Hollywood Casino (Columbus, Ohio)

played here a bit this winter

will be passing through town again

anyone here play in the dedicated poker clubs that are like a $20 fee to enter and then no rake? considering checking those places out next time instead

Sure, the Shark Tank is the most popular one.

It's in a strip mall, maybe a half hour from Hollywood. They took advantage when the casino was closed during COVID, and the Tank stayed open and dragged in a ton of new regulars. So much so they took over the spot next to them and doubled their size. They are a bit more tournament focused so they won't have the 20+ cash games to choose from like HW in the evening, but they do have a website so you can see what cash games are up and running, and even register online I believe. The cash games that are going tend to play larger (e.g., the 1/2 at the Tank often plays like the 2/5 at HW). No alcohol and limited food on premises so that's a drawback compared to HW, but in that same strip mall there are a couple of bars and some food joints that people dash over to during breaks, but unlike at HW, you can't sit there and sip a beer while you play at the Tank.

are they self deal?

is it a risk of collusion type place because it's a grey area in terms of regulation or you think the games are solid

I imagine without rake it's a much better game

I added some additional info to my original response, FYI, just now.

But no, it's not self-deal, they have professional dealers on "staff" (who aren't technically paid by the Tank as I understand it, they are "volunteers" to help with some of the legal gray-area stuff as you mention, so the dealers rely on player tips). I never got the sense that the risk of collusion is any greater there than at the casino; just because the casino is regulated, it isn't like the commission is on-site watching out for players colluding, they don't give a **** and seem to exist pretty much just to give the casino a hard time, lol.

I personally prefer the casino overall just because of the ready availability of lots of cash games the entire time they are open (and I like to sip some beers while I play), but the Shark Tank is also large, spacious, clean, and well run, so it's not like you'll have the feeling of walking into some scummy shady joint.

thanks, really appreciate it

i saw the shark tank last time i was there because there's a dope Korean bbq and Korean market in that stripmall - it's quite close to where I stayed last time but had a bunch of sports bets I needed to hit so focused on hollywood

What's the PLO scene like at Hollywood and do they allow vlogging? Thinking about making a trip

PLO is somewhat intermittent. Once or twice a week there is a "featured" game that is more reliable, it tends to be scheduled days in advance and can be found on Bravo app. But best bet for a PLO game tends to be weekend late afternoon/early evenings.

No idea about vlogging, I'm not sure what that entails; I suppose it depends on exactly what/when you are doing. You absolutely can't be on a phone call while in a hand, so if your vlogging looks anything like that, the dealer will likely say something. They also probably wouldn't be too keen on videoing action during a hand. I play there a few times a week and I've never seen it done, so I don't have any frame of reference. The poker room phone number is on the app, though, so the best bet might be to call and ask in advance.

Hey BrickMMA,

Quick question—what types of raises are standard at the 1/2 tables? And when does that tend to change throughout the day?

From what I remember, the early games used to be full of older, more passive players. What are the later-night lineups like now? I’d imagine it’s still a mix of passive players and TAGs?

They’re still running 1/2 with a 200bb max buy-in, right?

Also, I’m staying near the Convention Center and will be in town until Sunday. Any recommendations for things to do while I’m here? And do you happen to know how far the downtown dispensaries are?

Thanks again for all the updates from the previous threads—super helpful.

1/2 with a 200bb max buy-in is correct. If you have the Bravo Live app, you can sign in there, and see the current promos that are running.

Standard raises vary by table - I've found it beneficial to watch what the others do for a few hands and use similar amounts.

Evenings are definitely a mix - again, varies by table.

great game. weak players. was stuck and card dead, but when I ran got for about 45 minutes I smacked for about 300 in 4 hours.

playing tomorrow 500 every 15

10 dollar min seems to be the best sizing to thin the field.

7 EP gets about 5-7 on avg. very small sample.

Sorry, was playing all weekend and didn't check in here to see your post. Sounds like you played yesterday for the $500 every 15; who knows, we might have played together! I played 8 hours and ended up a whopping $14, lol.

But yes, as you note the regular raise is in the vicinity of $10. Some do $7, some do $12. I do $15 pretty much no matter what I am holding (if I am the first raiser), as in my experience even $12 there gets too many callers, but $15 seems to spook a few more people for some reason. If I three-bet on a Saturday morning, the OMCs all start grumbling like I'm Mike Matusow or something, lol. "Maniac!"

Correct read on the early games being OMCs, and things livening up as the day goes on. And yes, 200bb buy-ins (e.g., $400 max for 1-2 NL).

Terrasana in the Grandview area just off of I70 is probably the most convenient dispensary to the casino. Maybe 15 minutes max. Only 5 minutes from the convention center area.

I played yesterday.
I played another 4 hours
won about 370.

8 hours total at 70 per

I'll be heading there shortly for my last night.

beautiful managers my god.
I'll be back, LoL
I'm in Cleveland

if your free I'll be outside blazing.

the old lady with the hat.
everytime i see her she is an old reg. the tables seems good.

you have to know who im talking about. last year I remember her. she works at OSU

boring tables in all honesty. great for a beginner to play against all kinds of passives.

lots of bb and a great opportunity for beginners.

I scraped some data for traveling and lodging and other things a grinder might come here to do.

the dealers were, meh, just on autopilot. nothing special.

the women in the cage. different story. top notch. the blonde. if I was younger I would be stupid.

Columbus was simple and a decent place.

13 hours logged at 80 an hour.

Might be Karen.

I haven't played here in about three months. Does anyone know if they changed from 1-2nl to 1-3nl? Has this changed the player pool in any way? tighter? looser? more or less regs? I keep an eye on Bravo and it seems like there are less players now. Is this due to the weather or recent changes?

Yes, they went to 1-3 on October first. Straddle still allowed UTG or button, but is now $6 instead of $5. No other changes made to things like min/max buy-ins, promotions, etc.

I haven't noticed much in the way of changes to action; maybe a touch looser but not a ton. "Standard" preflop raises are still all over the place, with some people trying $6, but with the more aggressive/experienced players going $15 preflop standard (but I did that at 1-2 and I'm still doing it at 1-3, haven't changed that; might consider going to $20 as with $15 it seems I'm still getting 3-4 callers many times). So, maybe a bit looser regarding preflop raises, but I haven't yet made any adjustments as yet, still feeling things out. But when it was 1-2, I'd say the average "standard" preflop raise was $12, and it's still probably right around there. Would be interested in other opinions though if there are any other regs on here (I tend to play in the daytime with a tighter crowd that I exploit, but the night games might have loosened up more).

I doubt the change to 1-3 has any impact on number of players/games. It was long overdue, we'd been at 1-2 for 13 years, so if you just take inflation into account we were playing a much smaller game than we were when the place first opened in 2012. I heard virtually no complaints, most people welcomed the change (and in fact the only real complaints I heard were people wanting the 1-3 max raised from $400 to $500 along with the blind change).

Player pool has been smaller this fall, but if you live around here was you know the weather in September/October remained fantastic, like sunny and near 80 almost every day, so I think that had some impact.