Request Blackjack

Would you toke for a tiny pot? What do you consider too small for a toke?

Answer 1:

A book of matches.

Answer 2:

I toke once per dealer regardless of whether or not I have won a pot; I do not toke per pot won. The amount I toke depends upon the limit I am playing and upon the quality and courtesy of the dealer involved. IMO you should set your own standards and you should not be concerned about the size of the pot.

Answer 3:

I’m no Diamond Jim Brady but…. Big John gets a small no limit game going at Commerce on the occasional Friday night. The blinds ar $1 an $2 and the game can get off to a slow start. The dealer is getting a down in a nearly dead game during prime time, when in any 3-6 games it would be good for an average of at least a buck a pot. I will do my part to pay for the help and my table image at the same time. I’ll take a swing at the blinds with some piece of
cheese (32s a favorite) and if I win the blinds I’ll table the hand and toke a buck from my $3 profit. Somebody’s got to do it.

The other night after watching a hand in 3-6 Hold’em where no one hit the board for a hand I saw the three remaining player each turn over an Ace high. One had A2os, one had A4s and the last had A6os. Although I’ve realized that Ace-anything usually plays at this level the point was really driven home by seeing three such cases at one time. That is what got me to thinking about the following question: If I were to play something like K-10 suited and the flop came Q J 7 rainbow, what would my outs be. Meaning, can I realistically believe that I have the eight outs for the treetop draw in a game where any ace is played by the majority of the group?

Answer 1:

Whether the LL players play any Aces or fold weak aces doesn’t really affect your outs calculation. Either way the Ace would be gone, you see? You still have 8 possible cards out of 45 that you haven’t seen that can make your nut straight.

Packerfan1
Be the flop
See the flop
you’re not being the flop.

Answer 2:

Yes and no. Ace-anything players tend to play a wide variety of hands. If there are a lot of ace-anything players in, you might want to consider that the combined chances of all those players being in reduces your ace outs somewhat, maybe by one or a little bit more. Still, you have a high quality draw, and if the ace hits you’ll get action.

Answer 3:

Even so, if you get into trying to figure their hands this way: Let’s say that you assume that of your five opponents, on average there are 1.5 aces and .5 nines. You’re still right back where you started: 8 outs/ 47 unseen cards: .1702 6 outs/ 37* unseen cards: .1622 Not a very big difference. Now, I suppose this effect could get magnified for situations where you have several tight limpers, although even then, the range of possible hands for each limper expands as the previous person limps. (i.e., you might not play 87s on the button with one caller in front, but with 5 callers, even tightasses, you would). I think, though, that the potential differences here are relatively small and difficult to measure. This reminds me of another question: Loose-aggressive (Carson) game.

Does anybody out there have a points system for playing Omaha8 and if you
do could you please send it to me.

Answer 1:

I don’t have a point system forOmahaor Omaha8. I threw it out many years ago. You are better off gaining some understanding of the game and then if you really want to, you can invent your own point system. If you really want a point system right now, take your age, multiply by  the number of players at the table, divide by the number of players in the last hand, and raise if the result is even, fold if it is odd, and call if it is fractional. If this shows a profit for the hand, repeat on the next hand. If it shows a loss, reverse the procedure. I will stack this up against any point system Cappelletti has invented. I would feel comfortable doing this because I have played with him at Foxwoods several times. Or you can read Ray Zee’s book and get a good idea of what the game is all about.

Answer 2:

I very much disagree. I also no longer use a point system, but it was an invaluable tool when I first got into Omaha8 in the casinos. When you sit down at the table the first few times, you are out of your comfort zone, and (despite what books you have read) your judgment sucks. A simple point system gives you a place to start from that is easy to use and allows you to concentrate on watching the action. When you have picked up the flow of the game and all its intricacies, you will find you don’t use the point system anymore. I personally think the Hutchison system is a little complex for newbies, but then I am an old dog and don’t pick up new tricks anymore.

Answer 3:

Wilson’s O/8 software has some point count systems.

I’ve been playing low limit hold’em for some time now (regularly in casinos inColorado, with the occasional trip to Vegas and CA) with general success, but in low limit games it seems to me that my profits are too heavily taxed by the rake and tips.  In my experience the *average* 2-5 winning pot is only around $30 to $40. With the house taking 10% up to a limit of $3 to as much as $5, plus a dollar thrown to the dealer, I’m paying 12% to 15% out of each winning hand. If the “tax” dollar figure is the same on higher limit, then the percentage goes down. So, my questions: In higher limit games, what is customary regarding rakes and tips? Is the rake formula constant, or does it go up with higher limit?  What level of tipping is proper in higher limit games?

Answer 1:

As you move up to higher limits, the effect of the rake/button drop/time collection declines dramatically. And generally, players at the higher limits toke the same $1 per pot. As you have seen, overcoming the “pot tax” at lower limits can be brutally difficult, and, in the opinion of many of us, impossible over the long run.

Answer 2:

The cost of playing poker is usually close to the same in all games (after all, it costs the house the same amount to run $3-$6 as $300-$600). When a rake is used, it is often the same (or close to the same) in all games (although obviously bigger games will hit the cap more, so will be paying a little more absolute rake and a lot less rake as a percentage of action). Sometimes (inCali, for example) a button charge is used, which is the same (3$) in all games.  Another variant is to use a time charge, sometimes just for the bigger games. These charges usually work out to being a little bigger for bigger games, but not much ($12-$16/hr in the PL/NL games I play in). Toking, in my experience, often goes down as you go up in limit.  In 3-6 games everyone is a recreational player, willing to tip $1-$3 every pot (I’m talking aboutCalilow-limit).  When you go up to 15-30, there a lot more grinders who don’t tip for small pots and only tip 1$ for big ones. Offsetting this is the fact that in the bigger games, someone who is winning a lot of money (especially someone who is not a pro) is fairly likely to toss a larger chip ($5 or $10) after scooping a big or lucky pot. I am not sure how these factors balance. I was very surprised when I got into bigger limit games and saw what tight-fisted misers most of the pros were. To me, one of the great things about playing higher limits is that the rake and tokes are a much smaller fraction of the action, and so it’s a lot closer to “pure poker” without a drop.  So you can tip the dealers and the floor decently without it cutting into your profits too much. If you are playing 6-12 or smaller and trying to win, toking for small pots and toking more for bigger pots is going to seriously cut into your win rate, that’s just the sad truth. You are already fighting uphill to beat the rake. One of the interesting things I’ve realized in the gambling world is that the principle of “winners pay” is such a powerful one. Cocktail waitresses and pit dealers get tipped big by winners, but the losers don’t get to take money from them. So they profit on swings & on action, because with enough action there will always be some big winners, so there will always be people throwing money around. To those people, they have been hit by a bolt of lightning, and are delighted to give back a little (not everyone who wins, but a lot of people), but statistically, there is always going to be someone. And the people who win are much more likely to keep gambling, so the house is in the great position that when it loses, it often gets many more shots at the money. The same is true of poker games – when people win, the pros often get many more shots at that money.  This is why “hit & run” is looked down on – it is an attempted peer pressure technique of creating a cultural rule that helps the pro’s make more money. After a while you realize that a lot of poker traditions, behind their deceptive veneer, have that (like the game) as their purpose. In fact, poker players get a *double* advantage – when their opponents win, they often play again with the money, and when they lose, they often start playing worse so the pro’s edge goes up! As long as there is action and swings, the pro’s, like the cocktail waitresses, are benefiting. Only when action is low does that hole in the middle of the table become so important (I’m talking about NL/PL, obviously the stupid house-invented game of limit poker makes swings & action smaller).

Answer 3:

And there was the big game (15-30?) at the Desert Diamond inTucsonrecently where the double jackpot light went on at 2 am and three minutes later it was hit for $38,000. The dealer got $300.

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 new to Texas Hold’em andOmahabut have played some 7 Stud (that is I have lost some at it!), all local card game play. I figure it is time to start learning how to win at poker, so it is time to hit the books. From my tinkering around so far, it looks like the books to get are:

Hold’em Poker For Advanced Players, Sklansky + Malmuth
Theory of Poker, Sklansky
Winning Low Limit Hold’em, Jones

Not sure which is the way to go since I am relatively new. Not sure if the second hold’em book wouldn’t be a good starter and maybe I should get Jones’ book. I have tried to find sites, but they don’t list a good solid starter book set. Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1:

Lee Jones’ book is a great starter for hold’em. Also try Lou Krieger’s Hold’em Excellence.

Answer 2:

Winner’s Guide toTexasHold ‘em Poker by KEN WARREN.

Answer 3:

Here’s some of the books i have some I study on a regular basis:

#3lets see ah… poker books here’s the list:

1. Winning poker for the serious player – E. Silberstang
2.caro’s fundamental secrets of winning poker.
3. Caro’s body language of poker.
4. The home players field guide to poker-R.Ondler.
5. Hold em poker -D. Sklansky.
6. Winners guide to tx hold em – K. Warren.
7. Winning low limit hold em -L. Jones.
8.7 card stud -G.Percy.
9.7 card stud 42 lessons- Roy West.
10. Seven card stud for advanced players-D. Sklansky.
11. The theory of poker- D. Sklansky.
12.11 Days to 7 stud success-M.Caro. (Also Mr. Mike’s 7 stud report).
13. Pro poker playbook-J. Vorhaus.
14. How to win friends and influence people -D.Carnegie.(a book i find indispensible for poker).
15. Book of the five rings -Hirihito(?)Mushashi.

Also i useWilsonsoft wear turbo 7 stud, turbo tx hold em. Caro’s pro poker tells video tapes and power poker seminar.  I.R.C.poker (i use Gregs poker client)

Here is the situation: Tournament, 2 players left out of about 50. First place is TOC Qualifier and $2500 WSOP Satellite Buy-in + $300 in expense money. Blinds are at 2k and 4k, no limit.  P1 and P2 have virtually equal stacks.  P1 has the button and the small blind. P1 has AcQc. P1 suspects that P2 has been stealing for the last several hands. P1 raises 2k to 6k total before the flop, P2 calls. Flop is 3d, Kc, 8h.  P2 bets 15K.

1. What should P1 do at this point? Call, raise or fold and why?

Answer 1:

One problem I see here is that the bring-in raise has to be at least twice the size of the Big Blind. In your situation the raise should have been 8000. Also in order to do a quality evaluation one must know the total amount of chips on the table. The more info you have the better decision you make.

Answer 2:

Well, even if you were to provide the key information of the SIZES of the “virtually equal stacks,” the answer, of course, still very much ‘depends’ on the two players’ understandings of each other. However, as a baseline for discussion, 3d-Kc-8h is on average a BAD flop for Ac-Qc, but even so, Ac-Qc is such a GOOD starting hand, that even with that bad flop, it would still be FAVORED over a completely random opposing hand…

Answer 3:

The point of the other poster was that it’s too small to qualify as a legal raise. A raise would have to be at least the size of the bet (4k big blind required min 4k raise).

In 7 card stud: There are a few casinos in my area that offer jackpots with qualifiers four fives beaten, ten dollars after 1$ rake & 1$ jackpot pool drop. What are the odds of this happening?

A. 7-handed game

B. 8-handed game

Answer 1:

Not really sure what you mean there by “ten dollars after 1$ rake & 1$ jackpot pool drop”…but in 10,000,000 computer simulated 7-handed ‘showdown’ deals (8-handed too complicated by not enough cards for 8 full hands), there were 648 ‘losing’ hands of four 5′s or higher (this counting anything like two straight flushes tying, and four 5′s losing in the same deal as TWO such ‘losers’)… Hope this helps…

Answer 2:

For showdown poker (no folding allowed) the numbers I published in my
Nov. 1, 1996 Card Player (V. 9, N. 22) article gives the odds as follows:

Bad Beat    7-handed  8-handed*
QQQQ       83,000-1  65,000-1
JJJJ       65,000-1  49,000-1
TTTT       48,000-1  36,000-1
9999       35,000-1  28,000-1
8888       29,000-1  22,000-1

The “*” for 8-handed is there because this column is extrapolated (my simulation was not designed for common cards). Since these numbers are for showdown, the real odds are higher. I put in some criteria for the players from Extremely Loose to Semi-Tight (see the article for definitions).  For a 7-handed game, here are my results (based on 100,000,000 hands for each figure):

Bad Beat    Ex-Loose  Semi-Tight
QQQQ       88,000-1  280,000-1
JJJJ       64,000-1  180,000-1
TTTT       49,000-1  120,000-1
9999       39,000-1  100,000-1
8888       32,000-1   87,000-1

I did not run the numbers for 5555 beaten, but Barbara Yoon’s value of 15,432-1 is in line with my showdown numbers above. My rough guess for 5555 beaten is an extremely loose game is 18,000-1. In a semi-tight game, about 50,000-1. If I have some spare time, perhaps I’ll dig up my old code and run the quad 5 case.

Answer 3:

‘Second opinions’ in these things are always helpful, either for confirmation, or unearthing bugs…  And I myself simulated another 10,000,000, getting 604 such ‘bad beats’ this time, compared with 648 the first time…

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.