Houston, TX Area Poker
This thread is for discussion of news/events in the Houston area, as well as a place to ask questions about poker in the area. This is also the place for discussions about the smaller card rooms in the area that do not warrant an individual venue thread.
Friday Mayhem at TCH Westheimer is pretty great. If you're registered before the tourney starts you get 2 hours of time added to your balance for cash play. Late reg? You get 1 hour. $25 entry fee and 10K guarantee. $20 rebuys for first 2 hours or so of play. Single or double $20 add on at end of registration for 25K or 50K in chips.
Only downside? Structure is a little steep after registration closes.
It's probably the best Friday night holdem in the Houston area.
Hey, does Houston have any rooms that have a dedicated/strictly plo game that runs everyday? Thinking about moving they're once I'm able so appreciate it alot.
Thank you.
Hey, does Houston have any rooms that have a dedicated/strictly plo game that runs everyday? Thinking about moving they're once I'm able so appreciate it alot.
Thank you.
I believe Legends is the hub of multiple PLO games daily.
I haven't played in Houston, but the problem I see in Austin is it's mostly 1/2 with a $5 bring-in, unlimited straddles from UTG and match the stack.
So guys with deep pockets and filthy Euros with no social skills jack it up, making it play like a shallow stacked 40/80 game.
The variance winds up through the roof, the fun, recreational players get chewed up too quick and you wind up having too many sharks and not enough fish
Hehe, thank you.
I believe Legends is the hub of multiple PLO games daily.
I haven't played in Houston, but the problem I see in Austin is it's mostly 1/2 with a $5 bring-in, unlimited straddles from UTG and match the stack.
So guys with deep pockets and filthy Euros with no social skills jack it up, making it play like a shallow stacked 40/80 game.
The variance winds up through the roof, the fun, recreational players get chewed up too quick and you wind up having too many sharks and not enough fish
How does higher variance hurt the fish? If the game were zero variance, the fish would never win at all. As such, why would "average" variance be better for the fish, and higher variance worse, if zero variance is the worst possible for the fish?
How does higher variance hurt the fish? If the game were zero variance, the fish would never win at all. As such, why would "average" variance be better for the fish, and higher variance worse, if zero variance is the worst possible for the fish?
When the variance gets too high, the game won't develop a core of regular players that will be there to start games and keep games going. Thus the fish won't be able to play -- an example is limit Omaha high only.
Variance needs to be balanced against the win rate for the better players. When the sweet spot is hit, expect the game to last a long time.
By the way a good discussion of this appears in my book Cardrooms, Everything Bad and How to Make Them Better. Also, I have just updated this book (a little) and as soon as Amazon gets it loaded in, I'll be giving away free kindles of the new version and will make an announcement as to when it'll be available to pick up for free.
How does higher variance hurt the fish? If the game were zero variance, the fish would never win at all. As such, why would "average" variance be better for the fish, and higher variance worse, if zero variance is the worst possible for the fish?
Because the fun recs come in to play a 1/2/5 game filled with deep-pocketed straddling bullies who piss and moan if you aren't willing to put the $40 straddle on so they can put the 80 on.
The grinders and euros are generally miserable to be around, and they make the game play massive compared to the advertised stakes of 1/2/5
This makes it impossible for newcomers to learn PLO as they get chewed up and spat out because of the variance, it's hard to beat deep pockets that can keep matching your stack.
So the fun recs stop coming, and you get multiple shitty games full of misregs all waiting for 1-2 fish to show up to nibble on.
Back when I lived in Tampa we had a rock instead of unlimited straddles, and usually 2-3 grinders at a table instead of 70% of the table being comprised of them
