garden city 20/40 makes me real, real nervous

[jfk]

Garden City uses the shufflemaster.

Back a few years ago when I used to frequent the 8/16, it was not uncommon to hear guys using a commonly spoken foreign language to talk about their hands during play. I mean things like, "I folded clubs", "I have a set", etc. At times this was clearly overheard by dealers who would give those players a look but not intervene.

I was not enough of a regular to feel that my opinion with the floor would carry weight, so I selfishly kept my mouth shut and took silent advantage of the free information.

I did not find this situation to be commonplace in other major Bay Area card rooms, but it happened a lot at Garden City.

At least three of the players who used to cheat in this blatant manner are now regulars in the 20/40 and 40/80.

I don't consider swope's scenario to be all that unusual or a good example of an irregularity. The games are by their nature just extraordinarily loose and aggressive. Though very profitable these games are very high variance and lead to a lot of frustration.

There are things about which one should be alert at Garden City, but miracle suckouts and unconscionable plays are unlikely to be getting engineered by the employees.

[elena_elphie]

I've logged a lot of hours and won a lot of money in the GC 20-40 and I haven't really seen much that looked like collusion. The usual checking it down between friends of course, but I've never seen them jam everyone out of the pot and then check it down. If they are colluding they aren't very good at it.

I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I'm not too concerned about it and feel totally comfortable playing in that game.

[swope]

with this many people saying im probably wrong and no one saying they feel im onto something, im inclined to believe im simply out of line in accusing anyone of shenanigans.

thanks for putting my mind at ease.

[brick]

did they shuffle by hand each time one of the four-flush big pot situations happend?

[mwette]

At HG in LA they have big signs on the tables:
"English only during play" (or something like that).

[HammerinHank]

[ QUOTE ]
first hand, im the big blind and i call a raise with 84h

[/ QUOTE ]

If someone is bringing in a cold deck wouldn't they give you a hand in the BB they KNOW you will call with. You might muck 84s and the whole thing is ruined.

Also, are the new decks going into the shuffle master or are they breaking procedure and hand shuffling?

[HOWMANY]

Well at least this isn't as bad as the CP 30 game thread.

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]
moments later, another baysian regular sits to baysian regular #1's right, as Zheng sits down to deal with a new deck. Zheng makes me nervous; he looks like an asian william burroughs if he had been pickeled in fermaldehyde for 2000 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

This description of Zheng is pure gold.

As for the rest, I'm sure this is just poker Garden City style. If Zheng had a new setup, he probably spread the first deck, put it in the Shufflemaster and then spread the second deck. By the time he's finished with the second deck, the first deck should be ready - they only hand shuffle if the Shufflemaster is busy/broken. Even if you believe that there is a potential problem, just avoid any hand shuffled deals; this will only happen if there's a chop, maybe once per down.

These games are donkalicious, but that comes at the expense of some suckouts - sometimes a lot - from hands that you simply cannot imagine made it to the river.

[ProfessorBen]

[ QUOTE ]
Well at least this isn't as bad as the CP 30 game thread.

[/ QUOTE ]
QFT