I'm staying about 5 miles from the Hark Rock in Tampa this week.Morris could you give me a run down on the typical player there call with 78 for a all in?Shove with j5?Are the players loose thight prob stantered raise 6-10 bb would be my guess on the 1-2.
It's a mix of regs and tourists, so it really depends on what table you get. On both of the cash tables I played at, there were probably 2-3 pretty good regs, 2-3 mediocre players, and the rest were touristy fish types. My first day had the softest table, we had an older Asian lady who had the whole table on tilt, calling pfrs and bets to the river with 62o and 64s and hitting trips and a flush both times (once for most of my stack). But of course she couldn't hang on to it, and I finally busted her the last time and she left. At the same table there was an older Cuban guy with a really thick accent, dripping in bling. He was also making some major donk calls and getting lucky, and when somebody at the table would say something, he'd get all loud and animated and argue about why he played it, but you couldn't understand half of what he said, lol.
Next table on the next day had more solid players, and I really didn't like the table -- full of action junkies. They complained that about the time I arrived the other action players had left and it was getting boring. I mean they were raising/3betting every pot, putting on double straddles, anything to build big pots. Made it really tough to try play a serious game. But they were full and had a list, so I if was going to play I had to play there. I just ran really bad that day though, and the rare time I had a big hand it was 2nd best and I just couldn't lay it down.
You might try to do a little scouting and table selection. You're supposed to sign-in at the front desk and, if there's no waiting list, they'll send you to a table. But if you have your player card in hand (you'll have to get one for tournaments anyway, may as well just get it, it's free) you should be able to sit down in an open seat and hand your card to the dealer who can swipe you in (again, assuming there is no wait list). Their tables are all networked to the front desk computer, and the tables have LCD screens with players/seats where the dealer logs in. I saw people just sitting down and handing their card to the dealer, rather than being swiped in at the front desk, so I suppose it's cool to do that. I'll try that when I go back.
Standard raises at 1/2 were 4-10bb. You may think you'd want to play the 3/6 table like I did, but I was warned the action there was insane. Mostly rich donks and degens who liked to shove full stacks every other hand. Personally, I don't care for bingo poker so I avoided it. Besides I really wasn't rolled for several buyins at that stake, which I would have no doubt needed given the style of play. I like to carry a lot of bullets for the stakes I'm playing, and keep it topped off. That's something else I find common at the live games I've played -- people don't stay topped off. They exhaust a stack before buying in again. I don't get that. Once I was ever below about 3/4 of a buy-in, I topped off.
Only thing about their 1/2 game is it's still capped at 50bb for some reason, despite the change in the law. Everything higher has a min cap of 100bb. They do have a 1/3 game that I almost tried but didn't get to, maybe next trip.
Plus they have a couple of different tourneys a day which I'll probably jump on as well.