Trip Report: Lac Vieux Desert

PokerBob · #1 10-26-2005, 01:31 PM

So I went fishing with some friends of mine in northern Wisconsin last weekend. There is a dank, desperate little casino in the upper peninsula of Michigan about 35 miles away called Lac Vieux Desert. We go there every year to gamble and watch football (which of course we are gambling heavily on. I bet on 14 games on Saturday after not having bet on football in years. I went 9-5. I rule.) They have that hot new game that's all over the TV called Texas Hold'em from 5pm-4am Thrusday through Sunday. There are 6 tables in their little room, which are all 11 handed. Sign up for the games starts at 4pm. The options were 2/4, 3/6, or 4/8 for limit, and a NL game with 1/2 blinds and a buy-in between $50 and $100. One of the blackjack dealers told me that limit rarely gets played there, because one cannot bet enough to force poeple out and so one always gets rivered. This information makes me both very happy and very sad.
I am the only one of my friends who plays poker, so I only intend to play for a little while. I sign up for the NL game. There are 2 tables going. I have no idea how to play NL, and have never played it live before. I buy in for $100 like everyone else and i sit in the 2 seat. I am given $85 in red chips and $15 in white. The dealer knows everyone by name, except of course me. It is the greatest game on the planet. The first hand I witness is when 2 guys get all in on a 228 flop. One guy has 52o, the other 92o. Mr. 92o was the BB. Mr. 52o was a MP limper. He rebought 3 times in 30 minutes and then went home.

I got scolded once by the dealer for tossing a chip in the air to complete my SB. "Please don't splash the pot like that sir". OK. Sorry. I played for 2 hours (the dealers were absurdly slow so maybe 55 hands) and turned my $100 into $537. It was hysterical. If you are ever in the UP and love money, go there.

RED_RAIN · #2 10-26-2005, 04:39 PM

This sounds like a story from any hick casino with a poker room like JackPot Junction with all locals. Gotta love them!

canis582 · #3 10-26-2005, 04:58 PM

I thought locals were sharks...no im just kidding.

ComboProf · #4 10-26-2005, 05:16 PM

I have played there on 4 ocassions. Its 1.5 hour drive for me.
It dose not always go as well as it did for you. But I
did turn a small profit. It is among the nicer Indian Casinos
in the region.

The capped buyin 1/2 NL game can be very strange
and it has huge swings. Sometime they will just all call any
raise preflop. Its amazing. Some times they will fold to
a standard raise. Once they become a big stack,
they become a calling station. Ultimately you endup just
playing tight and not playing many hands. Its boring as hell
and I'd rather play limit.

I think the capped buy in NL although juicy now, will
eventually kill the game. Only the skilfull will survive
and the fish will move on to greener and luckier pastures.
It would be better IMHO to push for more limit games. You'll
keep the fish around because they can get lucky
without going through thier bankroll.

PokerBob · #5 10-26-2005, 05:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Its boring as hell
and I'd rather play limit.

[/ QUOTE ]

i couldn't agree more.