bigboofer

I've signed up. I'm sure dead money is welcome.

Russell745

I've signed up.

No cigars?

That's OK I deal with it in CA at the Commerce Casino. I'll just be saying, "Deal Me In/Out" once in a while

KosraeTV

Don't worry, I'll be out and re-bought in many times before you. Venetian loves me

divrdrew

I think the smoking thing is an issue with the hotel's ballroom. I'm sure many people will be getting dealt out on occasion...I have updated the attendee list and added a couple other items to the initial posting.

Syzygies

Hi. I thought I should google Texas Hold'em before playing Saturday night, and found two games: Limit, and No Limit. I believe they're both poker. What are we playing?

cigarman

Great question. I am not sure yet. I have to ask drew his thoughts. But it is the same game. Limit simply limits the maximum number of raises and the maximum bet each time. But the limits go up slowly, so pretty soon it basically becomes no limit!

MBM3

Well outstanding poker players such as myself are limited by lack of skill.

Syzygies

Ok, I wanted to be able to pull off a credible imitation of a poker player, and found the demo version of this program:

Poker Academy

If you just want to play half an hour tonight to remind yourself of the logistics of poker, the limitations of the demo are immaterial. (Despite reviews that your opponents are strong, it lets you win, trying to get you all excited so you buy the program. Hey, if I offered betting game demos, I'd do the same.)

So now my questions are these:

1. How can we start with $100 blinds, if the initial buy in is $20 minimum?

2. How can we have a designated dealer, if there's an advantage to table position relative to the dealer?

All I really know about poker is the shuffling phase (I'm David #2), and it's fine with me if no one follows this advice!

Starwood Lurker

Glad to know that. I was beginning to think that after last year's game, I was responsible. Apologies to those who sat through two cigars, but one was Cuban and I had to be sure it didn't go bad on me being outside a humidor.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

getrandom

Each player will be given the same amount of chips - it looks like $8500 according to divrdrew's post - for their $20 buy-in. The value of the chips is not really related to the amount of actual money spent on the buy-in.
A dealer button usually moves around the table to designate who is "dealer" for the sake of betting. The designated dealer refers to the person who will be physically dealing the cards. It simplifies things if one person is dealing the cards even though the "dealer" for betting's sake will change each hand.

Syzygies

Thanks! I can see that Texas Hold'em is an entirely different game than dealer's choice poker around a table at someone's house. Looking forward to it.

For the uninitiated like me, here is an apparently legendary description of how to approach such tournaments: Darse's No-Limit Hold'em Tournament Primer

divrdrew

Exactly. Looks to be $8000 in chips but that will be finalized based on how many people play. We'll have 'dealer buttons' to designate the starting position at the table. A random draw from 8 cards (A - 8) will determine the initial starting position. Designated dealers will be at each table to keep the game flowing, keep track of the button, blinds, etc...purely logistical and absolutely no advantage to them.

I've also updated the list with my most recent additions. Please be sure you are on it or let me know if you aren't. I am in Houston already and am heading to tonight's event shortly, so come find me if you'd like to play and are not on the list.

Don't worry if this doesn't make much sense. I'll have a briefing before we start and will be happy to answer any and all questions that you may have.

Also, the game is No Limit.

My suggestion to all is to re-buy. If you re-buy at the beginning (which I will be doing), you'll end up starting with double the chips. If you wait to re-buy until you lose all your chips, you'll likely have less than everyone else at the table. It's a personal choice.

See you all at the DO!!