Big changes in Colorado's poker rooms

Big changes have hit Colorado’s poker rooms. The old limitation of a $5 cap on bets created some habits that may be hard to break as the limit is raised to $100.

Colorado card rooms have typically dealt two types of Texas Hold’em as well as a few 7-Card Stud games and an occasional Omaha Hi Lo. Most Hold’em has either been 2-5 or 5-5. These numbers indicate the blinds, so in a 2-5 game, for example, the small blind is $2 and the big blind is $5. Betting on the flop can be anywhere from $2 to $5 dollars. In the 5-5 game, every bet and every raise is exactly $5. This tends to be a more aggressive game with large pots.

As of July 2, all the card rooms offer new spreads. The Golden Gates’ Poker Parlour, for instance, is offering Texas Hold’em limit games with spreads ranging from 4-8 to 10-20, depending on player demand, and will offer spread limit games such as 1-2-100. The limit games will be similar to established Colorado games. In the old 2-5 games, players could bet between $2 and $5. In the new spreads, bets are limited by the structure. For example, in a 4-8 game, blinds may either be $1/$2 (known as half blinds) or $2/$4 (known as full blinds). Betting and raising on the flop will be in $4 increments, and betting on the turn and the river will be in $8 increments.

The spread limit games are now as close as we can get to live No Limit Hold’em (NLH) within the new betting laws. A 1-2-100 game would have blinds of $1/$2 and then any bet or raise after that can be made from $1 up to $100 or any number in between. Since most casual players, even in an actual Vegas-style No Limit game, rarely bet or raise over $100, this should have a similar dynamic to most NLH play. It should be a tight game, but players accustomed to the loose and wild betting of 5-5 should create some wild pots.

These new limits can be very dangerous for those unwilling to modify their play. In the past, the 2-5 games have had many players see flops and large raises that would eliminate the field on the turn and the river. The 5-5 games were more ramming and jamming, with players frequently calling with poor cards and raising until pots were capped at a maximum of five bets. Pots could get inordinately large, giving great implied odds for almost any flush and straight draws.
Players will eventually modify their games or will go bankrupt. But look for some loose aggressive insanity this month as some folks refuse to downshift their game.

~ Mark B. Lasser is a Denver poker expert and gaming writer. E-mail him at mlasser@comcast.net.