Aria (Las Vegas, NV)

Last year at WSOP we could get on the list with Bravo online (Unless it was Poker Atlas). Then when you go in you check in with the staff.

Diamonds get priority to go to ahead on wait lists.

Straddles allowed from any position, with UTG getting priority. Button can also straddle or re-straddle.

One restraddle only.

If it was a 5 10 game they allowed straddles from 20 or 25 it's up to the players.

Of course most dealers or players won't know the rules and it was a lot of confusion going on every day.

Some tables would get an UTG straddle going or some times Button straddles the whole table would do it....

I didn't usually have any trouble getting through with Aria on the Phone during WSOP. As someone else stated, they take call ins in the past.

it wouldn't make any sense for them to stop call ins, unless they let people check in on the app like they do at the Wynn....

I don't think it's going to be a problem to get in cash games at Aria over the summer. They will be prepared for this.

Thank you, this info is very appreciated. Horseshoe/Paris allowing straddles from anywhere might actually change my plans quite a bit. I wish Aria and Wynn would allow button straddle, especially for 1/2 PLO.

Good old nit stradddle

button straddle where action starts on sb, or button straddle where action starts utg?

Might change where he chooses to stay.

Or Button straddle with ultimate last action?

You guys should get a room and stop cluttering up this thread.

Sorry if wrong thread, figured would ask since we are on the paris/wsop topic, Anyone know if wsop was giving hourly comps last year for cash games? Or same as previous years and have to annoy the floor person asking for a comp?

If it's a table where the straddle is on UTG and re straddle is allowed, this is great cause action players like to re straddle on the button

Or just a table where it's optional and some guys like straddle the button randomly.

Action starts UTG

Why would someone want to straddle UTG if the whole table wasn't doing it?

But on the button, it's not nearly as minus EV to throw one out there.

Straddling the button when action starts UTG and the BB closes the action pre is only marginally better than straddling UTG, assuming we’re talking about a 100bb 8-max game with short stacks.

You’re rarely going to be putting chips in with hands you wouldn’t already be continuing with without the button straddle

Because button straddle isn't very minus EV (it's actually plus EV in a good game—I hope the anti-straddle 2+2 mods don't ban me for saying that!), it encourages more people to straddle. More people straddling, more variance. And you have to inject variance into the 1/2 PLO game for 1k stacks to to get in on the reg.

That game is sleepy a lot of the time. Then someone will propose a round or more of straddles and most will agree. And the table wakes up instantly.

because most of the table is doing it so don't kill the game if one or two people aren't.

The 1/2 structure seems to encourage very tight play. Something to spice it up would be useful. I like the 2/5 PLO games with optional straddle much better that I played in other cities.

Too many nit regs in the 1/2 games but they can be good at times right?

Yea but where should we get a room at? We might want to stay somewhere different if Paris poker room isn't taking call ins

Is Aria still allowing straddles at the NL 5/10 games?

It says 5/10 NLH - 10$ BB ante on the wait list

Good at times, yes. But Vegas is the worst place to play poker. Every poker room in Vegas is structured to encourage very tight play.

Several employees told me Ryan Kirk actually was working on getting a button straddle in the game. But then Wynn stole him from Aria last month.

Even if button straddle stars UTG instead of SB, straddle still has last action.

Mississippi is different than button straddle. MS can be from anywhere except a blind. Action starts left of the straddle. Priority to later position (usually). Never seen MS played with a restraddle option

TAG-pros seem to stay in the game longer now instead of leaving when it starts getting bad. First-in opening raises lean toward 50 instead of 75. But the action is mostly the same.

I’ve written that the button straddle in a good game is positive EV.

With that being said, I don’t think from the perspective of the poker room that any straddles should be allowed. It has the potential of putting some players into a short stack situation which I don’t think is good for the game in the long run. I do recognize that the standard UTG straddle is too well entrenched to get it ended.

Respectfully and totally disagree. Poker boom aside, games don't get better over time. They get worse (especially when they're structured to be nit-friendly). One way to save a dying game is to inject variance into it.

Deeper stacks at 2/5 and 1/3 and turning 1/2 into 1/3 saved NLH a little bit. Deep 2/5 is the new 5/10, and deep 1/3 is the new 2/5.

Antes would be great too. I wonder how significantly games would improve with the big blind paying an ante of 3x or 5x the big blind.

PLO in many (most?) places is typically played with a gentleman's agreement to auto-straddle. Only in Vegas are there a plethora of nit-regs who adamantly refuse to straddle.

Fish have money they want to give away. You have to give them a chance to do it.

Too many times I've seen whales want to dump $2–3k at 1/2 PLO at Aria. But they can't because it's a 1/2 game with $1k max buy-in and no one else is straddling.

It's not uncommon to see some stacks in that game move up or down $100 in a whole session. And if enough of those nitty stacks sit out for a bomb pot and kill it, the whales pick up and leave.

Button straddle encourages a lot more people to straddle because it's only slightly –EV at worst. In a good game, it's +EV. In a great game, it's +++EV.

As long as there aren't a ton of short-stackers, most people will straddle the button. And if you don't want to button straddle, you can be the one person at the table that doesn't straddle without hurting the game.

By the way, the "some players" you're defending are the nitty short-stackers. Straddles help nitty short-stackers the most. No one is being GIVEN more free money from a straddle than a nitty short-stacker.

Most the fish I see at 1/2 PLO at Aria want to have an auto-straddle on. Let's cater to the fish who want PLO to be what it's supposed to be—action!!! Let's stop protecting nit-regs who pay $3 per round in blinds, $0 in rake (because they don't play any hands), and $1 tip if they win a pot after waiting for AAxx.

If it's an "auto-straddle" it is NOT a straddle. It is just a third blind. If the players really want the game to be 2/5/10, then they should ask for such a game, and play that rather than play 2/5.

Also, saying that "the fish have money they want to give away" is a sign of a serious issue. Yes, many fish know they are weak players, and not likely to win. But they are still there to win. While you certainly should try to make their experience fun so they continue to return, that doesn't mean you should set up the game in a way that maximizes their chances of losing every session. That is how you ruin a game, but busting out the players who are contributing to it too quickly.

If you played in this game (you don't), you would very blatantly see the frustration of fish who want to gamble 1k stacks. The fish are there to GAMBLE.

But they can't GAMBLE because the nit–regs don't want to straddle when everyone else agrees. The nit–regs don't want to play bomb pots. And the nit–regs sit on short stacks and wait to snipe.

You don't lose fish because they run out of money (poker doesn't make a dent to their net liq). You lose them because of boring nit–regs who oversolve the game and ABUSE its structure. You lose them to tables games and baccarat.

I've said before that just because someone follows the rules doesn't mean they're right. You vehemently disagreed with me.

So let me ask you this— When a nit–reg sits out for most bomb pots but LEGALLY plays them on the button, you're ok with that? And AITA for calling them out?