[Durs522]

When considering all possible promotions for this game it is important to realize what we're really trying to do, which is keep this game going "forever". We don't want this game to run only during whatever promotion we come up with, we want it to stay for the life of the poker room. It is important to realize that whatever promotion we use must involve getting the player in the game, and then keeping them there through service and quality that won't stop after our "gimmick" is finished.

That said, I think we should do some sort of "rake-free" promotion. I don't think this should occur strictly when the game is short, but instead it should run on a time spent basis. For example, for every X number of hours you play you get a free half, either rake free or no time, whichever is charged for the game. I'm not sure what the X number would have to be here, but I'm thinking maybe in the area of 5-10 hours. Obviously this will depend on the other factors we are not aware of in this post. I think the benefits of this are quite abundent. First, you aren't paying for a dealer to deal to a table of people playing for free. Instead you are allowing one player to play for free. This is really only costing you money if there is a list for a game. During the first couple of months this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Second, this will keep players in the game. If someone is coming back to use their free half, they most likely aren't going to just play the half and get up. They will instead put in a complete session in the poker room.

For starting games short I would suggest that we offer double comp dollars for any game 30/60 or over that has fewer than 5 players. This is basically the same as half rake, however these players must come back to use their comp dollars. I'm not really sure how feasible this is with regard to the comp system in the poker room. It would require a little more work swiping players in and out a few more times, however if we're dedicated to getting this game going then it is worth it.

Giving things away for free the way the Venetian did when they were getting the 40/80 game going doesn't seem to work. Players will play there as long as they are getting free stuff, and then once that stops they will just return to the Bellagio. It is important to not cater to these players, but to give them a reason to come to our room. We want them to want to play here, instead of basically forcing themselves to play just because of the perks.

The whole key to this promotion in my opinion is the service we provide. If the players are happy with the way they are treated and the quality of the games, they will have no reason not to come back.