Trip Report - Casino Poker in Australia

[PokerWoody]

Some of you may know that I am not currenlty terrorising the poker tables back home in the UK. Those who know me will know this as the wallets will be feeling a little hevier than they were before I left [] Instead I am out and about wondering through the very hot place called Australia.

A couple of days ago, during a very wet stay in Sufers Paradise, I decided to give the local casino a ring and see if they hosted any poker games there. A little to my suprise they did, they had two tables both playing texas holdem. This was good news, the only slight problem was that they only played 5/10 and 10/20 limit poker. Those who know me also know I only really play NL and PL and nearly never play limit becuase it is so fecking tedious. What to do I thought so I asked my self the following questions.

How much money do I need to play in a 5/10 limit game?
How good are my opponents likely to be?
Do I know enough limit strategy to beat the game?
Do I know any limit strategy?
Can I afford to play in this game?
Do I want to play in this game?

Then after considering these questions for a short while it dawned on me that I am a poker addict and reguardless of being able to afford it or not I had to at least go down there and play for a while. I did decide to set my self a limit though. After rembering some advice from one of FirePhils posts on this board I decided I would buy in to the game for $300 (30BB) and i'd bring along another $300 in case my opponets were any good.

Once I got there I found the two tables and also found they were both full. Then I found the waiting list. Bugger. "Gonna be at least an hour mate" the bloke told me in the bright purple blazer. I'd come this far so a little wait didn't really bother me. In fact it gave me a chance to check out what sort of game it was observe any eticate involved with tipping the dealer etc.

The game its self had the highest table charge I have ever known. Every player paid $1 to the casino EVERY hand. This meant I was posting 1 big bet every orbit (on top of my blinds) I didn't even get the chance to win any of this money back!! Holy smoke batman, exactly. I was however pleased to see that not only did they have a dealer, but more importantly they weren't tipping him.

After about 45mins I got called to my seat. As I came to sit down an old gentleman next to me said "we've just drawn straws mate and you lost...it's your turn to get the round in. Only joking matey my names Billy, how ya going?". At least it seemed, this was going to be a fun game!

I've played in casinos before but I have never played a cash game in a casino, I was a little nevours but looking forward to it. I waited one hand until the big blind got to me and I was off.

From what I know about these sorts of games in the casinos the game was pretty typical. There were about 8 players to the flop each time and 99% of the time the hand went to showdown, often with 4 or 5 players show down a hand. The pots were BIG! I soon got the hand of what to do when etc but was still a little nervous until I won my first pot.

I was dealt 75 in mid-late positon. There had been lots of limpers before me and limped along. The big blind raised it and every one called. About 8 players saw a flop of AQ7 The big blind bet and there were several callers including me. There were now 5 or 6 players in the pot. I knew I wasn't ahead but damn, the pot was so big and it only cost me one little bet to come along, I figured I had 5 outs. Turn was a blank, every on called. River was a nice looking 7, the big blind bet again and I, only with two others called him. We went to a four way show down and my hand held up to beat his flopped two pair with AQ. A bit lucky but at this stage I didn't care how it came, I had won my first pot and now I could play poker. In fact I was now about $100 - $150 up for the session.

During this early stage I tried a couple of plays to see what might work and what wouldn't. Answer, no 'play' worked. For example Billy (on my left) raised UTG, I 3 bet with ATo to try and issolate him as he will raise any two in any position but I have seen him fold post flop. It turned out the player on my right, and the four players behind him, hand no problem calling 3 bets cold with hands like K9 etc. This was a strange facet of the game.

I was by far the tighest player on the table and I was playing a little over half the hands dealt to me. I also had the strange habit of folding on the flop every now and then two, sometimes even the turn or the river. Most of the other players weren't doing this so long as the had either a pair in thier hand or ANY part of the board. I can't really say I blame them though, the pots were often so big and the players holding so little that this probably wasn't a mistake.

[sl0ggs]

Fair play for having a go Woody. It's got to be good experience! Was that the end of your story...? (Did you paste it in from somewhere and miss the end off, you didn't sign off?)

[FirePhil]

You and your 75
I'm assuming the $1 a hand meant there was no rake, but it's still pretty ridiculous.