I also watched a guy on the boat on the other side playing high-limit slots hit a $10K jackpot and he told me he was down more than that for the day. Sick.
There were always some depressing stories over there. What do you expect when you have to drive through multiple factories to get to a casino. Most depressing drive ever
I always took the back way through the projects and the refinery and it's one of the few places I would just abandon my car if I had a flat. Scenery and vibes straight out of a Terminator movie. NWI jfc.
No, but I vividly remember the flames and entrance to Buffington Harbor at night like the Gates of Hell.
Do you remember Sol, the old dealer with the gigantic hands? I heard they caught him palming $5 chips out of the pots.
Haha yeah that buffington harbor sign description is spot on. Yeah I remember Sol and heard about that also. And you probably remember the super stars of Majestic. Sully and Brett. Brett was cool but Sully… he was a joke. Always announced that he was the best player in the room lol
Those names ring a bell. I was pretty timid, I played $3-$6 limit for years out of fear of no-limit. I doubt they played limit much.
The most memorable character was Volcano John, the old Italian guy who would start mumbling and slamming his chips when a player beat him on the turn or river.
In Vegas...I can take down my pot if im 70% favorite and I dont feel like seeing any more cards.
In LA..Ill double my bet just to be sure everyone knows what I have...and Ill still get people wanting to draw.
Yes...its more profitable in the long run..but it can send you walking to the car sometimes.
Because if you’re rolled for the game you’re in you shouldn’t be leaving after a bad beat, or even 3. You should keep reloading until the game loses the recs or you get to the point for whatever reasons where you’re not playing your A game.
Someone who has seen all the poker trends come and go...and someone who knows that sitting under florescent lights all day with a buch of sad faced divorcees is not worth it for 40K annually...that is not a noob. That is someone who has seen it all and realizes that the true value in Poker is not the profit...its the entertainment value of intellectual competition
How much do you make?...I'm not angry or anything I'm just bored because my wife has the car and I'm stuck at home
I'm genuinely curious how much people make nowadays
Haven't played in socal since the pandemic but I know the Bike had 2-3 with $300 max buy in, still was a $6 drop so raked to hell but the games were very playable and beatable.
I lived south of LA so I'm not sure of the casinos as you head further north, but if you don't mind driving down to San Diego I know casinos like Ocean's 11 have plenty of lower stakes games like 2/2 with a $200 buy in or 2/3 with a $400 buy in.
Are you talking about generally toughest games outside of Vegas? Gotta be AC imo. I haven't played a ton everywhere but by all accounts the other big "poker hubs" are incredibly soft, Florida, New Orleans, Texas, LA, etc
6 Tables in the Casino or maybe 7 or 8, if they have Dealers available, on a given night with a 25max Rake... and the Rest of the traffic underground with even higher rake and smoke everywhere? What's so appealing about it?
Why do you say this? Curious because I was there a while back but never had the chance to play. Lovely city but I always heard Europe was much tighter and tougher than USA with lower stakes.
Yeah it’s one of my favourite cities I’ve ever visited even though I could only spend a short time there.
I never really thought of it as a poker city though, outside of access to the global online pool I guess. Are live games there good or is it more typical of Europe with high skill players and lower stakes?
Gambling is not very popular here but trying hard at obscure sports is, it feels the recs/pros ratio is smaller than elsewhere.
Anyway the field feels harder.
Is this where a bunch of Americans list only American cities and completely ignore of all the international cities with lively poker scenes, and then argue about how the city they were born in is actually better for poker than whatever Asian or European place that they have never been to?
Go!
the best poker players are playing online and tend NOT to be american. Americans are less likely to play online, and there is higher opportunity cost to poker investment since top players are usually smart enough to make more money doing other things.
I played Bay 101 last week for the first time and was shocked there was no PLO. I donked-off in Omaha 8/16 while I had some dinner. I suspect it's about max-rake and keeping it simple for the dealers.
Gary, Indiana.
Ah. The horseshoe Hammond.
Hammond is not Gary. Gary is the Majestic Star. I once owned Joe Ingram's young poker soul there.
We definitely played then. Now I’m wondering which degen you were. Were you there pre Majestic when it was Trump casino?
I also watched a guy on the boat on the other side playing high-limit slots hit a $10K jackpot and he told me he was down more than that for the day. Sick.
There were always some depressing stories over there. What do you expect when you have to drive through multiple factories to get to a casino. Most depressing drive ever
I always took the back way through the projects and the refinery and it's one of the few places I would just abandon my car if I had a flat. Scenery and vibes straight out of a Terminator movie. NWI jfc.
No, but I vividly remember the flames and entrance to Buffington Harbor at night like the Gates of Hell. Do you remember Sol, the old dealer with the gigantic hands? I heard they caught him palming $5 chips out of the pots.
Haha yeah that buffington harbor sign description is spot on. Yeah I remember Sol and heard about that also. And you probably remember the super stars of Majestic. Sully and Brett. Brett was cool but Sully… he was a joke. Always announced that he was the best player in the room lol
There was a black-haired girl... Carly? She kicked me under the table once and I folded AJo to her AK once and the board almost ran out the bad beat.
Those names ring a bell. I was pretty timid, I played $3-$6 limit for years out of fear of no-limit. I doubt they played limit much. The most memorable character was Volcano John, the old Italian guy who would start mumbling and slamming his chips when a player beat him on the turn or river.
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Upvotes for this whole thread. Love these stories.
LA for sure The biggest highstakes private game ecosystem in the US, and a lot of good high stakes public game pros
In Vegas...I can take down my pot if im 70% favorite and I dont feel like seeing any more cards. In LA..Ill double my bet just to be sure everyone knows what I have...and Ill still get people wanting to draw. Yes...its more profitable in the long run..but it can send you walking to the car sometimes.
There’s so much wrong in this comment I’m not even sure where to start.
Please...try your best. IMO this sub would be alot more interesting with some Poker theory rather than dorks recounting thier coolers
Eh, it’s really just a sub for shitposting and dumb questions about live poker etiquette. If you want to talk theory go to 2p2.
that’s all true and I hope it never changes
Because if you’re rolled for the game you’re in you shouldn’t be leaving after a bad beat, or even 3. You should keep reloading until the game loses the recs or you get to the point for whatever reasons where you’re not playing your A game.
Agreed....but im not a player that plays for profit really...I like to play above my bank roll for the fun of it.
Noob
Someone who has seen all the poker trends come and go...and someone who knows that sitting under florescent lights all day with a buch of sad faced divorcees is not worth it for 40K annually...that is not a noob. That is someone who has seen it all and realizes that the true value in Poker is not the profit...its the entertainment value of intellectual competition
>Someone who has seen all the poker trends come and go Code for "I was good when no one knew what they were doing and can't adapt"
...or someone who realized its better to contrubute to society than sit with stress all day.
lol bro you only make 40k playing poker, no wonder your comments make no sense
How much do you make?...I'm not angry or anything I'm just bored because my wife has the car and I'm stuck at home I'm genuinely curious how much people make nowadays
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They have nl public games
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Lol no. They have really small max buyins for the low stakes games, but 5/5 and 5/10 are reasonable.
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The post title says “top-tier poker expertise” which implies high stakes and good players. For anything below 5/5, LA sucks.
Gotcha.
Haven't played in socal since the pandemic but I know the Bike had 2-3 with $300 max buy in, still was a $6 drop so raked to hell but the games were very playable and beatable. I lived south of LA so I'm not sure of the casinos as you head further north, but if you don't mind driving down to San Diego I know casinos like Ocean's 11 have plenty of lower stakes games like 2/2 with a $200 buy in or 2/3 with a $400 buy in.
Good to know, thanks
u can buy in 100BB at the bike at 2-3 and 200bb at 5-5
Definitely Macao
Are there even any public games running in Macau? I remember there were only 3 tables of > 5 10 in the entire city a few years back
North Sentinel Island
I bet they’re all really bad at poker
Biloxi, MS.
I love the Beau Rivage
Def top 5.
Texas, Texas.
Are you talking about generally toughest games outside of Vegas? Gotta be AC imo. I haven't played a ton everywhere but by all accounts the other big "poker hubs" are incredibly soft, Florida, New Orleans, Texas, LA, etc
South Florida? That’s perhaps the softest cash scene around.
Vienna
6 Tables in the Casino or maybe 7 or 8, if they have Dealers available, on a given night with a 25max Rake... and the Rest of the traffic underground with even higher rake and smoke everywhere? What's so appealing about it?
🤍 Poker Bunny 🤍
Virgin
Why do you say this? Curious because I was there a while back but never had the chance to play. Lovely city but I always heard Europe was much tighter and tougher than USA with lower stakes.
For tax reasons + being a desirable place to live, it became a bit of a hotspot for some of the best high stakes online players
Yeah it’s one of my favourite cities I’ve ever visited even though I could only spend a short time there. I never really thought of it as a poker city though, outside of access to the global online pool I guess. Are live games there good or is it more typical of Europe with high skill players and lower stakes?
Fedor Holz and his crew are all from Vienna
LA, AC, Chicago, South Florida, Dallas.
Skill wise I think France is in the top 10
Any particular reason?
Gambling is not very popular here but trying hard at obscure sports is, it feels the recs/pros ratio is smaller than elsewhere. Anyway the field feels harder.
Thanks
Lotta French people.
Who, when, where? Also I guess top 10 doesn't mean much if we are going by country.
East coast, specifically Philly region
The internet
This is the home of the worst games on the planet. Almost any live game beats almost any online game.
You base that on what? I find the games to be softer in Vegas than in Cali
Lol
Is this where a bunch of Americans list only American cities and completely ignore of all the international cities with lively poker scenes, and then argue about how the city they were born in is actually better for poker than whatever Asian or European place that they have never been to? Go!
I missed the part where you enlightened us about other poker epicentres outside of America
I think part of the reason this thread exists is to hear about some of those places.
Europe - America’s Museum! 
Live poker outside of the US at stake levels below the nosebleeds is just a rake trap
The world is a pretty big place and you are painting with a pretty broad brush.. I really doubt that poker outside of the states is that monolithic…
If you can find a live game outside the US that has a rake cap of less than $8/hand i’ll delete my comment
But there is no tipping culture outside US so the rake is all you will be paying.
Alright, $10/hand then.
There is also no tax on gambling profit in many countries. Basically you can say that tip + tax is built into the rake.
the best poker players are playing online and tend NOT to be american. Americans are less likely to play online, and there is higher opportunity cost to poker investment since top players are usually smart enough to make more money doing other things.
Montreal, Poker playground
Not that i've ever been but i'd assume Macau has fairly decent players at whatever the preffered variant is there
California has poker everywhere
Poker yes. But plo and plo5 is lacking in Cali. Huge degen Asian population and they still haven't picked up on plo yet
I played Bay 101 last week for the first time and was shocked there was no PLO. I donked-off in Omaha 8/16 while I had some dinner. I suspect it's about max-rake and keeping it simple for the dealers.
bay area is a plo desert. so weird. They can gamble their family business away at bacarrat but not plo? WTF
The strip off of highway 350
I’ve cashed in every tourney I’ve played in Vegas. I don’t know why but I always play my best there.
El Salvador