Turning Stone 2/19-2/21

[bolgenmod]

Since other posters dealt with the important stuff, I'll stick to the food. And the booze.

I personally like the Forest Grill, the steakhouse. It definitely has good steaks -- and I'm a BIG fan of red meat, have had some of the "best" in NYC, Chicago, Japan, Argentina. TS doesn't compare to the absolute best, of course, but they are much above the average. I've always been pleased with my steaks. But they're not cheap.

Indeed, all the food at TS is not cheap (at least compared to Vegas -- it is ok for upstate NY, and not as expensive as NYC). But the food is good, and the portions are large. For example, the chinese (Peach Blossom) food is about $5 more than you'd pay at most places anywhere, but it is really good and about twice the size of most portions.

As for booze -- TS is dry. NO booze. Which is good and bad. I certainly don't drink at the table, but they don't either. And I do like a knock at the end of the day. So I bring my bottle. There is absolutely no liquor for sale in the casino or hotel or "bars" or resturants, but they will serve you your own (if you, for example, want some wine with dinner). And if you don't bring your own booze, the nearest liquor store is about 10 minutes drive away. So if you like to drink, remember that it's BYOB. Just FYI.

Overall, I think it's a good place -- certainly not huge, but not rinky-dink. Enjoy and good luck!

[Mad Genius1]

[ QUOTE ]

friday they dont run tournaments. saturday the tournament is at 11am and will probably have 100-150 players and the buyin is $65 i believe. sunday is a $120 buyin with 60 players at noon. they start you with 2500 in chips with blinds incrementing every 15 minutes. levels are 25-25, 25-50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. Are you kidding? Blinds really increase every 15minutes? I was contemplating shooting up to TStone later this month but I guess there will be no tournies for me. Sounds like a real crapshoot.

How is the action in the 1/2 NL game in general?

[TStoneMBD]

yah i rarely play in tournaments. pretty bad way to spend your time. i used to barely make a living off 1/2NL at 15$/hr when i first started my journey to produm when i had no roll. the games are pretty easy i suppose. i dont play in them anymore, but when i do it seems the games are tight. when i talk to the 1/2NL regulars though who play it for a living they say its as easy as its always been, since i used to play in it.

[TM1212]

[ QUOTE ]
nl structure: they will have 1/2NL 100max games 24/7. Friday night will be a 5/10NL game with no max. there will probably be 2/5NL with 200max.

they have 1/3, 3/6, 5/10, 20/40 running every day. on a weekend 10/20 and 15/30 is likely.

omaha will not run

waiting lists will be very long. call 1 hour in advance of showing up and theyll put your name on the list for you.

floor management is ok.

Friday they don’t run tournaments. saturday the tournament is at 11am and will probably have 100-150 players and the buyin is $65 i believe. sunday is a $120 buyin with 60 players at noon. they start you with 2500 in chips with blinds incrementing every 15 minutes. levels are 25-25, 25-50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000.

i love ordering from the peach blossom. its some of the best chinese food/thai food ive ever had. fresh. they have a menu at the desk. the pina bianco is good for steak. you can order from the emerald 24hrs a day. id recommend the turkey club as its pretty much the only edible thing on their entire menu. if you want to splurge for a great dinner, there is a new brazilian steakhouse that just opened up. its a buffet and they serve the meat at your table. its $35. i havent been there yet but ive heard that the meat is absolutely tender and delicious.

look for me at the 20/40 game. my initials on the board are mbd. im the young kid with all the chips. dinner is on me.

[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you, everyone, for the response. I can't wait for this weekend.

I guess ill be avoiding the tournaments, sound awful!

Is there any buying NL game over 50 BB, under the 5/10 NL? I wasn't planning on playing that high. How are the players in the 5/10 NL?

Is the 2/5 Nl game playable with 40 BB, Is it just an all-in fest? It really seems like Id need a double up before I could play my game. Any recommendations on playing style changes besides the obvious? (big hands being worth more)

MBD, If your not to busy stacking chips, (which from your posts im sure you will be) Ill hit you up on that offer. I'll be the really young looking kid, Dirty blonde short hair, wearing a FSU Seminole Hat (everyday) and on Sunday ill probably be wearing an outfit like a Nirvana T-Shirt, under a open collar shirt and jeans. My names Tom. (BTW hopefully Ill be stacking a few chips of my own)


Few more Questions:
How are the players at the 5/10 limit holdem ? Better to play 10/20?

Should I expect a large turn out cause presidents day weekend?

Ill be in the card room around 1 pm on Saturday, for a few hours. Sunday and Monday ill be there all day, any other two plus two members going to be present LMK and maybe will head out to dinner or something.

Thanks in advance MBD and every1 else !

[TM1212]

[ QUOTE ]
Since other posters dealt with the important stuff, I'll stick to the food. And the booze.

I personally like the Forest Grill, the steakhouse. It definitely has good steaks -- and I'm a BIG fan of red meat, have had some of the "best" in NYC, Chicago, Japan, Argentina. TS doesn't compare to the absolute best, of course, but they are much above the average. I've always been pleased with my steaks. But they're not cheap.

Indeed, all the food at TS is not cheap (at least compared to Vegas -- it is ok for upstate NY, and not as expensive as NYC). But the food is good, and the portions are large. For example, the chinese (Peach Blossom) food is about $5 more than you'd pay at most places anywhere, but it is really good and about twice the size of most portions.

As for booze -- TS is dry. NO booze. Which is good and bad. I certainly don't drink at the table, but they don't either. And I do like a knock at the end of the day. So I bring my bottle. There is absolutely no liquor for sale in the casino or hotel or "bars" or resturants, but they will serve you your own (if you, for example, want some wine with dinner). And if you don't bring your own booze, the nearest liquor store is about 10 minutes drive away. So if you like to drink, remember that it's BYOB. Just FYI.

Overall, I think it's a good place -- certainly not huge, but not rinky-dink. Enjoy and good luck!

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't drink, so I don’t have to worry about the BYOB, but thanks. Ill have to check out the Forest Grill sounds pretty good, or maybe the Buffet the other poster mentioned.

One last thing, I have a few other people coming with me not interested in poker, or gambling. As you can imagine I won't be spending to much time with them (or any for that matter), but any recommendations on shows for them? How’s the spa, or other activities?

Thanks again

[TStoneMBD]

you can check out show listings at www.turning-stone.com. ts has a spa and gym area, and its relatively decent. i plan on getting a monthly membership there because its only 30 bucks. its $15 for a day pass unless you are in one of the hotels, then its free. if you didnt know, you can get poker rate for your hotel which is $80/night. the 5/10 games are about as difficult as the 10/20 games. you can expect 7 way pots on a regular basis a good majority of the time. the 2/5NL game is a good game, and i enjoy playing in it, but usually dont because my win rate is far greater at 20/40. id recommend only playing the 2/5NL game if you plan on being in it for a while tho, because its better when chips start to get on the table. the 1/2NL game is all about playing really tight preflop and getting your stack in postflop with toppair. the 2/5NL is about raising it in with garbage and bullying people around, at least thats my style. there isnt much recreational stuff to do in the turningstone area, but if your friends get bored i can tell them where to go shopping/watch a movie/etc, if they want to drive 20 minutes. if you want to play in a deepstack NL game, you should talk to the floor about changing the 200max game to a 5/5NL nomax game. the problem is that they dont get enough interest in those games in a regular basis, and so you may not even see the 2/5NL game running the entire weekend. theyve never run a 5/5NL game before, but it would be nice if that became a daily spread.

[TM1212]

[ QUOTE ]
you can check out show listings at www.turning-stone.com. ts has a spa and gym area, and its relatively decent. i plan on getting a monthly membership there because its only 30 bucks. its $15 for a day pass unless you are in one of the hotels, then its free. if you didnt know, you can get poker rate for your hotel which is $80/night. the 5/10 games are about as difficult as the 10/20 games. you can expect 7 way pots on a regular basis a good majority of the time. the 2/5NL game is a good game, and i enjoy playing in it, but usually dont because my win rate is far greater at 20/40. id recommend only playing the 2/5NL game if you plan on being in it for a while tho, because its better when chips start to get on the table. the 1/2NL game is all about playing really tight preflop and getting your stack in postflop with toppair. the 2/5NL is about raising it in with garbage and bullying people around, at least thats my style. there isnt much recreational stuff to do in the turningstone area, but if your friends get bored i can tell them where to go shopping/watch a movie/etc, if they want to drive 20 minutes. if you want to play in a deepstack NL game, you should talk to the floor about changing the 200max game to a 5/5NL nomax game. the problem is that they dont get enough interest in those games in a regular basis, and so you may not even see the 2/5NL game running the entire weekend. theyve never run a 5/5NL game before, but it would be nice if that became a daily spread.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks MBD,

I am staying in the hotel, and I am getting the poker rate. The spa and gym look good on there site.

As for the poker, I guess I'll play some 1-2 NL to start, and once I get comfortable, ill get on the 2-5 list, if its running. Ill talk to the floor person about a no max 5-5 game, maybe ill get lucky and it'll get going. Ill also keep an eye on the 5-10 and 10-20 limit holdem. If it looks like there both at the same level of play, Ill pop into the 10-20 towards the end of the weekend.

Thanks again, see yay there MBD!

[JKetzer]

I'm going to try to get up there from PA for at least Saturday evening, maybe longer. I'll be playing low-limit.

Last time I was up there they had one table of 2/4 running and several 3/6. Do they always have the 2/4 game going on weekends? I tried the 1-3 spread and didn't like that very much... don't know why.

If anyone wants to say hi, I'll be wearing a dark red long-sleeve shirt. My hair is short and brown, and I basically look like I'm not really old enough to be there. I might visit the $100 NL tables or the higher limits if I feel foolish enough.

What do you do for the $5 food comp? Just hand in the card on your way out? Last time I left it on the table by accident.

[B1GF1SHY]

You go to the the floor desk on the opposite side of the board and just hand any one of the floor people your card, they'll ask you what game you played and give you the voucher.

[TStoneMBD]

they dont really run 2/4 anymore, at least not regularly. only 3/6

when you hand your comp to the front desk and they ask you what game you played, if you tell them 1/3 or 3/6 they will only give you a $3 comp. if you tell them you played 100max or 5/10, they wont know the difference and youll get $5 instead.