vegas and nl

[ReRaise POWER 0]

Hey guys, I just wanted to gather an opinion from those 0f you who have played the 100-300 dollar buy-ins and the NL games in Vegas that have popped up all over the last year. As I'm very sure, these games are rather loose and filled with 70-75% weak players, so what I'm asking is what the proper strategy would be? I can't really see these players being able to make lay downs and such,, so a super aggressive brunson strategy would be inappropriate. Is one simply supposed to wait back and hope to cash in on the big hands seeing as though how likely you are to get paid off with a lesser hand on the end? I think the tight and straightforward approach that avoids fancy play syndrome and dramatic bluffs is the proper one to consistently cash in on these games, but I'd like to hear what everyone else had tried and succeeded with.

[snakster 0]

I have not played these, but....That is probably a good mindset to go in with, but you need to observe the players at YOUR table and adjust accordingly. Figure out which ones are the dopes, and which ones have game. Adjust your strategy according to who is playing a given pot. I don't think you can go in with a "one size fits all" strategy and think that it is the way to go. Observation and adjustment is your best bet.

[semaj550 0]

My play depends of the passivity of the table. If I can get in cheap and tend to get a cheap look at my draws I'll play some suited connectors with weaker position than normal, low pairs, basically stuff that can make monster hands that don't leave me worrying about suckouts and the like.I find these pots, even on the river, tend to be contested by 3 or more players often enough that top 2 pair or TPTK too often becomes too weak a holding. But you'll find that your sets, straights and flushes will make you big bucks. My favorite hands are suited connectors (87 - JT) with no more than 1 gap, any pair and any suited ace. I'll limp with these hands from just about any position if the table is suitably passive (this includes on the flop as well as preflop as some of these draws get very costly in NL). I rarely find a need to deviate from my agressive, straightforward play with premium hands. Pretty much any broadway hand with an A(especially suited) derserves a raise as well as KQs and any pair of Ts or higher gets a raise too.Once you've got a made hand the key is pricing in weaker made hands and pricing out draws. 2/3 pot size bets are usually a good size unless you really need to convince someone to back off a draw (if the flop is three suited some people will call almost any bet holding nothing but the ace of that suit).It's important to get a feel for how players react to your bets. Some people are very easy to bluff if it looks like a draw came in, some people will call with 2nd or 3rd pair in the same situation. Some people will laydown the nut flush draw to a pot (or larger) sized bet, some people will call with 72s and nothing but the flush draw. I find my success at weak NL tables is to find out what reactions my bets will tend to get and using that to my advantage. NL becomes less and less about the cards and more about playing the players.My advice, select the right cards and get a feel for what the right bets are against the players in the pot against you. It's pretty easy to get value for your made hands provided you don't get sucked out. There are also some prime opportunities to bluff at good sized pots if you've got good reads and guts.Edit: Oh, and let the 20 something with the baseball cap and dark sunglasses think he can own you and then show him the nuts while you're taking all his chips.

[pogiolithis 0]

I think you will be supprised at some of the people at these tables. They arn't all chumps. Just about any given NL table there are 1-2 solid players grinding it out. They're pretty easy to spot and there are usually 1-2 solid tourists there as well.These games aren't that hard to beat you just have to pay attention. Adjust to your table and your players. I feel 1-2 is the best you can see just about every flop for $2 if you want. With a weak table you can really put a hurt on someone. I find the aciton really picks up between 2-5am. But, if you can get your table fired up you don't have to wait for those times. Hope that helps. Joshia

[LuckyMcCatcher 0]

Depends. I've played in a variety of NL in Vegas but it depends on where you are. I have found that you will either be in a supersolid nut game where you have to do alot of waiting or a super weak tight game. There are some loose games but they are rare. You should adjust to the game type. Obviously if its a rock garden and people are playing tight aggressiv you should wait for a good hand and try to get draws cheaply. I've made the mistake of thinking I could run people off of top pair with big re-reaises w/ my draws. You can in the weak tight games but no in ths solid nut game. A good place for NL is downtown at the PLaza and Gnugg during atouristy holiday. THe players are horrendous.

[Phil Curtis 0]

You will find a real variety in the standard of players you face in the NL Games here, and much of it depends on what's going on in town, and the time of day/night. But the biggest factor of all is of course how much money is on the table. As you probably know, almost every card room has a different structure for NL games at these kinds of limits. Some have a fixed buy in, some a minimum/maximum, and some have no upper limit and you can sit down with whatever you like. Personally I do not like to sit at all in games that have been going a long time where the average stack is over $1000 if my maximum buy in is $300 or $500, but if I did, obviously this would affect my play considerably. Plus I am not a fan of the way that some rooms have endless 'feeder' games where you have to keep moving every hour or so till you get to the main game. After a set period of time these games should become games in their own right. All of these factors have to be considered when deciding any strategy for these games. :-)

[eric star 0]

when i played at the wynn 1-3NL the game table was split up have very aggressive and the other half plying only super strong hands and getting huge pots off the aggressors. i was the one playing only top hands and it did me very well, up over 200 in an hour. every single pot cost 15-20 bucks to enter because of these guys. That was my only experience in vegas with NL ive always played limit there so im not sure how typical that game was.

[eric star 0]

Plus the Wynn offers a big discount for ther rooms if you play there for 6 hours a day, its like 120 a night.

[Socrates 0]

The vast majority of the NL games are weak. You have to be aware of the locals though. There are some good players at the 1/2 2/5NL games. Other than that, the table will range from obviously week to overly aggressive. Sit for a while and just play solid straight forward poker. There is no need to play marginal hands in these games, just wait for huge hands and you will get paid off. I saw more people calling $80 bets with 4 to a flush on the board with 2 pair (neither of the suit) then anywhere else in my life. There are a lot of TPTK pros out there too and you will see a lot of "tournament play" at the low limit cash tables. TAG is the only way to go to essentially guarantee a big payday.

[ReRaise POWER 0]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I can't wait to get into a wild overaggressive game to cash in on my big hands, and hopefully they come in bunches. I'm certaintly not going to play weak and scared of checks. I need to trust the information I gather and hope to pick up a couple small to medium sized pots with nothing and get the maximum out of my made draws and big starting hands.

[silver static 0]

Although I play the 2-4 limit game at MGM during late afternoons, I have noticed that the 1-2 NL games have a fast turnover. The wait lists are short, and the floor is always calling in new players. I would assume that indicates a constant stream of weak players.

[ReRaise POWER 0]

Yeah, I've heard only good things about the MGM as far as how nice the room is.,., truly high tech and all. I've also heard the juiciest NL games take place right in that general vicinity of the strip .,., Excalibur, MGM, Aladdin.,.,., possibly even mandalay, but I'm not sure about that

[Crg35 0]

I am from Boston, but go out to Vegas once or twice a year. I can say that southern strip is filled with tourists who just can't wait to give their money away at that game they see on tv called no-limit texas holdem.I have played out of Foxwoods in CT the past 5 years, and the East Coast pace is very slow and tight, so when I go out to Vegas I naturally play a tight game and trap tourists to death. I love being able to blend in as a tourist. My last trip to Vegas in March I decided to play at Bally's while my wife was gambling with friends (the poker room is about 6 tables and I am used to 100 tables at Foxwoods). There was one $1-2 NL table in the room with a $200 max buy in. The table was made up of 4 reckless college kids from Michigan and DC, a husband and wife from Ohio, and some drunk guy from parts unknown. They were all very open in telling me it was their first time playing in a casino. I sat down and 2 hours later had $2k in front of me playing very obvious, basic tight agressive strategy mixed with a lot of slow play. If they had more money I would have stayed forever!!!I can't wait to go back in October!!!!

[ReRaise POWER 0]

LOL ,, sounds great dude! I can't wait,, I just hope I don't suffer mad bad beats in those couple days cuz I'll be devasted. I hope I don't have to sit there and be too tight either. I hope it's loose passive as opposed to loose aggressive. Either way it's bank book time.