Greektown Review

Greektown Hotel & Casino is in downtown Detroit, MI. The easiest way to get there is to take I75 to I375 to the first exit (East Lafayette Ave). The parking garage is right off the highway.

Poker Room

Greektown just opened up a new Poker Room. For those that are familiar with Greektown, it is in the location of the old Alley Grill. The entrance is on the 2nd floor where the snack bars are located, near the Buffet. Take the stairs to a sub floor between the 1st and 2nd floors.

There are four rooms on this sub-floor. The first is just a lounge area with a few chairs and a couch. The second is where for the Desk and the Lists are displayed. The third is for the Cage and a little Bar. The fourth is the actual Poker Room.

The Poker Room has 13 tables. There are 12 tables in this room. Number 13 is located in a side room, and is used for the "Big Game". The tables are really crammed in the room, and there is not much space to move around. There are bathrooms located off this room, which means that we don't have to go wandering through the casino to find one.

The rake is the Detroit standard of 10% $6 max + $1 for the Bad Beat Jackpot, which is Aces Full of Jacks beaten by Quads. The BBJ ranges for $5000 to $100k depending on how often it's been hit.

The only games that are spread regularly is $50-$200 ($1/$2 blinds), and $3/$6 Limit w/ Kill. I have seen lists for $2/$5 NL, but I think it rarely goes. They also have the "Big Game" which is $5/$10 PLO ($300 min). It is officially spread on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but I have seen it go on other days. Sometimes they will mix NLHE with it.

Greektown is the only Detroit to give Comps to their players. The $6 Food Voucher has been replaced with $1/hr on the Player's Card. You need to swipe in & swipe out at the Desk. Hopefully in the future, they will get Card Swipers at the tables like many other Poker Rooms do.

They do have some food available in the Poker Room; just some cookies chips, and fruit. It would be nice to have a bin with some bottled water in it. The Bar in the third room does have a little menu with some sandwiches that you can purchase.

The players are a mix of skill, old nits, and gamblers. Most people in Detroit either love or hate Greektown, so the player base generally only plays at Greektown. I have noticed that the Poker Room has gotten busier since they opened the new room, so I'm assuming that other players are checking it out.

If you're a tourney player, then Greektown is your only choice in Detroit. They have two daily tournaments, 11am & 7pm. The normal buy-in is $75 for 4k chips. On Sunday and Wednesday night they have $100 tournaments, and occasionally larger buy-ins. The turnout for the tournaments are 20-30 for the 11am, and 40-80 for the 7pm. The structure of the tourneys can be found on their website, and is what you would expect from a daily casino tournament.

Casino

Greektown is a two floor casino. The first floor is all Slots, with some table games up on the 2nd floor.

They have most of the usual tables game, including the new Blackjack Switch. They do not have Texas Hold'em Bonus, which is one of the games that I play. The table limits are a little high, with $5 games only until 10am on weekdays.

If you're into Video Poker, Greektown has a few full pay 9/6 $1 Jacks or Better. It is very rare to see these pay tables outside of small Vegas casinos.

Greektown has many food options. They have little sandwich carts spread out around the casino, and they usually have something different at each one. One will be a Hot Dog cart, another will have Hot Roast Beef, etc. They quality is OK, but it's overpriced, as you would expect in a casino. There are some restaurants off the first floor, but I can't say much about them, since I'm never down there.

There is a Buffet on the 2nd level. The good thing is that it is the cheapest one in Detroit. $9.99 anytime of day from 11am til they close. However, it is one of the worst buffets that I've been at. They have a very small selection of dishes, and they don't rotate what they offer. Every time that I've been, they have the same few options. If you have enough comps for a free buffet, then it is worth the money.

Hand of the Day #19

I don't have many tournament hands for Hand of the Day. I feel that most of them are simple, with all action preflop or just a Raise & C-Bet.

So here are three of them from my tournament at Greektown on 12/17.

Level 1 (25/50) 2nd hand of the tourney.

I'm UTG and fold. A few others limp in. The BB (an old farmer) raises to 350. Mid position (middle aged dude) calls. The Button (old cowboy) raises to 650. BB and Mid calls. Pot size: ~ 2100

Flop: K 7 3 - BB checks. Mid checks. Button bets 200. As an observer, this bet is pathetic. He limps on the Button, and the raises after someone else did. And now he bets 200 into a pot over 2k. This screams Weakness. BB folds. Mid guy thinks for a bit, and then calls.

Turn: [K 7 3] 8 - Mid checks. Cowboy bets 500 into a 2500 pot. Mid guy thinks for a bit and calls.

River: [K 7 3 8] 4 - Mid guy checks. Cowboy bets 500 into a 3500 pot. Mid guy thinks, and then calls. Cowboy shows 55. Mid guy, who just checked or called for the entire hand, shows JJ, and wins a pot of 4500.

Level 1 (25/50)

I'm UTG+1 with AKo, and I just limp. A Mid position guy (different than previous hand) min-raises to 100. A bunch of players call. I back-raise to 700. Mid guy calls. It folds around to the SB, who is the Cowboy from previous hand, and he raises to 1400. I insta-ship All-In. Mid guy calls, which I'm not happy about. We might have the same hand. Of course, the Cowboy calls.

Cowboy has 99, but Mid guy has AA. Crap!. If he would have reraised after I made it 700, then I probably would have folded. But Cowboy had to jump in the middle of this, and now I'm screwed.

I flopped a Broadway draw (J T x), but I missed. Cowboy was eliminated, and I'm left with 725 chips.

Level 4 (150/300)

It folds around to the Cutoff who just limps. I'm the SB with 96o, and call. BB checks.

Flop: Q J 6 - Bottom Pair. Yippie. All players check.

Turn: [Q J 6] T - I check. BB checks. Cutoff bets 1200. He's a 30 yr old, and seems fairly solid. But this bet doesn't seem right. He overbet the pot of 900. I've got Bottom Pair, and the bad end of an open-ender. But I've only got 2200 chips left.

I decide to follow my instincts, and go All-In. BB folds. Cutoff thinks for a moment, says he's pot committed, and calls the 1000. He shows A9h. Sweet! He's got the same draw as I do. I love a good read.

River: [Q J 6 T] A - I'm out in 16th place.

Nice Hand, Sir.

Marathon

On Saturday night, we ended up with 32 player due to some normal December weather. The early part of the tourney was uneventful for me, and I got to the first break with 7900 chips, 100 below the starting stack.

After the break, I only played one hand of significance. It's important to remember who's Big Blind you're trying to steal. One player at the table (Gary K) was doing some straddling, aka raising blind UTG, and this is not unusual for him. So I raised on the Button with K9o, and he called from the BB. I whiffed the Flop, and we both checked. I bet the Turn after he checked. He then said, "Ah, what the hell," and move All-In. It wasn't that much more, but I couldn't call with just K high. He showed a Q-high flush draw.

That left me shortstacked, and I basically blinded off. I finally went All-In with 55. The player next to me looked down at TT, and missed my two outer. I finished in 20th place.

Since I was out early, I got to play a little Cash. After doing some TD stuff, I sat down at the 8-Game table. The table did not have the usual lineup of mixed game players. Instead, there was a lineup that marshmallow soft. Two players at the table were playing every single hand. One of them did not understand the concept of the Hi/Lo games, like Omaha8. He kept chasing or betting the Low when he didn't have one. Another player raised on 3rd Street in Razz with a 9 showing. Of course, he won the hand against one of the players who just can't fold.

A table like this will make any competent player rich in the long term. But it also can be high variance in the short term. I only played for an hour before I had to go deal the Final Table. I bought in for $100, and left the table with $78.

After I finished up my TD duties, I sat back down at the 8-Game table. The table lineup had gotten tougher, but there was still one of the "play every hand" players left, and he had a large chip stack. So, I sat down two seat to his left with my $78 stack. Things didn't go well. Lousy starting hands, and missed draws slowly bled my stack. I finally went busto in the Limit Hold'em round when my Top Pair lost to Trips on the Turn.

I was very frustrated at this point, and considered quitting. But I rebought with my last $100. I finally won a hand in the Omaha8 round. And then I won some more money in Omaha8, and I won two Razz hands. At the end of the Razz round, I realized that I had $215 in front of me. One good round in this game can cure a lot of frustration.


As much as a good round can be, a bad round can hurt just as much. My stack for most of the night was hovering between $225-$275. But the last of the night round before teh game broke was PLO, and it was not good for me. I missed a few draws, and made a River call with Two Pair against a player who's been throwing out some big bets. This time he had it; a Flopped Straight, and Turned K-high Flush. When the game broke, I cashed out for $213 for a measly $13 profit. It is disappointing after about 5.5 hours of play, but it is also my first positive cash out in 8-Game.

Normally, we end the Cash game around 4:30am. But this week, we got the "green light" from the Host to play as long as we wanted. So we kept playing until the 8-Game table broke at 7am. The NL table kept going until 9am, from what I was told.

After we cashed out, a few of us went to Bob Evans for some breakfast. I finally walked in the door of my luxurious double-wide at 8:20am.

Sticking With What Works

After I check out of my room at Motor City and had some breakfast, I had a little time to kill before heading over to Greektown for the 11am tourney. So I sat back down at the 3 Card Poker (3CP), and ended up grinding out $105 profit. Now I'm freerollin' in the tournament.

The Greektown tournament ended up with 30 players. Unfortunately, in Level 1 (25/50), I ran into a cooler/trainwreck that took my starting stack of 4000 down to 725. I grinded it out for a while, and finally got a double up in Level 3 (100/200) to 2800. But in Level 4 (150/300), I lost to a 3-outer on the River, and finished in 16th place.

I then walked over to see if there were any seats open in the Cash game. There was a list for $1/$2, but an open seat at the $3/$6 (w/kill) table. I haven't played any 7-Card Bingo lately, so I figured I could work on my Limit Hold'em game.

12:40 $150 - There was the usual mix of old people, and really old people. Unfortunately, I got seated next to a loudmouth regular who considered himself an expert at this game.

1:00 $163 - Hit a Small Blind Special. Flopped Pair + Flush Draw, and hit Flush on River. Table is playing just like a $3/$6 table. A couple of players are playing almost every hand to the Turn. And a couple of players are playing rather tight, including Mr Loudmouth.

1:30 $126 - Raised with AK in BB. Ended up losing to KJ when he hit Two Pair on Turn. I'm trying to play tight overall. I am playing most hands in the Button and Cutoff, and will occasionally limp with other hands. Have had very few "Quality Starting Hands".

2:00 $81 - Could someone please remind me exactly why I wanted to play this game?

2:30 $59 - Got AK for the 3rd time, and lost for the 3rd time. Ended up 4-betting ($12) preflop with two of the 7-Card Bingo players. One of them was All-In for $9. The Board was all rags, and I ended up checking it down with the other player. He had JTd. All-In guy had K3 and hit the 3 on the River. I got the $6 side pot. Wheeeee!!

3:00 $52 - The last four hands dealt to me were Q4, T2c, 84, and 83.

3:35 $34 - Cashout. I know I'm just an average Limit Hold'em player, but it's impossible for me to win without cards. I don't think I had a pocket pair the entire three hours. As I already mention, I had AK three times. I also had AQ once, and won with it. I raise preflop in a Kill Pot, and took down the blinds and Kill. That happened shortly after the last AK hand, and it was the last pot I won.

I walked over to the Buffet for some grub, and debated what my next move was going to be. I decided to stick with the only thing that has been working for me lately. I headed back into the Pit, and sat down at a 3CP table. I grinded it out for a couple hours, but eventually I hit a big hand, J J J, cashed out up $250, and headed home.

For whatever reason, 3CP is the only game that I've been winning at lately, including $1/$2. Since October 1st, I'm up $694 at $1/$2, and up $820 at 3CP. I don't know if I have "cracked the magic code" or I am just running good. I don't think I'm running Hot in the game. I have had losing sessions, and have had very few big hands (Trips or Straight Flush). Most of my wins have just been grinding it out, and quitting when I'm ahead.

I have no delusions of grandeur, and I'm not think about becoming a 3CP pro. When I walk into a casino, the first place I head to is the Poker Room, and that's not gonna change. But for now, this is working for me, so I'm gonna keep riding it until it crashes.

And I know it eventually will.

A Little $2/$5 Action

Walked into the Greektown Poker Room around 8pm Wednesday night. There was a list for $1/$2 and $3/$6, but they were just opening a $2/$5. I was a bit surprised, since I haven't seen a $2/$5 game there in 18 months. But, I did have $600 on me, so I walked back to see if there was any open seats. There was only three players, so I marked a seat, and walked back to the Cage to get $600 in chips ($400 Green & $200 Red). I put $400 on the table, and wait for the game to start.

8:15 $300 - Only three players want to play $2/$5. Floorman changes game from $200-$500 ($2/$5) to $100-$300 ($1/$2). It seem really weird to me that they can just create a $300 max $1/$2 game. Why not always have it? But that's Greektown for ya.

8:50 $400 - Stacked off a player with Nut Flush for about $75. I bet the Flop with the Draw, and Check/Called his All-In with Two Pair. He missed his 4-outer.

Different Floorman comes over, and discovers our unique $1/$2 table. He rules that the $100-$300 game has $2/$5 blinds starting next hand. I think this is a terrible decision. There are players with just $100, and this game will break soon. Just make it a regular $1/$2 game.

Again, typical Greektown.

9:30  $376 - This is not a normal $2/$5 table. It is playing more like a $1/$2 game with bigger blinds. Tight & passive play with standard preflop raise to $15. More than three players to see a Flop is rare.

10:00 $300 - Because it is so tight, I'm doing more limping or raising in late position. Having mixed results. Won a decent pot with JJ. Lost $90 with Top Pair vs Set on Flop.

10:30 $231 - Really card dead. Only significant pot was a loss. Top pair on Flop vs Flush on Turn.

We are only 6-handed now, and this table is dying quickly. Only two new players have shown up since they made it $2/$5. Most hands are a preflop raise and everyone folds, or everyone folds and the blinds chop.

10:40 $228 - Table breaks. Once again, I have shown my inability to win at $2/$5.

I considered joining a $1/$2 table, but it's getting late to buy into a new table. If I can't sit for at least three hours, then it just becomes a case of luck whether I win or not.

I decide to head back to Motor City, where I have my Free Room. Last week, I didn't even walk into their casino. So I decide to play a little in the Pit and "pay" for the Free Room.

I sat down at the Texas Hold'em Bonus table, and played for almost two hours. I was grinding away, but not winning. I almost went broke, and then started to make a comeback. It didn't last, and I busted out for $200.

So I walked over to the 3-Card Poker table. This is the only Pit game that I've been beating lately, and it didn't disappoint. I didn't hit any big hands, but grinded out $275 of profit in over an hour.

Finally, I got up to my room a little after 2am, and passed out.

Hand of the Day #18

$1/$2 NLHE - Horseshoe Hammond - 11.11.09

This is from a weekday afternoon session, and the table has been playing rather tight to this point. A new player just sat down, and he seems to be an action player. On this hand, he was the Button, and he tried to do a Button straddle for $7. The problem is this casino doesn't allow Button straddles. The players tried to tell him this, but he wasn't listening.

So I'm in Early Position and look down at the mighty Th 5c. I get a frisky feeling, and raise to $10. Now the dealer is confused, and calls the Floor over to our table. The Floor person eventually gives the ruling that I knew he would; the Button straddle is not an option at this casino, and my raise is good. Naturally, the Button calls, and so does the BB, who is the only other player at this table who could be considered an action player.

Flop: Qd Js 9d - Cool! Now I've got outs. BB checks. I bet $20. I'm hoping that both players fold, and I can show my hand. But the Button calls, and then the BB check-raises All-In for $126. I quickly eject. Button thinks for a while, and reluctantly folds. BB shows Jd 6d for mid pair and a flush draw.

Was it a smart move to raise in EP with T5o? Of course not.

Do I have any regrets from this hand? Yes. I should have raised more preflop, like $15. Maybe the BB would have folded his hand.

8-Game

Those who play Online poker probably know about PokerStars 8-Game mix. It consists of Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, HORSE (Limit Hold'em, Limit Omaha-8, Razz, 7-Card Stud, Stud-8), No Limit Hold'em, and Pot Limit Omaha. They introduced it about two years ago, and it has become the main mixed game on the site. This year Full Tilt copied it by creating a 7-Game mix. It has the same games, but without 2-7 Triple Draw since Full Tilt doesn't offer it yet.

Recently, the 8-Game mix has started to be played at my Saturday night home game, in addition to the standard $1/$1 NLHE. The structure of the NLHE and PLO is $1/$1 with $150 max buy-in. The Limit rounds are $3/$6. The SB is $1. The ante is $.50, and the Bring-In is $1.

8-Game has quickly replaced the previous mix of NLHE, PLO, & NL Crazy Pineapple. The 8-Game is starting to draw some of the NL players who are a little bored with TV Poker (NLHE) and want to try something else.

On the surface, the 8-Game would be a good thing for me. I enjoy playing the mixed games, and I know how to play all of them. But I don't think this game is +EV for me unless there are some players who are just trying it out.

In our group of home players, I would consider myself one of the Top 5 Mixed Game players. But if I'm playing against the other four players, then I'm at a disadvantage. Yes, I do know how to play all the games, and I think I understand the basic fundamentals of each game. But there's a difference in knowing the basics, and having actual experience. I really don't play the Stud games except the occasional mixed game in this group. I am learning 2-7 Triple Draw, but other players know it better than I do. And my Limit Hold'em game really needs some work.

I would rather do some "game selection", and just play TV Poker where I know I have an advantage. Last week, I did this because I saw no soft spots at the 8-Game table, but there were a few at the NL table. And, as you can see, it was a wise decision.

This week, the tournament finished early due to the low turnout. And since I had an extra $200 in my pocket from finished 2nd, I sat down at the 8-Game table. I ended up playing for three hours, which was my longest session of this mix so far.

I bought in for $100, and got off to a good start in the Limit Omaha-8 round. I end up either winning half or scooping most of the pots. I had about $160 at that point. For the next few rounds, I just maintained my stack around $150. This table played rather loose passive, with few raises preflop or on 3rd street. Also, many of the hands are still multi-way going to the Turn or 5th street. So I tried to play "quality starting hands" and not chase too much.

In the PLO round, I attempted a semi-bluff in the SB with a check-raise to $50 on the Flop (As Kc 8c) with just top pair and Nut Flush draw. Unfortunately, I ran into the only hand that could raise me, a set of K that also checked to the preflop raiser. He thought for a while, and raised me to $150. I quickly ejected, and called myself a donkey for trying to bluff in PLO.

That left my stack at $85. And, as always seems to be the case, the Poker Gods punished me. I went ridiculously card dead for the rest of the night. The one Razz that I got involved with started out with 7 up and A 3 down. Next card was a 5. 5th street was Q. 6th was paired my 3, and 7th was a third 3 giving me a Q low. Surprisingly, it didn't win.

The final hand of the night, I got dealt arguably my best Stud hand of the session, Qs Js Ts (Hello, 3-Card Poker). The next two cards were 2h and 5d, so I had to fold.

I ended the night with just $14 in front of me, for a loss of $86. Granted, $50 of that came from a badly timed bluff. And I still walked out to my car with about $100 more than I walked in with, thanks to the tournament.

I think I will still use some "game selection" in future weeks, and play the 8-Game occasionally. I'm sure that with more experience in some of the games, I will eventually become more than just an average player at that table.