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noob questions about poker on cruises


goobz
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I have been on cruises before, but never have gambled. Recently I have been playing a lot of online poker (not for real money). I have never played poker in a casino. I have an upcoming cruise where I want to try my hand at some texas hold em. From what I understand the ship will be using electronic poker with no dealer. That is fine with me since that is what I am use to. A couple questions-

 

1. What is the level of play on cruise ships. Am I am going to be over my head? I have done pretty well online, but that wasn't for real money so people probably played a lot different.

 

2. My last cruise I didn't gamble but I did notice most of the time I walked by the poker table not very many people were playing (0-4). Is that typical?

 

3. Is carribean or 3 card poker worth playing? It seems like playing against the house is usually a losing proposition so I prefer to play against real people on equal footing

 

4. Are the texas holdem games all "no limit" or are there limit tables?

 

thx

Edited by goobz
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Looking forward to seeing answers...I'm the same way...never played on a cruise ship, lots of on-line and a few "charity" events (where I cleared the table, thank you very much...). I'll stay tuned!

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I have been on cruises before, but never have gambled. Recently I have been playing a lot of online poker (not for real money). I have never played poker in a casino. I have an upcoming cruise where I want to try my hand at some texas hold em. From what I understand the ship will be using electronic poker with no dealer. That is fine with me since that is what I am use to. A couple questions-

 

1. What is the level of play on cruise ships. Am I am going to be over my head? I have done pretty well online, but that wasn't for real money so people probably played a lot different.

 

2. My last cruise I didn't gamble but I did notice most of the time I walked by the poker table not very many people were playing (0-4). Is that typical?

 

3. Is carribean or 3 card poker worth playing? It seems like playing against the house is usually a losing proposition so I prefer to play against real people on equal footing

 

4. Are the texas holdem games all "no limit" or are there limit tables?

 

thx

 

1. Level of play varies. You do have those people who cruise exclusively to play. These tend to be the better players at the table. The play is MUCH different than online play even though it is the same game, play for real money is much different.

 

2. Depends on the ship. I have seen both. Sometimes a full table all day every day...other ships other times sparse play. Its a hit and miss.

 

3. Between Caribbean Stud and 3 Card Poker I much prefer 3 Card. Better odds for the player against the house. In fact, depending on the pay table for Pair Plus, the house advantage can be as low as ~2.7%. 3 Card is easy if you follow the simple rule of Q-6-4 or better you play, less you fold although if you play with Q or better its not that much different.

 

4. All of the Hold-em tables I have seen on cruise ships are no limit. Although you can only bet a max of what you have on the table, if you bust you can keep your seat and refill if you so desire.

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Ok thanks. I will probably start off play conservatively and see how loose and aggressive are the players. I am actually getting tired of playing without real money because there are a lot of people that make wild bets and usually will stay in the hand no matter what.

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Ok thanks. I will probably start off play conservatively and see how loose and aggressive are the players. I am actually getting tired of playing without real money because there are a lot of people that make wild bets and usually will stay in the hand no matter what.

 

And therein is the difference between online free poker (aka BINGO) and real poker.

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1. I have been on ships where I treated the table like my private ATM and I have been on ships with some tough players. You never know. Just like any casino it's important to know who is competent and who is dead money.

 

2. This again varies from ship-to-ship. Generally you will always find a game in the evenings after dinner.

 

4. 90% of the time the cash games I have seen have been no-limit. This is fine with me because I hate playing low $ limit poker.

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  • 5 weeks later...

My observations if anyone cares-

 

Generally the action at the poker tables didn't start till after 9 pm. The busiest time seemed to be bewteen 10 pm and 1 am unless there was an early port the next day. Trying to find people playing at other times was rather rare even on sea days.

 

Player levels varied quite a bit. There were some experienced players that always seem to show up whenever a table was beginning to get crowded. These guys I had the toughest time with. A lot of people were half drunk or not very good. They generally lost all their money and didn't show up again.

 

 

I am not sure I am a big fan of no limit. Twice I lost my entire buy in on bad beats that went in all in against me. One guy opened up an all in bet in early position with a big stack when I had pocket aces. So I had to call him. A third guy called us with a trash hand. Of course the 3rd guy wins this huge pot pulling trips on the river. Another time a guy goes all in after the flop I guess trying to bluff. Everyone folds but I had trip 10s with an Ace kicker. So I call. He has trash and his only way to beat me is to draw 2 cards to a straight. Of course he that is exactly what he does :eek:

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never went on a cruise there wasnt some light players or inexperienced players thinking they could play cards... The best I ever had was a Gentleman named Jerimiah from the Bronx NY who wold get his daily limit of credit card advance (2k$ per day) and donk it off in less then an hour. He would even tell us what time the next day he would be coming around. Think I won about 11k on that trip and I may have only played max 2 hours per day.

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  • 1 year later...
Ok thanks. I will probably start off play conservatively and see how loose and aggressive are the players. I am actually getting tired of playing without real money because there are a lot of people that make wild bets and usually will stay in the hand no matter what.

 

As a semi pro player, I can tell you that playing live for real money, there's still a lot of players who subscribe to the "have to see every flop" theory, and yet more who have no concept of pot odds and will chase any draw to the river. If the poker gods have turned their backs on you it's a short day. Get on a run and it'll pay for the next vacation.

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  • 1 month later...

Just got off of the Fantasy, and I learned to play 3 card poker in a about 5 minutes. Ended up ahead to. It's easy to play, and when your luck is running alot of fun. If your luck go's away just lay back and ante. when you start winning, load'em up. I'm going to try my luck on the Legend soon. At least your only playing against the dealer. Much better odds than slots. They were killing me.. slowly. I quit.

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Just got off of the Fantasy, and I learned to play 3 card poker in a about 5 minutes. Ended up ahead to. It's easy to play, and when your luck is running alot of fun. If your luck go's away just lay back and ante. when you start winning, load'em up. I'm going to try my luck on the Legend soon. At least your only playing against the dealer. Much better odds than slots. They were killing me.. slowly. I quit.

 

Easy game to learn to play, basically raise a Queen, Six, Four or better.

 

If you have bad luck you can lose a lot, I have :(

 

Don't chase those big payouts, go and have a drink and come back another day.

 

First time I played I got 3 of a kind on my second hand. You should have seen the other 'expert' players faces :D

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  • 2 months later...
Easy game to learn to play, basically raise a Queen, Six, Four or better.

 

If you have bad luck you can lose a lot, I have :(

 

Don't chase those big payouts, go and have a drink and come back another day.

 

First time I played I got 3 of a kind on my second hand. You should have seen the other 'expert' players faces :D

 

Not sure that there is such a thing as an "expert" three card player. I love the game, it's pretty much all I play on cruises and I believe it's more about luck and patience.:cool:

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  • 4 weeks later...

id love to learn how to play the game ,at present i play a 3-5 handed game just for fun where the stake is £10 we divide the chips and winner takes all its a social thing between friends ,which we then follow with one game of 9 card brag and one game of bastard brag a few beers and a chat this is our night out ,but i do yearn to get a better grasp of hold em and experiance a game do any of the cruise lines offer lessons and games where novices wouldnt feel out of their depth ?

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Sat down at a three card poker table at the Taj in Atlantic city couple of months ago with $100. A few hands in and I got three of a kind. A few hands later I got 4 of a kind with the bonus up top. 20 minutes later and I got a straight flush. In between I was getting flushes straights trips you name it I couldn't do anything wrong about four hours later I got up with thousands and thousands of dollars that was a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the three card poker table.

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wow that sounds the kind of casino night we all aspire too WTG, my good luck times as a smalltime gambler have been way less ,1,on a cruise round malaysia superstar gemini i won a jackpot prize at the blackjack table for getting dealt four consecutive 7s if id of got the fith apparently id of been rich lol i thin i won around $1000 tho,was a while ago so hazy and time sometimes exagerates lol.2/ pulled 4 aces in carribean stud on the qm2 luckily i had the insurance bet as the house didnt qualify ,and finally played carribean stud in a hotel in kenya after a cruise myself a 3 friends i won about $60 us the other 3 guys about $100 between them the casino couldnt pay us out they had to go to a hotel next door and borrow the extra cash how funny ! we went back and helped them recoup next night

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The book on 3-card is to play any Queen-Eight or better. Follow that rule and you will do the best you possibly can in the long run. As with all table games, don't play 'hunches'.

 

 

 

Favorite Cruise Activities:

me - free play in the casinos

s/o - relaxing on the balcony reading a book

 

Really? :confused: What book are you using to justify that?

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Really? :confused: What book are you using to justify that?

 

Sheldon is right, Q-8 or better is the hand to play in 3-card. Every reference I have seen (on line and otherwise) has given this as the hand to play to minimize the house odds.

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Playing online is NOTHING like playing live in a casino....

 

Truer words have never been spoken. Especially when it comes to playing with free chips online. Free chip poker is not even poker, it is trying to make poker hands while playing BINGO.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Playing online is against strangers (or machines). In the casino, whether you have a live dealer or a computer, be careful playing against other people.

 

Friend played online and watched tournaments on TV, thought that made him qualified to play Hold 'em against a table.

 

First night, he sat down with a group of buddies/brothers who played together at home. Their table talk and inside jokes went right over his head.

 

He hid his S&S receipt... I think they took him for over $2k over 3 nights... because he wouldn't admit that they were working together. They laughed at him every time one of them took a pot. He was too blind to see it, and wouldn't believe me when I pointed out. I'm sure they all paid their bar tabs on his dime.

 

Just a word to the wise! Stick to your limit, and avoid being the only stranger at the table.

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hi i play poker for fun (well i have to as actualy winning tends to elude me haha) whats a RAKE other than a garden implement

 

The rake is the house cut of each pot. In US land based casinos its usually 10% up to a maximum of $4 plus $1 for whatever jackpot pool they have. On ships they take from 10-15%, usually with a maximum of $10 or $15. And just some bonus advice, even though a cardinal rule is "never teach the fish", the reason most recreational players consistently lose money is that they play too many hands. Its hard to make a profit if you're pissing away $40 an hour limping in to see every flop

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sounds good advice dave i do genrally look for q-8 or better to proceed trouble is i keep getting 5-2 lol i jest its not that bad haha ,i do set myself strict nightly limits tho and dont touch slots roulette or that totally weird game no brit seems to work out (crabs/craps )my games of choich are 3 card poker caribbean stud i do love hold em but have never played on a cruise as it looks to dangerous ,i also love going to the lounges and trying to introduce folk to bastard brag ! another game i really like although it can be frustrating too ,:)

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sounds good advice dave i do genrally look for q-8 or better to proceed trouble is i keep getting 5-2 lol i jest its not that bad haha ,i do set myself strict nightly limits tho and dont touch slots roulette or that totally weird game no brit seems to work out (crabs/craps )my games of choich are 3 card poker caribbean stud i do love hold em but have never played on a cruise as it looks to dangerous ,i also love going to the lounges and trying to introduce folk to bastard brag ! another game i really like although it can be frustrating too ,:)

 

Three card poker, Caribbean stud, and those table games where it's you against the house aren't really poker. It's not hard to learn Hold-em, and very profitable when you do

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