"Odd" Games: Any Pros out there?

[quickfetus]

Sorry for flooding this forum lately, but I've become very interested in Chinese with 2-7 in the middle and 2-7 TDL quite recently.

I figure this is the best place to ask: Does anyone play "odd" poker games professionally? Does anyone here play 2-7 TDL for a living? How about 5CD? Chinese? Do enlighten me.

[FeliciaLee]

Don't quote me on this one, because I read it years ago and I can't find it now.

I remember something about Daniel saying that when pros went bust, a lot of times they built back up their bankroll playing Pan because it is the only game where you can literally get like 20:1 on your money, and if you play perfectly, you have a huge edge over recreational players. I think he said he'd grind up a little at Plaza or wherever, then run it out to LA and play at Commerce.

I could be very, very wrong about the author, although I think he was Daniel (pre-poker boom and before he started believing his own press).

Pan is an interesting game. I'd play it more often, but it always gives me a pounding headache.

Glenn plays Draw for a profit. Not a "living," so-to-speak, because we aren't professional poker players, but he definitely makes a profit.

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[quickfetus]

Thanks very much. One problem: What the hell is Pan? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[InWithTheBest]

I've played 2-7 for a living almost exclusivly for the last 18 months and it has gone very well financially but is pretty tough mentally. Sick game...

[jfk]

[ QUOTE ]
pros...built back up their bankroll playing Pan because it is the only game where you can literally get like 20:1 on your money, and if you play perfectly, you have a huge edge over recreational players.

[/ QUOTE ]

As far as I understand it, Pan is not a beatable game, at least in the form spread in California card rooms. If I remember correctly Mason confirms this in "Gambling Theory".

Going purely on conjecture I believe Pan is rarely found these days in California card rooms because the lack of an edge means that the third party bankers won't/can't staff the games. I've seen Pan tables, just not anyone seated at them. The Pan games seem to have dried up around the time the bankers entered the card room scene.

[FeliciaLee]

I think you are talking about Pan Nine, or Super Pan Nine, which is a house game. Pan (as a poker game), is Panguingue, which is played against other players, not the house. It is sort of like Gin Rummy, but you can catch cheaters for extra money, or can cheat yourself if you are prepared to pay extra money if someone calls you on it. It is a really fun game, and not a house game at all. Sahara used to have a couple tables. I think Plaza still has one or two. That is it in Vegas. Commerce used to have a big Pan section, but I think now Bike took over the Pan games, and barely anyone plays anymore.

Some more info on Pan (as a poker game, not the house game that is similar to Bacarrat):

http://poker.bethewinner.com/help/pan.html
http://www.englishharbourpoker.com/pan-poker.php
http://www.oakscardclub.com/games_poker_pan.html
http://www.guidetopoker.com/Panguingue-Poker-Rules.php

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

PS: Coincidentally enough, I think my very first post on 2+2 was about a Pan game. I was a lurker until March '03, when someone asked about it (Granny Mae?).

Doh, nope, I was wrong. It was my 8th post.

[Nsight7]

I replied once to this inquiry regarding Chinese Poker. Here it is again in case you didn't catch it then, but this is my opinion on the issue in Chinese at least:

[ QUOTE ]
I have never heard of a "pro" Chinese poker player. First, it is pretty close to being the luckiest form of poker going and has a killer level of variance (i.e. very HIGH). Second, the gap between novice and expert isn't particularly deep, especially from someone that is half-decent at any other normal form of poker. This means basically the games at any level close to those required to be a "pro" (that is to make a comfortable living off of it) would be full of people that are roughly just as good as you and, if they aren't, could be lucky enough on any given night to send you tilting back to your cardboard box.

The moral of this story is Chinese poker is just for fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

[nineinchal]

I took the world championship of "War" at age seven in Brooklyn. I won the entire purse of $1.29 in Tootsie Rolls.

At age 11, I took down the World Series of "Go Fish." First Prize was the entire 5th series of the Topps baseball cards. I got a Tim McCarver and a Roger Maris out of that. I wish I had those cards today. They would be worth around three hundred grand.

This year, I won the championship of "One Card Schmuck." Not because I have any innate ability, its just that my opponents passed out drunk, so I left the game with all their money, and three unopened cans of Bud.

[MFCMark]

I call BS, if Bud was the only drink available, on the grounds 1 person getting drunk to the point of passing out on it is low, and more than 1 is statistically irrelevant.

[nineinchal]

[ QUOTE ]
I call BS, if Bud was the only drink available, on the grounds 1 person getting drunk to the point of passing out on it is low, and more than 1 is statistically irrelevant.

[/ QUOTE ]

They passed out on the Jack Daniels, valium, and weed. Leave the gun, take the Bud.