Toronto

So how has series been going so far? Have alternate lists/waits to get in the tournament or rebuy been super long? If you aren't pre regged for an event is there any point to even going?

I have a conference at Woodbine in mid-June so plan to spend my evenings at the Casino at Great Canadian Toronto (what a name). As mentioned, rake seems insane. I will probably play, anyway, just for the experience -- and because I'm addicted.

Any tips? I'd love to play PLO, but looks as if the 20/40 1/2 kill limit is it for Omaha. Is it a good/active/fun game? For NLHE, are the 2/5 players generally good regs or bad fish?

Any good food, etc., that I shouldn't miss?

Thanks!

The Omaha is 20/40 limit high only. Pretty juicy game. You will sometimes see pots capped 8 ways preflop with many people coming with complete garbage hands. Most people in the game have a VPIP of 90%.

The other games have plenty of average/bad with a few good players sprinkled in.

Is it not hi-lo? Just asking as I've never played it

Also, what do people typically buy in for? I see it's listed as 400+ on pokeratlas

There is no hi-lo in Ontario casinos. (Maybe underground? Could be but I've never heard of it.)

I haven't played at Woodbine, but when that game runs at the Ex each August I've seen players sit down with anywhere from $800 to 3K. The former usually rebuy pretty quickly.

When the action gets going the kill is on about 3/4 of the time, so it's better to think of it as a 30/60 game.

Does the ex have no limit now? Even with ridiculous woodbine level rake it would probably be an insanely profitable game.

I've haven't played in the last couple of years but they had 1-2 NL the last time I was there. I sat in for an hour or so while waiting for the 20-40 1/2 kill Omaha. I would have seen more action if I'd been watching the weather channel. But when a seat in the Omaha game opened up it was the usual sheer craziness.

I'm surprised the NL action was that horrible. Maybe you were just unlucky and at a table full of grinders/OMCs. When I picture poker at the ex I'm picturing a much more casual crowd who just want to "try out" poker instead of your typical reg fish at Niagara that have years of experience playing poker but are still bad.

It's spread limit with 1/2 blinds and the EX now has the lowest legal rake in the GTA....

Toronto poker also lost a regular in the GTA rooms when Dutchie passed away a few days ago. I remember seeing him in Rama games a few times in the early 2000's but I stopped going to live games beyond playing or going with a buddy a day here and there since this time period. https://www.tsn.ca/long-time-tsn-broadca...

How are the 10-20 games? I see them popping up almost everyday.

I ended up playing last Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Friday afternoon. Less than two hours each session, but it was a blast. I had only $200 Canadian dollars on me (from a trip a few years ago), so I played the 1/3. Players were pretty bad in general 😉 I was surprised at all the tables going whenever I walked through -- even on Tuesday afternoon (didn't play).

The brush, players, and dealers were all very nice. Too bad the casino doesn't take better care of the players. I think you have to pay for soda/coffee, and there are no food comps -- or they are really low. Someone said a coffee was $5? I paid ~$10 for a glass of wine.

Ended up winning $445 total, so a good trip.

Having not been in the last few years, I went to the CNE on Sunday, and played 1-2 NL (with a $5 straddle on much of the time) from 2pm-9. I had more fun than I've had in my last few visits. It was an easy-going and convivial table, a good mixture of smart and very fishy players. Old-school that I am, I've never played much NL before, but I watched some videos before going, which helped me survive, and I booked a small win. (The rake is still outrageous, so winning is hard.)

I plan to go back a couple of more times. (It will be either Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Now that I'm in my eighties I no longer have the stamina for the all-night sessions I once played.)

I miss playing there. You still get a free CNE pass?

There are only so many in their 80's there. Wonder which one you were.

You still get a free CNE pas and parking but only if you play before the CNE opens (Aug 15th) and it's been like this for at least the past 2 years.

Yup, I remember, I'm sure way longer than that, at least over a decade.

d

I wound up playing 1-2NL two Sunday afternoons, staying through the early evenings, Aug 3 and Aug. 24. White guy; glasses, beard and mustache; medium build, 5'7"; somewhat chatty. Probably too much VPIP in both sessions but like to be involved in hands when I'm at the table so played a pretty broad range (but the table I was at the second time had a lot of players limping / calling ATC so I probably looked like one of the tighter players at that table).

Do you think you were at my table either time? If so, which one were you?

And, yes, not many players my age show up. The first time I played one of the players at the table was around my age (I remembered him from the early days of the CNE). But we couldn't have been more different. He remained silent (and didn't respond even when I said something to him) and mostly observed, playing very few hands and those passively.

That table had several good players (and was easier to play than the recent one when I would see six people call my open raise UTG with kings). One of the players at my first outing, with whom I had some interesting chats and battles, said he'd played an 8k buy-in in the WSOP ifn Vegas while there for a wedding and had made it to the final table.

I grew up in Texas and learned to play more than 70 years ago. I became really involved in the game in my first undergraduate career (which is why, after I got married and settled down, there had to be a second undergraduate career). I gave up poker in my middle years because my job took up all my free time, then edged back into it in the 80s in a small monthly home game and became a reg in the 90s when the Toronto charities were going. When they closed I went to online just in time to catch the boom and (like everyone else with a clue) did well while it lasted, even though I was still working full-time and could only put in about 20 hours a week. After Black Friday I occasionally played at Great Blue Heron and some other places around Toronto, tried online again for a while but didn't like the way tech was dominating things, and pretty much gave up everything but the monthly 5-10 home game that now been running for 40 years(!) now. Plus the annual CNE craziness.

Age does take its toll, however, and I can no longer do the 14-hour all-night sessions I once did.

Heads up, they recently raised the session fee at Niagara from 7 per half hour to 9 per half hour (18 an hour). Unwinnable rakes in Toronto and nearby.