Trip Report - Casino Poker in Aus (the real one!)

[PokerWoody]

Some of you may know that I am not currenlty terrorising the poker tables back home in the UK. 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. 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! 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. The pots were BIG! I soon got the hang 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, everyone 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 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, sometimes even on the turn or the river. Most of the other players weren't doing this so long as they 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 terrible mistake.

My new buddy Billy was talking at me all the while. "Get some of those chips down this end of the table will you pommie, the bastards down there have had all the luck you know" And every time I raised he'd cackle to himself and pat me on the back saying "Go get 'em pommie, that'll show 'em". In fact the only time I managed to bluff was against billy. For some bizzare reason there was only two of us to the flop and billy check called the flop then check folded the turn. I had air but had shown down a couple of big hands in the last orbit.

The game did tighten up after a few hours. A lot of the mega calling stations had run out of chips and new slightly better players took there seats. This is relative though, the game was still very loose, just not as loose. Where as we were seeing 8 to a flop we'd now only see 5 or 6. It was during this stage I won quite a big pot with AA

5 players had limped and I raised it in the SB. The BB and every one else came along for the flop of A85. I liked that flop but didn't want to kill my action. So far the best techniqe to get money in the pot was just to bet and every one else would come along. However, while 67 has an open ender, I can't belive I'm going to get that much action on what is a relativly dry board. I decided to check call the flop, check raise the turn and lead the river. I was confident someone would bet...someone always bet. As it played the cut off bet the flop and I called along with 4 others. The cut off again bet the turn which the button called and both players called my raise. Both players again called the river when I filled up to Aces full of fives. A nice little pot!!

After 6 hours of playing they wanted to change the game to 10/20. I decided to leave at this point as I was a bit pokered out and the chairs were far less than comfy. I changed up my mountains of red chips and made my way to the cashier.

Whatever advangages online poker has over live poker, such as the option to multitable, a sane amount of rake etc it really falls short on this bit. Handing over my chips I watched as the cashier counted out 9 $100 bills and then handed over the money to me. "Thats $920 sir, have a nice day" Too fecking right i'll have a nice day, thank you very much

[Top Pair Ace Kicker]

Aww man. How jealous do you want us all to get?!?! First of all you are in Australia in the first place. Then second you are beating the aussies at poker and taking their money!

Excellent report Woody!

Keep em coming.

[sl0ggs]

Doh, I replied to your other thread before seeing this one...

Anyway, nice work Woody... all good experience for you!

[manchestermurph@fsmail.ne]

nice post woody enjoyed it,great to see your teaching them poker downunder [lucky,its freezing here] i suppose youll be spending your winnings on a couple of cold ones

[sentialsteve]

Yep, nice report Woody, I enjoyed reading that. Glad you're having a good time down there, looking forward to the next story.....