First underground card room trip report

[cking]

So tonight a friend of mine told me about a friend of his was hosting a 1/2nl game. For most college kids this is pretty high stakes so i was skeptical but said i'd come. I was even more skeptical when he said there is supposedly 2 full tables most times they play. So i come along and bring 2 buyins and figure thats plenty for a fun night.

We arrive at the location of the game and i already have my suspicions confirmed that this is not a normal home game. We arrive at a bar. Then we go back around behind the bar with his friend, he knocks on the door and we're let in and then there is a magnetized door after this. Now those supicions are fact, we are at an underground card room. So we head in and there are 2 tables with dealers, 1 real nice one and another for the side action while waiting on a seat.

We put our names on the list for the main table and sit down at the side game. Me and my pal both buy in for $200 the rest of the table bought in for $100. This was huge for my confidence, im a decent player but was worried that the kind of people who know about and attend an underground cardroom in a small city would have to be pretty solid players right? Obviously not. The side table is pretty tight but i have 2 big hands vs a friend one involving AQ vs KQ on Qxx flop, he raises i reraise and makes a solid laydown. Nothing much happens for the next half hour till i pick up 77 in mp. Normally id raise but it wouldnt thin the 2 limpers infront so i just limp and set mine. Flop comes 77T. Talk about set mining gone good. There are 4 players in the hand and it checks around. Turn is an 8 and my friend bets out 12, 1 other calls and I call. River is a K, my friend bets 28, other guy folds, i reraise allin as he only has about 45 left behind. He calls saying its yours and shows 69 for the strait and i proudly show my quads.

Nothing else happens at the side table but all i hear is "all-in, all-in" at the other table and im pretty psyched. So someone finally leaves and i move on over there with about $380 in chips. I immedietly see the difference and its more like the normal live game you would see at a casino, preflop raises of $12-$20, lots of callers. This game is the definition of juicy. So i mostly sit tight, run good at good times and chip up to around 600. One guy had no clue what the hell he was doing and would raise $40 one hand with A3o and then limp/call another with Q4o. It was UGLY. Another guy was such the definition of calling station it defined logic. My friend would raise to 16 preflop, this guy would call. Flop would come Kc7sjc and we would joke that the guy is on the Spade draw with backdoor wheel draw. My friend would then bet 20 on the flop, turn and river and the guy would call him down and muck T high or some such garbage. No real major hands happen with me (i.e any pot over 100) till the last few orbits when i pick up TT in the sb. 2 limpers in the pot and c/o makes it 15, i reraise to 50, limpers fold c/o calls. Flop comes 893r, i lead out for 85 and he tanks and then goes allin for his last 100. Turn 7 river blank, he says sorry it was his last orbit and he was gambling and shows TJo for the strait. I dont mind his flop play but he really should of folded preflop. So i finish the night a bit later after a few blind raises and what not with 390, for just under 200 profit in 4hours of play.

As far as the players, dealers and room manager they were all extremly nice. All the players had a big laugh, the dealers were nice and knew the game well and there was plenty of free beer and food (they would order anything requested and had sandwhiches and would order pizza every few hours).

Anyway pretty excited I went, was alot of fun and some pretty easy money, already looking forward to going again tomorrow night.

EDIT: also for a laugh at the 1st table one the guys there asked my friend if this was his first time playing "high stakes" b/c of some play he made to which he replied. Well besides traveling and playing WPT events and my normal 5/10 games, yeah sure.

[spino1i]

its too bad at my level of stakes (10/20 NL) home games/underground games arent really an option anymore due to the sketchiness factor. I do miss them though.

Out of curiosity, what was the rake in the game?

[KidLifeCrisis]

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Out of curiosity, what was the rake in the game?

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I was gonna ask this too. How's it compare to a live game at a casino? What else is different/unexpected?

[cking]

Rake wasn't too bad, they took 4 out of any pot over 30 i believe, but most the pots were so big you didnt notice, and $1 of that went to the Bad beat jackpot. As far as different from a normal casino, well here is another story from early in the night that i thought was funny.

Guy sitting in seat 2 at the waiting table is pretty good and an obvious regular. He is a young black guy wearing gucci sunglasses and has a big diamond ear ring. Partway thru the game he gets a phone call and i hear him saying the following "well check the weapons locker, I know my M16 is there and there should be yours and 2 female M16s..." I'm going oh [censored] this is some gang leader and if i put a bad beat on him he's going to shoot me.

Well after the conversation he pulls out some printed sheets of paper and im in seat 4 so i lean in close to see what is on them, "Drill Sargent Training Test 2". The guy was in the army. Semi-racist profile by me i guess, but it was what i expected in an underground cardroom.

Other different things include they were nice about not calling string bets or slow rolls, as the players just didnt know what they were doing and they would only call it if they thought they were being clever and trying to intentionally trick the other player. Also the players loved showing their cards after hands, nothing like showing you called an 8x bb raise preflop, another 15x bb raise on the flop then went allin on the turn with your J7o. It was funny when they would make that move with no FE, me or my friend calls and they muck before the river is even dealt.

Not sure whatelse i can say is different, the whole atmosphere is, the players on whole are probably a bit worse here as this is their only live experience (and poker in general, i asked most all if they played online, the standard answer was it's rigged/i dont know how). Anyway I'm going back tonight, hoping to earn the rest of this months rent. Wish me luck

[lowpockets]

[ QUOTE ]
"well check the weapons locker, I know my M16 is there and there should be yours and 2 female M16s..." I'm going oh [censored] this is some gang leader and if i put a bad beat on him he's going to shoot me.

Well after the conversation he pulls out some printed sheets of paper and im in seat 4 so i lean in close to see what is on them, "Drill Sargent Training Test 2". The guy was in the army.


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lol - i find it extremely hard to believe he was in the army - but cool/funny story nonetheless. where they serving alcohol at this game btw?

[Frond]

Good read. NH

[willie]

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Rake wasn't too bad, they took 4 out of any pot over 30 i believe, but most the pots were so big you didnt notice, and $1 of that went to the Bad beat jackpot. As far as different from a normal casino, well here is another story from early in the night that i thought was funny.

Guy sitting in seat 2 at the waiting table is pretty good and an obvious regular. He is a young black guy wearing gucci sunglasses and has a big diamond ear ring. Partway thru the game he gets a phone call and i hear him saying the following "well check the weapons locker, I know my M16 is there and there should be yours and 2 female M16s..." I'm going oh [censored] this is some gang leader and if i put a bad beat on him he's going to shoot me.

Well after the conversation he pulls out some printed sheets of paper and im in seat 4 so i lean in close to see what is on them, "Drill Sargent Training Test 2". The guy was in the army. Semi-racist profile by me i guess, but it was what i expected in an underground cardroom.


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a few of my local games, this would be spoken by one of the drug dealers- but you'd come to find out they're some of the nicest guys around (but i wouldn't cross them....ever)

[Durs522]

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its too bad at my level of stakes (10/20 NL) home games/underground games arent really an option anymore due to the sketchiness factor. I do miss them though.

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This definitely depends on where you live/who you know. There are many private/home games out there in the 10/25-25/50 level.

[Dan.]

There's a bad beat jackpot in an underground card room? heh.

[TheStation]

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There's a bad beat jackpot in an underground card room? heh.

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Odds are they will never have to pay it so its putting a bad beat on the game and an extra $1/hand, i like it