Halifax Casino poker?

pkrooster · Apr 13,2005, 01:18 PM

Hi all

I will be in Halifax at the end of the month and was wondering what the action is like at the casino. I was there last year and it seemed pretty good. Lot of newbie calling stations with a few good players in the mix. I played 5-10 and made $200 in about three hours. The only hand I remember clearly is being on the button with 55 board came A95 and some young punk paid me off with ATo.

Thanks Paul

Wr3ck3d · Apr 15,2005, 01:32 PM

It's a pretty easy game over all.. I don't play there much anymore, but was playing 2 times a week for the longest time.
Lots of calling stations at 5/10 and 10/20.
They also run a 15/30 game, but not very often.
Patience pays off here as you'll have people capping the pot for you when holding middle pair.
If you are in the city on a Wednesday, you might want to stay away - they hold a 2/4 game with a random draw to see who gets on a table around 6:30PMish, If you dont get on, or aren't one of the first 10 on the list you won't see a table. Most Wednesdays they will open up a single 5/10 table, but its normally packed.
Thursday nights are pretty good - last night I was at the casino playing some Let It Ride and there was open slots all night - just didn't have time to sit in for a while.
They only have 5 tables, which sucks as they could double that and fill them up most nights.
Send me a msg with when you plan on being there and i'll head over and try and sit at a table with ya.
Would be nice to meet up with some of the people from PokerForum.ca

Cheers

pkrooster · Apr 20,2005, 12:50 AM

Thanks for the info. I will be in Halifax sometime between April 30 and May 3. I will PM you when I know exactly when I can make it to the casino

Paul

all_aces · Apr 20,2005, 01:00 AM

Hi pkrooster,

This is a copy of a post I wrote last June.Â* So, some of the details might have changed, but hopefully this helps, in addition to Wr3ck3d's post.Â* Enjoy your trip!

As for poker, I didn't play that much of it, actually...Â* Believe it or not, I was pretty busy drinking and whatnot.Â* Â* But I did squeeze in a few short sessions, so here are my thoughts about poker in Halifax:

The casino has four hold'em tables.Â* Not all of them are in use all the time.Â* The poker area is kind of in the middle of slot hell, and it's not enclosed, unfortunately.Â* So, it's noisy, but you get used to it after a while.Â* The staff and players were all very nice.Â* I arrived in Halifax on Tuesday, but they weren't running the poker tables.Â* So, I checked it out Wednesday night, with some family members.Â* I thought the lowest limit would be 5/10, which was a bit daunting for some of the rookies in my family, but they were running 2 2/4 tables that night.Â* Apparently, they run 2/4 on Wednesdays only, which was great for my relatives but not great for me, because it meant that the third table was 5/10... the highest level they were offering that night.

So, I spent a bit of time at the 5/10, and then decided that if I was going to play low-limit poker, I might as well go really low.Â* Like, 2/4 low, so I could play with my brother, cousin, etc...Â* I had a blast.Â* I think I was down six bucks at the end of the night.Â* The casino has CANADA'S ONLY 24 HOUR LIQUOR LICENSE.Â* This would be problematic if I was playing a higher level--it being my vacation and all--but it was perfect for 2/4.Â* We rolled out of there at four and headed to the hotel to play a single-table tournament, dragging one of the players from the casino along with us.Â* The tournament went well into the next morning.

Thursday, no poker.

Friday, I had a few hours to kill in the early part of the evening, so I played some 10/20.Â* I left up $475...Â* Â* Â* The guys at my table were really friendly people; it was a very pleasant experience.Â* As for the level of play, it was pretty good.Â* They knew what they were doing, IMHO.Â* If I had to identify one weakness in that particular 10/20 game with those particular players, it would be that people were calling people down too much.Â* If I thought I was beat, I'd fold early and get out.Â* If I was leading, I'd bet and get called all the way down.Â* Maybe these guys know each other pretty well--I got that impression--and they put a little more emphasis on catching bluffs than I'm used to seeing.Â* Whatever it was, I was glad for it.

Copies of Canadian Poker Player were on display, and scattered throughout the poker area...

Saturday night we returned after hitting the bars, and I played some 10/20 again, with some of the same people.Â* After a couple of beers I realized--mostly thanks to my girlfriend--that I wasn't playing my 'A' game.Â* Not too painful, though, I only lost about 15 bucks.Â* Very short session, mostly I just bid farewell to a couple of familiar faces, and called it a night.Â* The game was breaking up anyways, or so it seemed.

Overall, it's a nice room.Â* I don't agree with a couple of their rules: you can't chop the blinds, and it's not unlimited heads-up.Â* They do, however, have a bad-beat jackpot.Â* I know that the locals are the ones who will very likely benefit from it seeing as they play there all the time, but I don't mind contributing a buck or two a night to a bad-beat jackpot.Â* It makes things interesting.

One player was telling me about the tournaments they run there.Â* BIZARRE structure... I think they play 50 hands at each table and then whoever has the most chips moves on, or something to that effect.Â* I guess they want to get the thing over and done with so they can start collecting a rake again.Â* Not at all unlike every tournament at Port Perry or Rama....Â* edit: I have since changed my opinion of Port Perry's blind structureÂ* Â*Apparently Halifax will be hosting a $300 buy-in tournament at some point in the future.Â* Hopefully they change the structure and put on a fair game for it.

So, to summarize: nice players, good dealers, good staff, weird rules, typical games, 24 hours of booze, bad tournaments, low-limit Wednesdays, and the waits aren't too long.Â* I give it an 8 out of 10 for ring games.