Poker in Goa, Part III: Playing

I had planned to play poker during my last two days there. I hired a driver to take my daughter Hannah and me to the airport on Thursday morning. She was departing on a 7:00 AM flight to Thailand. We arrived at the airport at 6. I dropped her off and had the driver bring me back up to Panjim -- the capital city of Goa and home to the casino boats that housed the poker rooms in which I wanted to play. By 6:30 I was walking up to the Casino Royale -- the largest boat and the busiest poker room.

Sadly, by the time I reached the shuttle boat, that would have taken me out to the main boat in the harbor, I was feeling sick -- with a very queasy stomach, a feeling of nausea, and a feverish and headachy feeling. I made a last minute decision not to board the boat right away -- but rather walk around for a while to see if I would feel better -- being out of the cab and breathing in fresh air.

I took a walk by the harbor and into the city itself. The harbor has the potential to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The wide harbor, the tropical landscape, the picturesque boats cutting across the water -- all could combine into one spectacular view. Unfortunately, the entire area is marred both by the horrible smell of sewage and the visible examples of it and other garbage in the water. This was especially troubling to me -- as the smell and sight of refuse augmented rather than diminished my feeling of sickness and nausea.

After an hour's stroll I decided that I truly was sick and needed to spend my remaining energy on finding a decent hotel room. This I did, remembering the name of a place that had been recommended by a poker player who had visited Goa and written about it in a blog I had read in preparation for this trip -- a place named "Ginger". I found the hotel, checked in, bought some bottled water and some aspirin, and stayed in my room from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM -- intermittantly sleeping, swallowing aspirin, and drinking bottled water. I didn't eat anything -- but had no appetite. By 6 I was a little less quesy, no longer feverish, and just barely able to get up and walk back to the shuttle boat to the casino.

The walk to the harbor did me good. The shuttle ride was mercifully brief. And I arrived right at 7:00 PM in time for my appointment with the poker room manager -- Craig Wildman. He proved to be a great host -- answering all of my many questions about poker in India, in Goa in specific, and at this particular poker room the Casino Royale. I learned that casino poker was very young in India -- only about 2.5 years old -- that poker was only legal in the state of Goa and in a state up near the Chinese border in the northeast -- and that the Casino Royale hosted five tournament tours -- including the Asian Poker Tour.

When I arrived there were a couple of turbos going for seats in the nights main tournament. A cash game started up with me at 7:45 or so. They spread the Indian equivalent of $2/4 no limit with a $200 minimum buy-in. Most of the players bought in for either the minimum or close to it -- though a couple of players bought in for about $500 or so. I bought in for $400.

The game was not tough to beat. There were two solid players -- who were fairly tight and fairly aggressive. Three or four of the players were absolute rocks -- and very timid in the face of any serious action. The remainder were loose and timid -- calling nearly every hand pre-flop unless there was a 3-bet -- but then folding to any serious bet on the flop or turn -- unless they held a monster. My initial plan had been to play all night and then take a cab to the airport for my 4:00 AM flight. But my illness changed all that. I left after only two hours -- retreating to my hotel room for more rest and sleep before my flight.

As it was I managed to make $50 or so in my 90 minutes or so of play. I would have liked to stay and play longer -- for a few days. I'm certain that this would be a very profitable room for even a fairly skilled regular player. There was one shortcoming, however. The rake was 5% with a $100 maximum. I can't be certain, but if ever there were a huge rake that might still be overcome because the game was super soft, this would be it. But still -- a $100 maximum is so absurdly huge of a rake that I'm not really sure that it could be overcome -- no matter what the skill differential was.

I was told that there were often larger games available -- with lesser rakes -- still $100 maximum but only 4% for the $4/8 blind game and 3% for the $10/20 blind no limit game (played in their two table VIP room upstairs).