First Foxwoods trip questions

[Jerboa]

Don't shoot me! After spending quite a bit of time with the search feature, I still have a few unanswered questions. (Probably because I stink at using search!)

I'm semi-successful online at 50NL, and at 2-4 short-handed limit. (I don't kill the games, but I show small profit).

1. How do the live games at FW compare to those?

2. When buying in chips...what works best? Get on the list, go to cash cage, and wait around with your chips....or wait for your table, and then get the chips?

3. Does foxwoods have chip runners? (which I guess would answer #1)

4. For the different games, what type of chips to buy? (I assume 4-8 would be a rack of yellows, 5-10 a rack of reds, but what about NL?) Basically, I don't want to sit down with too many/too few chips...not really about session bankroll.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[SellingtheDrama]

2)Don't get chips until you have a chair. No need.

4)Buy as much as you are comfortable losing in a session. For limit that will likely be anywhere between 20 and 50 big bets, depends on your $$ situation and comfort level with losses. For a no limit game, I always buy in for the maximum and carry at least 2.5 buyins with me.

[HLS2k6]

1. The games you mentioned (4/8 and 5/10 limit) are significantly easier than 2/4 online. Today's 1/2 full-ring online game is noticably tougher than Foxwoods 10/20, in my opinion. The 1/2 NL is the softest game at Foxwoods, and far, far easier than $50 online.

The only issues would be if you're less comfortable playing live or for more money, but you'd get past those pretty quickly.

2. I disagree with the above poster. I watch the list and go get my chips when I'm getting close to the top, so I can just sit down and start playing. If I'm on a list for 2 hrs, I don't want to take another 10 minutes after they've given me a seat in line at the cage (both are possible wait times when it's busy).

Some people buy chips at the table, but why bother? Often the dealer will not have enough chips for a full buy-in and you'll be asked to go to the cage. Plus I personally find it super annoying when someone has been on a list for 90 minutes and then wants to stop the game to buy a full-rack after sitting. The nits who do this and then wait 6 hands for their natural BB AFTER stopping the game to buy chips should be shot, but that's another discussion!

3. No chip runners.

4. Yellows for 2/4 & 4/8 (and the new 8/16 Omaha). Reds for everything else 10/20 and below. For limit games, 25 BB is usually enough for me. 1/2 NL has a $300 max buy-in.

Good luck!

[SellingtheDrama]

I'm not a foxwoods player, if there is such a line at the cage, then I agree. I was more thinking don't carry racks of chips around for a couple hours while waiting.

[HLS2k6]

The lines at the Foxwoods cages are one of the most annoying things about a place that is overflowing with annoyances. It is not uncommon for there to be only 3 windows open with a line of 8+ at each at times when a lot of people are coming and going.

If you happen to pick the line that has 3 or 4 people cashing out from sit and go's, then God help you.

[tom10167]

If you're playing two or 4 buy in for all white don't be a nit. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[jba]

don't buy chips at the table! they'll generally let you but IMHO this is rude to the players sitting, they'd like to play some hands.

The people at the cage have a little sheet that tells them the chip denominations for the game. If you don't know any better just give them the cash and tell them what game you're playing, they'll take care of you. the one exception is that for 20/40 I believe they'll give you greens if you do this - most prefer to just buy a couple racks of red.

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]
2. I disagree with the above poster. I watch the list and go get my chips when I'm getting close to the top, so I can just sit down and start playing. If I'm on a list for 2 hrs, I don't want to take another 10 minutes after they've given me a seat in line at the cage (both are possible wait times when it's busy).

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

[ QUOTE ]
Some people buy chips at the table, but why bother? Often the dealer will not have enough chips for a full buy-in and you'll be asked to go to the cage. Plus I personally find it super annoying when someone has been on a list for 90 minutes and then wants to stop the game to buy a full-rack after sitting. The nits who do this and then wait 6 hands for their natural BB AFTER stopping the game to buy chips should be shot, but that's another discussion!

[/ QUOTE ]

It's especially charming in the time-charged $1-2 NL game.


[ QUOTE ]
4. Yellows for 2/4 & 4/8 (and the new 8/16 Omaha).


[/ QUOTE ]

I have yet to reach a firm conviction on whether there's any EV to bringing racks of white to the low-limit games like in normal cardrooms. You look like an eccentric when you do it, which could be +EV or -EV; call attention to yourself which is probably -EV; and encourage bigger physical pots which is +EV, but only slightly because you're the only one with white chips.

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you invested in boatloads of $2 chips, the $2/4 and $4/8 look like great places to use them, even if they're not.

Happy to hear that there's an $8/16 Omaha now though.

[Jerboa]

Thanks...still not clear on #4 though.

I'm not really talking about the full session bankroll, I can keep cash behind. I'm more thinking about what is normal to sit down with in chips. It's not something I really think about online. I normally just do the default for limit, or max for no-limit. But I don't think the cash cage has those buttons. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

A full rack is 100 chips, right?

For 4/8, then...a single rack of yellows would be good to sit down with then? ($200 in chips..rest behind)

For the 5/10, it's with a full kill, so would a single rack of reds be good to sit down with? or is that a little light/heavy? ($500 in chips / rest behind)

For the 1/2 NL, should I get a mix if $2 and $5, or all $2? Do I have to buy in at the table so the dealer counts out the chips, or just plunk down my stack and let the dealer count it down?

It's really less about the cash, and more about the actual chips. That's what's foreign to me (in a casino anyway...still play plenty of home games as well).

[tom10167]

4-8 two racks of white is good or one rack of yellow
5-10 I'd buy in for a nickle if you're playing at night because it's with a kill and those games can get some huge action

1-2 buy in for like 2 in red and 1 in green, you can buy in at the cage.

Cage trips are longggg, so don't bring cash to the tables e.g. if you're going to the cage make it a worthwhile trip and buy in for a lot of chips.