Posted Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:56 am GMT by Sundance
Are there any holdem games in Illinois? On the Riverboats? Looking for a live game in Illinois. Thanks.
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Posted Thu Oct 30, 2003 12:14 pm GMT by Dave B
Never been there-but Harrah in east Chicago (Gary Indiana?) has live holdem.
Posted Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:48 pm GMT by mindgame
Definately poker at Harrah's in East Chicago, Indiana. I play there a couple times a month (yeah, that's all--having a job and a family really do cut into your poker life, don't they????).
Smallest game is $5-10. They have $10-20, $20-40, and higher on weekends. Theres a pot limit Omaha game with a one grand buy-in if you're really feeling frisky. Waits can be long, but not for that table.
Also poker in Joliet (I think on the Empress). They charge for parking and admission, though, I'm told. Where are you in Illinois? Harrah's is about 8 minutes north of the Indiana Toll Road (I90) about 10 minutes into Indiana after you cross the Skyway bridge coming off the Dan Ryan out of downtown Chicago. It's about 30-35 minutes from the Loop.
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:01 am GMT by Dave B
I recd an email response from Harrahs-I can jump on a bus at the Sheraton on Water Street (I am at the Swissotel across the river) and get a free ride to the casino. I plan on heading over on Sunday Nov 16 unless something else pops up. The 1st one leaves at 12:15, so I may hop a cab if I cant wait until then.
I have details on more pickup spots and times if you are interested.
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 3:57 pm GMT by mindgame
Sunday the 16th, huh? What stakes do you play?
I need to know if I should be seeking you out to pick up some easy money or avoiding you like the plague in order to save what I walked in with. 
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 4:40 pm GMT by Dave B
I think $10/$20 is the minimum out there on weekends. That is likely where I will be. Unless I win a multitable online in the next week-then the sky is the limit and I will be the dude with a permasmile.
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 5:07 pm GMT by mindgame
I'm getting psyched for playing $10-20, haven't done it yet. I've done progressively better at $5-10 and now I'm very, very happy with my game. Last four times out I made between $35-$50/hour and my hourly rate over the last 10 games is about $30. At this point though, I'm wondering if I can make that much at higher limits. Honestly, aren't things going to be tight to the point that that anything higher than that is unrealistic? Or maybe I'm just on a tear and the numbers are going to catch up and take big bite out of my rear end.
I'm really curious about your experience on $10-20. What was the biggest adjustment you had to make moving up from a smaller game? Someone once wrote that the biggest difference was that there aren't any really, really awful players at low limit. Would that it were so.
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 5:18 pm GMT by Dave B
So far-I have not stepped up to a level where there arent bad players. The important thing, for me anyway, is to pay close attention to what everyone is doing, what they raise w/, when the fold, what hands they play preflop for at least an hour. Then I can loosen up a bit and play more hands against certain players and fewer hands against others. Even at $10/$20-it is still the lowest stake at Harrahs at that time. So although I havent been there, I have to think that there will be a handful of chumps at each table ready to go all in at a limit game-just like they have seen on TV.
Play your game-dont let the stake change anything. You still start w/ one rack and trying to walk away w/ 2 or 3.
Any idea what the wait would be at 11am on a Sunday morning to get on a table? Hopefully no longer than it takes for me to eat my way through a buffett!
Posted Wed Nov 05, 2003 6:40 pm GMT by mindgame
Sunday should be okay, especially before noon. I'd guess a wait of 20-30 minutes tops--probably less at $10-20. Worst wait ever was a couple Saturdays ago...but I got there at 8 pm...couldn't have timed it worse. I've gotten there around 2pm on a Saturday and still waited an hour and a half. Word is get there between 10am and 12am and you get a table right away. Oh, and there's always a $5-10 hold'em game at Harrah's in East Chicago.
I'm dying to know what kind of stakes Trump will have when it opens in a couple weeks. It's not more than 2000yds from the Harrah's boat, but the traffic is much different. Lot more blacks, lot fewer Asians--but that's at the table games and slots...who knows what the poker room will draw. Some of the Philippino, Korean, and Chinese poker players I've seen were damn good, hard as hell to get a read on. (I realize this is all incredibly NOT PC.) The blacks are always fun at the table at Harrah's. Some are loose, some are wild, and there are some very savvy gamblers: guys that have been doing it a long, long time and they're good--but they are there to have a good time. My idea of a long evening is 3 Asians, 2 women, me and 3 bond traders--funerals are more fun.
The hope is that Trump will have a low stakes table, maybe $3-6 or $4-8, that will encourage more people to come in and try the game. The smallest board games of any kind in casinos around here are $5--but for a lot of neophyte poker players that's just too much.
Posted Thu Nov 06, 2003 8:14 am GMT by Dave B
What is wrong w/ bond traders??? Is that in my profile somewhere????
If you happen to venture down that day let me know. Who knows-maybe I will buy you dinner w/ your chips!!!!
Posted Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:37 am GMT by mindgame
Okay, I just picked bond traders because every young hotshot seems to work at one of the exchanges in Chicago. But I'm talking about the young guys who just play so tight they squeak. You'd think they'd like action because I always thought that's pretty much what a trader does for a living...but maybe it's bond traders. Are they risk-averse or something? They just seem to suck the fun right out of the game.
I will let you know if I can get there that Sunday in November. And if we happen to end up at the same table it could be fun...because we both seem to like action and I'll be the guy taking it up before the flop 7 times out of ten. If I'm in, there will be money in the pot! I may win it, I may not, but it'll either be worth contesting or too expensive to get into...depending on your style.
And we'll see who's got who's chips. My money says we'll have a few of each other's and lot of everyone else's. Good Luck.
Posted Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:55 am GMT by Dave B
It is a funny game. I see lots of Asians betting and raising like mad w/ nothing trying to steal pots or catch a hand and tight old ladies than win consistantly. I guess that it doesnt matter what your style is, just be damn good at it.
Posted Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:35 pm GMT by Sundance
Hey, I made the original post and I live in Springfield.. Corn country.
St. Louis is closer for me than Chi-town, although I have been to Harrah's in Joliet before. In St. Louis, they have poker rooms at the President by the Arch and the boat in St. Charles, MO (STL suburb)... I think Peoria also plans to open a poker room also..
Anyway, on the President they hold single table Holdem tourneys on weekends for a $25 buy-in, it's on their website.. I plan to go in 2-weeks, should be fun. I think that only 1st place takes all $250.
Do any of the boats in Chi-town hold these kind of tourneys? Seems like they would be good practice at a minimal price..
Posted Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:11 pm GMT by mindgame
Harrah's East Chicago has a tournament during the day every Thursday. I don't know anyone who plays in it. Must be mostly shift workers and retirees--don't know really. I've never played on the Joliet Boat--it's another 50 miles West and I've heard bad things about it.
I was just in Stl Louis though, and I didn't know the boat had poker. I asked a couple of people and checked one website (the Alden Belle) and there was nothing but Caribean Stud. That's a problem, by the way. You ask people if a place has poker and they say yes, thinking THAT'S poker--and I mean people who actually WORK there!
Posted Fri Nov 07, 2003 10:07 am GMT by Sundance
The boat in Alton, IL does not have a poker room, it is a small boat. The only boats that I know of in STL that have poker are the President and the boat in St. Charles.. not sure if the Harrah's boat on the west side of STL has a poker room... they probably do considering it is one of the bigger boats in STL, I just have not been there yet... There are 5 boats in or around the STL area. The Queen in East STL, the President under the Arch, Harrahs in west STL, the St. Charles boat north of the airport, and the Belle in Alton, IL.
I get that all of the time when people think that Carribean Stud or 3-card poker is actually poker.
Posted Fri Nov 07, 2003 4:37 pm GMT by mindgame
Just thought I'd get back to you--I think I owe you. Played last night and walked in at 5:30--just as that Thursday tournament was ending. Place was full of guys who'd busted out throughout the afternoon.
That was a little intimidating because you know they can all play pretty well--I'm guessing that anyone who ante's up $100 bucks and change has at least a little more than a clue about what he's doing. (I don't mean to sound sexist. A gal named Dorothy, one of only 5 women in the tournament, made the final table, finsished 4th and pocketed about $600.)
The list for $5-10 was 25 names, but the $10-20 list was only 4, so I told the gal at the board I'd try the bigger game. She's a real angel (in fact, that's her name--best dealer I've ever seen) She just put her (gorgeous) face a couple inches from mine and whispered "Hon, play tight and you'll be just fine. It'll keep you out of trouble until I can get a seat for you at $5-10."
Well trouble was pretty much all I got into for about an hour. Never thought I could loose $300 bucks so fast. So I went out into the fresh air (such as it is in the steelmaking capital of the US). I took a deep breath, coughed, and cleared my head. I hadn't been playing badly. I reviewed the hands and how I played them. If I had to do it again I'd do it the same way. I was investing aggressively in solid starters, was usually able to isolate one player and drive out everyone behind me (sort of creating myself as the "button"), but I couldn't get help. So I figured, hey, the price of poker went up and you just have to suck it up and pay for the ticket. I've been out a hundred and a half in $5-10 and you just battle back...it's part of the ebb and flow.
So adjustment #1, losing's expensive. If your cards are good but you lose every hand for an hour, you're down a bit and it might be touch outside your comfort zone. Besides, I didn't really listen to Angel's advice. Tried to steal the blind two seats off the button with A10off, raising $10 but getting three calls...and the big blind calls the raise with J7o and makes a full boat on the river sending your A's over into the drink ... well that's gonna smart some.
Anyway I settled back down into my seat resolved to change nothing.
Then I won 15 hands in the next 2 hours, losing not a single showdown, including a luscious little backdoor 4-on-the-board flush in which my Jack bested a 10. Which is what happens when you play aggresively and isolate the bettor, driving out all the marginal hands who might have wandered in fishing with the Ace or K or Q of hearts. All this because I took as a personal challenge your comment that I sit down with one rack and walk out with two. That's exactly what I did. Won $510 in 3 hours and hit the road (had a headache and left at 9:00--bad Karma to play with a headache).
When you do the math that's $170/hr. The only time I ever did better was one day when the sky fell in and I won $273 in the first hour and just got up and left because I knew it was just hot cards. I liked the game
very little and the guys playing it less. So ... I figure I might just give $10-20 another try...and I appreciate your encouragement.
Posted Fri Nov 07, 2003 4:53 pm GMT by Sundance
That was some good work in 3 hours. I can't believe you won 15 straight hands that you played, awesome. I do believe that no matter how well you play your hands that luck does run in streaks, and when you are on a good streak you have to push a little more. People at the table know you are on a streak and a little more aggressive play will pay off if you are a tight player otherwise.
Posted Fri Nov 07, 2003 4:55 pm GMT by Dave B
I am glad the bigger game worked out for you! It doesnt take more than 1 or 2 big pots to get back a ton of money at $10/20.
At the place that I play in MN, some of the best players play $2/$4 or $3/$6 tops. Many of the higher stake games are rich kids looking to make a big score, but they are really clueless. Also-like yourself, if there is a long wait for the lower stakes some guys will take a shot at the higher stakes.
Posted Fri Nov 07, 2003 6:02 pm GMT by mindgame
Didn't mean to impy that I won 15 in a row, never been that hot. But I did win all 8 hands that went to a showdown. The other half of the hands I won I just didn't get river or turn calls. I invested a decent amout in hands that I had to dump after the flop went south, but not too many hands went that way (that all happened in the first hour.)
Here's the most amazing thing, and this is just proof of how aggressive play can make you a winner on the end. I had not a single straight or boat. I had just the one flush, and that was a backdoor catch that neither of us was chasing. Other than that I had one set of trips. Everything else 13 hands! was one or two pair. Man, that's playing poker! (Even if I do say so myself.) I've always said any idiot can play a nut flush or a full boat, a poker player is a guy who can avoid losing his bankroll on the average hands that can go either way. That's where you seperate the men from the boys.
Posted Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:13 am GMT by blitzkrieg
i was recently in Rockford and they actually have hold em games almost every weekend! it's through the Rockford Charitable Games association, and they have 1-3 to 10-20 to NL tournaments. They also offer a satellite for the Bellagio $2500 NL tournament for $200. All the rakes go to charity so it's even for a good cause...
http://rockfordcharitablegames.com/
There's definitely a mix of skill level. I was actually a bit surprised at a few people on the LL tables. The atmosphere is relatively terrible, esp compared to a casino because they are in a different place each week. But it's the best LL you'll find outside of Chicago.
Posted Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:25 pm GMT by Dave B
Well I made it to the Harrahs boat last Sunday in East Chicago. I played for about 7 hours, down $200 early, stormed back to plus $300, then went over 2 hours without taking down a pot and left down just over $100 (although I dropped at least $50 on booze and tips).
Fun crowd and interesting mix of people made for a fun day. An old black dude named Homer was hitting on everthing in sight-pretty funny. Through in a some stupid players, some other characters, football on TV and rain outside made for a great way to waste a day.
Also-$1 for the bus from downtown Chicago every 2 hours-NICE DEAL! They charge $11, then you get $10 in cash at the casino.
Posted Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:10 pm GMT by mindgame
Played Saturday--sounds like you played Sunday.
It is a pretty nice bunch, but as you found out, there are some TOUGH poker players. My game Saturday was no picnic. Only had three hours at the table and battled up and down the whole time. Only won because 10 minutes before I had to go I hit a nice flush on 4th street and got a check raise at the end. (And me, who hates C/R's.) Had I bet on 4th street it would have been the last call I got. I checked and let the two pr. bet 4th, then checked and raise at the end. I know I took a risk that he'd fill, but I wanted those two extra $20 bets and I got them.
So you met Homer. What a character. Older than dirt, I think. He's what I meant when I said that the black players are a lot of fun. He knows what he's doing, but he's beatable, for sure. But when he gets hot...oh he makes some money. Of course, who doesn't.
My philosophy in the $10/20 game has evolved to just trying to keep from getting 300-400 down and waiting to see if the deck hits me. Never have repeated my $500 outing, but I'm a several hundred ahead of it. Trouble with the game is that once you win a $400 pot it's tough to go back to 5-10.
Posted Mon Jan 19, 2004 12:42 pm GMT by snoogins47
| Quote: | | I reviewed the hands and how I played them. If I had to do it again I'd do it the same way. I was investing aggressively in solid starters, was usually able to isolate one player and drive out everyone behind me (sort of creating myself as the "button"), but I couldn't get help. |
Which is why poker, in the short run, is often a game of luck. I caught a FROZEN run of cards yesterday, leaving me down for the first time in the past 15 or so homegames I've played.
It was unbearably bad. Last night's homegame, in about 4 hours, I probably took 7 pots. Of those 7, I am about 95% sure I only had a winning hand once. Every time I played a strong hole, I got no help. Every time I folded rags, I would've caught boats left and right ;P
That's poker for ya.
Posted Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:16 pm GMT by AKQJT_FLUSH
As of yet, Peoria IL (Paradice) does not have any holdem games. They have 3 Card, Carribean Stud, and Let It Ride.
The Isle of Capri in the Quad Cities (Davenport, IA) has Limit Holdem, with $1 and $3 blinds.
I really wish Peoria would get Holdem. I'm getting tired of the hour drive to the Quad Cities.
Rob
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