Playground Poker Club (Kahnawake, QC)

Seeing as how my TR and several posts discussing Playground Poker in the Casino de Montreal thread was deleted, I figured we may as well start a new thread for Playground. For those who don't know, Playground is a new poker club that opened in Montreal. It's located on the Kahnawake reserve, meaning it is not limited by Quebec's gaming laws which in practice means they can serve food and alcoholic beverages on the tables and spread PLO.

Side note: For non-Canadians and Canadians who may need some refreshing of high school social studies, aboriginal reserves are self governing; they do not fall into the Canadian provincial or federal system. Which means if the governing body on the reserve allows PLO to be spread and alcohol to be drunk on the tables, any club on the reserve can spread PLO and serve alcohol on the tables without any legal repercussions from the provincial or federal government.

Now, off to the TR.

I was at Playground on their second day. Some dealers and servers told me missing opening day was a blessing in disguise as it was much more packed and much more hectic. I made the trip over to play in their freebuy ($0 to enter, $50 to rebuy) tournament and their $100 NLHE freeze out. We will come to my performances at the tournaments shortly.

Playground is very comfortable and enjoyable room to play in. They have huge adjustable swivel chairs for the players. The decor is modern and simple with almost a nightclub-ish vibe. It appeals to a younger crowd but at the same time, doesn't keep old school card players away. The dealers and floor men were all friendly, welcoming and accommodating. Before the tournament started, the dealers didn't mind - and rather enjoyed - chatting with players about the club, the house rules, the weather, etc. The cocktail waitresses are HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. To avoid being a misogynist pig, let me just leave it at this: they are all 8.5 or above. Food wise, I hadn't eaten much from their menu but what I had, I really liked. They make a mean burger. A lot of fellow players agreed that the food is very good.

If you really wanted me to be nit picky, I suppose I could say some of the dealers could use a bit more experience and training. However, all the dealers that dealt with me (pun fully intended) were friendly and professional and they all tried their hardest. Hiring new and younger dealers is expected from a new club and they could only get better with time. Also, the wait time for food and drink was a bit long but then again, the club was packed.

The club also arranged for Mike McDonald (Timex), Eric Cajelias, and some other pros to make appearances during the opening weekend; they sat at 1/2 tables. They made an announcement over the PA system that anyone who bluffs out a pro on the river gets $500 prize. It's a shame I didn't have a chance to play with them as I was busy grinding away at the tourneys. For those who care to see how I performed, read on. For those who do not, feel free to post your own questions, comments, etc.

So, registered for the free buy tournament. Started off running pretty meh. Getting dealt a lot of unplayable or marginal hands. Atleast I wasn't getting dealt strong hands that turn into second best on the river. I managed to make it almost to the second break. By that point, my stack was around 10bb so I decided to bluff shove suited connectors/1 gappers in position. 34ss got called by AQ and AQ held so I'm out. Went and got some food, chilled out, watched some sports on TV, and rebooted for the second tournament, the $100 NLHE freeze out.

Again, started off running pretty meh. I did set over set somebody and hit a flush draw vs a short stacker but I did not see a single flop voluntarily until level 4. During the middle stages, I was perpetually short stacked. I would repeatedly bluff shove or double up then find myself back down to 10-15bb as the blinds doubled the next hand. However, my tight image paid off as I got away with a couple quick ones. I shipped KQ on the button, short stacked and BB tank folds AQ, shows it to me, and says he's convinced I had AA, KK, or AK. Phew, that was close. After continuous short stacking play, I find myself at the final table. Whoohoo! First hand of the FT and last hand before a break, I'm UTG and look down at 2 beautiful aces. With 10 BBs left, there can be nothing more beautiful, not even that really cute chick I was about to knock out. I decided to stop 'n go as there's a LAG and a couple short stackers to my left. I limped the AA, LAG raises, cute chick/short stacker shoves, I shove on top and the LAG folds AJ face up. The other short stacker flips over 88 and I hold. However, it turns out she covers me by 2K chips which was less than a small blind at the time. When it became 7 or 8 handed, there were discussions of a chop. I would consistently refuse to chop and it really pissed off the guy on my left. He kept pestering me to chop until I yelled at him.

Whirlwind of flying cards and chips later, we find ourselves 4 handed. It was a bloody grueling game. There were a couple levels where we just exchanged blinds and antes. Then one guy was knocked out and the 3 of us exchanged blinds and antes. Then I knocked out the third guy and find myself heads up with the guy who kept pestering me to chop. I think he was still pissed I wouldn't chop so he said he'd shove every hand and call all my shoves. I totally didn't mind as I shipped 88 against his K6 and hold (actually, door card was an 8). Boom $2250 (yeah that doesn't seem like much but I'm a student/micro stakes grinder. It meant a bit to me) and a bag of free schwag with Playground Poker logos on them like caps and pens and stuff.

I'd like to give a shout out to Brent. He's a cool guy in general and a competent and friendly floor man in particular.

Yep, that's about what I have to say about Playground. I'd urge any Montrealer who hasn't yet to make a trip over and any card playing tourists should give it a spin as well.