Did not look at how much action there was at the table, but they had a 1-1 Short Deck on the board Monday (late afternoon, early evening).

Guess I could have looked more closely had I been really interested...but I wasn't.

I don't get the "play in a home game if you want a private game" sentiment.

So JRB takes his table to a hotel room and plays, you're still not playing. 0% chance. I'd have to imagine the chance of playing in the game is > or = 0% if it's held in the poker room.

Well they steal/keep all the whales that walk into the poker room.

[I'm not] I don't get any of this. Did you mean to quote someone else? [/a smart man]

Are you slow? One of the bad things about allowing that illegal private game to go is not having access to some whales that want to play the biggest games. It's not just "take yur ball somewhere else!"

The same BS goes on in all the South Florida poker rooms. The floor is in the pocket of the Bellande's of the World. At least in Vegas you can take it up with NGC if a bunch of players lobby hard enough. Florida nowhere to go, it is a total joke WTF is going on

A little. I'm not a smart man, Jenny.

Understood.

What I don't understand is the "just play in a home game if you want a private game" crowd. Why would they suggest it?

Amislow? Lol, canyouread?

Just trying to look at it from the other side. If they let everyone in, will it kill the game?

I know little to nothing about the high stakes scene but it seems to me when you're dealing with people with two commas they view poker as a form of entertainment. They play to win but they want to enjoy themselves. If they sit down to a line-up of killers who cover their mouth when they bet, are non-communicative, seek every edge, the casual player won't have as much fun.

Why would they want to play? From the little I've seen recently of BB, he's cultivated this image as a carefree gambler. Always has a glass of wine at the table. This might not be the reality but it's what he's selling.

Could it be that Merson is a killjoy?

Yes and in FL it happens more and at a lower level where it affects even more players. There are 5/10 and sometimes even 5/5 "private" games in more than a few casinos. I have always wondered how this is legal. Has anyone looked at FL gaming laws?

It's pretty simple you ask the floor to spread a game and make it however many handed and then you and all your friends agree to pay the time charge for however long you want to run it. As long as everyone is paying time nobody gets picked up and the game is full and nobody else can sit down. This is only an issue for the casino to do if they don't have enough dealers on shift (in which case you hire more dealers because a table is worth so much more than a dealer's salary).

Nothing wrong if he is.

Yeah, it might be simple but is it right/fair/legal?

Some of the "private" games are raked some are timed charged. Some will let anyone join if seats are open and others not.

I have heard a few bad stories about the organizer(s) of the games charging better players to be allowed to play in their game and other even more shady stuff. I have also played in one game where the organizer had what seemed like so much pull with the floor I was concerned that if I ever needed a ruling vs this player or any of his "friends" I might never get a fair rule.

Anytime you let one player run this kind of game in a public casino you create the potential for problems.

Hmm, why do you think that? For a different opinion you can check DGAF's thread in medium-high-stakes-full-ring forums.
I agree with him and he makes the case way better than I can.

If it's not legal, then maybe someone should complain to the appropriate authority.

Earlier this year, Sean McCormack (Aria's Director of Poker) made some really stupid tweets (now deleted) basically admitting that Aria runs illegal private games.

Stealthmunk said he was going to file a report to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, but I don't think he ever followed through.

I briefly considered asking them some questions myself, but it feels kinda snitchy since this doesn't directly affect me. I would love to see something happen though.

Some people are just bad at acting and shouldn't try to be something they are not.

Would Greg had posted this drivel if he was initially invited? Would Greg haves turned down an invite initially based on the immorality of the situation? Case closed

Bottom line is whales do not want to play with robotron geeks who have on scarfs and wear a hoody and sunglasses and are calculating their EV every hand on their phone

Game needs to be fun and move quickly

If these games were open to the public the game would not run because they would move it somewhere else or after one orbit the whales would get up and leave because of said robotron nerds

Then maybe those games shouldn't run.

You've never sat at a 1-3 game where a Jack wagon practicality sits down and kills the game? You're right that game (with Jack wagon) should not run

So long as Jack Wagon does not tank and makes good conversation, the game should run until the whales are felted.

He tanks and is a total a hole, everyone hates him.

I think the rules should be applied fairly and evenly to everyone.

To the guys who can't get into these good games, serious question: How long have you tried to get in nicely? I remember it took me well over a year to get into a good "private" game the first time in my local casino when I played.

Brunson, Negreanu & Ingram chiming in.

#paging Greg Merson