Poker on NCL

[Coachyo]

Do they play only tournaments or do they have cash games going too?

if only tournaments how many will they play on a 7 night cruise?  

Ship is the Gem going to Bermuda in June.

Thanks, YO

[Mike_DeA]

21 hours ago, Coachyo said:

Do they play only tournaments or do they have cash games going too?

if only tournaments how many will they play on a 7 night cruise?  

Ship is the Gem going to Bermuda in June.

Thanks, YO

They have both cash games and tournaments.  Here are few links with much more info:

 

 

[Coachyo]

Thanks Mike_DeA for the info, 25% seems a little steep, but might have to check it out a little.

 Never know how the fish are biting.  

 

Thanks, YO

[ToroAzul]

Worst rake I've seen. Most land based will cap at $6. Unless you kill the table the house will end up with all the buy-ins as the limit approaches 0.

 

eta: played my first tournament 2 weeks ago, got second place (field of 40) and got nada.

Edited May 17, 2019 by ToroAzul

[Mike_DeA]

13 hours ago, ToroAzul said:

Worst rake I've seen. Most land based will cap at $6. Unless you kill the table the house will end up with all the buy-ins as the limit approaches 0.

 

eta: played my first tournament 2 weeks ago, got second place (field of 40) and got nada.

ToroAzul,

Was that the cruise entry tournament?  They usually pay second place any excess cash after the first $2,250 is taken out for 1st prize cruise/tournament entry.  So if 40 players, second place should have payed $750 in cash.

 

And NCL's cash poker tournaments always pay the top 3 spots.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Mike_DeA

[ToroAzul]

Oops, my mistake, I was on RCCL; I have NCL Breakaway booked for September. Apologies. 

[Mike_DeA]

1 hour ago, ToroAzul said:

Oops, my mistake, I was on RCCL; I have NCL Breakaway booked for September. Apologies. 

No worries.  Good luck on the Breakaway.  I've sailed her twice.

[yoolykeme]

There are cash games.  2-5NL on bigger ships with younger guests.  Rake is 10%, max $25,  So you can both go all-in for $300 each, chop the pot, and they still take the rake lol.  You can't chop the blinds, so if SB folds, they still take $1.  

 

25% rake on tournaments is correct.  You also start the tournaments with 20BB.

Edited May 19, 2019 by yoolykeme

[Mike_DeA]

20 hours ago, yoolykeme said:

There are cash games.  2-5NL on bigger ships with younger guests.  Rake is 10%, max $25,  So you can both go all-in for $300 each, chop the pot, and they still take the rake lol.  You can't chop the blinds, so if SB folds, they still take $1.  

 

25% rake on tournaments is correct.  You also start the tournaments with 20BB.

I agree with you, but a few clarifications.

 

$2-5NL is on all of NCL ships, not just the bigger ones.  Guest ages run the gamut, I've seen both young and old. 

 

The rake is always taken on any pot, chops included, in all casinos, not just NCL ships.  Chopping the blinds is the one difference, I've never seen it done like NCL does with a $1 minimum rake, so it's best just not to chop the blinds, or the SB just surrenders their $1.

 

Tournaments start with 2,000 in chips and blinds of 100/200 so it's 10BB starting stack, a short stack turbo tournament basically.

[skeeter195]

The only break you will get on the rake is during the yearly NCL poker challenge week.  This year it is on the getaway the first week in December.  There the rake is 10% or $15 dollar max on the smaller games(2-5 and 5-10).  The larger games 10-20 and up are up to $25.  Great action the last 2 years with up to 15 tables going at once.  

[skeeter195]

21 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

The only break you will get on the rake is during the yearly NCL poker challenge week.  This year it is on the getaway the first week in December.  There the rake is 10% or $15 dollar max on the smaller games(2-5 and 5-10).  The larger games 10-20 and up are up to $25.  Great action the last 2 years with up to 15 tables going at once.  

 

[skeeter195]

I also forgot to mention that there was big super satelite during the week that was rake free.  I busted early but I think 20+ seats were awarded for the tournament.  

[Mike_DeA]

On 5/14/2019 at 1:49 PM, Coachyo said:

Do they play only tournaments or do they have cash games going too?

if only tournaments how many will they play on a 7 night cruise?  

Ship is the Gem going to Bermuda in June.

Thanks, YO

I forgot to answer your other questions.... they will have tournaments each sea day, at a minimum, usually starting at noon. 

 

Cash games typically start after dinner when a dealer will open the table, but if you have enough players you can request them to open the table earlier in the day.  It's hit or miss if they will though.

[Mike_DeA]

3 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

I also forgot to mention that there was big super satelite during the week that was rake free.  I busted early but I think 20+ seats were awarded for the tournament.  

skeeter,

I don't think it was rake free, this is NCL after all.  I believe it was a $120-$125 entry fee with every 10 players  winning an entry into the Main Event.  Which would mean a $10-$15 fee per person since the Main Event entry was an $1,100 value.

[skeeter195]

This was the big sattelite after the main event had started(I think it was thursday).  It was definately a free rake event which had everyone in disbelief.  Think about it.  Probably half of the players who win the seat only need the entry part of it.  The other half like me are getting a comped room anyway.  Even when I won seats I could not combine the free room part of the entry with my already comped room.  I am always comped a balcony or higher. I thought that I might be able use my balcony comp then add the inside comp from the entry as an upgrade.  No dice.  Even if the number is only 25% that do not need the room part of the entry that is at least $125,000(100 entries x say $1250) in CAS's pocket.  I will take my shot at winning a seat for no more than $500.  2 years ago though I did win 3 seats and gave one to my son and sold the other to a friend for what I had put into the tournaments.  

[Mike_DeA]

Ok, then I was not aware of the rake free satellite as I was on the trip as well.

[yoolykeme]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:18 AM, Mike_DeA said:

I agree with you, but a few clarifications.

 

$2-5NL is on all of NCL ships, not just the bigger ones.  Guest ages run the gamut, I've seen both young and old. 

 

The rake is always taken on any pot, chops included, in all casinos, not just NCL ships.  Chopping the blinds is the one difference, I've never seen it done like NCL does with a $1 minimum rake, so it's best just not to chop the blinds, or the SB just surrenders their $1.

 

Tournaments start with 2,000 in chips and blinds of 100/200 so it's 10BB starting stack, a short stack turbo tournament basically.

 

 

I find that the bigger the ship, and the younger the average age, the bigger the game.  Ships like the Breakaway and Epic will likely have 2-5.  Canada and Alaska cruises on ships like the Jewel are likely 1-2.  Cruises longer than 7 days likely have older patrons and less casino interest, therefore 1-2.

 

Also, you can buy the tournament add on, which effectively doubles your stack in the beginning.

 

Either way, the number sucks, and you have to play what they give you.  We haven't even started talking about dealer competency, which is another story in itself.

 

 

[Mike_DeA]

18 hours ago, yoolykeme said:

 

 

I find that the bigger the ship, and the younger the average age, the bigger the game.  Ships like the Breakaway and Epic will likely have 2-5.  Canada and Alaska cruises on ships like the Jewel are likely 1-2.  Cruises longer than 7 days likely have older patrons and less casino interest, therefore 1-2.

 

Also, you can buy the tournament add on, which effectively doubles your stack in the beginning.

 

Either way, the number sucks, and you have to play what they give you.  We haven't even started talking about dealer competency, which is another story in itself.

 

 

NCL does not spread $1-2 games on any ship, only $2-5.  I've been on a smaller ship (Gem) where there was no poker all week (except for one tournament) due to lack of players (only 2 of us were interested) and they would not lower the stakes to $1-2. 

 

Your comment on the age of players is very general.  I was on the Escape last month (7 nights NYC to FL/Bahamas) and one evening 7 of the 10 players were 70+ y.o.  Four of those were regulars every night.  Only had maybe 3 players all week under 30 y.o., and they were not regulars. 

 

The age mix really varies from cruise to cruise and itinerary.  As you said, Alaska draws a older crowd generally, as does Canada/NE.  

 

I agree about dealer competency.  I've seen some unreal things from NCL dealers.  Some are very good, but too many are poor.

[Mike_DeA]

On 5/23/2019 at 11:52 AM, Mike_DeA said:

NCL does not spread $1-2 games on any ship, only $2-5.  I've been on a smaller ship (Gem) where there was no poker all week (except for one tournament) due to lack of players (only 2 of us were interested) and they would not lower the stakes to $1-2. 

 

Your comment on the age of players is very general.  I was on the Escape last month (7 nights NYC to FL/Bahamas) and one evening 7 of the 10 players were 70+ y.o.  Four of those were regulars every night.  Only had maybe 3 players all week under 30 y.o., and they were not regulars. 

 

The age mix really varies from cruise to cruise and itinerary.  As you said, Alaska draws a older crowd generally, as does Canada/NE.  

 

I agree about dealer competency.  I've seen some unreal things from NCL dealers.  Some are very good, but too many are poor.

 

Just to correct my post above about NCL only spreading $2-5 NL games.  On my recent Sun cruise, there was no poker for the first few days due to limited interest, so the casino changed the game to $1-2 NL for the duration.  We were able to get a game going one night.  I guess this is on an onboard decision made by the casino management at the time.