[Poshua]

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I was talking about the new casinos with a couple of the guys at a 1/2NL table at the Borgata on Saturday and we were wondering about this. One guy was saying that a new big room would create pressure to increase comps for poker players and make it easier for people to get poker room rates.

I was pretty skeptical of this (especially increasing comps for poker players) but was just wondering what the word was.

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I think the bigger factor that will make it easier to get poker room rates will be a general increase in the number of casino hotel rooms relative to the number of gamblers. The availability of poker rates is not so much about competition for poker players' business as it is about how much casinos could get for the rooms if they weren't given to poker players at a discount. With room rates and occupancy through the roof, it's no wonder casinos don't want to give big discounts to poker players.

As room rates and occupancy levels come down generally (which I think will happen at the existing properties, even the Borgata) poker rate conditions should improve.