Hope all is well!!

http://www.michigancharitypokerrooms...ilyBennys.html

I'm thinking of finally giving a charity room a try and I have a few questions specifically related to $5-10nl and $2-5nl. I'll play $1-2 while waiting for a bigger game if I have to, but I don't want to go to a place whose main bread and butter is $1-2.

1. Which places regularly spread $2-5nl? Do any have $5-10nl? Anywhere near Royal Oak/Troy?
2. Are the dealers as good as the dealers downtown? One reason I haven't gone to a charity casino is because I'm worried to run into dealers like MGM had the first few months they were open. I'd hate to go to a charity place and get in half the hands as Motor City, for example.
3. Are the tables always full w/ a list? I like shorthanded games, but prefer full ring. I like downtown because I know how the crowd generally works and what time the games die down. If we're at 7 handed at 10pm at the must move w/ only 2 call ins then I know the game won't last long and I'd rather go home and multi table.
4. Do they have set hours?
5. Is it true the dealers don't accept tips? How about a bad beat jackpot?
6. Is the rake 10% up to $6?
7. Can you call up to an hour ahead to put your name on the list like downtown?
8. In general will a charity casino get more than 1 or 2 games of $2-5nl?

Thanks in advance

For the most part, charity rooms don't spread $5/$10 because they have a limit on the amount of chips they can sell in a night. At $5/$10, they burn through the $15,000 chip limit pretty quickly.

A new room opened in Troy last week-end at the Big Beaver Tavern. You can find local info, games, addresses & phones here.


Just like the casinos - you will find some really great dealers and some really new dealers.


Definately call ahead. Some rooms are really crazy busy, some aren't.

Yep - check link above.

Yes it's true. Dealers are not allowed to accept tips - it's a state charitable gaming regulation. Also, there are no more bad beat jackpots as of July 1. New state directive that banned bad beat, high hand, freerolls & player reward programs.

Depends on the charity poker room. There's a room in Battle Creek that has a $4 max rake, though 10% up to $6 is pretty standard.

yep

games=tables? Again, this depends on the poker room. Some rooms run 1-4 cash tables, some have a lot more.

Have Fun!

allin poker room on opdyke runs a 1-2 NL and 1-2 PLO on wed-sat

big beaver poker room is nicer than all the casinos poker rooms. but only nightly tournaments seem to be running.....wed-sun

the lodge in keego harbor is sun-wed...juicy 1-2nl is always running, large tournaments (well 50) mon-wed

I played there over the weekend

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27...ini-tr-566856/


I often see the Charity Rooms decrease the rake at short-handed tables. Some B&M Casinos will do this, but the Charity Rooms seem to be FAR more proactive in doing so.

Thanks for the info guys. I often hear of people talk about the shark club and the wild $2-5 games. Is that the one in Canton or Waterford?

You won't find many $2/$5 games either. $15,000 chips doesn't go very far when people are buying in for $300-$500 at a shot.

However, if you wanted to pay them back that $10 you owed em from a couple of weeks ago, that might not be a problem. (catch them away from the table.)

Tip or don't tip, that's obviously up to you, just don't be the a**munch that not only doesn't want to tip, but wants to make sure nobody else does either. (Usually with a self-important declaration of "That's against the LAW!!")

Don't many places have 2 charities running at once?

I don't know about "many"; some do. Some locations have three. But each concurrent charity has to have completely separate chips. I've heard that some places allow them to mix, but I guess that's frowned upon. (in addition to being confusing)

How does this seem like a good idea to you? 40BB buy-in max?? Sounds more like shove and pray instead of poker. Who needs a turn and river, make your decision on the flop see what happens.

If you want a bigger game, play a $1-$3 Blind game with $100 min / $200 max.

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Oh, It just occurred to me how that would seem like a good idea. It practically garuntees max rake on every hand. GG Sir!!

Not to defend the guy, but I did play in his room the other day. I was pretty surprised when the only game being spread was a $2/$5 game with a $100 Max. Yes, that night it was a max of $100! As I bought in I mentioned that it was way too low for a $2/$5 game. He was interested in my feedback and seemed willing to raise the limit.

Throughout the night he was attentive to the table and was genuinely interested in making sure he did what he could to make it an enjoyable experience.

While I agree with you that the buy-in is still too low even at $200 max. However you are a bit out of line in suggesting he is just out to max his rake. Throughout the night that I played he proactively instructed the dealer to LOWER the rake as the table became short handed. I think at the end of the night when we are at 5 players they were maxing out @ $2.

This is a new club and I got the impression they are still tinkering with their structures and listening to their players to see what suits them.

They also play games like this in California, and while most of the 2+2ers bitch about it here, it sounds like it is very successful.

Deep stack No Limit is bad for the long term health of the game.

Was interested 'til I read that the max on the 2-5 game is california style. No thanks.

Yeah you're right. I don't think this no limit thing will really take off. 100bb isn't deep stack

I played at shark club in waterford today. They had 3, 1-2 games going and one 2-5. They tried to get a round by round PLO/nlh, but it didn't go. The 2-5 wasn't that great, but then after a while all hell broke loose and I wasn't able to get a seat. The 1-2 was so soft and it was the kind of action that you'd expect at that limit.

All the games were really good and the dealers weren't bad either. A couple times they "accidentally" raked too much, but that's something you have to e aware of in any home game or non casino game-even sometimes at the casino too. It's "OK" if they do it here though because there is no tip and no bad beat :-).

Oh and they had a masseuse there too. I think the rate is double what you normally see but I'm not 100% sure what the going rate is. It was $2/minute here. Just the fact that they had that though was cool. She was cute too so that was a bonus. If it was closer I'd probably go there more and I really wonder why people drive downtown anymore? They did a good job running it and there was plenty of action.