GBH Trip Report....
So, this weekend, I decided to play 2 sessions at GBH. Unfortunately, my results sucked....about 30BB loss over about 12 hours of play at 5-10. It pissed me off but the deck was really cold for me in all honesty. When, in my second 6-hour session, I was only dealt 3 pocket pairs (AA, 99, 44), AK and AJ (once each...winning with just the aces...the other hands brought overcards or a connected board that the AK/AJ didn't hit), and my suited connectors/1-gapers never coming close to hitting the flop (or the draw only coming in once that I recall), you are in for a rough day. However, I'm just going to chalk it up to variance and just let it go.
Here were the games that were running for those interested...all limit. The last time I was there, they were running pineapple...but no such game running this time.
5-10
5-10 full kill
10-20 1/2 kill
20-40 1/2 kill
20-40 limit Omaha high (I think this had a 1/2 kill as well)
Some thoughts/observations:
1. I don't mind the occasional request to "wash the cards" or request a deck change....but one guy at my table on day 1 was requesting it a lot...really slows play down....and gets annoying.
2. Some interesting table discussion on day 1 regarding "GBH politics" with regards to the new casino construction delays plus some general talk about working there and such....plus the usual complaints of how poker players are not really respected. I don't know if I agree with this as the staff was friendly enough with me....but I'm not a regular.
3. On day 2, I had an older Asian guy at my table. Apparently, he had only played no-limit before and wasn't used to limit plus the kill option. So he was frequently asking (pissing the table off at times with the frequency) if he could raise and, if so, how much. I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt but it wouldn't surprise me it he was leveling the table. If it is a level and he is at your table, you can assume that he has, at minimum, a strong overpair or the nuts. Knowing this, I was able to avoid losing more money than I did (except the one hand where I had trip sevens and he had a set of jacks on the river...but I digress). Just an FYI. A guy at the table did recognize him as a guy he played with in Niagara...
4. One guy on day 2 had the biggest run I ever saw at a table. He went from being all-in for $20 to having over $1000 in front of him in less than an hour (in a 5-10 kill game). He won his all-in (obviously) and later won a decent pot to activate the kill. He then got hit with the deck and then won at least 6-7 kill pots in a row. There was another guy at the table who kept betting if he hit the board (3rd pair was good enough) and this guy either had him crushed or beat him by the river....wish I had that kind of run-good. It got to the point that when he, the only time he did it, played the 'Lucky Lucky' side-bet....everyone at the table as a joke also played it on that hand. Sure enough, the flop brought a 19 giving everyone 2-1 on their bet. Unbelievable the luck streak he went on.
5. Speaking of the Lucky Lucky, what is the house edge on that side bet? As a general rule, I usually don't play that kind of stuff but that Asian guy from point #3 was playing it every hand and seemed to be doing pretty well with it. The last time I was there, it was only on one table....but it seems all the tables have it now.
6. Make sure you call ahead to get on the wait list. They do get busy.
Here were the games that were running for those interested...all limit. The last time I was there, they were running pineapple...but no such game running this time.
5-10
5-10 full kill
10-20 1/2 kill
20-40 1/2 kill
20-40 limit Omaha high (I think this had a 1/2 kill as well)
Some thoughts/observations:
1. I don't mind the occasional request to "wash the cards" or request a deck change....but one guy at my table on day 1 was requesting it a lot...really slows play down....and gets annoying.
2. Some interesting table discussion on day 1 regarding "GBH politics" with regards to the new casino construction delays plus some general talk about working there and such....plus the usual complaints of how poker players are not really respected. I don't know if I agree with this as the staff was friendly enough with me....but I'm not a regular.
3. On day 2, I had an older Asian guy at my table. Apparently, he had only played no-limit before and wasn't used to limit plus the kill option. So he was frequently asking (pissing the table off at times with the frequency) if he could raise and, if so, how much. I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt but it wouldn't surprise me it he was leveling the table. If it is a level and he is at your table, you can assume that he has, at minimum, a strong overpair or the nuts. Knowing this, I was able to avoid losing more money than I did (except the one hand where I had trip sevens and he had a set of jacks on the river...but I digress). Just an FYI. A guy at the table did recognize him as a guy he played with in Niagara...
4. One guy on day 2 had the biggest run I ever saw at a table. He went from being all-in for $20 to having over $1000 in front of him in less than an hour (in a 5-10 kill game). He won his all-in (obviously) and later won a decent pot to activate the kill. He then got hit with the deck and then won at least 6-7 kill pots in a row. There was another guy at the table who kept betting if he hit the board (3rd pair was good enough) and this guy either had him crushed or beat him by the river....wish I had that kind of run-good. It got to the point that when he, the only time he did it, played the 'Lucky Lucky' side-bet....everyone at the table as a joke also played it on that hand. Sure enough, the flop brought a 19 giving everyone 2-1 on their bet. Unbelievable the luck streak he went on.
5. Speaking of the Lucky Lucky, what is the house edge on that side bet? As a general rule, I usually don't play that kind of stuff but that Asian guy from point #3 was playing it every hand and seemed to be doing pretty well with it. The last time I was there, it was only on one table....but it seems all the tables have it now.
6. Make sure you call ahead to get on the wait list. They do get busy.
Comments
Losing gamblers will always have stupid beliefs, such as thinking that their chances of winning will miraculously improve just by changing the deck, dealer, chair, etc.
I don't think he was levelling, as I have played NL at Niagara but having never played a kill game, I have no idea what the raising options are. :-[
Wow, I didn't know that the AGCO has approved "Lucky Lucky Flop" :fish: in Ontario. I know that many casinos want to squeeze every last dollar from gambling degenerates, but I didn't think they would bother with sucker side bets in the poker room. What's next, putting a "Lucky Lucky" slot machine beside each poker table >:D so the dumbest players can waste more money between hands?!
I had mistakenly assumed that the smartest people in the casino are in the poker room, but having seen so many gambling and life leaks such as multiple players paying for the useless rabbit hunt even when they are not in the hand, I now realize that most people just want to gamble away money for fun and don't really care about all the other factors that you need to win in the long run.
He obv lurks this forum.
http://www.pokerforum.ca/f7/does-brantford-have-poker-room-30621/#post354154
One of the dealers did say that they still offer it....but I've never seen it run...or even have a interest list posted.
Btw I have never seen spread limit played there. Bigger bad beat approaching 400k.
This was another point of complaining during the "politics" conversation that I mentioned earlier. Some people weren't happy with GBH having a large BBJ and having several tables still empty. They were saying that it isn't fair to have these open tables and not allowing people on the wait list to play.
The wait lists at this point were pretty lengthy by this point...certainly enough to open some more tables without jeopardizing games breaking. I guess it is really just a staffing situation...not enough dealers. I could see their point I guess....if they were on the rail waiting for a seat. Why complain when u are already sitting down?
I actually posted the Lucky Lucky paytable to the Wizardofvegas.com discussion forum, explained the game, and asked if they had any idea what the house edge was.
Based on their calculations, the house edge is about 2.6%. Just posting it here as an FYI for those interested.