Brantford Opening Update

Funkycold1

Hi everyone I want to give you an update on the live poker opening back up in Ontario. I went to to play in Brantford today and it was great. To finally sit down afters years of lockdowns and rifle the chips once again really was exciting.

The covid procedures are in place. Show ID and vaccine proof are being enforced. The caveat to this is that once you get your players card updated you will get a proof of vaccine stamp and you will only need to show that upon your next entry instead of photo ID ( you will still need to show your vaccine QR code always however).

The room is small compared to others but is well run and the floor managers are really doing there best to get games running. Brantford in the past has been primarily a place for limit and tournament grinders but it has shifted to NL recently and no tournaments are posted yet due to restrictions.

Tables are 9 handed and there is plexiglass surrounding the dealer only leaving the table space open for players.

Here are some thoughts on the buy-in structure and play itself. I am primarily an online Omaha player and tournament grinder. I do love playing cash but I am alittle out if my depth once stack sizes go above 100 BB. Deepstack play is so nuanced, I have been exploring using solvers in the past year but it is something I'm still working on.

Brantford currently has a 100bb cap for buying in and this really suits me right now. I can work on my ranges, frequencies and bluffs more effectively without fear of getting run over be deepstack skilled players. Fold/denial equity is a huge part of skilled deepstack play and as I said it's my weak point right now.

I played both 1/3 and 2/5 today and made $400 today ( it was actually $380 but I want to sound cool). The play was casual loose and somewhat fun. There was very little conversation which is surprising but after being locked down for 2 years maybe we all need to reacclimate to speaking to others again.

I don't like to be derogatory of others players and comment on quality of play. Was in no fold'em hold'em especially at 1/3 yes it was but that's what we all do anyway to some degree in smaller games. The 2/5 game was somewhat passive with alot of calling and very little bluffing but it was challenging and will help get the live rust off . I was was up $800 dollars and managed to donk off half my profit before calling it a day so who am I to talk.

I'm hoping to go about twice a month going forward primarily on Sundays so if anybody want to join me please let me know. It would be great to meet some of you in person. Once Niagara opens up I'll probably head down there as well.

niks1

DJ and I were there on Saturday night. They had 6 tables open - 4 at $1/3 and 2 at $2/$5. We called in at 5pm and he got a seat a little after 7pm and I got on a new table at 7:30pm. DJ moved to $2/$5 at some point - my name wasn't called for $2/$5 until after 9pm. I had a good table, so stayed where I was.

The supervisor was great - seats were filled very quick, she was totally on enforcing mask wearing - as soon as a mask slipped, she was over talking to the player.

The casino itself was not even close to busy. The front parking lot wasn't even half full. I felt very safe being in there, especially as I ensured I sat next to the dealer. Being 9 handed, the table felt like everyone had some good space around them.

shankargv

niks1;c-421441 wroteDJ and I were there on Saturday night. They had 6 tables open - 4 at $1/3 and 2 at $2/$5. We called in at 5pm and he got a seat a little after 7pm and I got on a new table at 7:30pm. DJ moved to $2/$5 at some point - my name wasn't called for $2/$5 until after 9pm. I had a good table, so stayed where I was.

The supervisor was great - seats were filled very quick, she was totally on enforcing mask wearing - as soon as a mask slipped, she was over talking to the player.

The casino itself was not even close to busy. The front parking lot wasn't even half full. I felt very safe being in there, especially as I ensured I sat next to the dealer. Being 9 handed, the table felt like everyone had some good space around them.

A friend and I were also on the 1/3 table, we came in around 930-10pm.. we played on table#3.. our table was pretty good too

moose

niks1;c-421441 wroteDJ and I were there on Saturday night. They had 6 tables open - 4 at $1/3 and 2 at $2/$5. We called in at 5pm and he got a seat a little after 7pm and I got on a new table at 7:30pm. DJ moved to $2/$5 at some point - my name wasn't called for $2/$5 until after 9pm. I had a good table, so stayed where I was.

The supervisor was great - seats were filled very quick, she was totally on enforcing mask wearing - as soon as a mask slipped, she was over talking to the player.

The casino itself was not even close to busy. The front parking lot wasn't even half full. I felt very safe being in there, especially as I ensured I sat next to the dealer. Being 9 handed, the table felt like everyone had some good space around them.

Was it Dima?

GranFodder

I was there Monday and Sunday.

niks1

moose;c-421446 wrote
Was it Dima?

Sorry, just saw this. No. She is definitely the best. I had not seen this one before, but she was great.

PokerNun

Do you guys think the rake is beatable? I'd love to play, but the rake is steep.

DrTyore

PokerNun;c-421521 wroteDo you guys think the rake is beatable? I'd love to play, but the rake is steep.

It's not. Anyone that thinks otherwise is wrong. Casino poker is dead.

Mark

Card Dead

Poker isn’t about beating the rake. It’s about having fun and making new best friends.
You can’t put a price on that.😏

compuease

DrTyore;c-421522 wrote
PokerNun;c-421521 wroteDo you guys think the rake is beatable? I'd love to play, but the rake is steep.
It's not. Anyone that thinks otherwise is wrong. Casino poker is dead.

Mark

Card Dead;c-421523 wrotePoker isn’t about beating the rake. It’s about having fun and making new best friends.
You can’t put a price on that.😏

I agree with CD, we are not playing for a living. The rake may not be beatable if you have a high vpip unless you are skilled at reading oppoments style and tendencies. However if you play with maybe a 20% or lower vpip I still think it's beatable at the lower levels.
Alcohol levels may also play a part. >:)

Card Dead

If you get a table like I had on Saturday night, it’s very beatable. Crazy action. Around $8k on the table. Avg pot was probably $350. Lots of shoving with top pair, no kicker.

niks1

We were there Fri and last night. Great action.