AlwaysLearning416
So today I had the opportunity to head about 20 minutes south of where my family lives in South Florida and play at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach.
This place was recommended to me by a regular player at Woodbine, even over the Hardrock & Palm Beach Kennel Club.
First glance, it wasn't overwhelming from the outside, but I did appreciate the free and speedy valet parking. Once inside, however, I was really impressed. The casino is fairly nice and the poker room is massive (by my standards), with about 40-50 (maybe 60 tables).
With 2-2 and 2-4 limit, as well as 1-2, 2-5 and 5-10 NL and a 4/8 Omaha half kill game going on during weekdays, they spread plenty of action.
I elected to play my usual 1-2 game and was able to walk right onto a table. See, when they reach 10 players on the list, they open a new table, immediately. There is almost NEVER a wait to play 1-2 or 2-5 NL there. Loved that.
Started at a table with one huge stack about the opposite side, 3 senior citizen nits, a player who played EVERYTHING before the flop to my left, a TAG to my right and then an absolute cannon about 4 seat to my right (he'd lose about $1400 playing 1-2 I was told by the rest of the table).
At this table, I only played about 3 or 4 meaningful hands, with my jacks holding up 3 times against the cannon in about 2 hours. Those hands netted me about 80-100 in total (tough to get value on a low board and tough to bet into an overcard or two, especially with a guy who plays any face card with a rag or better, can't stand jacks).
Problem here was that the cannon got my QT with a QJ when I was in the BB and a Q came on the flop and then again on the turn. That cost me about 70 total.
So after a not-so-profitable 2.5 hours, my table broke and I was moved over to another table, where my fortune took a turn for the better.
After taking small pots for about 30 or 40, I had T6o in the BB with the button and SB coming along. The flop came 833, with a check from the SB. So I bet 5 into 6 to try and steal the tiny pot with a nasty board. Button folds, SB calls. Hm, interesting. Turn comes a 6. Now I'm thinking, alright I can fire another bullet at this after the SB checks again. I fire 9 and he calls again. River comes another 6. This pretty much had me on cloud nine as my steal attempt turned into a meh hand into a boat. This time the SB bets 15, which I promptly raise to 35. He insta-shoves (dude only had 60 left by the river) and naturally I call. Dude turns over K3 and I can't believe the beat I've just laid on this poor guy LOL. Runner-runner and it had to be the same card, annnnd I got there.
With this pot I'm about 100-125 in the black. Then 3 hands later and literally 25 minutes before I have to leave, I pick up AJo UTG and just flat. About 4 more limpers come in before the button raises to 10. Now, this guy is the big stack from the last table who loved squeezing when there were 4-5 limpers, so I decide AJo is a hand that may actually be ahead of a lot of his raising range. I call. 3 of the other 4 limpers call and now I'm not so sure about AJo lol. Pot now sits at 55. Flop comes J84 (rainbow). It's checked around to the button and he only bets 18. With top pair and decent odds, I call, while the others get out of the way. Turn comes the A and the button bets 35 into 91, I flat again. River is a brick and we both check. He turns over Kings annnnnd I've hit a 3 outer to lay a beat on someone else. Gotta love when people slowplay against you and you end up cracking em.
Surprisingly, neither player looked fazed at all. They dealt with it pretty well (I think the guy with KK knew he messed up betting so little).
All in all it was a very successful day that netted me a few hundred $$$.
Not many notable hands, since I only got a mini 4 hour session in, but feel free to comment on the hands above.
If anyone is ever down in South Florida, I definitely recommend this casino. I probably won't get to the Palm Beach Kennel Club (though it has upwards of 60 tables as well) or the Hardrock (plenty of tables, but right now they're wrapping up their big summer tourney series, including the $5,300 $10 million guaranteed tourney that all the pros are down here playing), but I hope to get there and post a TR for those two fairly soon.
So that's it. My first TR is officially done. Feel free to comment or ask questions about their poker room!
AlwaysLearning416
One other quick thing about this casino:
Their BBJ is not cumulative! So if you win, it's an even $5000. They do have $500 high hands every half hour though, but they take $2 every pot for the high hands/BBJ. Then again, max rake is only $5+$2 for $7 so it's still not that bad.
So in the end, I think I like the high hands idea more than the BBJ which requires TWO high hands at once. Palm Beach does a cumulative BBJ with no high hands about 45 minutes north. My question for yall: which would you prefer? As I said, I like the high hands, even though it costs $2 a pot (still, $7 max isn't terrible), because the chances of hitting one are much higher.
BlondeFish
I would have an
asthma wife problem about spending $2,800 just for Florida accommodation. So aside from Las Vegas, Los Angeles &
GTA, which are the best cities with kid-friendly attractions and nearby poker rooms to pay for the vacation? Would you rate Bahamas Atlantis Resort/PCA as your best family/poker vacation destination despite the expense?
pokerJAH;359092 wroteSo instead we just enjoyed our own private pool at the house we rented from my GTA approved hourly winrate from Woodbine over the last couple months. This is the place we rented and its a pretty good deal if you have a family and need more than one bedroom.
AlwaysLearning416;359090 wroteMy question for yall: which would you prefer? As I said, I like the high hands, even though it costs $2 a pot (still, $7 max isn't terrible), because the chances of hitting one are much higher.
Any kind of raked BBJ is terrible. Which of the Florida rooms do NOT have a BBJ so I can play there?
westside8
Rake for BBJ is terrible but if it brings lots of recreational players or gamblers who would play less than optimal, it's good for my bankroll and good for the game.
As for your desire to incorporate family, I feel like Commerce/Disneyland is the best combo for you
BlondeFish
westside8;359109 wroteRake for BBJ is terrible but if it brings lots of recreational players or gamblers who would play less than optimal, it's good for my bankroll and good for the game.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars that the three Niagara Falls casinos with BBJ have raked away from players' bankrolls is too high to overcome. If you ask the couple of forumers and the many winning regs at Fallsview who played PRE and POST the terrible raked BBJ, virtually all of us will reply that our win rates have gone down since. :(
As for your desire to incorporate family, I feel like Commerce/Disneyland is the best combo for you
BTDT in the last-ever WPT Celebrity Invitational. bwin.party has been so terrible to players since that I have now withdrawn all my cash and don't feel like playing its WPT satellites. :o I was thinking of taking a shot at being a PokerStars VIP starting in January, but it would be too late to win a PCA package.