Near the end of August there will be a poker room once again at Linq.
They will try a 1-1 NL game.
Here is what I think about that game.
I'm not an expert and the variation in poker is largely a factor of who sits at the table.
That being said. 1-1 is basically a low stakes 1-2 game with a smaller minimum buy-in.
In some places the minimum is as little as $20 and the maximum $60. Linq advertises a minimum of $50. I don't know about max. I think in Vegas most 1-2 games have a minimum of $100. If the max is unlimited at Linq, then some of the advantage of the lower blinds goes away for frugal players.
In theory 1-1 should not play much differently than 1-2. In practice, I've found it attracts folks who don't aim to make a lot of money and don't play as well as 1-2 players, often loser players who are out to have fun. That might also be local rocks who play every day on small bankrolls and play for freerolls and food comps and the odd chance to find a table with 3 or less fish.
It might mean tourists who would play 2-4, but like no limit if the by-in is more affordable.
It attracts players who want a bit more action, who don't want to wait an hour for the playable hand.
Sometimes 1-1 becomes a flop game. It is almost an understanding at such times that no one makes preflop raises.
Almost every round the minimum of $1 is called until the flop.
Few preflop raises. Hardly any preflop reraises.
I am much happier with a flop game. That means it is more like 2-4 limit in play. In fact, if you best like playing after the flop, this no limit game offers a bargain because it always costs at least $2 to see the flop in any limit game. Here you might see the flop for just $1.
Folks will play more hands because it may only cost a $1. Those who don't like chasers won't like this game. Those who like permission to chase a bit and to play more hands will like it.
Button raises to see a free card (a common technique in limit poker) will often work in this case as well. So if you play J-Q on the button and make a small preflop raise (in some games even a min raise of a dollar,) you might get table respect even from those who have flopped two pair. They wait for you to bet again so they can raise. But you check and get a free card. So, if K-A comes on the flop, you can just check and see the turn for free. If this works on a particular table, it gives you permission to play even middle connectors or hands like K-X suited on the button. And if you catch, you are not limited when betting the turn/river as you are in limit poker.
It also means that you might see a lot of your blind hands for free. Both blinds are $1, so even the small blind sees the flop for free if there is no preflop raise. So you play more hands.
In this game tight players are less likely to get blinded to death. They have blind bet two hands out of 9/10 but they see the flop for free, so all of a sudden their 2-3 off suit has flopped the wheel.
Of course, what can be a rather tight game until the flop with some selection of players, can become a maniac game with players pushing all the time with another group. It depends on who sits down. What is a game requiring less bankroll to play, can become a game that it is easy to bully. I don't much like that game, and I won't play it. I generally watch a game before I take a seat. I leave a table if it evolves into a game of maniac bingo.
Bluffing power is reduced especially at a new table. Everyone has just $50. It is harder to bully with that.
It is hard to get a lose enough limit table to overcome the huge rakes the casinos now take. This game helps with that as well. Pots are generally bigger than 2-4. You generally won't end up passing around winning post while the house takes a third of the money out of each one.
That being said, if you get stuck at a short table with 6 rocks and see no pot every approaches a size to offer much of a profit and no one plays second or third best, then it is time to get up and leave. Join a loose 2-4 with all seats taken. Join a newly opened game. That happens at Mohegan. I move from 1-1 to 2-4 depending on how much action is at the table.
Finally, if you do have the best hand and accurately put your opponent on something less, you can more often get them to call their second or third best hand than you can in 1-2.
Again. Every table is different depending upon who sits down.
I play with a limited bankroll, so this 1-1 cuts my entry buy-in in half. I can more often play this game than 1-2. In Vegas I never play 1-2.
Also, the social aspect of the game may be better. NL is generally all about poker: poker faces, poker mathematics, poker macho attitudes, sun glasses, uptight and sometimes unhappy opponents.
2-4 in Vegas offers another value. It is like sitting down at a bar with strangers and striking up conversation. Serious poker players want nothing to do with talk or stories or joking banter.
2-4 players are just there for the fun.
1-1 is somewhere in the middle. However, those of us who appreciate the social/story aspect of the game may find that 1-1 attracts people who can have a discussion that isn't limited to "outs" and strategies. In a city where people come from all over the world, a poker table of storytellers is what I'm looking for.
And I like it when the pretty girls outnumber the old grumps
*************************************************
postscript added when a board poster liked the above information:
Just pay good attention to the other players before you sit down at a table. Look at their chips stacks. The 1-1 games I play have buy ins from $20 to $60 or $50 to $100. This one is $50 to $300. If players come and most buy in for $300 then it is just a 1-2 game with one lower blind and much farther from limit poker than the game might be had they limited maximum buy in to low roller amounts. I did not know the $300 MAX when I posted that long post you quoted. I'm sorry Linq went with that option.
That large MAX buy-in can fundamentally change the game, adding back in the bluffing and bullying aspects that don't come in those smaller MAX games. Hopefully, the dedicated no limit players will still be attracted to the 1-2 games where there is tighter play and less chasing, less preflop limping and more preflop options to push out low chipped guys. Many limit players hate playing at a table with many low chipped players because they can't read a $40 all-in bet, can't go over the top to push out.
Of course, some MAX buy-in players will still be hopping in and out of the 1-1 while they wait for seats at the games they really want to play, and they may hop with large buy-ins and destroy the low roller aspect of the 1-1. That happens in limit games. But limit is so much different that often good limit players have an advantage over the no limit players because of the amount of chips opponents have has much less importance in a limit game.
I suggest you watch the games a while. If you see little preflop raising (or only min raises) and see that chip stacks are fairly low, then it might be a good game for a limit player. Even if one player buys-in for the MAX, it won't be bad because you can stay away from that player.
However, this game won't be like the games where all-in losers have to start with low chip stacks and work their way up slowly with good play. If you see players losing all-in bets and rebuying for large amounts, go back to limit. If you buy-in for $50 and a good all-in bet doubles you up, but others are matching you by just pulling more dough from their pockets, then quit after you double up.
Oh, one other thing. Don't drink alcohol when playing this game. Drinking at a limit game, once you have a good feel for the game and sense of the table is not much a problem. In fact, at games filled with good tight players, free alcohol is perhaps the only way in a 2-4 to get enough value to overcome the rake. And if you are a good limit player, a bit of drink and acting out may give you a better table image than you could ever fake. I have often won more drunk because folks would call me and pay me. But drinking in no limit is suicide, especially if you are new to the nuances. You have to be attuned to so much more in no limit and the drink reduces those perceptions. And mistakes in NL are much more costly.
Another fun move out of limit poker with little $$ risk is to try those Plaza tournament games on the electronic tables for buy-ins from $5 to $15. Those are low roller dreams and will give you a sense of no limit, although tournament play is a bit different from no limit cash game play if you want to get in the money.
For some those games seem like internet poker, but I don't see any truth in that argument; there is not much comparison except that it is electronic. No one is home in their underwear. No one is playing while on the phone to a fellow player sharing information. No one is playing with some computer program that helps decide options. The entire ambiance of the casino is around. Pretty women pass. At the Plaza you may have live jazz just across the casino floor.
The social aspect is alive and well. No one is home alone.
There is still plenty of interaction with other players, often times more because there is no dealer to butt into every player conversation. Lower rake, no tip, no chance to bet out of turn, no difficulty in seeing how much opponents have, no misdeals, much less calling of the floor for arguments over who said/ did what and when, no prematurely revealed cards, no need to have a card protector, no dropping of chips, and no sharing of every live germ any player carries with them. ( Chips are the dirtiest bits in casinos.)
They will try a 1-1 NL game.
Here is what I think about that game.
I'm not an expert and the variation in poker is largely a factor of who sits at the table.
That being said. 1-1 is basically a low stakes 1-2 game with a smaller minimum buy-in.
In some places the minimum is as little as $20 and the maximum $60. Linq advertises a minimum of $50. I don't know about max. I think in Vegas most 1-2 games have a minimum of $100. If the max is unlimited at Linq, then some of the advantage of the lower blinds goes away for frugal players.
In theory 1-1 should not play much differently than 1-2. In practice, I've found it attracts folks who don't aim to make a lot of money and don't play as well as 1-2 players, often loser players who are out to have fun. That might also be local rocks who play every day on small bankrolls and play for freerolls and food comps and the odd chance to find a table with 3 or less fish.
It might mean tourists who would play 2-4, but like no limit if the by-in is more affordable.
It attracts players who want a bit more action, who don't want to wait an hour for the playable hand.
Sometimes 1-1 becomes a flop game. It is almost an understanding at such times that no one makes preflop raises.
Almost every round the minimum of $1 is called until the flop.
Few preflop raises. Hardly any preflop reraises.
I am much happier with a flop game. That means it is more like 2-4 limit in play. In fact, if you best like playing after the flop, this no limit game offers a bargain because it always costs at least $2 to see the flop in any limit game. Here you might see the flop for just $1.
Folks will play more hands because it may only cost a $1. Those who don't like chasers won't like this game. Those who like permission to chase a bit and to play more hands will like it.
Button raises to see a free card (a common technique in limit poker) will often work in this case as well. So if you play J-Q on the button and make a small preflop raise (in some games even a min raise of a dollar,) you might get table respect even from those who have flopped two pair. They wait for you to bet again so they can raise. But you check and get a free card. So, if K-A comes on the flop, you can just check and see the turn for free. If this works on a particular table, it gives you permission to play even middle connectors or hands like K-X suited on the button. And if you catch, you are not limited when betting the turn/river as you are in limit poker.
It also means that you might see a lot of your blind hands for free. Both blinds are $1, so even the small blind sees the flop for free if there is no preflop raise. So you play more hands.
In this game tight players are less likely to get blinded to death. They have blind bet two hands out of 9/10 but they see the flop for free, so all of a sudden their 2-3 off suit has flopped the wheel.
Of course, what can be a rather tight game until the flop with some selection of players, can become a maniac game with players pushing all the time with another group. It depends on who sits down. What is a game requiring less bankroll to play, can become a game that it is easy to bully. I don't much like that game, and I won't play it. I generally watch a game before I take a seat. I leave a table if it evolves into a game of maniac bingo.
Bluffing power is reduced especially at a new table. Everyone has just $50. It is harder to bully with that.
It is hard to get a lose enough limit table to overcome the huge rakes the casinos now take. This game helps with that as well. Pots are generally bigger than 2-4. You generally won't end up passing around winning post while the house takes a third of the money out of each one.
That being said, if you get stuck at a short table with 6 rocks and see no pot every approaches a size to offer much of a profit and no one plays second or third best, then it is time to get up and leave. Join a loose 2-4 with all seats taken. Join a newly opened game. That happens at Mohegan. I move from 1-1 to 2-4 depending on how much action is at the table.
Finally, if you do have the best hand and accurately put your opponent on something less, you can more often get them to call their second or third best hand than you can in 1-2.
Again. Every table is different depending upon who sits down.
I play with a limited bankroll, so this 1-1 cuts my entry buy-in in half. I can more often play this game than 1-2. In Vegas I never play 1-2.
Also, the social aspect of the game may be better. NL is generally all about poker: poker faces, poker mathematics, poker macho attitudes, sun glasses, uptight and sometimes unhappy opponents.
2-4 in Vegas offers another value. It is like sitting down at a bar with strangers and striking up conversation. Serious poker players want nothing to do with talk or stories or joking banter.
2-4 players are just there for the fun.
1-1 is somewhere in the middle. However, those of us who appreciate the social/story aspect of the game may find that 1-1 attracts people who can have a discussion that isn't limited to "outs" and strategies. In a city where people come from all over the world, a poker table of storytellers is what I'm looking for.
And I like it when the pretty girls outnumber the old grumps
*************************************************
postscript added when a board poster liked the above information:
Just pay good attention to the other players before you sit down at a table. Look at their chips stacks. The 1-1 games I play have buy ins from $20 to $60 or $50 to $100. This one is $50 to $300. If players come and most buy in for $300 then it is just a 1-2 game with one lower blind and much farther from limit poker than the game might be had they limited maximum buy in to low roller amounts. I did not know the $300 MAX when I posted that long post you quoted. I'm sorry Linq went with that option.
That large MAX buy-in can fundamentally change the game, adding back in the bluffing and bullying aspects that don't come in those smaller MAX games. Hopefully, the dedicated no limit players will still be attracted to the 1-2 games where there is tighter play and less chasing, less preflop limping and more preflop options to push out low chipped guys. Many limit players hate playing at a table with many low chipped players because they can't read a $40 all-in bet, can't go over the top to push out.
Of course, some MAX buy-in players will still be hopping in and out of the 1-1 while they wait for seats at the games they really want to play, and they may hop with large buy-ins and destroy the low roller aspect of the 1-1. That happens in limit games. But limit is so much different that often good limit players have an advantage over the no limit players because of the amount of chips opponents have has much less importance in a limit game.
I suggest you watch the games a while. If you see little preflop raising (or only min raises) and see that chip stacks are fairly low, then it might be a good game for a limit player. Even if one player buys-in for the MAX, it won't be bad because you can stay away from that player.
However, this game won't be like the games where all-in losers have to start with low chip stacks and work their way up slowly with good play. If you see players losing all-in bets and rebuying for large amounts, go back to limit. If you buy-in for $50 and a good all-in bet doubles you up, but others are matching you by just pulling more dough from their pockets, then quit after you double up.
Oh, one other thing. Don't drink alcohol when playing this game. Drinking at a limit game, once you have a good feel for the game and sense of the table is not much a problem. In fact, at games filled with good tight players, free alcohol is perhaps the only way in a 2-4 to get enough value to overcome the rake. And if you are a good limit player, a bit of drink and acting out may give you a better table image than you could ever fake. I have often won more drunk because folks would call me and pay me. But drinking in no limit is suicide, especially if you are new to the nuances. You have to be attuned to so much more in no limit and the drink reduces those perceptions. And mistakes in NL are much more costly.
Another fun move out of limit poker with little $$ risk is to try those Plaza tournament games on the electronic tables for buy-ins from $5 to $15. Those are low roller dreams and will give you a sense of no limit, although tournament play is a bit different from no limit cash game play if you want to get in the money.
For some those games seem like internet poker, but I don't see any truth in that argument; there is not much comparison except that it is electronic. No one is home in their underwear. No one is playing while on the phone to a fellow player sharing information. No one is playing with some computer program that helps decide options. The entire ambiance of the casino is around. Pretty women pass. At the Plaza you may have live jazz just across the casino floor.
The social aspect is alive and well. No one is home alone.
There is still plenty of interaction with other players, often times more because there is no dealer to butt into every player conversation. Lower rake, no tip, no chance to bet out of turn, no difficulty in seeing how much opponents have, no misdeals, much less calling of the floor for arguments over who said/ did what and when, no prematurely revealed cards, no need to have a card protector, no dropping of chips, and no sharing of every live germ any player carries with them. ( Chips are the dirtiest bits in casinos.)
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