Minnesota trip report - Not at the Downs

[Mike]

Spent some time in Minnesota and played some HE while I was there. These were Casino games and not at the fabled downs. played at the Lights, BB, and Grand. Perhaps the downs would have been a better choice?

Games were nine handed when full. The most common spreads were $2-4 and $3-6, with a sprinkling of spread limit thrown in now and then. The spread limit games were juicy, but rare and one had to be careful when sitting down because the competition in general was just trading chips while the box was busy sucking in a five dollar bill each hand. Raises were set at four for the most part although that varied with the dealer and the players in the hand.

The rake was insane at up to four dollars and one dollar for the jackpot! The rake collection was decided to $.50 and the house rarely lost coin in the matter of rake.

For me the games were way too passive, and way too loose for the rake. It also seemed the folks I played against took check raising as insulting and bad manners. Preflop caps with eight players were common, which turns the game into a crap shoot with high losses and minimal wins when you add in the high rake.

The dealers were very much part of the social aspect of the games and had comments on much of what happened at the tables, and off the tables too, with commentary going from fishing/hunting to sexual innuendo. At times it seemed 60% of dealer focus was spent on socializing and the rest on dealing. Dealer mistakes were the norm.

In general I would see minimum hands per hour which made HE play like Omaha hls. A few dealers were very good and fast and it made me wonder why there weren't more like them....

Some of the dealers (about 30% I would guess) seemed to take personal offense when their favorite players lost to me and took various actions from not acknowledging a tip, to openly frowning, poor card dealing to me in general, ie, all over the table where I was seated.

For the games themselves, I have never seen so many table table coaches at one time in one game. Hand discussion was the norm, both post and during the hand. Players out of the hand offering friends seated next to them advice during the hand was also common. I remember one hand when three active players across the table were discussing with each other what I might be holding!

The game(s) in general were odd, and very different than anywhere else I have played because of the (?) politeness and need to be overly fair while at the table. That's not a correct description but unless you have played there, it is hard to explain.

Another strange rule at one room was that it was the players responsibility to call down another player making a string bet...rather odd I thought but maybe it is not?

To make up for all the downside, most players were not creative at all, and were either rocks, or way too loose, rarely betting, but always calling. Many knew the hand/pot odds very very well, but had no clue as to how to optimize a pot in their favor. They also seemed to over value a limit bet and its effect on other players more than has been my general experience.

One of the most creative things I saw and I wish I would see more of was very unique tournament play. Mini placement tournaments were held whenever ten players were in the room together. Each winner from the table went on to play in a second tournanment at a later date. I thought that was a great idea and kept most of the tables open for ring games.

As has been mentioned in an active post in another forum, Minnesota has some very good players. In general it is not a place to go add to your trip except for maybe the downs which I never made it to.

All in all the tables were okay, although it is kind of hard to get excited about a $2-4 game with a $5.00 dollar house take.

I hope the next visiting player to Minnesota finds the games better, maybe I just played at the wrong times, who knows.