It does seem very strange if the staff getting tips don't get any of it. I would definitely look into it or get someone to look over the contract

Hi Gus: I used to post on VIP back in the day, but 2 years ago I switched from online to live, and there iasn't much of a community for live play on VIP so I've been mostly gone, other than the occasional Vegas story. I'm excited that there may be at least one more reg/semi-reg here.

A year ago I started a "Live Poker Containment Thread", I'm going to answer a couple of your questions there. I always thought it'd be nice for VIP to have a wee corner for us live players. It's in the Offtopic section, but @Jon-PokerVIP can move it to Theory if he wants.

It does sound strange. As shes worried shes missing out Shes just gone through it and in a roundabout way it says basically she gets a % of food,drink and table games tips divided between every member of staff per calender month....however poker table tips and personal tips from customers are strictly prohibited.Any employee in breach of this is gross misconduct etc etc.

Shes going to bring it up friday night.

Finally gonna get my feet wet this week. You ever played the games at Blackpool?.

Good!

Went Blackpool Casino for the first time couple weeks ago, only played the comp though, didn't play cash

How did it go mate?.

Sadly I cannot move threads but feel free to create a 2017 addition!

Live poker is something I have been getting the urge more and more to play...I think mainly due to all the VLOGs showing the juicy games in Vegas!

If you have not seen these yet I highly recommend you check out Andrew Neemes channel

Yeh I will thanks. How is he producing these, you reckon he's using a Go Pro or something?.

Got through a few of these now, really enjoying them, seems like a nice guy and really well produced videos. Just come up now in a video, he's in his car and rings the casino up to get put on the 1/3 list, do you guys know whether thats something they do over here?.

Definitely as long as the CRS knows who you are

I jumped the gun and decided I wanted to go to the casino on Friday as well as going on my way home on Saturday. So rang BNR and Didsbury up, around 11ish and they said only one 1/2 game was running at BNR and one 0.25/0.5 game running at Didsbury, so thought fuck that dont wanna drive all the way there and spend ages waiting to get a table at Didsbury, and didn't like the idea of playing 20bb deep at BNR.
So I decided to take a trip into town, and yeh I see exactly what you mean about the poker room at 235, in the fucking basement, soon as I entered it I wasn't happy seemed really reggy and everyone seemed to know each other. I got on a waiting and it didn't take long to get a seat, was a good seat right infront of the dealer, loads of people on there phones, talking poker stuff, and i thought fuck am sat at a table of regs, but then I had a older guy on my right and he was limping loads, some crazies further to my left was straddling and double straddling, so thought great table, just one problem I was card dead, then after couple of hours the old guy fucks off after godmoding the table , then before long the straddling dried up to.
I was in for £80, and I eventually got myself up to £86, was planning on leaving at 4, but then we got a new dealer around 3.30 so thought fuck it stay til 4.30 then. Bad idea, I got involved in the following hand, I was about 84bb deep, I iso a limper in lo-jack with AQos then i get like 3-4 cc's behind me and then limper completes, OTF Q93r couldn't ask for a better flop, getting my chips ready for a cb, when this new guy that had only recently sat at my table, does the fucking annoying fishy move of donking 12 into 36 from the sb, straightaway am thinking please dont have Q9,33 or 99 you donkey, I mean why the fuck would you donk like this into 5-6 people with nutty hands, surely better move let me cb get some calls then pull the xr, anyway i digress so now am thinking I really dont wanna let him getaway with this 1/3p shit, and I got all them guys behind as well, so I raise him to 40 - proper screwed up my sizing here - all the cc'ers fold he now min 3b ai, really not liking my hand now, but same time getting over 4-1, thinking could he take this line with say J10, could he do this with worse Qx, so I make the call and yes he has Q9.
So I think I learnt 3 things from my first live session, that I could of been a little more patient, after being card dead all night. I should played awhile longer with the villain in that hand before punting my stack off and I think I should of been a little less apprehensive, when it came to leaving the table, I should of got myself on a waiting list for another table when the fish got up, instead of staying at this table.
All week I had been looking forward to playing at the BNR on Saturday, because I thought the place will be packed because of the Joshua fight, but was to tired after playing on Friday, I did bob in though on the way home to get signed up and take a look around, and the card room and layout looks amazing, so really looking forward to this Saturday. I looked at the board and it said 1/1/2 , so now am thinking, when I rang them up on Friday this is what he meant when he said 1/2, I asked him was this a 1/1 game with a compulsory straddle, and he said it wasn't, but then am thinking if it isn't why express it like 1/1/2 because to me that looks like it is.

Haha yeah the basement at 235, it just seems really dark as well to me, just doesn't have a good feel for me.

Didsburys card room was shut on Saturday for the boxing, no tournament or anything (The 25/50p table is out in the pit), but Saturday's usually have a couple of £1/£1 tables on, plus the 25p/50p (which can be VERY profitable! I've walked away with 300+ after sitting down with 20)

I may be heading up BNR one day this weekend, may go Saturday I'll get you a drink to be honest though I've never seen the 1/1/2 table running usually there's a few 1/1's with a 1/1 or 2/2 Dealer's choice as well

Hahaha thats sick. That is such a great place for the games to be, that was another downside I thought to 235, the room is really out of the way of the pit, so I cant imagine to many people making there way from there into the card room. I need to stop being a lazy shit and get to Didsbury.



Yeh that would be good mate. The place was fucking rocking, because of the fight it was proper packed, when I went into the card room they had games running from 1/1/2 - 2/5/10. Something that did come as a shock to me, I was talking to a guy at 235 who was from Blackpool, and I said are the games good at the Sandcastle, and he said they was pretty shit, and that the 2/5 game doesn't run a lot. You would of thought Blackpool would of been good with all the tourists, but then I kinda used that logic for 235

Gus I wouldn't sweat the AQo hand too much. You're 100% right that the donkbet can be so FOS live, and you're less than 100BB deep. Against lol live players this is a stack off almost all the time (unless you know he's an ubernit). I think you're line is fine. As they say, if he showed up with JT or QJ, we post this hand as a brag, not a beat.

From what I understand the tips get pooled together and then split between everyone. So that is poker dealers and croupiers. I very rarely tip during play. Only after a large pot or if im cashing out and the amount is like £251.50 then I will tip the £1.50. Even the latter is occasionally too.

Where do you play @MontiiiP ?

I thought better of going to BNR, and have decided only going to play that 50 game and use that to try and build my live roll. Last night was third time to Didsbury, decided am gonna go twice a week now on Friday and Saturday. I have been buying in for £20 , got £37.50 for just under 4 hrs on Friday, was pretty pissed off with them though, there was a full table going and then the dealer says last hand, and it hadn't kinda registered with me what he just said, then people start getting up one by one, and am like WTF is going on I thought this game ran til the bell. But card room manager explained to me last night it was just down to there not being enough dealers.

Last night was okish didn't get into the game until like 12, I really need to start getting my arse there earlier so I can be one of the first bums on the seats, instead of hovering over the table trying to predict who's seat am gonna get , anyway was up like £20.50 then the fucking game broke even earlier than last Saturday, like around 1.30ish, then manager says couple of seats free in the 1/1 game, was thinking should I fuck off home, remember bank roll management, but thought fuck that I haven't drove all the way here for a bare 90 mins of poker.

So I get in the card room, and the table is now fucking full, finding this waiting around annoying, but I guess this is just a standard thing that happens in live pokers. So there is me and the nice fishy old lady from the 50 game, after quick chat a seat comes free, and I let her have the seat cause she got more money than me, doesn't play live much, and cause am a nice guy to

After my second glass of water I finally get my seat, I win a smallish pot straight off the bat, then this drunken fish seats down, and seems a total mess, he limps utg then the limpfest begins, think am otb with JJ so I make my raise to £7 - I got like 50ish bb - think it goes to the flop like 4w KK9r pots like 30-40 - thats another thing I find hard trying to tell how much is in the pot - so pretty dry flop, I make it smallish like £10 , fish calls everyone folds ott A now fish donks like £20 into me I got like £27ish left, so my brain fucks off and am quaking like WTF this would never happen when am playing online, fuck off am trying to think here.
I then spend a lil time thinking about ranges, then am like wtf you doing this guy could have virtually anything, some guys next to me are like yeh its hard trying to work out what these guys are doing, so I just think fuck it, dont think am beat here and go all in, he calls with Q7os , the nerves die down a lil and am scooping my biggest pot I played live, sitting pretty now on a nice £108.

Not much happens for me card dead after this, guessing this is something else am gonna have to get use to as well, still not had any pair higher than QQ yet , I ran good though last night had QQ once on 50 table and obviously the JJ

So when drunk had left was getting a lil worried that this game was a regfest, cause heard a few people talking strat at the table, talking about blockers, heard holdem manager work mentioned, so it came to some surprise when these guys hadn't even heard of pio, and was asking me loads of questions about it.

But when I saw this hand go down, asian guy iso's or opens from think mp - early lp and he gets 3b by lp he calls - think they where well over 200bb deep - flop comes down Qc8s3s pot is like £60 the 3b'er bangs £40 into it, then caller mxr him, he then shoves ai, I thought instantly that asian guy was probably gonna be on some really good draw, and the 3b'er maybe had Qx+ or maybe even he had some kinda draw, anyway as the asian is tanking am thinking draw is less likely now, he finally decides to call and has KQos. I was like WTF, you wouldn't even play KQ like that on 100bb stacks let alone this deep, the 3b'er had AKs, so guess he just thought blockers fuck you ai lol. After the guy had left though the asian guy did say the guy plays all his fd's that why as well, so guess they must have some history.

Speaking of this asian guy he was responsible for sending me home early, when the following hand went down, we was 9 handed, think there was either a limp or a straddle from UTG, then UTG+1 raises it to £6 comes round to asian in the Lo-Jack he pops it to £18 then comes around to me in SB I got AKos and am on 84bb, I think to myself, this asian guy can be 3b'in light here, he was far from being a nit, so then am thinking WTF do I do here. This is a 9 handed game how do you play AK here?, I was thinking should I fold this, then I decided I wasn't going to, so next decision was do I make a small 4b or just 4b jam, so in the end I decided to just shove it. He tanks a lil, asking me do I have QQ-KK, I say I got 22, he then asks you got aces, I say yes, then he calls with JJ, and I wiff the board, dont think I gave any info away there by opening my mouth did I?. So finished the night down £20, but up £15 for the weekend, hoping this weekend will be better.

I keep both local poker rooms on speed dial, I always call in. One gives you 60min to arrive and claim your spot in line, the other 90 min.

Until someone gives you evidence otherwise, live players 3! range is never light. QQ+ and AK is about it. JJ+, AQo is literally the loosest most players will go, but that much less common than the nutted range. I would not like flat calling when OR can reopen the betting, and you can never raise-fold, so it's between a 4! for half your stack, a shove, or a fold. It's hard to imagine, but OOP, a fold is not out of the question to utg open and a 3!. (It sounds insane, I know, but their range is pretty nutted.) I reckon that fold is the best option, but that I probably shove as well cuz I can't help myself.

Along the same lines, again this will seem crazy, but against tight EP ranges, a hand like KQs otb, if there's only the raiser in the hand, it's an easy fold. Some guys are just that tight that you know their range is strong.

Would you not 3B wider yourself then, or is it just better to cc hands like 1010, and suited bw's and some of the higher up sc's?.



Yeh I agree I did actually think this over, but I just remembered I forgot to mention something earlier, the same guys in this pot played this hand, real early on in my session. QQ guy is UTG in my hand and asian is the 3B'er. They were both pretty deep in this hand, if i had to guess would say in region of 300bb



Is the QQ guys limp raise a legit move?, it seems so fucking fishy, and with him talking strategy, and math with the other guy am just totally confused, cause nobody good online fucking limps in these spots.



I missed this for some reason. So about that, in those first 3 spots, if I had to guess what a normal opening range is in nitring it would look something like this




Is this to wide you think?.

Certainly my 3! range is wider than average, but I don't get too crazy. I do like it w SC, but I think flatting any hand that can make the nuts (Axs, suited BW) or near nuts is better. There's a lot of value in keeping in weaker opponents and weaker ranges. What i do have that is ldo for online but seldom seen at low stakes live is a 4! bluff range. ATo, stuff like that. I only use this vs regs that can both 3! wide and have a fold button.

The EP limp/rr is seen pretty common around here, almost always KK+. There's probably a ton of value in doing it with a hand like 44. Low stakes players love to be tricky.

Regarding a "normal" opening range from EP is tough, as it is so player dependent. Most of what you have above is prob in an average player's limp/call range. They're just not raising QTs or 66- from EP. Some V's will limp/call AK as well (or just flat AK in position). FWIW, I'm just a generic TAG but my personal range is tighter than what you have as well. First 2-3 seats, unless it's a super passive table, I'm automucking 66-, KTs, QTs. With QJs/JTs, they are so sexy, but I won't open them from EP at every table.

It's really important to have a gauge on everyone's stack size. You gotta know that you won't have much FE postflop if you raise EP 5x and get 4 callers. Some people with 40-50BB are going to feel priced in if they catch a piece of the flop. When it comes to short stack poker, the raw power of your hand matters more. So if much of the table is shallow, you should be mucking most of the fun stuff. Honest fact is, live low stakes is, from a poker-playing POV, really boring and uncreative. At 50BB and below, I'd play a very linear range, and be very aggressive with it.