Monday, April 27, 2009

30-60 Holdem, Other Games Returning to the Bike?

I played 30-60 limit holdem at the Bike this past week, and the game was also spread at least two other times since then. This is the first time in months that the Bike has had anything between 20-40 and 200-400. It's a welcome sight to me, because although I do not have to play in games bigger than 20-40 limit, I usually have the option to do so. If I were playing on my own (rather than propping for the Bike), I think I would be playing 40-80 limit mostly. The competition is actually often worse at 30-60 and 40-80 than at 20-40, because the worst players from the 20-40 game are actually the most likely to move up in stakes. In particular, these are often the extremely wealthy people who come to blow off steam but have no patience for trying to play well. I think they just like the comraderie of the game and the excitement of gambling.

Meanwhile, some other new games have been spread at the Bike the past couple of weeks. The most successful is a $100-$300 buyin NL game that has replaced the $100 fixed buyin NL game. It still uses 2-3 blinds, but now players can buyin up to $300. Obviously, this game overlaps with the $200 NL game, which has indeed suffered. Usually, in the afternoon there have been about four $100-$300 and one $200 NL game, although there have been as many as ten $100-$300 NL games at once.

Another thing I'm keeping my eye on is an effort to convert the 20-40 stud hi-lo game into a mixed game combining that and Omaha hi-lo. Hollywood Park has been spreading this exact mix game for years now, and supposedly they often have two games a day (as they did last time I was there). So far I haven't seen this mixed game get started, but other mixed games have occassionally been spread at the 15-30 limit level. For example, I played a badugi-razz mix for two hours two weeks ago, a badugi-razz-holdem-2/7 triple draw the next day, and a badugi-razz-stud hi/lo-2/7 triple draw this week (I won $580 total). I tend to do well in these mixed games. I like to think that it's because I have a good understand of genreal gambling/poker theory, but for the amount I've played, the results depend mostly on luck.

1 comment:

Craig Berger said...

I think I would rather gauge my eyes out with a dirty playing card than play a live Badugi, Razz, Stud 8, Deuce to Seven mix.