alebron
06-27-2005, 08:38 PM
De-lurking with this post, so flame away.
The scene:
Casino de Buenos Aires, located in recently refurbished Puerto Madero region (old portlands that have been gentrified). I arrive at 6pm, very early by local standards I'm sure, though there appeared to be plenty of action. Casino is on a riverboat. Four levels, bottom is slots, 2nd is low-limit BJ and some odd table game called Marca Punto something, didn't watch it long enough to really understand the details, but it's clearly -EV. Topmost level (4th) is where the high-limit action is, including two 8-person tables in the corner featuring "Holdem". I railbird for two hands at the only running table, the second table's dealer comes over and tells me you can only watch two hands, after that you have to sign up. I ask about the details.
The game:
The game is holdem inasmuch as you're dealt two down cards, there is a flop, turn and river, and things operate card-wise as you'd expect. That's about it as far as operating as you'd expect. It's NL, with 1000 peso buyin minimum (500 rebuy minimum), bear in mind that it's around 3 pesos to the USD, so divide everything you read by three. It's a 25 peso ANTE, no blinds. So working it out in my head, it dawns on me that this 1000 peso buyin game has 200 pesos in play preflop (for an 8-person table), effectively making it a 66/133 peso NL game! To say that it's short-stacked would be an understatement. However, having been inspired by the passive play I saw in the two hands I watched, I decided to take an out-of-bankroll shot and gamble (in the true sense of the word) 1000 pesos and play.
The play:
By the time I grab my buyin (1000 pesos) the game is about to start, 7-handed. Most others have also bought in for 1000 pesos, so either everyone is as insanely underbankrolled as I am or something very strange is going on. I plunk down my 25 peso ante, and away we go. I've already figured out that blind stealing is, to say the least, an important part of this game. Hence that position isn't just important, it's everything. I check-fold my first 4 hands, watching the play, which is very passive. Rake appears to be 5% no max. 5th hand I'm on the button with J7, checked around, as do I. Flop comes KT9r. Checked around. I bet 150 (into the 175P pot), get a caller, and I'm done with the hand unless my Q or 8 comes. Fortunately I have position. Turn rag. And the action is on me. Wha?!?! Yes that's right folks, the person who bets in the previous round has the lead in the next round of betting. So position goes out the damn door! I check, he checks. River rag. I check, he checks, I (embarrassedly) table my K high, he tables QT, takes the pot. People stare at me strangely. I guess betting double-gutters into pots no one has shown interest in is odd play. So anyway, having played 5 hands, I post my ante and my stack is now down to 700. Good, I'm now in push or fold territory. I feel I won't even last 20 minutes in this game the way these antes eat into you. BTW, the biggest stack I saw anyone sit with was 5000 pesos, or (converting the antes into SB/BB), around 40BBs. EVERYONE was shortstacked. Which was crazy considering that I'd classify the play of people as generally too weak passive preflop but somewhat competent postflop. Take this with a grain of salt, as NL is far from my forte.
My save:
I'm now at 600ish (I guess 4 hands later), find ATs in LP. I notice 200 peso bets taking down the antes often, so I try that (normally a stupid play, but seemed like it might work). 1 caller. Flop comes AAQ. I (having to play first) push, I get a caller (KQ), turn is a T and I double up. Basically the rest of the night sees me get somewhat poor-to-typical cards, and pushing the few decent ones I get (AQ, 99, etc) and taking down the antes. Just a ridiculous way of playing poker. One of the dudes said he was going to Vegas next weekend, man I hope I see him there cuz even though I stink at NL, I know I could crush him in deepstack NL. Total table expert, knows the right play all the time, meanwhile I see him call preflop getting 2:1 immediate odds and 4:1 implied odds with 55. Only one true fishy maniac I saw, most were just typical overly-loose, over-calling types. As all were Argentines, all loved the table chatter, the hand-analysis (which was often comically wrong), and hence all were eminently readable. I said my piece when called-for, but I really couldn't compete with these giants of table-talk. BTW, all-in is "jugado" meaning played (as in, I have no more decisions to make, I've made my play).
The end:
So this is the other thing. Unless you bust out, you MUST play for at least 2 hrs, then you have to decide whether you're going to play an additional (at least) hr. So I play my 2hrs, decide to cash out my 350 pesos. I generally played ok IMHO, made some good laydowns (these Argentines are much more readable than Americans, they just HAVE to tell you afterwards what they had too) So I took a $200 dive playing this odd holdem-ish game, which I still can't decide is beatable. My conclusion is that it is, but that you have to be VERY well bankrolled.
All comments appreciated.
A
The scene:
Casino de Buenos Aires, located in recently refurbished Puerto Madero region (old portlands that have been gentrified). I arrive at 6pm, very early by local standards I'm sure, though there appeared to be plenty of action. Casino is on a riverboat. Four levels, bottom is slots, 2nd is low-limit BJ and some odd table game called Marca Punto something, didn't watch it long enough to really understand the details, but it's clearly -EV. Topmost level (4th) is where the high-limit action is, including two 8-person tables in the corner featuring "Holdem". I railbird for two hands at the only running table, the second table's dealer comes over and tells me you can only watch two hands, after that you have to sign up. I ask about the details.
The game:
The game is holdem inasmuch as you're dealt two down cards, there is a flop, turn and river, and things operate card-wise as you'd expect. That's about it as far as operating as you'd expect. It's NL, with 1000 peso buyin minimum (500 rebuy minimum), bear in mind that it's around 3 pesos to the USD, so divide everything you read by three. It's a 25 peso ANTE, no blinds. So working it out in my head, it dawns on me that this 1000 peso buyin game has 200 pesos in play preflop (for an 8-person table), effectively making it a 66/133 peso NL game! To say that it's short-stacked would be an understatement. However, having been inspired by the passive play I saw in the two hands I watched, I decided to take an out-of-bankroll shot and gamble (in the true sense of the word) 1000 pesos and play.
The play:
By the time I grab my buyin (1000 pesos) the game is about to start, 7-handed. Most others have also bought in for 1000 pesos, so either everyone is as insanely underbankrolled as I am or something very strange is going on. I plunk down my 25 peso ante, and away we go. I've already figured out that blind stealing is, to say the least, an important part of this game. Hence that position isn't just important, it's everything. I check-fold my first 4 hands, watching the play, which is very passive. Rake appears to be 5% no max. 5th hand I'm on the button with J7, checked around, as do I. Flop comes KT9r. Checked around. I bet 150 (into the 175P pot), get a caller, and I'm done with the hand unless my Q or 8 comes. Fortunately I have position. Turn rag. And the action is on me. Wha?!?! Yes that's right folks, the person who bets in the previous round has the lead in the next round of betting. So position goes out the damn door! I check, he checks. River rag. I check, he checks, I (embarrassedly) table my K high, he tables QT, takes the pot. People stare at me strangely. I guess betting double-gutters into pots no one has shown interest in is odd play. So anyway, having played 5 hands, I post my ante and my stack is now down to 700. Good, I'm now in push or fold territory. I feel I won't even last 20 minutes in this game the way these antes eat into you. BTW, the biggest stack I saw anyone sit with was 5000 pesos, or (converting the antes into SB/BB), around 40BBs. EVERYONE was shortstacked. Which was crazy considering that I'd classify the play of people as generally too weak passive preflop but somewhat competent postflop. Take this with a grain of salt, as NL is far from my forte.
My save:
I'm now at 600ish (I guess 4 hands later), find ATs in LP. I notice 200 peso bets taking down the antes often, so I try that (normally a stupid play, but seemed like it might work). 1 caller. Flop comes AAQ. I (having to play first) push, I get a caller (KQ), turn is a T and I double up. Basically the rest of the night sees me get somewhat poor-to-typical cards, and pushing the few decent ones I get (AQ, 99, etc) and taking down the antes. Just a ridiculous way of playing poker. One of the dudes said he was going to Vegas next weekend, man I hope I see him there cuz even though I stink at NL, I know I could crush him in deepstack NL. Total table expert, knows the right play all the time, meanwhile I see him call preflop getting 2:1 immediate odds and 4:1 implied odds with 55. Only one true fishy maniac I saw, most were just typical overly-loose, over-calling types. As all were Argentines, all loved the table chatter, the hand-analysis (which was often comically wrong), and hence all were eminently readable. I said my piece when called-for, but I really couldn't compete with these giants of table-talk. BTW, all-in is "jugado" meaning played (as in, I have no more decisions to make, I've made my play).
The end:
So this is the other thing. Unless you bust out, you MUST play for at least 2 hrs, then you have to decide whether you're going to play an additional (at least) hr. So I play my 2hrs, decide to cash out my 350 pesos. I generally played ok IMHO, made some good laydowns (these Argentines are much more readable than Americans, they just HAVE to tell you afterwards what they had too) So I took a $200 dive playing this odd holdem-ish game, which I still can't decide is beatable. My conclusion is that it is, but that you have to be VERY well bankrolled.
All comments appreciated.
A