[yogadude]

1. Move from 10-handed tables to 9-handed. More hands per hour, and more action per hand. Short handed games play faster and looser. 9-handed isn't much shorter or faster, but since when do suits not want small benefits?

2. Switch from deep-stack to mid-stack or small-stack NL. IOW, switch to LA-style NL. 5/10 with $500 buy-ins. Much more action, much more fun. I don't think anyone in Vegas spreads games like this.

3. Jackpot, NL seperate pool. Some Vegas joints offer this. All but the B should.

4. Free food. Or, $3/hr comp rate. Be GENEROUS to your customers. Make them feel like kings while they're losing to you. Every penny you save them, you get anyway. They're almost all playing to the extent of their disposable income, so a dollar you save them on food is one more dollar they have to play with.<<<<<<<<<<

I agree with #1 and who can argue with #4.

#2/#3 I totally disagree with. At Commerce the blinds are 2-3 for the $100 and 3-5 for the $200. With this structure you really dont get to play much poker and must play a conservative strategy until you build up a few buy-ins. I can understand why this may seem nitty but I can tell you from experience that no one is a long term winner by playing loosely in these games. To be honest, after about 5 years of watching these games I rarely see a player who wins consistently. I have even doubted there was much of an edge in these games. If you play loose in these games you will simply be called down every time and need to show a winner. I much prefer the games in LV where you can buy in for 100 BB's to start. This format rewards patience more and allows you to out-wait the bad players. I know you like to think you can outplay the bad players but unless they play bad-tight (rare) as opposed to bad-loose (95% of bad players are too loose) the only way you can outplay them is to exercise patience and wait for them to smack right into ya. So I say NO! to high blind to buy in ratio games. To be honest I totally resent the LA casinos because they do everything they can to maximize their profits by raking sick amounts and minimizing the skill factor of the game with these stupid structures. If the games were better structured I would spend 60 hours a week there for sure.

I am also strongly against jackpots. The rake is already high enough. Sure, you get your money back in the long run but most likely you will die before you get your share of the jackpot drop back.

gl

yoga