This report covers some of my recent no-limit experiences at The Aviation Club in Paris, France this past Summer. I provided a long and detailed report about a number of Vegas rooms a while back, and not much has changed on the scene since then (it will be interesting to see how things change, if at all, based on the recent legislation regarding internet poker).

I spent a month this Summer in Paris on business. As with most business trips, it involved short periods of intense work and quite a bit of down time. We stayed right on the Champs Elysees, two blocks from The Aviation Club, Paris's premier casino/poker room and the host of the only WPT event outside of the U.S. and Caribbean. The Aviation Club was substantially smaller than Vegas casinos/poker rooms and it felt like a casino from a James Bond movie. Other than that, I noticed two major differences between The Aviation Club and Vegas poker rooms.

First, The Aviation Club permits smoking at the tables and believe me, the players take full advantage of it. I don't smoke, but I'm not one of those people who hate smoke or claims that they are allergic to smoke. Still, the smoke was so thick in the poker room that I had trouble sitting for more than 3 hours without my eyes stinging or head aching.

The second noteworthy item was the quality of play, or lack thereof, at the no-limit tables. I played one of their daily (50 euro buy-in) no-limit tournaments. This was typical to the short-stack, 15-minute level tournaments in the majority of Vegas casinos where the only move is fold or all-in after the first hour. The good thing is that the tourney drew 88 players and paid the top 9. I was fortunature to bust 2 players early when my pocket jacks held up for a full house on a board of A-A-J-X-X against two players with the other aces (and no full house)and road that wave to a 5th place finish that Could have been higher if my top pair hadn't been beat by a runner-runner back door flush.

While the real quality of the players couldn't be seen in this all-in fest of a tournament, I also played 4 sessions of either 1-2 Euro or 2-5 Euro no-limit hold 'em. The initial hand selection and betting (more like calling) were extremely loose and passive. Lots of all-in/pre-flop calls (not bets) with hands like unsuited K-Q. I went on my best run ever relative to time and my buy-in ever at the 2-5 NL. I caught a lot of cards and avoided suck-outs to run a 300 Euro buy-in up to 1700 Euros in less than 3 hours. I consider myself a good tight-aggressive player, but I'm subject to being beat by good players and bad cards. However, the quality of play at these tables was so bad that I was able to double my buy-in every hour I sat at the table.

I know this report may be a little misplaced on a Vegas poker website, but thought it might provide some insight if you ever end up in France. Good luck to all.