Friday, July 18, 2008

Stampede Poker Room, Calgary


I just got back from a brief trip to Calgary and had the chance to play a couple of sessions at the new Stampede Casino Poker Room. Overall, it's a pretty decent room. On a Tuesday night starting at 10pm I payed a short 3-4 hour session. The only games going were 1 2 NL, 300max -- not bad for a casino 1 2 game. Not too tight at all and a few horrid players thrown in -- good times. Wednesday I played from 1pm-11pm and the day games were much tighter, but we managed to get a 2 5 NL going and had some good action at the table by 6pm or so. It's so sweet being able to play casino poker at any time only 10 minutes from my house in Calgary...and Calgary seems to be the PLO capital of North America -- 5 10 PLO going on weekday afternoons? Sweet. I can't wait to live there full-time and play live poker on a regular basis. The Stampede needs to get some sort of comps program for their poker players, but otherwise it was a pretty decent room with the exception of one horrid dealer who they seemed to be training during the game.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

My Biggest 2 2 NL Cash Ever


In less than 3 hours last night I made $1150 playing 2 2 NLH, $400max. If you add in the $50 or so in tips I likely made $1200+. I was hitting everything and against the right players. I made a few successful bluffs with position in medium pots and I got my money in good in the right spots, inducing calls at times.

It all started with the proper seat selection as the game started and after being down $100 or so playing LAGGY in the first round or two it just all fell into place. There's nothing better than being deep-stacked vs easily readable players. Fun.

21 Months Later...

Since living in Toronto I have been a part-time recreational at best. I've taken 3-4 months breaks from playing at times due to the lack of close/decent games in Toronto. I've taken some brief shots online, but it bores the hell out of me, so I usually go from +1k or so in a week to even a few days later due to playing unfocused and taking unreasonable shots at bigger games, etc. Live I continue to be a winning player, but in the past year I've played so infrequently and such small games that it really doesn't amount to anything significant at all...it's become just a social/fun thing to do now and then.

In a month I am moving to Calgary. Little did I know that it is the poker capital of Canada. I'm excited about all of the action in the area within a short drive to my house. Having many rooms to choose from all within a 5-15min drive at 1pm on a day off is going to be great . I believe Calgary is 3rd to only Vegas and Atlantic City for legal games per capita in North America. Sweet. I played there once this year during a trip to Calgary -- I had forgotten how soft casino games can be and I can't wait to start taking a shot at playing more often.

I'll be writing again to update all of my poker friends in the GTA about how things are going poker-wise in Calgary and to track my progress in all things poker.