Request Blackjack

Relatively new toNorth Texasand wondering what would be the best place for a weekend poker trip? Have been toShreveportonce and wasn’t all that impressed with the Horseshoe’s small poker room. Is it still the only place in SHV with a poker room? Do any of the other riverboat gambling towns around here have more than one poker room in town and hence some competition? Do some of them have no poker at all?Lake Charles? Tunica?Vicksburg? KC? Would appreciate advice on the poker situation in any of these places (or anywhere else within a 2 hour flight of DAL).

Answer 1:

If you are flying and looking for a two hour flight, Vegas is 2 to 2 1/2 hours away tops and would be the place to go. You can fly intoBiloxinow from DFW and there are several good rooms there. I think the flight time is 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The Horseshoe room is now closed. We are hoping that theHollywoodcasino might open a room when their facility is open later this year. The only other room I can think of in driving distance (and you are looking at 3 1/2 to 4 hours) is the Grand in Marksville which is about 30 minutes east ofAlexandria. I don’t think you can fly dfw direct toLake Charlesand though the action at the Grand near there is good, I thinkBiloximakes more sense if flying. You cannot fly direct to Tunica but can fly intoMemphisjust north of there and drive the 40 miles or so south…

Answer 2:

Depends on what you want to play. If you like Pot Limit….. Try the casino in Kinder, LA. On the weekends, they have anywhere from one to three tables going.  John Bonetti, Jack Keller and other WSOP winners are there from time to time.

Answer 3:

I can answer this one since I’m a Kinder regular (although I haven’t moved up to the pot-limit game yet…) They have a very nice hotel there at the casino, but you have to reserve months in advance and they don’t comp poker players, so it’s usually about $120 a night on weekends. Other good hotels that are within walking distance are Holiday Inn Express (90 – 100 on weekends) and Best Western (also about the same price)… There are plenty of other local hotels and chains (Super 8, Comfort Inn, etc.) who all run shuttles to the casino.  If you want cheap, basic lodging, I likeKrystalInnbecause it is still pretty close to the casino, and their rates on weekends are usually 60 for Friday night and 80 for Saturday… I think you’ll find the atmosphere there to be interesting. The poker room is at one end of a giant circus tent structure called the “Grand Circus of Slots”.  Since it’s a rather open room, the slot noise can be annoying, but the dealers and floor staff here are 1st rate. Other facts about the room: Games – 1-5 stud, 3-6-12 holdem, 10-20 holdem and the pot limit 1/2 holdem 1/2Omahahi. No Omaha H/L as far as I know. Rake – 10% max $4.00 + $1.00 for the jackpot Tournaments on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Saturdays at Noon ( hold’em ). Friday night lucky seat $100.00 cash drawings… They also have an excellent buffet and steakhouse.  2 hrs. Play gets you a $5.00 food comp ( not much, but it helps…).

I am an experienced stud player but relatively new Hold’Em player. I haven’t found anything in the HE books I’m reading about chopping. Example – I am playing $10/$20 HE at the Horseshoe in Tunica. Player to my right asks if I “chop”. Being a fairly aggressive guy, I say “no”. Guy looks at me like I just spit at him and a player across the table says, “Did I hear you say you don’t chop?” Again I say yes. This guy also gives me a strange look. Most other HE players just seem to say “sure” or “whatever you want”. Later I was in the small blind and heads up with the big bling and raised. The big blind gave me a disgusted look and folded. Same thing when I was in the big blind and heads up with the little blind – he gives me the same disgusted look and pushes me his small blind. So, what’s the story? Is it to my advantage to chop
- and is it considered rude or poor form not to chop?

Answer 1:

You should generally chop in a raked game, unless your opponent plays terribly heads-up. In a time charge game, consider your hand and your opponent. Loose-aggressive players can actually be problematic heads-up; your ideal opponent here is weak-tight or passive and predictable. If you are asked, and then look down to find 92o, then chop. In more social low-limit games, people often expect others to chop, and it can irritate them if you don’t. Above the low-limits, people usually understand if you want to play it rather than chop. If your opponents play somewhat reasonably heads-up, you will hardly be giving up anything if you chop with a trash hand. The tiny loss in expectation from being a marginally better heads-up player will often be more than made up for by the advantage of keeping them in a good mood.

Answer 2:

This is pretty normal. Almost everyone agrees to chop in a lot of games. It doesn’t mean you have to, but you may want to just to make the game more fun for your opponents. If you’re a good heads-up player and it’s a time (as opposed to rake) game, it probably costs a bit of EV to chop, but it’s a small amount compared to what it costs to have your opponents pay more attention to the game because you’ve drawn their attention to something unusual. In a rake game, your heads-up EV is even smaller so you should almost always chop if that’s the norm at this casino. Also, in a good game, it should happen very rarely. Of course, if your INTENDED table image is that of shark, and you think this tilts players, then you may arrive at a different conclusion. It’s considered rude by some players, but is perfectly legal and there’s no ethical problem with it.  Heck, some players consider it rude to check-raise and that shouldn’t (in most cases) stop you.

Answer 3:

I faced a similar situation where an entire table was disgusted that I would not chop. That thread was called “To chop or not to chop. That is the question”. You may want to look it up. Anyway, at the time I was dead set on not chopping. A year or so later… I will now chop playing up to 20-40 when there is a rake. I don’t chop when playing 30-60 or higher or at any limit that has a time charge rather than a rake. Most players seem to argue that chopping is a good idea because taking two random hands heads up in the blinds makes the rake a huge factor. I never wanted to chop because I’ve always felt I’m a good shorthanded/heads up player. This made me think that I could take advantage of  these situations in the blind where I can outplay my opponent. I think you should just do what you’re comfortable with, however I think most players chop when there is a rake up to 20-40. As for being rude or poor form, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal… All you have to do is smile and say “I prefer to play it out.”

I am thinking of spending 6 weeks in Lake Tahoe. Can anyone please tell me what the poker is like there? What Casinos offer poker, what limits to they play, do they have a game every day, etc. (I only play hold’em).

In South Lake Tahoe the only poker room is at Harvey’s Casino.  I don’t know about the year-round action.  I go over the July 4th holiday each year when it’s packed with tourists. There are plenty of locals though, and it’s a pretty nice card room. They spread 1-6 stud, holdem, and omaha with a jackpot.

Answer 2:

North Shore offers the only other poker alternative – The Hyatt spreads Hold ‘em and Pineapple (I can’t remember if it’s crazy or not). Normal 2-6 limits, etc.

Answer 3:

The Harvey’s room is great. Well run, good 1-4-8 game. Nice locals, great tourists, various jackpots, higher stakes, plus nl or pl game a lot of the time too. I found the game very easy to beat, a lot of tourists. Also, I won a nice Royal jackpot of a few hundred. — I have never seen a royal jackpot anyplace else.