What game should I play at the casino tonight?

Tonight I'm accompanying my husband to a local casino where he's going to see a couple of crusty old rock bands. I'm not interested in the bands but told him I'd go with him and check out the poker room. In case anyone may be familiar with it, it's the Snoqualmie Casino just east of Seattle, which opened last year.

It looks like I'll have a choice of three games: 3/6 limit hold 'em, 2/5 no limit hold 'em with a $100-$300 buy-in, or 3/5 no limit hold 'em with a $200-$500 buy-in. I've ruled out the latter because it's above my comfort zone, so am considering the 3/6 limit game and 2/5 no limit game. The 2/5 game is said to play small and lots of folks buy in for $200, which I'm thinking of doing. Yes, yes, I know that having a full buy-in (which in this case is less than what would be considered a full buy-in in most games) is optimal, but the highest I've played live previously is 1/2, and I don't really want to drop $300 on KK vs. AA or a similar scenario.

What would you guys choose? I'm thinking just take it easy and play the limit game, have some fun, get back into the swing of live play before my upcoming Vegas trip -- but I have more experience with no limit.

In any case I don't want to be playing suboptimally because I'm worried about the amount of money I have on the table.

Suggestions?

I think you have the right idea. Stick with the game you know best, no limit. Limit moves faster and you can easily drop just as much by playing too many pots. Buying in for the minimum is fine your first trip out. If you play well and find yourself wanting a bigger stack you can bump it up later.

Some of the N/L games may seem to intimidating, I would easily recommend find a seat in the $5 - $10 / $10 - $20 Limit tables. The $5 - $10 is a bit loose but the $10 - $20 is a bit more serious. The likelihood of many limpers is reduced to 6-8 percent of players. Most Limit professionals begin at these stakes. Take 10 minutes to observe the players before you enter the game. Look for the loose/passive player(s). Hopefully you can snag a seat to the left of the guys. Play tight/aggressive for the first 2 hours. This should portray an image to the other players as you build a bankroll. Good luck.

Sit down at a 3/6 table...order a drink ...... order several....and enjoy.

I agree with dweezel. If you aren't looking for big swings (which is what it sounds like from your statement about not wanting to dump $300 on AA vs. KK) I would go with the limit game. Kinda odd b/c in AC the buy-in for a 2/5 games is min 200/max500. Usually what you described is a 1/2 game out here. Either way try the limit game out and see how it goes.

Agreed as well.... Personally I like a $2/$4 Limit game better, however the $2/$5 is the same concept, just a dollar more expensive on the turn and river! Sitting down with only $200 will be a good idea on this game...... Just a word from experince with this level.... you'll see the regulars playing hands to the river since the bets are smaller.... just be careful to catch people chasing.

The 3/6 limit game is tougher then you think. It's not that it is filled with bad players, quite the opposite, but the rake takes such a bite, making a profit is tough. Avoid the temptation to play too many hands, and like others have said here, you can have 2-3 people calling all the way to the river.

The 2-5NL is a great game if that's your flavor. There you can make some money and overcome the rake a bit, but just pick your spots properly.

IMO, sit down wherever you are comfortable. If you keep looking at your stack and worry about the number of chips in front of you, you will be in trouble.

Give a trip report in this thread if you could, because I'm north of you and usually play at Tulalip or Angels of the Winds...curious about that room.

Good Luck!!

When I go to the casino, I play $1/$2 NLHE.

You said you've never been any higher than that so it's hard to sit here & tell you where you should play lol.

If you are curious & really wanted to try a higher limit, then I would shoot for the $2/$5 NLHE. Don't buy-in anymore than you aren't comfortable w/. That's a big mistake people make when moving up levels. Most of the time people are thinking to themselves "what if I get into a big pot, I don't want to risk losing my whole buy-in". Some are so worried about losing that they aren't focused on playing their A+ game. Buy-in comfortably so your mind will be clear on focusing on your play.

GL tonight, win big

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take all that into consideration and when I get there, will probably end up playing whatever game I feel like at the time and am comfortable with. Maybe I can watch some of the action beforehand and make my decision from there. Or maybe there will only be one game going and I won't have a choice! Likely not with $500 high hand payouts every two hours, though....

If i were u I would play the no limit because unless you have alot of rebuy potential the limit game will suck because people with tons of money will draw out on you. At least in no limit you can push enough to get someone off those ridiculous draws. But it's really what ever you feel comfortable with. In any case good luck and have fun

Thats also called clear water creek casino isn't it? If so, the 2/5 NL is a pretty easy game. Just sit back and wait for a good hand and let others do the betting for you.

There's a Clearwater Casino in Suquamish -- but this one has a big sign that says "Snoqualmie Casino" and is in Snoqualmie so it's a different place.

OK, so it went well! I got there at 7:30 and dropped my husband off for his concert, then headed to the poker room. The nice gal at the counter told me I had a choice of 4/8 limit or 2/5 no limit, and I chose the 2/5 no limit. They were just starting a new table so I got to sit down and see what everyone was buying in with. Three guys bought in for $300, myself and two others bought in for $200, and another couple of people bought in for $100. I was on the right of two of the $300 buyins so I moved to their left because it appeared they knew what they were doing.

Game started off relatively passively, some limping, some standard raises preflop, not a lot of action postflop and pots often taken down by a single bet. I laid down QQ in a questionable spot with T77 on the board, but my opponent had raised $20 preflop in early position and then bet $40 on the flop, and I was just getting major "big hand" vibes from him. I'm sure he either had JJ, KK, AA, or possibly TT, three of which would have been beating me, and I would have had to commit lots of chips to find out. It was early on and I decided to wait.

Highlight of the night: winning a nearly $500 pot with A high! This was after the complexion of the game had changed. A guy joined and someone mentioned that he was an action player, and oh, was he ever -- raising almost every pot with anything. He raised to $35 and got three or four callers, including myself with AKs. The flop came Txx with two of my suit, and after it was checked around to me I shoved all in for about $150. Action guy folded, and I got one caller (at which point I was thinking I was likely majorly screwed). No spade on the turn or river and I was ready to muck, saying "I missed," but the other guy was hesitating too so I flipped my cards up. It turned out he had called me with only a lower flush draw. I was SHOCKED to win the pot and of course thrilled. Another guy mucked a ten so that big bet was the only way I could have won that pot.

Not much of note happened after that, except the action guy lost several buyins and left the table in a huff. The guy who doubled me up with the bad draw kept losing his chips and plunking down $100 after $100 on the table and shoving it all in until he finally rebought for $300 and started winning some pots, including the last pot against Action Guy.

I liked the casino and the poker room. It's in a nice location with easy access from I-90. Chairs were fairly comfy. It's a bit crowded in there but not unnavigable, and it's glassed in so it's quiet and non-smoky, unlike the rest of the casino. They gave me a free hat for being a newbie, and the staff was friendly and competent. There were monte carlo jackpots and $500 high hand jackpots every two hours (Tues/Wed/Thurs only), which a guy at my table won with quad kings. Most of the players there were regulars and knew each other.

At the end of the night I cashed out $287 ahead, a nice little payday thanks to that one giant, unexpected pot.

I also learned that it's common there to chop the blinds, which I hadn't encountered before. They explained to me that you either chop all the time or none of the time, regardless of your cards. I found it a little odd but went with the program.

I would stick with a game that you are the most familiar with. Glad to hear you came out ahead. Never seems to happen for me.

Great job Cat!!! May have to head down there some time. Playing one large pot for the night is not a bad thing at all. Sounds like you're well on your way to becoming more comfortable. Awesome job!

Vollcyat

The $3/$6 limit is a classic example of a No Foldem Holdem game. Most players here are referred to as the tourist attraction for entry level players. it is too cheap to call up to 4 bets on any given stage, even while holding junk. Furthermore what makes things worse is the fact that this is a drinking table. While under the influence of kindred spirits, he/she has the tendency to play loose/agressive. For these circumstances, your reading ability for these players are by far the worse conditions possible. More suck out bad beat loses occur among this limit of play. Be aware, stay as far away as possible from these micro limit stakes.

Unfortunately, it is usually like that at casinos, even up to the $10/$20 limit tables that I've seen. I've had some pretty sick rushes at 1/2 NLHE, but I am aware that I usually gamble in pretty marginal situations just because everyone else is raising 6-10 times the BB preflop, and getting action in certain spots is crucial. 1/2 NLHE is a casino's bread and butter for attracting new players, and that is where most of the action is. If you're in it to play seriously/for a living, you are pretty much forced to play online for the most part. The variety of tables/players/tools you can use to your advantage are almost limitless. Anyway, apologies about the rant, haha.