Puerto Rico Poker - Review

[Spiph]

I played this past weekend in Puerto Rico at the Intercontinental and the Condado Plaza. Both games were very similar: very loose.

Structure - It's 5-10, but you have the option to raise ten at any time (even preflop or on flop). I heard about NL tourneys going on, but didnt get to play in any.

Players - Everything is in Spanish and they dont respect normal decorum rules. They will fold out of turn, show cards when folding even if other players still in hand, continually talk about the cards they need, etc. On another note, they were all very nice people and quite friendly.

Action - VERY LOOSE. People will call preflop with any Ace, suited cards, connectors. They will call down with gut-shots, runner runners, etc. For example, in first position I raised with AA to $15 and I got 3 cold calls plus the blinds, three of us made it to showdown and luckily my aces held up. However, I had to lay-down KK and QQ to made gut shot straights and runner runner flushes where there was a lot of action on later turns.

Results: It's really easy to win in this game. Don't expect to bluff anyone out of a pot. Play premium hands or good multi-way hands and you will get paid. A raise on or after the flop is given a lot of respect, so it's really easy to get a free card with a raise if you have position. I played a 2 1/2 hour session and left up with $230.

Suck outs: They happened quite frequently since so many people will see their hand to showdown. It's pretty funny to see the locals reaction to unbelieavable suck outs.

Rake: 10%, which is a lot, but the poor play compensates.

Tipping: I tipped between $1-2 per won pot. Locals tend to tip more ($5) for very large pots, but with such a high rake, I didn't feel like tipping that much.

Advice: Before deciding to play, realize that the players will be speaking in Spanish, will be folding out of turn, will be showing cards prior (sometimes) when folding even if other players are in the hand. If this bothers you, then dont play in Puerto Rico. If you do decide to play, I would be tight for the first turn(s) to see how the game is being played, and then go at it. Also, most people at the table can speak English and engaging them in conversation is probably +EV because you can ask one of them what they are discussing, etc.

Hope this helps!