Once again, the Rio has been invaded by thousands of hopefuls looking for a shot. A 2k buy-in event draws huge crowds, and the word is that they're expecting in excess of 2,500 for today's NLHE event. But tournaments aren't for everyone. I find tournament poker extremely frustrating. I hate the long, slow days that almost always end in some thoroughly predictable and annoying way. In cash games I can chose my own hours and my own tables. If I'm tired or the table is dead, I can get up and do something more enjoyable.
For the last week, I've been reporting for pokerwire by day (and evening) and playing cash games at night (and morning). I thought that the cash game specialist out there who couldn't make it to Vegas would be interested to hear how the side action is at the Rio.
But before I give my opinions on the games, you should know where I'm coming from. I'm I winning mid-stakes player. I've played 5-10NLHE for a few years now, and poker is a substantial part of my income. I am not a high-roller and have nothing to say about the 100-200 game. So take this assessment for what it's worth. Your mileage may vary.
Low-Stakes Games
While waiting for seats in the $5-$10 game, I spent some time playing $2-$5, and what I found was some really, really nitty play. A lot of people at the table bought in short ($150 or $200) and were unwilling to put any chips in the pot without a big-ole hand. These are great games to play is you want to practice developing an action image. You can chop and chop all day,occasionally running into a check raise, to which you can easily fold.
The $2-$5 games are the lowest limit games at the Rio, so these are the spots where the non-player will sit and blow a few hundreddiscretionary dollars. If you've got the patience to wait these guys out, you can definitely make some profit.
Mid-Stakes Games
First I want to talk about the $2-$5 PLO game. For a table with a $5 BB, the game is enormous. There's almost always a $10 straddle, and many players sit with well over $1,500. It's not uncommon to see some players sit in with $5k or more. Some of these guys seemed very dangerous. One Irish player sat into my table with a $5kBellagio chip then had a long conversation with Andy Black before starting to play. He was nice enough, but my PLO isn't that strong and I wanted nothing to do with this guy.
I think that higher-limit pros play in the $2-$5 because it's sometimes the only PLO game going. Other times, there's the $2-$5 and the next biggest game is $25-$50 (with a $100 straddle), with players having stacks of 25k or more. That's not for everyone.
There are definitely some soft seats in the 2-5 PLO games, it's just a matter of getting to them before the super deep stacks clean them out. While you wait you're vulnerable to the pressure these deep-stack players can apply.
The $5-$10 NLHE games have been highly, highly variable. The level of skill is usually a huge leap from $2-$5--and the game plays much deeper; $1500 to $2000 is the usual buy-in. At most of the tables I played at, I'd have guessed that a majority of the players were long-term winners. Many have clearly been full-time pros. I played with a couple of young Norwegians who were extraordinarily good. Maybe the best players I've ever played against. I stayed at the table solely for the learning opportunity. And it was a costly lesson--I burned a buy-in in the course of trying to figure out a couple of tough hands.
Overall, though, I've found the games beatable. This class of player isn't going to automatically go broke for 250 BB on an overpair when you flop a set. They can get away from dangerous hand. I've found that most of my profit has come from representing a made hand in a mid-sized pot. If you can can confidently put an opponent on something likeTP/TK or an overpair , you can often take the pot away when the board bets a little nasty. (Note: This technique doesn't work so well against the Norwegians.)
There was also some profit to be had out of the $2-$5 players who are stepping up and taking a shot. The tend to play a little nervous and tight (and don't we all when we step up in stakes), and so are vulnerable to chopping.
In a final assessment I'd say the games were beatable but far from great. There were a lot of winning players in the $5-$10 game--a high percentage of pros. There are definitely easier games to be found. At one point a few nights ago, it was about 1:30 am, and my $5-$10 game was whittled down to 4-handed play after a fish busted. The player to my right took a look at the lineup, and saw, correctly, that we were all of pretty even ability. "This is pointless," he said. We agreed, and the game broke.
