2023-2024-2025-2026 NC/LC THREAD

well, here we are again!

It’s gotten so bad we’re merging 23 with 24?

In other news, I played unlimited hold th,ems at the V in Macau. Can confirm lots of gambol. Well, maybe 2 guys at the table I was playing at. Lowest game being spread was 50/100HKD which is 6/12 freedom money. Tripled up with top set of 8s on an 8-2-5 vs KQdd and 34o. Stacked the same guy with TPTK Ahi board. Same guy I took for a decent sized pot with top two. Other than that, the table was fairly tight. But from what I’ve seen, the fabled gambol gambol in Macau is alive and well. This was around 1am on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Didn’t see many people drinking and they have a bunch of waters just waiting at the side trays at the table. Min buy in was 40bbs. Max buy in was 300.

Do you speak the local language? If not, how easy was it to figure out stuff.

by that_pope m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58414884#post58414884)

Do you speak the local language? If not, how easy was it to figure out stuff.

Signage is English and most floor speak English. I was lucky enough to have a really nice Hong Kong guy who seemed like a crusher directly to my right who spoke English and he translated stuff for me. But he said the dealer would translate if he wasn’t next to me. Right before I played poker, I tried to play craps. There was one table running and it was packed. Your standard Asian degens lined the table. A few had a **** ton of money in front of them, but a few had like one low denomination chip so they could throw the dice I’m assuming. The weirdest thing I saw was that only the guy tossing the dice had a pass line bet without the odds being backed. Everyone else bought the inside. No come line. No pass line. No dont pass or don’t come. I saw there were two spots open, but the dealer yelled something at me so I didn’t take either of them. Then this fat mainlander jumped in front of me and took the spot. As I tried to take the spot next to him, he put some chips in the spot over and his friend jumped in the line up. So yes and no it wasn’t easy to figure out. And no I don’t speak any cantonese or mandarin or Portuguese.

I know I could easily have posted this in the Internet Poker section, but I feel a camaraderie with the people who post here for obvious reason, so I'd like to hit y'all up. I have a friend who insists she wants to start playing no-limit-hold'em at the casino (winstar in Oklahoma in our case). I'm trying to talk her out if it hahaha but she's insisting she has the bug. I'm definitely going to recommend she start with the short-stack strategy. I hope she listens to me LOL. And of course while she's not in hands (which will be a lot!), that she pay attention to what people are limping with, raising with, betting and raising with postflop etc. just to get an idea. How are the US-facing internet sites nowadays? Is the level of play even at 2NL still light years ahead of anything we'd see at live $1/$2 or $1/$3? What books are the "flavor of the month" nowadays? I remember really liking Ed Miller's "The Course". I'll go ahead and pause there. Any other choice words of wisdom I should give my friend other than "Make sure she has a bankroll set aside not needed for absolutely anything else" and "be very very patient, it takes a long time to build up the skillset necessary to beat live $1/$2, and the variance can be off-the-charts crazy?" Thanks DTXCF

by DalTXColtsFan m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58416490#post58416490)

I'll go ahead and pause there. Any other choice words of wisdom I should give my friend other than "Make sure she has a bankroll set aside not needed for absolutely anything else" and "be very very patient, it takes a long time to build up the skillset necessary to beat live $1/$2, and the variance can be off-the-charts crazy?"

I'd tell anyone thinking about getting into poker in 2024, and especially NLHE, that it's not really worth the time investment to get good these days, so unless they really fall in love with the game and get inherent joy/value out of studying it, you should treat it as nothing more than a hobby and set an amount you are willing to lose every week/month playing, anticipate you will lose, and stick to what you can afford. In other words, I wouldn't encourage anyone to try to beat poker in 2024. That said, there's a big difference between buying Pio, GTO Wizard, online courses, and whatnot, and spending thousands of hours studying the game, and investing a couple dozen hours into some resources to become passable and not a total money sieve. The low hanging fruit hangs very low these days. I think some solved preflop charts (probably free or very expensive for NLHE these days) and a book like The Course is a good investment for anyone starting the game.

I need to vent. I have a friend, a former coworker, who has been playing limit hold'em for decades. She is a very intelligent woman and a shrewd businessperson who can fenagle her way around the business world like you wouldn't believe. She and her husband moved to Vegas a couple years ago and are "living the life" - I get jealous every time I see their Facebook posts LOL. It's like they're on vacation all year! Anyway, I told her, "Last time I was in Vegas, every time I sat at a table it seemed to be full of people who actually know how to play. I don't want to play at tables like those, I want to play at tables where 5 to 7 people are limping into every pot". She said, "Stay away from games like those - someone will run down your aces with 7-2 offsuit every time."

by DalTXColtsFan m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58469305#post58469305)

I need to vent.I have a friend, a former coworker, who has been playing limit hold'em for decades. She is a very intelligent woman and a shrewd businessperson who can fenagle her way around the business world like you wouldn't believe. She and her husband moved to Vegas a couple years ago and are "living the life" - I get jealous every time I see their Facebook posts LOL. It... See full post

tell her to play NL or tourneys. ironically its thinking like this that ruined online LHE. people berated fish for playing too loose. then the fish quit. now the games are tight and unbeatable for all but experts. be careful what you wish for.

by DalTXColtsFan m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58416490#post58416490)

I know I could easily have posted this in the Internet Poker section, but I feel a camaraderie with the people who post here for obvious reason, so I'd like to hit y'all up.I have a friend who insists she wants to start playing no-limit-hold'em at the casino (winstar in Oklahoma in our case). I'm trying to talk her out if it hahaha but she's insisting she has the bug.I'm defin... See full post

most shortstackers suck at it and are basically dead money. the only way to play it profitably imo is to LRR a lot, and then shove over other players raises. stick the top 10% of hands. if someone raises pre to like $15 in a 1/3 and there are 3 callers and you have $200 you should be shoving or folding every time. most people dont do that though.

The 2p2 archives have some good material on short-stacked play. If someone buys in for the minimum in my local game ($200 in a 2-3-5 game with a more-or-less mandatory $10 winner straddle) they are sitting in with what amount to 20bb, and if they played a competent short-stack tournament strategy they would do pretty well. By and large, the min-buyin players don't, and they don't.

My 6-year-anniversary post I daresay is the Bible on shortstacking LOL https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/32/be... (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/32/beginners-general-questions/daltxcoltsfans-6-year-anniversary-post-shorstacking-nlhe-plo-1696705/?highlight=) The bottom line is, whether or not it works is table-dependent. When you raise, you want to raise to a dollar amount that will get you a number of callers to get you an SPR of not much more than 1 on the flop. For example, if you've folded a few orbits at a 1/2 table and you're down to $85, ideally you'd like to be able to raise to $10 or $12 and get 2 or 3 callers. Raising to $12 and getting 3 callers creates a pot of $48 and you have $73 behind. That's not a horrible overbet shove. If you raise to $10 and only get 2 callers, there's $30 in the pot and you have $75 behind. You'd probably have to checkraise to get all of that in on the flop. If you're lucky enough to be acting after 4 or 5 limpers, you can justify a raise to $20 or $25 - 1 or 2 callers and you're looking at a $40 pot with $65 behind or a $75 pot with $60 behind. If you're at a table where you're not getting these favorable SPRs on the flop, rack up. You also have to pay attention to what villains are wiling to call overbet shoves with. On a 982 flop, there are tables where you can shove $73 into a $48 pot and get called by A9, T9, TT, JJ, and even JT, T7 and 67, not to mention any flush draw. If you're at a table where they'll only call with 88 or 99, rack up. The hardest part is knowing what to do when AK whiffs. But you usually have 6 clean outs at least, and may be ahead of a lot of draws. It's table dependent.

I hope everyone is well. I was well on my way to becoming a daytime 6-12 reg at AJs pre-covid, however, the frequent exposure to some of the miserable people + the crazy drop caused me to abruptly stop playing in Jan '20. Once covid happened, I obv didn't play and only within the last year or so have I played at all, but only a couple of sessions at Graton because it's nicer (and they have a pit 😀 ). Fast-forward to now and we've moved to the central valley, but my wife still goes into her office periodically so I went with her a couple of days ago, dropped her off and ran a bunch of errands, culminating in checking out AJs. There were 2 6-12 games going, one of which was on life support, so I noped out and decided to hit LC instead since it was also closer to where we here having dinner that night. LC only had 1 game going :( so I got on the list and waited...when they finally called a second game, I already knew I was going to be playing for less than an hour and when we all got seated I just had to laugh - 4 daytime regs from AJs (5 if you count me, I suppose)...it was like a continuation of the last session I played 4 years ago. Thankfully ran hot and hat a hit-and-run + 1 rack & change. Might go back in another 4 years

Hello. Can anyone recommend a site or software if I want to play a friend at heads up limit hold em for play money?

Has anyone played on ggg poker ? Is there some limit games there ? Small stakes Thx

by Montrealcorp m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58538340#post58538340)

Has anyone played on ggg poker ? Is there some limit games there ? Small stakes Thx

if you mean ggpoker, then no i don't think there's any limit holdem there. best spot for limit holdem these days is bovada aka ignition aka bodog second best is maybe wpn network (acr/bcp/true) or pokerstars kingsclub gets a game once in a while (and also has other limit mix games, in case you were asking about more than just limit holdem)

Thx !

by CrazyLond m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58488301#post58488301)

Hello. Can anyone recommend a site or software if I want to play a friend at heads up limit hold em for play money?

does pokerstars.net offer this?

Oh God, the LC threads are by 2 year chunks now?

Decades soon

In Seattle for the next week or so. Any min bet in the 8/16 - 20/40 range running regularly? Also have an open spot at Chambers Bay at 920 on the 17th if anyone is available.

by wbatas m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=58601192#post58601192)

In Seattle for the next week or so. Any min bet in the 8/16 - 20/40 range running regularly? Also have an open spot at Chambers Bay at 920 on the 17th if anyone is available.

Fortune Poker in Renton is by far the best place for LHE. 8/16 and 20/40 both go most days. You can check on the games here: http://fortunepokerroom.com/

Bay Area people, Where’s the minbet at these days? Oaks? AJs? Bay101?

hey squad - if you get a chance, please help out by posting updated info in this thread: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/53/mi... (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/53/mid-high-stakes-limit/2024-usa-live-lhe-1838769/) thanks!

I’ll be at Bay 101 Sunday Night I hope. What games should I expect?

Happy New Year, everyone!

sup squad thought you might find this interesting: https://www.youtube.com/@DeathDonkey

a new year! 2026 = year of the LHE?!

Almost went a year between posts! LHE still rules

People flee in terror before LHE's conquering armies. This is why TORSE tournaments are popping up and HORSE events are fading away.

Make LHE Great Again!

Howard Beale!!!? Dead or alive?

sup bro?

by BigBadBabar m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=59193953#post59193953)

a new year! 2026 = year of the LHE?!

We can only hope...

How is LHE at the Gardens these days? I need to go to a work conference in Orange County this weekend but I have huge windows of downtime and would love to sneak out to the Gardens if the games are any good.

by asmitty m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=59278831#post59278831)

How is LHE at the Gardens these days? I need to go to a work conference in Orange County this weekend but I have huge windows of downtime and would love to sneak out to the Gardens if the games are any good.

Last time I went to the Gardens they had two 20’s running and were about to start a third, but no 40+. This was a month ago.

by checkraisdraw m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=59286357#post59286357)

Last time I went to the Gardens they had two 20’s running and were about to start a third, but no 40+. This was a month ago.

Yep, they had 3 20-40 games and nothing higher when I went on a Friday night. The game was far more loose-passive than what I am used to at Bike. Of course I managed to lose two racks in two hours . . .

by asmitty m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=59286391#post59286391)

Yep, they had 3 20-40 games and nothing higher when I went on a Friday night. The game was far more loose-passive than what I am used to at Bike. Of course I managed to lose two racks in two hours . . .

Hawaiian Gardens is the worst place to lose two racks too because the players quit early. That’s why I could never make it my main game even though it’s a nicer casino to play in.

by checkraisdraw m (https://www.twoplustwo.com/post?postId=59286578#post59286578)

Hawaiian Gardens is the worst place to lose two racks too because the players quit early. That’s why I could never make it my main game even though it’s a nicer casino to play in.

Honestly the vibe wasn’t for me, even though it is “nicer” in many ways than the Bike. I don’t miss the toxicity and chaos of Commerce but Gardens went too far in the other direction, and it felt very sterile and un-fun.

is there still 20/40 at artichoke joes?