35 Years in Springfield

I moved to Springfield 35 years ago this week.



The State Fair had just ended. Myers Brothers (downtown) was having an "after-the-fair" sale. Marine Bank had a catchy jingle on radio with "Captain Marine" singing. It was "back to school" time -- even at that funny new College south of town.

People were mad at the Governor (not because of his quirky personality) because he had rammed thru a big tax increase and made a lot of changes in State Government. The previously elected Governor was in legal trouble and going to jail.

America was starting to pull its troops back from an unpopular overseas war. Lots of people were distrustful of the President, even though he would get re-elected to a second term. His opposition was so disorganized and innefective.

Housing prices were high and credit was tightening up.



Were those the "good old days" ?

Poker in Northern Indiana

Had not played here for over 5 years. The players were not as rude and the games were easier than I remember. Rake is $5 (and taken very quickly) with another $1 for bbj. Dealer tips were pooled. Beers are expensive.


Blue Chip, Michigan City -- This casino is another 30 minutes further east than Gary, and I had never played here before. Its a very pretty casino with much construction and building expansion going on. Poker room is tucked away in a semi-private area, but its very loud with casino noise. They have 8 tables, 2 of which were in play on a weekday afternoon; a 3-6 and a 1-2 NL. Both tables were loose-passive with much polite talk. Chips were very dirty but tables and chairs were nice. The dang "Betting Line" was on ALL tables but was not in play.



Majestic Star, Gary -- This is two boats (one used to be the Trump Casino) and the casino areas are kind of run down. Poker room is in a separate area and has 21 tables, 10 of which were in play on a weekday evening. Multiple tables were going of 3-6, 1-2NL, and 2-5NL. A tournament with 60 people started at midnight. The facility and patrons were scruffy and downmarket. The 3-6 was played with a full kill and was super loose. The 1-2NL was quite loose also. For those of you that want to stay overnight in Gary Indiana, sign up at the desk and they give you 1/2 off on the hotel room with 2 hours play.



Resorts, East Chicago -- This is the old "Harrahs-East Chicago" that had all the great wild games a few years ago. Resorts Company didn't change much to the casino, but had changed the poker room a little. Room has 16 tables with 3 running on a weekday morning; a 20-40 (musta gone all night) a 1-2NL and a Seven Stud 1-5. This room still has the best selection of limit holdem games in the area and almost always has 5-10, 10-20 and 20-40 on a daily basis. Chips were reasonably nice, chairs and tables were worn.

I played 1-2NL for an hour waiting for them to open a 5-10 or 10-20 game. The game was very tight-passive. When the floor called the 5-10 game to start, five of the tight passive players moved over to it with me. The 1-2NL game then died and we had a tight-passive 5-10 game with 6 of the same players.

Resorts has sold this property to Ameristar. So we'll see what changes that brings.




Poker in these three properties may not survive. Blue Chip is just 10 minutes away from the brand new Four Winds casino and poker room in New Buffalo Michigan. The Gary and East Chicago properties will be threatened when the Horseshoe casino expands in Hammond --- with a big poker room.

The RAKE -- comparisons

Here is what I have seen of the Rake (and other $ taken off the table) in recent casino poker.

Rake is usually 10% of the pot up to a specified maximum - usually $4. Many cardrooms also have a bad beat jackpot (or other promotions) drop of another $1 because their players are stupid. Also the dealer tip (usually $1 at players discretion) might be pooled with other dealers or kept by the individual dealer.


St Louis - 3 casinos. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Kansas City - 3 casinos. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Joliet IL. Rake is 5, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Northern Indiana - 3 casinos. Rake is 5, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

New Buffalo Michigan. Rake is 3, bbj is 1. Tips are 0 - no dealers, tables all electronic.

Wisconsin - 2 casinos. Rake is 4, NO bbj, tips are individual.

Tunica. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are individual.


Las Vegas.

Excellent Poker Rooms like Mirage, Wynn, Bellagio; Rake is 4, NO bbj, tips are individual.

Crummy poker rooms. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are individual.

Harrahs poker rooms. Rake is 5, bbj is 1 , tips are individual.

Station poker rooms. In flux. They raised the rake from $4 to $5 at Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch, and lost lots of their players (good!)


So, just from my sample this year --- you can have anywhere from $4 to $7 coming off the table EACH hand. At 30 hands per hour, thats between $120 and $210 every table hour.



Obviously its in the players best interest to have a low rake, NO bbj drop, and have the dealers keep individual tips.

The rake however should allow the room to make some money, keep the room nice, and fund some promotions, comps, etc. El Cortez still has a $2.50 rake if you want to play there.

A Bad Beat Jackpot just takes $ off the table and usually takes it OUT of the poker economy. It also leads to predictable abuses by those in charge.

Dealer tips that are pooled just lead to lazy dealers. There's no reason for them to be competant and skilled.

The WORST Poker Room in Illinois - 2007

Its Joliet again.
They have opened and closed this little poker room on the Empress Riverboat several times. Its open again now, which is a real shame.

The casino is dingy and depressing inside. The "poker room" is a roped off area in the casino. There are 3 tables. Thats right - THREE, two of which were in play on a weekday afternoon. 5-10 and a NL game were running and the other table would be used for 10-20. Brush told me a seat was open in either game and to go over to the main casino cage and buy some chips.

5-10 game was very tight passive with all regulars who knew each other. Rake was $5, plus $1 for a bbj. Chairs were dirty, tables and chips were well worn.

Heres the great thing about this room. They close it at 6pm on Fridays and do not re-open poker until 6pm on Sunday. Illinois silly 1200 "gaming positions" law forces casinos to decide who is more valuable; slot players or poker players.

I play PLO now...

After a few months of playing single table tournaments on the internet, I worked the roll up to around 1k. At my lowest downswing I had one buy in to a 6.50 turbo. I won first, and things went from there. I learned a few good lessons and eventually my ROI went up, and I moved up eventually to the 12s. Now that I have enough of a roll to stab at some cash games (my original intention) I tried out some PLO. After a few sessions, and watching some play, I firmly believe that this will be the new big bet cash game of the future. The action is endless, and there are plenty of live ones. You just have to know how to play the game at the 6 max tables. Here's an interesting hand that came up:

1/2 PLO 6 max:
Me btn (266)
SB (234)
Villian BB (282)
MP1 (99)
MP2 (138)
Hijack (382)

Me: Ah Jc Jd Qc
MP1/MP2 fold.
Hijack limps.
I bet pot $9.
SB folds.
Villain calls.
Hijack calls


Flop: Js3cAs

Villain checks.
Hijack checks.
I bet $10.
Villain raises pot to $58.
Hijack folds.
I reraise pot to $202.
Villain folds.

Not really a special hand by any means. But (ego trip) the reason I post it as interesting is with my flop bet. I grossly underbet the pot with a hand that figures to be good in this spot. The reason I play the hand like this, is the likely hands that are going to call me if I bet pot, are the ones that are going to be scary down the line, and I will have to look out for any card over a T that doesn't pair the board, an A might even be bad for me, as well as any spade. I also know the aggressive nature of the villain. Since I have good handle on this situation, in general against hands that will play against me, I'd rather end the pot on the flop, so I need to give them to check-raise me, so I can blast them out of the pot or get my money in. I thought it would be likely that if someone had a hand to play against me, check-raising pot would be the way they would play. It turns out he typed in later, that he folded AJT w/ spades. Which is very good for me. The bottom line is that, I like my hand at this point and potentially there are a lot of cards that could present bluffing opportunities, in order to destroy any implied bluff odds or implied odds I tried to get all the money in on the flop. If I was called here would be that I would be up against AA, or KQTx w/ spades. If I was called with less, I would follow that person around for the rest of their lives making a living by gambling against them. This is 6 max, though and I don't think I just wait for the nuts to play.

Btw, I've been given a nickname, due to some short stacking tendencies, I've been dubbed Coinflip. I don't know how to feel about it yet. Catchy, yes. But I have a real name. So I'm not sure. I've also had my first losing month this year. $-450. Small loss, but frustrating.

Kansas City Poker Rooms

The three casino poker rooms are all located on the river north of town - about 5 miles or so from each other. Signage is minimal and billboard advertising directions nonexistant. Make sure you have a good map or directions.

All the poker rooms had $4 rake plus $1 for BBJ. All tables had auto-shufflers, and dealer tips were pooled.



ARGOSY -- A very pretty (Moorish themed) casino. Poker room had seven tables -- two of them in play. A 3-6 game with a full Kill, and a 1-2 NL game. Poker room is just over ONE year old, but the tables were very worn. Chips were filthy. The room is open to the casino floor and has lots of slot noise. Players were loose, aggressive, and bad. Floorstaff was polite and helpful. Dealers were "so-so".

There is a Lewis and Clark historical marker by the Missouri river right by the casino. I think this is the site where Cap't Clark made his point 5 times in a row, but never took full odds.

I had to get an Argosy Players card to enter the casino. It was free --- unlike the "friggin" President in St Louis. Told them that the Argosy in Alton was a stupid and dangerous place to go - so I hadn't been there for over 10 years. Told them the Argosy in Lawrenceburg Indiana (just outside Cincinnatti Ohio) had a great poker room.




AMERISTAR -- An absolute "lookalike" of the Ameristar in St Charles -- bigger though. Same decor, colors, etc. Even the poker room looked almost the same. This is the nicest looking room in town. Fifteen tables -- four of them in play. Three 3-6 with a full Kill that was loose aggressive and bad, and a 1-2 NL game that was very nitty. Tables, chairs, and chips were all very new or clean. Tables all had the dastardly "betting line" in use.

I used the betting line only once. Was in position and was going to raise. Took a stack of chips out over the line and dropped only enough to call, then brought my hand back with the other chips. Sure enough - they called me on it and MADE me raise. The other player didn't bite though.

Another hand I was dealt pocket Aces and flopped 911.

Dealers here were the best in town. Ameristar poker room here (just like in St Louis) is TRYING to spread other games. Just as I was leaving, they put up a list for 6-12, and 4-8 HO with a half Kill. One interesting new rule they have here is that your hand is DEAD if you expose it while action is pending. This includes just showing One card. This rule will punish the overstimulated rude punkies.

Your Red Ameristar Players Card from St Charles is NO GOOD here. You have to get a new one that says KC - but looks the same. (No charge --- unlike the ultra creepy President in St Louis. did I already mention that?) Also -- Ameristar has the most expensive beer compared to the other two poker rooms.




HARRAHS -- Kind of a bland, generic Harrahs type casino. Nice hotel with room rates 1/2 of Ameristar. Poker room kind of looks like the St Louis Harrahs -- quiet, darker colors, and almost the same chairs, except these swivel. Twelve tables with half of them in play. Two or three tables of 3-6 with NO Kill, and one or two tables each of 1-2 NL and 2-5 NL. Just like the St Louis Harrahs --- these are the ONLY games they want to spread.

The games here were loose-passive and tight passive. But always passive. Their 3-6 game is the only one in town that does not have a Kill. So the action "raise it up" type players go elsewhere. The players here just want to call and play 3-6. One game here was about the loosest I have played in. Every pot was 6 way to 9 way seeing the flop - and not a lot of folding after that. Hardly any raising, and when someone did raise -- well, that didn't make much difference either. Most just called the raise. I blew off 25 bb in this game -- and thats with winning a $100+ pot. Even the NL games were passive. Dealers were inattentive and made lots of mistakes. Their knowledge level seemed low. Floorstaff was sometimes grumpy. Poker room runs two (four table) tourneys per day and they all looked full.

Early morning 3-6 players get in on a promotion. If your pocket Aces lose, you get $100. This is good for the first 3 times each day. I saw it twice. So, its the same 6 old guys buying in for $60 at 8:30 am and waiting to get their AA beat. (I fit right in-haha)

The first morning there, I get 66 in early position and call. Theres one limper behind me and we see the flop of Q Q T. Both check. Turn is an 8 and both check. River is a 6 -- wow. I bet and he calls. I show my full house and he shows pocket Aces. All the other old guys congratulate him and the casino gives him a stack of red. I win $12 and he wins $91.

This room had the BEST system I have seen. They had ONE station desk for the floorman brush and cashier, and you did EVERYTHING here -- signed up for a list (automated), bought chips, and got swiped in for comps. Sometimes this all happened at once. Hourly rate poker room comps are ON your Harrahs card within 3 days and can be used at any Harrahs property.


ISLE OF CAPRI -- Closed their poker room just over a year ago, so I didn't go. Just what I need -- another reason to NOT visit a pile of debris.




None of the poker rooms spread any game with 2-7 for Low. So -- that means you can't play Kansas City Lowball in Kansas City. What does this mean for my trip to Omaha?