Very nice, I play poker as well. I've even spent quite a bit of time programming my own custom database.

I remember when no one played no limit and everyone was playing limit. I was going to School at San Diego State and playing cards at Viejas back in the early 2000's.

I was never good at limit. Their aren't enough options and there is too much chasing because pot odds are gigantic. In fact I don't think you could have justified folding the river in that hand for four dollars. Your pot odds were what? 20 to 1? You'd only have to win 1 out of 19 times for that bet to be worth it. That's the problem with limit; it's difficult to force your opponents to make extremely foolish plays. The difference between calling and folding will sometimes yield the same EV (estimated value) meaning sometimes it doesn't matter what players do.

I am a very conservative player and it pays off big in no limit. I can easily cultivate a very weak tight atmosphere and bait aggro players into foolishly trying to bluff me far too often. This is especially relevant in tournament play when increased blinds force players to commit all in.

The best card room I've ever been to is located in Portland Oregon. Because of the law they aren't allowed to charge a rake or pay dealers. They charge a $10 cover and dealers are "volunteers" that work for tips. I would play there 10 hours a day and was basically only raked $1 an hour. This basically doubled my hourly wage because the rake was so small.

The way they run cash games is very strange as well because of the law. It was adapted into a 2 hour tournament where the blinds never went up and each chip is just traded in for cash at the end. If I was up money, I would tip 5% of my winnings, so in the long run this model also encourages less tipping. I could win 10 hands and lose 100 hands and break even... and not be expected to tip for the 10 hands I won.

Good old Aces Players Club. That place was amazing... Now I'm spoiled and never play now that I'm back in California. I need to find a good home game.

I can't wait for crypto and blockchain to provide rake free poker. If poker makes a resurgence again while crypto bull runs... I am going to be one wealthy guy.

https://steemit.com/poker/@edicted/omg-they-did-it-decentralized-poker-rng

It's already happening... only a matter of time.