Brief First Impressions: Talking Stick Resort's Change From $3/300 Spread Limit to $2/3 No Limit

About a week ago, the Arena Poker Room at Talking Stick Resort made two significant changes to its poker games. Games there for years had been spread limit games were changed into No Limit games. I have now played three times at the $2/3 NL game after having played numerous times in the old $3/300 spread limit game. Following is some basic information and my impressions (so far) of how the change has affected the lowest level No Limit game: $2/3.

A quick primer on $3/300 spread limit: The buy in max was $600. Blinds were $2 and $3. One of the small blind dollars was taken pre-flop, so even if there was a chop of the blinds, the small blind received only $1 back. The limit on a raise was $300, and the number of raises was capped at three, at least at the start of the hand.

The most significant change is the buy in amount. It has decreased from $600 to $300. The games played much bigger in the spread game since players tended to buy in for $500-600. If you were to buy in for less, as I often did initially to feel out the table, you were one of the small stacks. Small stackers, oftentimes some of the regulars, would buy in for $100 or so, looking to jam as soon as they could and hopefully go on from there. In my opinion, the games tended to be a bit wilder. They have seemed more sedate with smaller stacks at the table. With the larger buy in, it was not unusual to see several thousands of dollars on the table at any one time. With no limit, my observation has been that tables tend to have three or so big stacks out of the seven players. The other players seem to either be nursing shorter stacks, hoping to get their chance, or become rotating spots where players lose their stack, leave, and are then replaced.

I don't know if this has anything to do with the new rules and different games, but it seemed to me that I was hearing a lot more chatter at the tables, and not in a good way. Talking Stick currently requires everyone to wear a mask and the poker tables there still have plexiglass and are limited to seven players. 

I'm not sure what some of the more aggressive and better bankrolled players who used to play $3/300 spread are doing. I have noticed many still playing the $2/3 NL game, and the others might have moved to a bigger game or have been sitting out.

As for me, under the new system, I have three sessions -- two with slim profits and one (last night) with a good profit. Maybe because of the play being smaller, a player like me who tends not to be too wild or hyper-aggressive likes the feel a bit more. Of course, if I get skunked in a session or two, I'll probably be crying for the old spread limit game.

Regardless, the Arena Poker Room at Talking Stick Resort continues to be a classy, well-run place. Although I have enjoyed playing at the other rooms in town (Lone Butte and Desert Diamond), the Stick is still the gold standard for poker in the greater Phoenix area. If you are visiting from out of town and have limited town, this is the room you should visit.

Thanks for reading.