The Toll Men

I was recently in a cardroom in a horse track in New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, it is legal to have tournament poker and limit cash games via a charity rake. So, they also are allowed to have limit pit games like blackjack, craps, and roulette. After I bubbled a tournament, which had some of the softest play in the universe, I tried some of the pit games out. The roulette was a joke, they paid 30-1 on a number instead of 35-1. All of the payouts were adjusted in the house’s favor. Blackjack was equally bad. The house took half your bet on a push and limited your options on splitting and doubling down. Craps only paid even money on 6 and 8. All of these games had a max bet of $4. So, after seeing the poor quality of these games, I decided to play a little 2/4 limit holdem poker. As usually in limit, the play was awful. People calling with straight draws on 3-flush boards, never folding bottom pair in hopes of hitting trips or 2 pair by the river. These are things that are great if you have a lot of time with these players, but in the short run, you can lose. And I did. I straddled with aces, and raised it up when it got back to me and lost to j,6 when they flopped a six and turned a jack. Limit holdem poker with idiots is probably the most frustrating game in the world. I hope to never play it again.