straight-forward NL questions

thinking of playing my first B&M no-limit cash game next weekend.. just have a few questions,

i understand you can't take $$$$$ off the table. but if the wait is fairly short, can you leave the table and get another one 15 minutes later (for example)??? obviously if you have to wait a few hours, it's a different story.

any reason to buy in for more than the minimum (say 5/5 100-400 min-max).

can i buyin for more chips at any time between hands????

if they charge a time fee, is that in additon to the rake??? anyone know about niagara falls???

this is a difficult question: but do bad players get you off you flush straight draws?? is it generally worthwhile to play suited connectors with position??? very table dependent but i'm asking niagara falls (xx) casinos.

how careful do you have to be about pair of ace with a good kicker??? or is that just so table/board/situation dependent??

thanks very very much in advance for any or all help!!

First of all, a number of your questions are more suited for the beginner forum, and I would work on your grammar and punctuation if you want to be treated seriously. None the less, I am happy to help you out as your questions are serious, and I have played at that very casino (and that very game).

You are talking about fallsview I presume? I thought their 5/5 game was $500 max, maybe it's changed? Anyway... here goes :

#1 - Yes you can leave the table and join another one. You will be able to sit down with any amount you can normally sit down with at the new table. You do not have to leave the table to do this, just tell the floor that you want a table change. Note, if the floor moves you (due to a broken table) you should have to go with the exact amount of chips you normally have.

#2 - The reason to buy in for more than the minimum is to have the fish covered. If you hit the nuts, and a fish is going to call your all in with top pair, you want to be able to stack them, not just win one hundred dollars.

Conversely, buying in with the minimum also has it's advantages, notably that you avoid any truly difficult post flop decisions, and can get into many very profitable preflop situations.

You can always rebuy for UP TO THE MAXIMUM, at any time you are not involved in a hand.

If there is a session fee (time charge) their is no rake.

Assuming 80-100xBB stacks (or more) it is usually profitable in these games to play suited connectors because the players seldom charge you enough to get you off your hand; however it is not just hit your flush and get paid off city. Many of the players can lay down if the flush hits, so this is player dependent. Also, these players can be bluffed off if you have a straight draw when the flush hits. It can't be both ways, right. In short, against bad players yes, against good players no.

How careful you have to be with a pair of aces good kicker really depends on how big your stack is. If you have $100 at a 5-5 table you can go ahead and put all your money in with no worries. If you have more, then you must be more cautious. Be careful about calling raises with hands like A10, AJ, KQ and even AQ (even when these hands are suited). They are often dominated.

If you have any other questions, just ask. Where in Canada are you from?

thanks noam,

i'm thinking no-limit will be more profitable. i'm pretty tight-aggressive but i think that can used more effectively in no-limit. also, I can charge these people for their draws???

this is not a crying story, but i was there two weeks ago and i was shocked at how often people (me especially) were runner/runnered. eventually i too caught some great luck.

basically make the calling stations pay, see if i can get good odds on my draws and maybe pull the occasional bluff based on my tight/aggressive image (i did notice that when a potential flush hit on river i could not get much action checking or betting).

other thing i've heard is that pair of aces with good kicker (10?) is gold vs. lousy players but be very careful against good players..

basically i prefer playing really tight (somewhat looser than early stage harrington) and that sounds like no-limit might be better than limit.

i'm in toronto. thinking of getting cheap, cheap motel room on lundy's and going down for 4 day weekend.

i might add at fallsview in limit, there were some decent players and some unbelievably bad or drunk players.

one drunk crazy rich guy was insisting on raising before the cards were dealt (is that positive EV??)

a woman to my right, i would sometimes see her cards when i had folded. on river, she thought for 45 seconds about call/fold against 3 players with pocket 8's with AKJXX on the board. i mean, come on!! only time i wanted to give advice in a hand.

Yes, the secret is out, some of these players really suck. This is especially true on friday, saturday nights when drunk american college boys come across the border.

What are the prices of the motels? There are almost certainly free buses (or really cheap buses) from toronto to niagra falls that take seniors. They beat paying gas.

Limit is my game, but I've played a few rounds of big bet in my day, and that 5-5 game can get pretty juicy.

[Percula]

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thinking of playing my first B&M no-limit cash game next weekend.. just have a few questions,

i understand you can't take $$$$$ off the table. but if the wait is fairly short, can you leave the table and get another one 15 minutes later (for example)??? obviously if you have to wait a few hours, it's a different story.

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In most rooms if you table change you HAVE TO come to the new table with the same you left with. Ratholing should be aoived. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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any reason to buy in for more than the minimum (say 5/5 100-400 min-max).

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The amount you buyin for is determined by your evaluation of your skill versus the other players skill. You want to cover players that are not as skilled as you, and be covered by players that are more skilled than you.

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can i buyin for more chips at any time between hands????

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Depends on the room. Most will allow you to "top off" your stack to the max buy-in at anytime. Other rooms require you to drop below a certain level before rebuying.

Just keep in mind that as soon as you have cards in front of you, the money you are adding does not play until the next hand.

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if they charge a time fee, is that in additon to the rake??? anyone know about niagara falls???

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It is rake OR time, never both.

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this is a difficult question: but do bad players get you off you flush straight draws?? is it generally worthwhile to play suited connectors with position??? very table dependent but i'm asking niagara falls (xx) casinos.

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Yes they do. It is rare that you are getting the right odds to draw to one or two outs.

SC's, yes they are worth playing. But frankly this is too deep for the context of this post.

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how careful do you have to be about pair of ace with a good kicker??? or is that just so table/board/situation dependent??

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Yes careful. TPTK is not a long term winning hand in NL play. There are times it is worth a lot, times that it is junk. Only experience is going to tell you rather it is good or not in any one hand.

[mrkilla]

I still prefer the fish over in Seneca. Much weaker in IMHO.

yeah, that's what i'm hearing.... more $$$$$ in general in USA too... looked at fallsview canada at NL tables and alot of young guys who i assume can't lose $300 no problem. wonder how that affects play.

what kind of fish at seneca? muscle them out easily or call everything (i'd bet the latter). laydowns (good or bad) don't seem like a big fish characteristic. these guys watch too much gus, danny, phil etc. i'd assume.

[michiganlaw]

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First of all, ... I would work on your grammar and punctuation if you want to be treated seriously. None the less , I am happy to help you out as your questions are serious, and I have played at that very casino (and that very game).



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You are berating a guy for his GRAMMAR and you spell "nonetheless" as three separate words......go back to grade school, or check out dictionary.com joker!

[Wolf101]

I played in my first B & M NL game last week in Vegas. I was there for work and time was short but it was a great time.

I was staying at the Luxor and they have a $50 buy-in game. I know it's relatively small stakes but it was there and so was I, so I went for it. No wait on a Tuesday afternoon and people were clueless.

They gave me nickels when I bought in and fifty bucks doesn't go very far with nickels, buy the usual bet from the calling stations was two bucks. In general, the first to enter called the $2.00 and so did everyone else. The first few rounds I raised to $10 and most people folded. It was probably the softest game I've seen...much softer than what I've played on Pokerstars.

I could only stay thirty minutes before i had meetings but I made $150 and it kept me away from the crap tables for a while.