Montenegro Poker-Budva.

[dr_protocol]

JK: Would you believe there was actually a game of 7-card at Canberra last week? Stripped deck, only lasted 3 hours, but made a change from the boredom and simplicity of Texas.

I'm pretty confident Omaha will outstrip Texas in popularity in about 5 or 6 years time in Oz casinos. Player numbers have receded for about 2 years now; those that remain will be increasingly looking for a new challenge, a new way of extracting that elusive easy dollar. A new game may be the only mechanism to achieve that outcome.

Time will tell. I'll still be there. From what I read in here, not many other posters will be.

[JK.]

That is good news Dr Protocol.Canberra started with seven card stud when it first opened.
Just curious,was it really a stripped deck?Thirty two cards is not many for this game.

[dr_protocol]

40 cards; just 2's 3's 4's out. Seat 7; deal 6 in. (community card rules apply if everyone plays until 7th street)

Be past my expiration before it returns as a showcase game though IMO. Too complex for the average player.

[JK.]

Thanks Dr protocol.Was Greek Arthur playing?

[dr_protocol]

JK: neah Arthur is still in Sydney. Will probably stay there I'd say. 1. Because he can play during the day & 2. He was banned for 3 months from Canberra in winter for moving half his stack to another table and leaving them there. Staff gave him heaps of warnings for his dual-table tactics but Arthur knew best. Out of embarrassment he is unlikely to return.

Canberra is dying a slow death. Shrinks every year. Staff never seem happy. (Frank is still there upstairs if you remember him). Chris returned too (did a stint with the pub poker for a year or two); he might have been after your time though. I can remember him as a dealer at the start of the new millenium. He knows of you though; spoke of your 5-card games with $45 blinds/antes if that rings a bell.
Do you remember Pommy Pete? He actually introduced Faro into Canberra. He was given a lifetime ban just about a decade ago but dropped off the planet it seems. Staff remember his van though and going into it for a joint or two (or three).

Similar to what transpires in here, poker players in Canberra, Melb & Sydney (and I play regularly in each enough to make this observation) fall into two main camps. The general dichotomy is
1. the young, highly verbal, confident, savvy (yet predictable)JUNIOR player, and,
2. the mature, still verbal (but not so much about game-play), experience-is-everything, depressed, pessimistic and hollow OLDER player.

Sweeping generalisation, and as an observer I manoeuvre myself to be neither, but you get the gist. Stocks are dwindling (and you will recall Adelaide poker closed for quite a while until tv coverage revitalised things with the 'new game') and unless a bit of re-invention takes place in (especially Canberra) casinos the smaller ones won't survive.

I know Cairns is very hit and miss and on shaky ground poker wise. (Thurs-Sun 7pm start, 2 tables sometimes but you never know when , and if, it will start up on the outer nights) The Victorian & NSW racing boards a decade ago went through a big shift in their thinking to capture the youth market and promote their survival. Oz casinos have to do the same thing IMO. Another couple of years of shrinkage and a bit of culling just might take place.

[JK.]

Thanks for that dr-protocol.
I do remember Pommie Pete.He loved Faro.It is a great game but with a one card flop and five betting rounds it can prove to be expensive at times.

Canberra could come back to life if they introduced Manila again.There are a lot of ethnic clubs in Canberra holding Manila.These players could be tempted back with the right bait and service.

The place does seem old and worn out after only about 12 years.
Sad that these places don't spend some of their profits on upkeep.

Arthur will be Arthur.That was his way of table selection.He would keep his options open by having chips on two tables.If for example one table weakened or closed he would have a place reserved on another table.
The management could have solved the problem by introducing reserve buttons or have a reserve list instead of using a black card.

I hate black cards.Every time you use one you lose a customer.
I have told my staff solve the problem without the black card.
If you lose me a customer you had better replace him/her with two others or else look for another job.

To me ,if I use a black card to solve a problem,it means that I am not doing my job properly.

I hope Canberra somehow reinvents itself.It used to be a great little casino.

[UnEducaterd]

JK: neah Arthur is still in Sydney. Will probably stay there I'd say. 1. Because he can play during the day & 2. He was banned for 3 months from Canberra in winter for moving half his stack to another table and leaving them there. Staff gave him heaps of warnings for his dual-table tactics but Arthur knew best. Out of embarrassment he is unlikely to return.

Canberra is dying a slow death. Shrinks every year. Staff never seem happy. (Frank is still there upstairs if you remember him). Chris returned too (did a stint with the pub poker for a year or two); he might have been after your time though. I can remember him as a dealer at the start of the new millenium. He knows of you though; spoke of your 5-card games with $45 blinds/antes if that rings a bell.
Do you remember Pommy Pete? He actually introduced Faro into Canberra. He was given a lifetime ban just about a decade ago but dropped off the planet it seems. Staff remember his van though and going into it for a joint or two (or three).

Similar to what transpires in here, poker players in Canberra, Melb & Sydney (and I play regularly in each enough to make this observation) fall into two main camps. The general dichotomy is
1. the young, highly verbal, confident, savvy (yet predictable)JUNIOR player, and,
2. the mature, still verbal (but not so much about game-play), experience-is-everything, depressed, pessimistic and hollow OLDER player.

Sweeping generalisation, and as an observer I manoeuvre myself to be neither, but you get the gist. Stocks are dwindling (and you will recall Adelaide poker closed for quite a while until tv coverage revitalised things with the 'new game') and unless a bit of re-invention takes place in (especially Canberra) casinos the smaller ones won't survive.

I know Cairns is very hit and miss and on shaky ground poker wise. (Thurs-Sun 7pm start, 2 tables sometimes but you never know when , and if, it will start up on the outer nights) The Victorian & NSW racing boards a decade ago went through a big shift in their thinking to capture the youth market and promote their survival. Oz casinos have to do the same thing IMO. Another couple of years of shrinkage and a bit of culling just might take place.

Pommy Pete was a legend when Poker was the 80's......yes, fields a lot smaller, yes, no internet pot odds and -EV etc etc....yet he was EASIEST player in universe to tilt with his 'negative dealers " and his "double negatives '..that never turned into a positive...

He would even ring ahead to the poker room and ask which dealers were rostered....as he genuinely believed they were " out to get him"..

DO NOT mention Wendy from Melbourne to him

DO NOT mention Rory from ADELAIDE TO HIM

DO NOT MENTION John blonde from CANBERRA TO HIM.

My funniest Pommy Pete story was when Crown opened, and he was playing 2 card manila against a couple of AFL footy show panel members, including Trevor Marmalade.

First card , ACE
SECOND CARD ACE

,,,,no straight flushes or the like, and Pommy betting out each card and getting raised, called for his re raises EVERY STREET.

Well, if you know pommy, u know what he had after first two cards...

No bastard at that table could believe it when he opened quads,..

LOL He also has posted for years here as Alan Lester

[dr_protocol]

The years have skipped by JK. It actually opened Nov 94 - so its now over 17 years of cheerful business.

The problem to me always comes down to greed. The Austrian owners of Canberra and the Packers of this world always want more. Squeeze squeeze. Staff bear the brunt; contented workers vanish and the players that remain are expected to contribute more (in the form of rake, drink prices etc.) to compensate for the reduced patronage.

Can't see the problem improving in the near future - the quality, vibrancy, ingenuity and perceptiveness just isn't there in upper management circles.

Maybe Oz punters will scoot to Russia en masse?

[Spikey]

Pommy Pete was a legend when Poker was the 80's......yes, fields a lot smaller, yes, no internet pot odds and -EV etc etc....yet he was EASIEST player in universe to tilt with his 'negative dealers " and his "double negatives '..that never turned into a positive...

He would even ring ahead to the poker room and ask which dealers were rostered....as he genuinely believed they were " out to get him"..

DO NOT mention Wendy from Melbourne to him

DO NOT mention Rory from ADELAIDE TO HIM

DO NOT MENTION John blonde from CANBERRA TO HIM.

My funniest Pommy Pete story was when Crown opened, and he was playing 2 card manila against a couple of AFL footy show panel members, including Trevor Marmalade.

First card , ACE
SECOND CARD ACE

,,,,no straight flushes or the like, and Pommy betting out each card and getting raised, called for his re raises EVERY STREET.

Well, if you know pommy, u know what he had after first two cards...

No bastard at that table could believe it when he opened quads,..

LOL He also has posted for years here as Alan Lester

Exactly what did Trevor Marmalade call and raise with on every street? No one else has an ace and they are playing like that. I'd like to be in that game.

Pommy Pete didn't just think Rory was the only negative dealer in Adelaide. At the end it was every dealer and he didn't play any more. He would come to the casino and be there at start time reading the paper. He would see the usual dealers open up the table and he would continue reading the paper and leave about an hour later.

Pommy Pete went to Melbourne after Adelaide petered out and slowly but surely refused to play with the dealers there one by one. I remember Bendigo was managing the place at Melbourne and I'm pretty sure they weren't getting along. Pommy Pete would tell stories about how Bendigo would be sacked soon because he can't run a Poker room properly, and Bendigo would tell stories about how Pommy was a losing player.

[UnEducaterd]

Exactly what did Trevor Marmalade call and raise with on every street? No one else has an ace and they are playing like that. I'd like to be in that game.

Pommy Pete didn't just think Rory was the only negative dealer in Adelaide. At the end it was every dealer and he didn't play any more. He would come to the casino and be there at start time reading the paper. He would see the usual dealers open up the table and he would continue reading the paper and leave about an hour later.

Pommy Pete went to Melbourne after Adelaide petered out and slowly but surely refused to play with the dealers there one by one. I remember Bendigo was managing the place at Melbourne and I'm pretty sure they weren't getting along. Pommy Pete would tell stories about how Bendigo would be sacked soon because he can't run a Poker room properly, and Bendigo would tell stories about how Pommy was a losing player.

Pommy was right, 3 times over...( 1998, 2001, 2005)

Bendigo was right...YET, Pommy made absolute millions from that van and it's contents. Racetracks ( except Sydney, where Pommy refused to bet after an incident where he was convinced ( to this very day, mind you ) that jimmy Cassidy put the brakes on his pony JUST to ensure Pommy didn't get the Jackpot Quadrella that day , August, 1995 )