Trip report Casino Aztar Evansville, IN Thursday is weak tight day

[steamboatin]

I didn't count the tables so I estimate about ten. They had three games of 5/10 holdem, a 15/30 game, a no limit $2 & $5 blinds buyin of $100 minimum and $300 maximum but as soon as you dropped below $300 you could buy in for another $300 if you wanted.

I waited about 15 minutes for a seat at the 5/10. 10% rake $5 maximum. Second tightest $5/10 game I ever saw in my life. Many times only two to the flop.

I have been used to lots of action and I failed to adjust. Needless to say, I was a big fish. It would get checked around and I would think my middle pair might be good so I would bet on the turn, two or three callers and two if not all three would have top pair maybe two pair and only call.

There were some amazing suckouts and the river killed me but I have to admit to improper play. I just didn't play well. Maybe I should clarify that, I sucked.

I am on the button and flop middle pair, three of us in the hand, flop is checked around and the turn is checked around to me, I think middle pair is good so I bet, both call. The river is a blank and this time I check also because I know what is going to happen, yes the guy on my right had a king, flopped top pair and checked it all around, called my bet and checked again. He said he was suprised I bet, didn't I figure he had a king? I said no, I didn't put you on a king because you didn't bet.

I said, intending to be sarcastic," You wouldn't want to bet top pair". He promptly agreed with me and explained that some of the cards on the board were higher than his kicker and if someone had a king and one of those cards he would lose.

When I first sat down, the players were talking about how tight the game was compared to Saturdays. The majority seemed to prefer the tight Thursday game and didn't seem to care much for playing on Saturdays. I think I will take a Saturday off really soon.

They don't track your play for comps. They get a limited number of $7 meal tickets and you just ask and they give you one if they have some available. They got a new batch at 7pm and that seemed to be the regular feeding time at the brickyard. There was coffee, tea bags, hot chocolate mix, some jars with snacks. goldfish, chex mix, plain and peanut M&M's and pretzels.

I bought in for $200 played three hours and gave the left over dollar chip to the dealer. At one time early on, I was up $50 or so but wasn't ready to quit.

I felt it wasn't a bad room, I din't like that the dealers never said how many players in the game. I was in seat ten and it is hard to tell if seat one has a hand.

I want to be careful that my disapointment in my own play doesn't color my judgement of the poker room, it wasn't to bad, I think I was just there on a dead night. There wasn't a list after I sat down and games were breaking up at 9pm.

P.S. They had a $2-7 stud game also.

[Tom Bayes]

I visit Aztar about 3-4 times a year. I haven't been there since August. The NL holdem must be new-I've never seen it spread there before. What's the NL action like? Also, in the past they usually spread 10-20-30 holdem rather than 15-30 as the "big" game.

I've played on the weekends. It was usually weak-tight early in the day when all the older regulars are there and it definitely loosens up when the younger guys and the gamboolers arrive later in the day or in the evening. Lots of unbluffable players who call call call with bottom pair or maniacs who cap with anything.

It sounds like you caught a day when only the leather asses showed up. One time, I had AKs in late position, it was folded to me, I raised preflop, raised a ragged low rainbow flop, caught my ace on the turn, kept raising and got called down by the big blind, a weak-tightie with AQ. He then lectured me on how I was a maniac and would lose all my money if I kept raising hands like AK before the flop. I bet you were playing with this guy /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[steamboatin]

and his eight brothers

[Tom Bayes]

Well, based on the knowledge that Casino Aztar is now spreading no-limit holdem, I decided to make a weekend visit.

First, Aztar has increased the max rake on $5/$10 from $3 to $5 /images/graemlins/mad.gif Really, I'm not surprised-they are still filling the table on weekends with no difficulty. In better news, the room is now 24/7 on weekends-used to close at 5AM. The room has 8 poker tables-the floorman told me that a ninth table will be added in the next few weeks. For game selection, on Saturday night I think they were running two tables of NL holdem (one a must-move), 3 tables of 5/10 holdem, 1 table of 10/20/30 holdem, and 2 tables of 1-5 stud. I might be wrong about the stud; if there was only 1 table going then there was some other limit holdem game going on. I know there was only 1 NL table on Friday.
No Omaha on the weekends although supposedly PLO or limit O/8 is spread on some weekdays. I've never been to Evansville on a weekday.

The no-limit game has $2/$5 blinds with a min buy-in of $100 and a max buy-in of $300. You aren't supposed to be able to reload for more than the $300, despite what the original poster said. However, I wouldn't doubt that some situations with people dropping down to $200 and buying $300 more in chips happened with some of the more incompetent dealers/floor personnel. It's obvious that all of the dealers at Aztar are very green in spreading no-limit-the better dealers at least didn't let the players run the game and used the floorman when appropriate, while the bad dealers let the most vocal players make all of the decisions. This weekend was my first time playing NL in a B&M and I noticed that NL really gets the adrenaline flowing. I know I was giving off more tells than normal. Emotions seem to run raw-is this generally true for NL? I noticed the floor had to be called more to settle disputes in 2 days of NL than in 10-15 sessions of limit that I've played at the same casino.

I arrived about 7:30 PM on Friday night and got on the list for $5-$10 and no limit (one game going). I'm about 20th /images/graemlins/frown.gif on the 5-10 list and 4th on the no-limit list. About 9 PM I get called for no-limit. I noticed a few of the Aztar regulars with large stacks of chips-all weekend I noticed that the NL games usually had a handful of good players killing the rest of the table. I'm not much of a NL player and I had a good session. I picked up KK early, raised and got a caller. The flop came AK8 rainbow. I checked, hoping to trap. Checked and a blank on turn. I fired, but I think it was too obvious I had a big hand and my opponent mucked. I'm pretty sure he had an ace with a good kicker and maybe even 2 pair.

I then treaded water for about 4 hours and watched a drunk maniac piss away several hundred dollars (none to me). He was so obnoxious that he eventually got cut off. About 1 in the morning things turned my way and I won 3 big pots, including taking someone's whole stack when I had A9, he had Q9 in the big blind, and the flop came 99T. Left up $750 at about 2 AM. I was quite pleased in that every major pot I contested I was ahead and had my hand hold up.

Saturday morning I arrive at about 10 AM. The no-limit game has broken up and there's only 1 5/10 holdem going and a 1-5 stud game just getting started. I decide to play some stud with the old-timers until a seat opens up for holdem. First hand, I get wired queens. Low brings in for $1, a few limpers, then I bump to $3. Get a few stares-apparently no one raises on 3rd street in this game. One player stays with. I bet $3 on 4th, call, $5 on 5th, a few mutters and fold. I don't really get much more in the 45 minutes or so I play this game. I get called as a 2nd 5-10 holdem game starts and leave stud about $20 down /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Morning holdem at Aztar is usually pretty tight and this was no exception. I talk with the guy seated next to me and I start telling him about the no-limit game last night, particularly the maniac. He tells me that he came in at about 5:30AM and the no-limit game was still going. It was getting short handed and about ready to bust until some drunk shows up and starts throwing money around, losing it steadily.

Around noon holdem starts to get looser and becomes calling station heaven. Unfortunately, the poker angel who protected me in the NL game from suckouts provides no such protection today as it becomes a steady stream of big hands cracked by calling stations at the river. The most galling beat was KK losing to 64o when bottom pair/weak kicker hits a 3rd six on the river. I don't mind since I know this game is profitable in the long haul, but I'm down $150 between this and stud /images/graemlins/shocked.gif when I decide to walk at about 3 PM. I take a little nap and get a bite to eat and return to the room at about 6 PM. I get on the list for 5/10 and no-limit again.

This time I get called for 5/10 first (about 6:30 PM) and suffer through another 90 minutes of variance -down another $150 /images/graemlins/mad.gif. About 8 PM I get called for NL and buy-in for $300. Several players are buying in $100 at a time, which seems like a bad idea to me. Early on, I'm on the button with 75s. Several limpers and I decide to throw in $5 and see a cheap flop. I get my wish and the flop comes A75. Checked to me, I bet my bottom two pair. I get one caller, a regular who always seems to have a lot of chips in front of him. I'm pretty sure he has an ace. The turn is a Q. He checks, I bet $100 (leaving me with $100 left). The river is a K putting 3 to a flush on board. He checks, I chicken out and check. He shows AJ and my 2 pair wins, taking me up to about $500.

I then get about 3 hours of some of the coldest cards I've ever seen in my life. It's nothing but a steady diet of 74o and 93o kind of hands. I just wait it out.

One of the grumpiest dealers, who I usually don't like to see, comes in. Of course, my cards start to pick up. I win a decent pot with QQ and pull off a successful semi-bluff with KTs (when I had both a flush and open-end straight draw) on the turn to win another good pot.

I then suffer my only outdraw of my NL weekend. For some reason, I decide to raise in early position with Q8s. I get two callers, one a tight older man and the other a very loose young guy. I catch nothing on the flop (no hand, no draw) but decide to bluff since I feel I have a very tight table image. I put in an approx. pot-sized bet. Loose guy comes over the top all-in (only about $30 more to call). Tight guy folds. The loose guy is pretty short-stacked and it's too good of a price to fold, so I call expecting to be behind, but he turns over J9o /images/graemlins/confused.gif. My queen-high is good /images/graemlins/grin.gif He turns a 9 to win the pot /images/graemlins/laugh.gif. A few more minor pots and I leave at about 1 AM up $300. So NL=+1050, limit=-300 for this trip.