The Green Valley Ranch is one of the two flagship properties of Station Casinos. It was their best property up until Red Rock opened about 2 years ago out in the Western Vegas suburb of Summerlin. Station owns a bunch of locals casinos that are dispersed throughout the valley. Sunset Station is about 4 miles away from my apartment in the opposite direction of GVR. Last time wifey and I were there I saw 4/8 limit games going at very early hours. This is a good thing for me since I have the middle of my day wide open while my better half is actually holding down a real job. So I ran on down to Sunset to check out the action there. Sunset is not a high end property like GVR so I figured the crowd would be a bit different and that assumption was correct. What I did not account for was the that the structure of the 4/8 with 1/2 kill game would be different. I assumed there was only one way to structure a limit game (not speaking of spread limit) and furthermore since this property was owned by Station I expected the same game, kinda like getting a Big Mac in Jersey, a Big Mac in Vegas, or a Big Mac in Paris, France - it's about consistency and knowing what to expect. In any event, the structure is very bizarre in that preflop the game plays very much like 2/4 which I despise. The blinds are only half of what they should be, in this case 1/2 and not the 2/4 that I've come to expect. In essence, a bunch of people limp in in hopes of catching a hand. After the flop, the games plays like a traditional 4/8 game with flop bets of $4 and turn and river bets of $8. The only thing I like about the game is that sometimes the pot does not offer plays the correct price to draw since the flop bets are double the amount of money put in preflop (unless there is a raise preflop which would be in $4 increments - hence a raise costs $6 preflop instead of $8.) For example, with 4 limpers the pot contains $8. If the first player to act would bet out, he would be laying a price of 3 - 1 for callers behind him. maybe close enough for a flush draw to the nuts with the implied odds provided there are no raises behind him, but definitely the wrong price for a straight draw (unless of course the straight draw is in last position and all players call the flop bet.)
Ok, enough with the tuturiol. After 30 minutes in the game I could tell I was a big favorite and provided I didn't take too many unfortunate beats I figured I could grind out between $15 - $20 an hour in this game. The locals are the types that like to play any A in any position. You know the type, it's a typical low limit crowd. Everyone limps, they only raise with super premiums, and they are pretty easy to read for the most part. On top of it, there was an out of towner that the regular player Eddie sitting to my left said had blown through $500 in this game yesterday. About 2 hours in to the game, I took note that he had been felted twice donating another $200 of which I was about to get about $50. I was cruising when I picked up QQ in the cut off. A couple limpers in front of me so I raised and got a call from the BB as well as the limpers. all unders on the flop and only slightly coordinated with a rainbow to boot. of course checked around to me so I bet it and the BB calls while the others fold. a T comes off on the turn and the BB checks to me. again I fire and he plays back at me with a check/raise. I thought about 3 betting because this guy was actually against the grain of the rest of the table and would raise a lot preflop with marginal hands. but having position, i opted to flat call and see how he would act on the river. I thought possibly he had a hand like AT and figured I was betting air with something like AK or AQ. of course, the thought of a set flashed in my mind as well since everyone at the table knew at this point that I was the tightest there. in any event, a blank falls on the river and he bets out. I call with my two ladies and he shows me a set of T's. good to know I had him drawing to two outs, though it cost me 3 big bets on the turn and river to find out. in the long run I make a killing in that spot, but today was the short run and we know how that goes. with one orbit to go I was getting ready to leave since I wanted to grab a bite to eat and then had to go play taxi driver for wifey. any time I am ready to leave I should just up and do so. instead, I made some weak calls against players that would not bet into me unless they had a better than marginal hand. I called them down because I did the math and I'm getting laid better than 5-1 and I didn't think I was that much of a dog with the boards that were shown and the way the betting had gone. so I gave back my $30 profit or an hourly rate of $6 but I think I stumbled upon something very valuable. The reason the betting wen the way it did in those hands was because my opponents were nervous about my holding and only committed minimal chips instead of pushing their egdges the way I try to do. So, if that trend continues, I will be losing the least hopefully on my marginal holdings and hopefully getting decent value (though not maximum value due to my tight image) on my better hands. Sounds like a formula for success.
Here's today's numbers for you:
Hours Played This Session: 5
Take: $0
$ per hour: $0.00
Earn
Month to Date: $97
Year to Date: $97
Hourly Rate Year to Date: $14.92
Total Bankroll: $714
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