Congratulations! You just became the manager of a Vegas poker room!

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Both excellent suggestions! Too bad your other suggestions redefine operations of the casino as a whole, and therefore cannot be considered. You get to stay for one more round int he board room - I'm not firing you yet.

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What can I say? I'm more of an idea rat.

Maybe I don't fully understand the constraints of the problem here, but how is having a comfortable place for people to wait inside the poker room with poker-related reading materials and drink service "redefining the operations of the casio?" In fact, I have an idea to take it a step further, combining the lounge with your shorthanded "lesson" idea:

Pay a well known pro to write a short (say, 10 page) guide to playing shorthanded limit holdem with suggestions about starting hand selection, valuing "trouble" hands like middle pair, running short handed bluffs etc. Have it targeted at the competent mid-limit full game player. Write it so that it talks up the advantages of short handed (less boredom, direct access to the fish, more hands per hour etc.). Leave these pamphlets lying around in the lounge. They may drum up some interest in and of themselves, and at the very least they may convince someone who's tired of waiting that they're willing to play shorthanded after all now that they know how to do it without losing their shirt.

Now, back to making the board work right. I can see how the coasters would be a PITA for the rest of the casino since they would inevitably end up abandoned at some craps table. So scrap that. A similar idea would be offering to take down cell phone numbers when people go on the board, so that if they miss first call, you can then call their cell. Some people would be adverse, and some people would take it as a license to wander off, but I suspect it would be a net win. You could also use this as a tool when you're slightly unsure if you have a game (ie. 4 shorthanded on the list, but only 3 of them are in the lounge or playing 15/30) you can call the 4th guy before announcing the game. If he says he's on his way, announce. If he doesn't answer or says he's not coming, don't.

You also wanted me to convince you on the subject of avoiding a "rake bubble" and instead scaling it in some way. I think the basic idea is that 0 rake attracts nits. The problem is that you need those nits to stay to get the game filled up the first time, and get your props out if you choose to use them. My experience is that if they came for the 0 rake, they'll seriously consider leaving when the rake kicks in if it kicks in all at once. I think the best strategy is to increase the rake slowly, on the "boiling a frog" theory. Those increases could be time based, fullness based etc. depending on what you find works best.

Mmmm, boiled nits...

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1) Poker rooms in vegas cannot easily redesign their operating environment, for most rooms the real estate for a lounge is not available unless a lounge was built for the room on day one.

2) I like your idea about the short handed guide, if marketed and worded correctly. Interesting concept, it might work... At the same time we should also discuss the house rules, they are are rarely available in a format as complete as found at Commerce - I think this should be a dual operation.

The more I read this thread, the less I like props and the more I like game hosts. The downside of hosting is that they can take the game elsewhere should a problem occur.

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