cl_tc
05-23-2005, 08:53 PM
So I'm sure the first question is, "Why Laughlin?" My friend was going for a class for his insurance license so I tagged along. Pretty much all that I knew about Laughlin poker was found from various posts by "FeliciaLee" so many thanks to her for all her added insight. I was looking for you Felicia, so we could talk about some brown trout... /images/graemlins/smile.gif
We checked out the daily tournament at Colorado Belle. It was a 20+2 buy in for T100, plus an extra 3 for an extra T100, for the dealers. We overlooked the fact that it was limit, instead of no-limit. Oops! Nothing particularly memorable in the tournament. I limped with a few hands and then had to fold. When the blinds were at 25 and 50, I had T100 left, picked up A7 and went all in. The BB called w/ Qx and out drew me, and I finished at around 22 (out of 31 who started). Oh well, no biggie. We took a look at the daily tournament structures at Riverside and River palms as well. Theirs were both cheaper, at 12+3, but had similar "shootout" styles with small chip stacks.
We took a look at the Friday night tournament at Riverside and River Palms, and the one at RP seemed more attractive. 100+15 for T5000, plus an extra 5 for an extra T3000, for the dealers. This one was actually no-limit, so we didn't make that mistake again! The tournament structure was pretty good, I thought, with blinds starting at only 25/50. 34 players started the event. Nothing too exciting to report from here either, unfortunately. Play was pretty straight forward. Lots of regulars, who played relatively tight and weak/passive. I won a hand w/ AA vs AQ early on to get up to around T10000. When the blinds got to 200/400 I tried stealing the blinds w/ a hand from the cutoff but neglected to see the SB only had T1600 total so she just went in w/ A3. I had raised to T1000 so I had to call, and her hand stood up. Lost another 3000 in a semi-bluff when I had the nut flush draw on the flop and was called, all in, by a set. I got down to about T2400 with blinds at 300/600 and got 77 in the SB. One player limped in and I went all in and he called w/ A8d and got an 8 and I was out, at around 24.
Started playing a 2-6 spread game there right after. My first attempt at spread so I played pretty tightly, and plus they were starting a list for a NL game, so I was basically waiting around for that. Won a tiny bit there and took a seat at the NL game about an hour later.
The NL game was 1/2 blinds w/ a 100-300 buy in. For the most part, they all seemed pretty straight forward. Anywhere from tight to semi-loose, but all seemed pretty weak/passive. I won ~130 (his stack) from one of the looser people at the table. Table was so passive that I would raise w/ any 2 cards, in position, when the right 1 or 2 passive players limped in ahead of me, and once they checked to me, my flop bet would force them to fold. It was a good deal. Ended up doing a little better than doubling my 300 there.
Went to River Palms again Saturday night and the NL game wasn't going on, unfortunately. It was late and I wasn't in the mood to drive around from casino to casino, so I just played the 2-6 spread game there. The game struggled to stay afloat, getting down as low as 5 people sometimes, and only about 6-7 for a majority of the time. This table was super passive post flop too. Again, it got to the point to where if 2-3 people limped pre-flop I'd limp with anything in the cutoff or button and bet the full 6 on the flop when they checked to me, stealing a few pots here and there with this strategy. I don't know if it's a sound strategy but it worked for me. To give you an idea of how passive a couple of the players were, I had KK and raised to the max 8 pre-flop and got one caller, I bet 6 each round and he called down and showed 88, w/ an 8 on the flop. He never once raised one, not even on the 8 high flop when he had the nuts. Another example was a lady who limped in and then check and called from then on after flopping a set of 2's that become a full house on the river. I had never seen passive play like that before...
My results were solid, so I certainly can't complain about that. I just wish more of a variety of games and players were available. It's nice to not have to worry about your game being stopped because of a lack of players. One thing Laughlin does seem to have, though, is friendlier dealers and players.
We checked out the daily tournament at Colorado Belle. It was a 20+2 buy in for T100, plus an extra 3 for an extra T100, for the dealers. We overlooked the fact that it was limit, instead of no-limit. Oops! Nothing particularly memorable in the tournament. I limped with a few hands and then had to fold. When the blinds were at 25 and 50, I had T100 left, picked up A7 and went all in. The BB called w/ Qx and out drew me, and I finished at around 22 (out of 31 who started). Oh well, no biggie. We took a look at the daily tournament structures at Riverside and River palms as well. Theirs were both cheaper, at 12+3, but had similar "shootout" styles with small chip stacks.
We took a look at the Friday night tournament at Riverside and River Palms, and the one at RP seemed more attractive. 100+15 for T5000, plus an extra 5 for an extra T3000, for the dealers. This one was actually no-limit, so we didn't make that mistake again! The tournament structure was pretty good, I thought, with blinds starting at only 25/50. 34 players started the event. Nothing too exciting to report from here either, unfortunately. Play was pretty straight forward. Lots of regulars, who played relatively tight and weak/passive. I won a hand w/ AA vs AQ early on to get up to around T10000. When the blinds got to 200/400 I tried stealing the blinds w/ a hand from the cutoff but neglected to see the SB only had T1600 total so she just went in w/ A3. I had raised to T1000 so I had to call, and her hand stood up. Lost another 3000 in a semi-bluff when I had the nut flush draw on the flop and was called, all in, by a set. I got down to about T2400 with blinds at 300/600 and got 77 in the SB. One player limped in and I went all in and he called w/ A8d and got an 8 and I was out, at around 24.
Started playing a 2-6 spread game there right after. My first attempt at spread so I played pretty tightly, and plus they were starting a list for a NL game, so I was basically waiting around for that. Won a tiny bit there and took a seat at the NL game about an hour later.
The NL game was 1/2 blinds w/ a 100-300 buy in. For the most part, they all seemed pretty straight forward. Anywhere from tight to semi-loose, but all seemed pretty weak/passive. I won ~130 (his stack) from one of the looser people at the table. Table was so passive that I would raise w/ any 2 cards, in position, when the right 1 or 2 passive players limped in ahead of me, and once they checked to me, my flop bet would force them to fold. It was a good deal. Ended up doing a little better than doubling my 300 there.
Went to River Palms again Saturday night and the NL game wasn't going on, unfortunately. It was late and I wasn't in the mood to drive around from casino to casino, so I just played the 2-6 spread game there. The game struggled to stay afloat, getting down as low as 5 people sometimes, and only about 6-7 for a majority of the time. This table was super passive post flop too. Again, it got to the point to where if 2-3 people limped pre-flop I'd limp with anything in the cutoff or button and bet the full 6 on the flop when they checked to me, stealing a few pots here and there with this strategy. I don't know if it's a sound strategy but it worked for me. To give you an idea of how passive a couple of the players were, I had KK and raised to the max 8 pre-flop and got one caller, I bet 6 each round and he called down and showed 88, w/ an 8 on the flop. He never once raised one, not even on the 8 high flop when he had the nuts. Another example was a lady who limped in and then check and called from then on after flopping a set of 2's that become a full house on the river. I had never seen passive play like that before...
My results were solid, so I certainly can't complain about that. I just wish more of a variety of games and players were available. It's nice to not have to worry about your game being stopped because of a lack of players. One thing Laughlin does seem to have, though, is friendlier dealers and players.