Casino $1/$2 NL Ring Game Day

So I just got back from the casino (Casino Niagara - Niagara Falls, ON - Canada).... I played two things in the poker pit. One was a couple of $35 SnG's with 11 people seated. About this all I will say is that the tourists seem to be attracted to this cause the hands were mostly being won by absolute garbage pairs because they were calling preflop raises with that garbage (like one person who called my raise of $250 preflop with 3c 8d...... When starting with a $1000 stack that is pretty crazy to any real player (or I would hope so at least)

Second thing I was playing was the $1/$2 NL game. Now I have never played at the casino before today so I was very aware of the differences that were happening. Firstly there was the session fee ($5 charge every half hour to play) now granted there is no rake, but when you look at the big picture, I think I would prefer the rake.... At least that way you do not have to pay to lose money to bad hands (other than blinds)...

Now another thing I had not thought about before sitting and playing was tipping the dealer. Within my first few hands I won a decent sized pot after hitting 4 A's with 3 on flop and one in hand. I had no clue that people tipped the dealer until a few hands later someone did it and I noticed on all the next that a tip was thrown back to the dealer.

Anyway my point is that casino play is much different than the online play that I am used to and just wanted to make some others aware of what they might expect if they are going to be going to a casino anytime soon. Please respond and let me know how things are structured at the casino near you if any of you have any knowledge.

Thanks =-)

p.s. The result of the day was a lot of REALLY bad beats by people that were raising preflop with NOTHING and having one guy sit down at my table (thankfully directly to my right) who kept throwing 2x $50 bills at the pot all in preflop.... Finally after like 5 blind steals someone called him and he had KK..... I really am not kidding..... weird experience.... I think I know what to expect from people online to some degree and casino play will take a few more brutal sessions before I know what to expect there as well....

I've never play NL live, as they don't have NL games here. I've heard the level of play is extremely poor at limits like you mention. That should make for a wildy profitable game, just pucker up and play tight, and also look for some good multi-way situations.

Anyway it's customary everywhere to tip the dealer when you win a pot, they make most of their money this way. I don't have a comment as to the fee vs the rake; they're probably roughly the same. I've heard before that the house makes about $100/table/hour, and that equates.

I don't play live here (Florida) anymore because they only deal $1/$2 and it's not possible to beat it. There's only one blind, they drop the rake on every flop, there's a jackpot drop, and if you tip $1 per pot...you're looking at $3 out of every pot. Twice I've seen the rake/jackpot dropped and there was nothing left in the pot. More than twice I've seen the player take one chip and give the single other chip in the pot to the dealer. Overly nice, says me.

Anyway, I'd be glad to find any live NL game that was remotely close to what you described.

Hermit420, I had the same experience as you at the same casino : )

I dont play there often, but I feel like i should....

btw you forgot to mention the long wait to get a table : p

Hey, I think I'm acutally going to that casino on friday.

I played live at Turning Stone quite a few times, usually at 1/2 100nl. You are correct in saying that people are aweful. When I first started going, being an online ring player, I hated the 50 x bb stacks, I felt so short stacked, and frustruated when a simple cont. bet commited 1/3rd of my stack to the pot. (Anyone else feel this way?) But then I realized how great 50 x bb stacks are, because people get potstuck fast and drop buyins like its their job.

Also, I noticed that after playing online, my live reads were very sharp.

EDIT: btw, calling a raise and flopping a set live is the BEST. FEELING. EVAR

I'll be there Friday night as well. I've been to that casino a dozen times this year, really enjoied myself everytime.

It IS cheaper to pay per rake rather than session fees... this is just easier to track than to take a certain % from each pot.

Maybe I'll see u there underminedsk.

I played in a card club recently for the first time that was 1-1-2 spread with a 100 max buy in and $6/half hour fee. It was ridiculously insane! Two guys were tipping other players if they beat the other out of a pot. $40 preflop raises blind were common, followed by all in on the flop. I was shaking my head half the time as I watched pots being one with an Ace high 5 kicker vs. Ace high 3 kicker. I called a $20 preflop raise with pocket 3s that would have held up.

In two hours I probably played 6 hands max that didn't involve the blinds. My highlight was taking down a pot against one of the contestants on King of Vegas and than his buddy so in addition to the pots I got 5 bucks from each of them.

K... I have decided something about all this as of now... I am going to build myself up to $2000 bankroll again (I did not lose that much at the casino but did have to withdraw for some other reasons... I know I know I have read all the BR Management threads and realize that some people would not agree with my decision to do so)... Once I have $2000 again I am withdrawing it and hitting the casino again... First day of play did not go so well, but lessons were learned and next time I will at least be going into things with more knowledge and as we all know.... Knowledge is power.......

you dont need that much for live play. I take about $800 with me for $1/2 100nl and I feel completely safe.

I was there Friday night and quadroupled my buy-in niggaz!

hey guys well iam mainly a 2/4 limit player and iam kinda getting sick of it. I mean some people are so freaken loose and the bad beats and draw outs are terrible, i mean if i put in a preflop raise or 2$ more everyone just calls and i get some bad beats. Luck is the main way to win there. very little skill involved at 2/4. So i was thinking of moving to 1/2NL. Any info on the differences would be greatly appreciated. I know how to play NL from online play, but i might find it scary calling a 40$ preflop raise. Anywho what is this about a seasion fee? Never heard of that, but I havn't played NL before. Has anyone played in british columbia, specifically river rock 1/2 NL? Could you tell me how it is there, and if there is a session fee, or rake?

Well, session fee is this..... Every half hour (or different time depending on the room rules) the dealers change and with the change of the dealers is a $5 (or whatever the session fee is) charge that is collected from all players at the table before the next hand is dealt.....

Originally Posted by Hermit420

Well, session fee is this..... Every half hour (or different time depending on the room rules) the dealers change and with the change of the dealers is a $5 (or whatever the session fee is) charge that is collected from all players at the table before the next hand is dealt.....

Be happy....I pay $6/halfhr for 1/2NL. It's also the same for 2/5NL which isn't as bad since the pots are bigger, but there's nomax buyin which I'm not too crazy about. Some guys sit down with 5K or more.

wow your casinos suck

thats is all

Hell, at least you have casinos... I need to make a serious trip to go to one and that not something I can easily do!

Mind you, the next time I have to go to the other office in FtL, I'm taking my bankroll with me. Apparently one of the guys in the other office plays a bit.

J