Request Blackjack

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.”

Anybody stayed at the Plaza downtown lately? I got a report that the rooms are ok, although I know the casino itself is a bit shabby…I can get a $25 weekday rate…I only plan to sleep there, and at that only briefly, if past performances on Vegas trips are any indication…please advise.

Answer 1:

I’ve never stayed at the Plaza, but why not stay at the Las Vegas Club? I’ve stayed there, the rooms were nice. Last summer they were $30 during the weekdays. The advantage of staying in the LV Club is that if you stay in the north tower it’s literally a two minute walk to Binions Card room. Just exit the lobby door, cross the street and your there. I’ve even gone back to my room to use the restroom while playing at Binions. The problem with the Plaza is the same problem you have with a lot of Vegas Hotel’s. It can take 15-20 minutes to get to your room. If you stay in the rooms by the sports book at the plaza it’ll take you ten minutes to walk to Binion’s card room. I’ve
done this walk a lot since I like to play video poker at their sports bar when I’m taking a break from Poker. BTW if you can afford it stay at the Golden Nugget. I’ve stayed there several times. It’s a really great hotel, although it
suffers from the 20 minute walk problem I alluded to before. They also have the best food downtown by far. If you don’t mind paying double what you would at theLV club or Plaza then the Nugget is the best choice by far.

Answer 2:

The Nugget is very nice, but if you want to eat there cheap, get a rating card if you play blackjack — Play early morning and it’s usually very easy to get comps for the Carson Street Cafe, one of the great coffee shops in Vegas, or for the buffet.

Answer 3:

As the unofficial Epicurean editor for rgp’s local office inLas Vegas. I would like to suggest thebay citydiner at the golden gate. the help is all union (culinary) and the prime rib dinner is the best for the price $6.99.Also , their $.99 shrimp cocktail has been  rated a top value for years by the Las Vegas Advisor and hasn’t gone up in price for years. (The BIG SHRIMP is my favorite $3.99) I am particularly fond of their Bay Burger its 1/2 pound and cooked to order. The price is also reasonable. One warning this place gets crowded but, try the counter seating .You never know who you could be sitting next to there. A city/state official or maybe a high stakes poker player. I’m sure Lee Munzer can enlighten us on another good option for casual downtown dining.

I would like to start playing poker at a local casino. They haveHilo1/4/8/8 and 1-4 stud. Which is easier to become proficient at?  My goal is to be able to play once a week and make this an affordable hobby.

Answer 1:

That’s a tough question to answer, but looking at it from a different perspective; I think hi/lo is a much easier game to play BADLY. If you can burn a few basic rules into your head, I think you’ll have an edge over most low limit stud players, and that’s probably a better place to start.  There are probably worse hi/lo players, but to have a true edge there are probably more things you have to learn.  Just one opinion.

Answer 2:

Play hi/lo game. Not because it’s hi/lo, but because it’s a bigger game and will be easier to cover the rake. Once you think you’re beating the hi/lo game, start playing stud every now and then just to help develop your overall poker skill.

Answer 3:

Hi/Low stud can also be a great game because you often will get people who simply play stud hi. However, a tight hi/low game is *not* one to cut your teeth on. If you have a game with many players playing correctly, your mistakes can really cost you. Get a copy of Ray Zee’s book on Stud and maha hi/low. Also Wilson Software’s Stud 8 or Better is a great learning tool also.

Is it generally considered to be more advantageous to play in a single or double blind game? Example, if you had your choice between a $4/$8 game with two blinds (say $2 & $4) or a single $2 blind, which would you choose and why?
Answer 1:
I’d pick $2 single blind because that’ll let me see more hands for the same cost. I don’t think the $4/$8 limit games are about stealing blinds, and if the game is really that tight, I’d just walk away anyway.
Answer 2:
An expert player can adjust to either structure, so the answer depends on how your opponents play. In a game where the opponents play too many hands and call too much after the flop, and don’t really take the pot size into account, you’ll win more in a game with lower blind cost – the single $2 blind. In a game where the opponents are overly tight post-flop, they do
account for the pot size in making decisions, and much of your profit comes from post-flop aggressive play, you would do better in a game with the double blinds of $2 and $4. In most cases though, a good player will do better in a game with lower blinds. An analogy would be to a 15-30 stud game that normally has an ante of $2. If the opponents were loose-passive, you’d prefer a $1 ante. If they were weak-tight, and let you steal much too often, you’d prefer a $3 ante.

Answer 3:
I agree with you that you want to generally maximize the amount of money in the pot in the instance of players who play terribly. If players play any two cards and play irrationally post-flop, then raising away at any time you have any edge at all (which will be a significant fraction of starting hands and situations) will maximize your expectation. However, in terms of blind costs, if they’re playing 100% of their hands, and you’re playing 40-50% (say) of yours, wouldn’t you prefer to pay less in blinds? You’ll win tons of money in this game, but you won’t win your share of *pots*, so a smaller share of the blind money comes back to you. If you win 8% of the pots playing 40% of your hands (and folding correctly post-flop when they don’t), you’ll win several big bets per hour (when they play 100% of their hands and call way too often later in the hand). But you’ll only get 8% of the blind money when you put in 10% of that. (Of course, you’ll win far more than 8% of the revenue in that game, since you maximize your EV by playing hands that win more money, and you play them for their full value while they don’t.) When you’re dealing with loose-but-not-ridiculous players, you might be playing 20% of your hands to their 40-50%, and winning only maybe 6-7% of pots. Here higher blinds will also cost you. In games where you can win a lot of small pots through aggressive play against weak-tight players, you will win more than your share of pots, and so you would then want higher blinds.

Anyone had a look at Stat King software poker results tracking tool?
Answer 1:

I have been beta testing the new stat king software for some time it is one of the best tools on the market at the present moment. It will give you the standard deviation. Whether you play to tight or to loose. It is simply the best tracker of your poker results. The version I have been testing has Mason Malmoth giving advice and keeps poker results where ever you play and can break down the results. It will predict your earnings out to the end of the year. I have been fortunate enough to have been offered a version as a beta tester. It is a new technology and only can increase your earning and is simply the best program written today to keep all your results.

Answer 2:

I am doing a review on it now, for Card Player.  I have used the old Poker Stats since 94. It was written for Windows 3.1, and not Y2K complaint.  That along with its unresolved bugs. I still found it useful—- UNITL I started testing StatKing. It will do everything you want or need in record keeping, plus track your performance, by hour, day, location, game etc.  It’s quite comprehensive, but easy to learn. Lots of bang for the buck.

Answer 3:

Wrong what my version may have more features. Since I am beta testing it my version may be different then the market version.

Does anyone know where I can find the location of Las Vegas Nights in Cleveland??  Anyone have a phone number?

I live in Las Vegas but am from Cleveland, so when I go back I call the hot line (676-4500)This number may be old , if so just ask anyone at a home game. I do know they run one every weekend from thur till Mon.

Answer 2:

That number still works.  It is 216.676.4500.  Your local area code probably changed (and will probably be different the next time you visit!)

Answer 3:

Dial 216-676-4500   number is still valid and follow instructions

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.