Monday, May 05, 2008

TR Snippet Poker Rakes

I will try to collect as much data on Poker Rakes as I can find in my notes. I might be inaccurate as I remember details poorly, but I'll do the best I can and I have some notes. Perhaps when I post it on a discussion board, some other players will correct my errors. All rakes are for limit games. I expect similar rakes apply to no limit but there are sometimes differences.

BINIONS

Binions has a wonderful rake of 5% for the 3-6 game, but the 2-4 is the more traditional 10% rake. While this 3-6 was the least raked game in town, it also attracted some fine players. It is hard to balance that. Obviously local and good players are drawn to the lowest raked games. One fellow at my table had been playing at Binions for 54 years and another had him beat.

I prefer a table of people who have only been playing for 54 minutes.

SAM'S TOWN

I played a $4-$8 game with a $1 - $2 blind structure. Raising preflop requires a $4 raise. That was a bit hard to get used to. It was not good to raise unless you wanted to push people out because even a raise on the large blind would cause some to fold.
They use quarters so the rake stays pretty close to 10%. Caps at $4. High Hand award is taken in two steps.
What was interesting is that as well as paying off for high hand, they splashed the next pot with chips that anyone at the table might win.
Comps did no accumulate. If you played more than 3 hours, you got $4 food comp, so it did not pay in comps to play long sessions.

I also played a cheap tournament here with no buy ins. I did well in the beginning and then got a little too loose. I am not a very good no limit player.

JOKERS WILD

This casino is farther down the Boulder Strip and into Henderson. This was an unusual $2-$4 spread limit game. The rake escapes me. It was interesting, however as the craps table which allows $1 bets and $10 odds. They even have quarter chips so they can pay correctly on bets like placing the 6/8. I think it is the best craps in all of Vegas.

EXCALIBUR

I played both the $3-$6 and the $2-$6 spread limit. They raked $4 and then one $1 for high hand awards which consisted of a large wheel to be spun for high hands or cracked aces. Most awards were small. You might double or triple a small win if you hit that on the first spin.
I spun on cracked aces once and got $25.

PALMS

Like Sam's Town they had a $4-$8 game that had a blind of $1 - $2. The rake capped at $3. They took another $1 for high hands and a diamond flush daily contest, but had no bad beat. While we played, the brush splashed the pot with a nice new deck of Palms Playboy playing cards. I did not win the cards, but the woman who did asked if I would like them. I used them this week in a local game.
The Palms did reduce the rake in the morning before more than 5 arrived to play.
Palms also had an award for cracked kings or aces before noon.
I am always a bit nostalgic playing at the Palms as that is where a dealer named Joe first taught me to play Hold Em. I was disappointed when the stud game broke up, and he convinced me to give it a try. I have played nothing else ever since.

GOLD COAST

I just played a $22 tournament here where I was eliminated first in the limit pre-session. I held an ace high heart flush and a fellow with 8-10 two pair caught a ten on the river.

I was waiting for my family to finish their massages at the Palms, so I tried a bit of the 9/6 JOB. I was dealt 9-10-K-J-A of spades and groaned as I held everything except the 9. The queen came in its place for the Royal. No more groans. That money managed to keep me gambling all week.
I did not check out the Gold Coast regular game, but the dealer at El Cortez said that late at night dealers from the Rio go there to play and it is an easy game. Somehow that does not seem to make sense.


TEXAS STATION

They take $1 at every ten until they cap at $4. Another $1 for the BB awards. One BB was four tens beat. If this was hit in any station casino, it would be shared by players in all the station casinos playing at the time of the hit. A second BB which was only local required aces full to be beat. A royal paid $250. No other high hand awards.

FITZGERALDS

I did not play here. There was no players when I arrived, and the dealer I talked to was a young snot who insisted that all Vegas poker rooms had the same rake. I wish now I had thrown $50 on the table and offered to bet him that once he had explained how they raked at Fitz, I could show him a Vegas limit game nearby that raked quite differently.
But I pressed until he finally explained how they take the rake and the rule. They take quarters, starting right away. So there is always a rake, even if the blinds chop. They take %10 capping at $4 with $1 for the Bad Beat.
He said they were going to eliminate the BB and offer freeroll coupons. I explained that this was a tactic more suitable to attract locals than tourists. He could not really understand anything I said. He needed to be the expert always.
I advise you to skip this poker room, take your LVA coupon for an extra appetizer and order two orders of the home made potato chips at the Vue bar where they have an 8/5 Bonus Poker progressive that will entertain you with a free beer while you eat your $2.50 in chips, doubled for free.


BALLY'S

Another one to avoid is this one. They rake $5 and then take $1 for the bad beat. This is really excessive. Also when the players got down to 5, they would not reduce the rake. Playing 5 people with such a huge rake, it is really impossible to win much. I went really to get a taste of the Alaskan Ale I heard that they comped, but that is gone. So I suppose I won't be back.

EL CORTEZ

This continues to be a unique Vegas game and my favorite. The room is full of characters ( see my snippet of El Cortez narratives). I meet and learn about more of them every trip. And in the midst of these local eccentrics, down comes Jackie Gaughn dressed to the nines. He cannot play very well now at 87, but he is there almost every day. One day he stayed until 11PM. I heard one day too he dropped 5 racks. This is something at a $1-$3 - $6 game.
This is spread limit: $1-3 until the river, then $1-$6. It is a lot of fun. Some play it who can't play at all. Others cannot be beat.
The rake is capped at $2.50. They take in two stages an extra $1 for the high hands. Only two high hands a day are awarded. The money collected is divided at 2 Am each day with the two winners getting 2/3 and 1/3. The tally is ready by 4 AM.
I hit a 10 high straight flush one morning and saw my had get knocked back by a royal an hour later. You need only hold one card to qualify. I held two, but the royal guy held only the K. Then all day I wondered if I'd be beat. I showed up at midnight to count down the minutes and had a good deal of bantering fun until the brush said the time was up and announced me the winner of second place.
As a high hand award, I think it is the best because it does not really change play all that much, especially at night. By then few hands are left that will win so the game is not much affected.
The next morning I was dealt 4 kings and a straight flush to the nine, but I had folded the cards preflop before the hands developed.
The only bad aspect is if I play on the day you are heading home, I can't collect. The money gets moved over to the next day. Winners must collect in person.
Every other day you can ask for a $5 food comp to Kitty's.

COLORADO BELLE LAUGHLIN

I played $2-$6 spread limit game. I hope I can remember this right. I could be off as I did not write it down. I think the rake capped at $3. They then took $2 for the high hand and bad beat awards.
Those were the most complicated I have ever seen.
All high hands paid $25 except the hand of the day that paid $100. You did not have to have a pair in your hand, but your kicker had to play by tying or beating the board. So if you held A-7 and three sevens came on the flop, you would win. I can't remember if it had to go to the river.
About five cracked aces were paid starting in the morning. They got $100. Post-its were on a pole letting you know how many opportunities were left. Once the aces cracked opportunities were over, there was no award. So you needed to keep your wits about you.
Royal flushes with 2 in your hand were paid huge amounts in the thousands. Other straight flushes were paid in the hundreds.
There was a bad beat, but I had lost the details.

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