New York City Poker Room Reviews -- Brooklyn
[Ed. note: This is the third in an ongoing series of reviews of the major New York City Poker Rooms. Due to the quasi-legality of these games, no room will be mentioned by name or specific address. While I realize these restrictions limit the usefulness of the reviews, I also respect that most of these rooms are trying to operate without drawing much attention to themselves. Anyone interested in learning more specifics about any club should contact me directly.]
Last week, I reviewed a popular club on Manhattan's East Side that was raided and closed by the NYPD the day after my review appeared on this site. Hopefully, the subjects of the rest of my reviews won't meet similar fates.
About a month ago, Pauly sent an email to Ugarte and me asking us if we had heard of a club in Brooklyn, and included a link to the club's website. Neither of us had, but we skimmed the website and then filed the club away as something to check out some night. That night was last night. I called the club early in the evening to be sure they were taking new players. The guy on the other end of the line told me that yes, new players were welcome, but when I asked for directions, he told me to call back when I was in the area. I surmised that this club took security a little more seriously than the club on the East Side. After catching Ugarte's audition at Boudoir Bar, we hopped in his car and headed over to the South Slope.
Once there, I called the club a second time for more specific directions. A woman directed us to an ordinary building and told us to buzz the third floor. Once inside the lobby, Ugarte started climbing the stairs, completely oblivious to a sign with large lettering that read "NO ENTRY TO THIRD FLOOR FROM STAIRS". I called him back and we took the elevator to the third floor. Upon exiting the elevator, we were confronted with yet another locked door and doorbell, but were quickly buzzed through the door into a short hallway that opened up on the left to the club proper.
Freshly painted white walls and hardwood floors greeted our entry. The club comprised three rooms: a main room with three tables; and two side rooms, one with two additional tables and one that served as a lounge, complete with computer, projection screen tv, couches and a large aquarium. Huge cardboard face cards hanging from various walls of the club seemed tacky and out-of-place, but otherwise the club had a refreshing, inviting, new look.
The woman from the phone greeted us at the front desk and asked if we had played there before. As I responded that we were new players, prompting her to slide a membership form in front of each of us, I noticed that a computer screen behind her displayed images from at least two cameras outside the club. Security: check. She said the only information she really needed was "a name" and "some sort of contact information". I opted to give her my real name and an email address that I hardly ever use. Once that was done, she explained that a nightly tournament was just finishing up, that one baby NL table was going, and that there was an interest list for starting up a 3/6 table and a second NL table. She pointed out a dry erase board on one wall, beneath which a table was set up with some cookies, chips and a pot of coffee. Ugarte put himself on the 3/6 list; I opted for NL, which got going as soon as I added my name to the list.
The structure of the baby NL table at this club was $1/$2 blinds, a minimum buy-in of $50 and a maximum of $250. Of the seven people that sat down, there were a couple of small buy-ins and I don't think anyone bought in for the max, which I found interesting. I bought in for $150. Ugarte, despondent that a 3/6 game would ever materialize with only two names on the list, settled in along the rail to sweat me, not sure that he was up for playing NL.
Unfortunately, this club uses only one deck per table, unlike the now-defunct East Side club, which used two. Net result: fewer hands per hour. Time charges of $4 were collected every half-hour when the new dealer pushed into the box, which I'm starting to believe is standard NYC practice. I started in the small blind and took stock of my opponents, who were all young guys, aged 20-30 (with maybe one exception). I would characterize the table play as loose, but not especially crazy. The standard preflop raise was in the neighborhood of $7 to $10, which many people would gladly call. There wasn't much reraising preflop; the one hand that was reraised in the hour I played was, of course, when I was UTG with the Hilton Sisters. By the time it got back to me, there had been a raise to $30 and an all-in to $46. I wasn't worried about the all-in; it was the first reraiser who concerned me. When I asked how much he had behind, he told me about $75. I mucked. He called, and they turned up KK and 66. Thankfully, I've learned some discipline somewhere along the way.
That hand was the exception, though; most were either limped or raised once unless someone was especially short and decided to push. There were even some raises to just $5. One guy did that twice from UTG, with QJo both times, and managed to catch two pair and a runner-runner straight to grab both pots. Another guy, an orthodox Jew (though, how orthodox could he have been?), seemed to play just about any two cards, but was pretty disciplined with his post-flop play. He hit a rush early on but then walked into a big ol' bear trap when his top pair became trips on the turn. Too bad for him, somebody else's set became a full house at the same time. Overall, people at the table seemed very content to call, call, call. A couple of players clearly overvalued top pair. Overall, the table was somewhat meek.
My play was pretty standard, looking for good starting cards or cards with high implied odds in position. I took down two decent pots in an hour, one with QTs on the button when I turned a flush for free, and the other when I flopped middle set on a rainbow board.
In the end, how did this club stack up? It's definitely smaller than the club on the East Side (5 tables v. 10 tables) and the play, although just as loose, is not as crazy and is probably as poor, quality wise. That means, I suppose, that the swings aren't as wild but the potential to incrementally build your stack is bigger, which is either good or bad, depending on how you like to play. The club gets a big plus for security (the element that was probably the East Side club's downfall) but a big minus for its out-of-the-way location. Not so out-of-the-way for me, mind you, as I live in Brooklyn, but the South Slope is a minor trek for Manhattanites and tourists. The club's hours of operation -- 6pm to 4am Monday to Friday, 4pm to 4am on Saturday and Sunday -- are fairly standard, so no points to be awarded or deducted there. The amenities, including the lounge, snacks and waitress service, were also on par with the East Side club.
Overall, I would say that if you're in the area, it's worth playing there, but I'm not sure I'd necessarily make a special trip out there just to play cards, especially given the number of Manhattan clubs that are still in operation. That, of course, is the one huge plus that this club has over the one on the East Side -- it hasn't been closed down by the NYPD.
Now that the review's up, though, I'd give it a day or two.