So I was bored today and said **** off to all common sense and headed down to the casino to play a little 1/2 No Limit
Now in short I lost 200, but this isnt about that as every time I go to the casino I walk out with a trail of blood from my ass so nothing new, this is about how the casino slow rapes the entire table and makes it nearly impossible to win
I was playing in Tunica, MS but I have played elsewhere and they all follow about the same rake rules, they basically want 5 bucks a pot + 1 for bad beat from EVERY pot regardless of what limit you're playing. Now if you're playing 5/10 No Limit and winning an average pot of 150 bucks then who really cares but when playing 1/2 NL with an average pot of 30 bucks ITS A FUCKIN PROBLEM, in fact that 6 bucks amounts to 20% of the pots AND THESE ***** WANT A TIP **** THEM!
Lets examine the effect this has on the potential for winning at the table, lets say 9 ppl buy in for 150 bucks avg (min is 100 max is 200) and play for 5 hours and a hand takes 2 mins, well the house has dealt 150 hands and taken 5 avg per hand (some cheap pots 4 bucks but mostly 6 bucks so lets call it 5), now the table started with 1350 bucks in chips but after 5 hours the house has charged 750 bucks JUST FOR DEALING THE CARDS! That means the house has broken 5 out of 9 players just on the rake alone or you could say each player has paid over 80 bucks in rake, even if you had a 50% 5-hour ROI at 1/2 NL which is impossible you would still be LOSING in the long-run. What ends up happening almost everytime at 1/2 NL is after 5 hours 1 guy has been hit by the deck and wins 400 the other 8 players lose 150 (1200), the house rakes 700 AND THE DEALER GETS 100 BUCKS IN TIPS , what a fuckin scam!
Hit the blackjack table or roulette wheel instead of playing 1/2 NL at the casino, ya got a much better chance of winning, just throw your 150 bucks on red/black or a hand of blackjack and near 50% of the time youll win. The rake is so high that low stake poker is just pointless, play a 60-100 dollar buyin poker tourney instead if you insist on playin cheap poker.