$5 Pai Gow vs 1/2 NLHE

I have played $5 min Pai Gow twice now. First time, I played for about an hour and was up $10. Second time, I lost $40 in less than an hour. If I want to maximize how much I bring to the casino, would $1/2 no limit texas holdem cash games be my best bet if I play conservatively?

What do you mean by "play conservatively"? Fold everything but the best few hands? Other players will likely play cautiously when they see you enter a pot after folding everything, so pots you're in would likely be small. Additionally, players will try to bluff you when the board doesn't have face cards. In NLHE, you can lose your entire stack in one hand. Your previous posts lead me to assume that you wouldn't be buying in for very much, probably near the minimum. Other players will be buying in for the maximum and will probably be both trying to get you to fold by putting you all-in and calling your all-in because it's a "small" percentage of their stack.

I meant to put 3/6 limit holdem in the post as well

I'm not a poker player but it seems reasonable to buy in for the maximum. Also, assuming you're happy to continue, perhaps allow upto 3 buy-ins in total (sometimes you find a friendly table and were unlucky that your pocket Aces got beat by a two-outer).

Obviously if you were an exceptional poker player you wouldn't be asking the question, so assuming the House Edge for poker and other games are similar, then play the game you enjoy the most. Also, as has been said, even playing fairly tight you can lose your wad in one hand, which may be the first one; whereas with PGP at least you [should] get a run for your money.

I think you'd last longer and have more fun at PGP.

If you played 3/6 super tight, it would still be a challenge to beat the rake in most of today's games. Meanwhile, you're just sitting there folding hand after hand, when you could be playing every hand of PGP.

Quote: Rigondeaux

I think you'd last longer and have more fun at PGP.

If you played 3/6 super tight, it would still be a challenge to beat the rake in most of today's games. Meanwhile, you're just sitting there folding hand after hand, when you could be playing every hand of PGP.

I think playing tight with a $100 at a 1/2 NL Hold'em game would last longer.

Fun factor? Well that's going to depend how one calculates fun. Some people have fun watching other play while trying to put them on hands and get reads on them etc etc.

Who ever said that if you play tight everyone is going to figure you out and just fold whenever you have a good hand. I disagree with this especially on Friday/ Saturday nights.Sometimes people will look at you and say," wow you haven't played a hand forever you must have aces... I call."

Sure some guys will notice and not give you any action but there's enough people not paying attention or caring at the 1/2 2/5 limit it's worthwhile. Pick your games where thwre is lots of banter, drinking,loud table. It only takes a few minutes looking to figure out if it's a loose game.

Obviously don't play at a local place during the day where the average age is 60.

I know you know all this but perhaps it will help the OP.

Apples to oranges; Pai Gow you have a fixed EV in the house's favor, with poker against other players there is not set EV. If you just wanna play for a while and get the most entertainment out of your money, I say do tournaments at first to help you get experience down, then play limit or no limit when you decide which cash game you're more comfortable with. If you're grinding for comps/points to rank up on your player's card, see if your casino awards comps/points by the hour for tournament play and if not, play limit really conservatively for 4 or 5 hours. I would NOT recommend Pai Gow to grind for comps as they don't give much for that, I'd play video poker for that as while it may be slow, you still know exactly how many points you're getting and have a ballpark idea for comps.

I always buy in with the min at 1/2 and play only premium hands. I am a lifetime winner and very rarely do I have problem getting action. Granted playing my style normally only gets me $4 an hour but I almost never go bust unless it is one of those hands where it was impossible to do so like AA vs QQ and we both flop sets.

Quote: Gamesetmatch4

If I want to maximize how much I bring to the casino

Do you mean minimize? Do you care at all about fun? It's not totally clear what your goal is.

If you only want to maximize time spent gambling, find a penny slot that you can play one penny at a time, and then play it slowly. But presumably you do care about other stuff, such as fun and the chance to win a meaningful amount of money.

Most $1/2 players will not have any idea if you play tightly, and as Axel said, sometimes they won't care even if they do.

The specific table conditions are going to dictate how much variance you'll have at a hold'em table. I agree too that you should consider playing limit instead of no-limit, and should consider playing a tournament if there is a really cheap one.