Internet Poker and its impact on B&Ms

GHL · #1 12-10-2006, 08:30 PM

I used to go to a local casino in the Chicago area once or twice a week (Trump.. now the Majestic Star). It has a good 20+ tables and is probably one of the biggest rooms in the chicagoland area. For one reason or another I stopped going...

My question is what impact on B&Ms does the internet have?

I went back to the majestic star today and they spread only 2 NL games

100 max 1-2 blinds
300 max 2-5 blinds

both short stacked games... 50/60 BBs is a push fest and as expected the game was played that way.

Also.. the seat fee charged there is completely outrageous.... I only brought $400 so I had to sit in the $100 game...... the seat fee is $6 / half hour...

They are raking 1.2 stacks off the table per hour!!!!!!!!

Although the players were your random collection of degenerates and drunks.... and they were beatable (I pulled out $600) I question how beatable a game where the rake is more than 10% of a stack per hour... it could almost be worse than playing blackjack!!!

Any thoughts? Are other smaller local casino poker rooms this way all over the country?

TheStation · #2 12-10-2006, 10:17 PM

I think rake is just as bad as a time charge - $4/hand at most places and lets say 25 hands an hour, still a full stack off an hour so not much different

Play is so bad at this level that its still very beatable so I wouldnt worry too much about the time charge - I would table change quickly if i felt i was at a tight nitty table and get to where there is more action due to the high % gone per hour

GHL · #3 12-10-2006, 11:27 PM

Play isn't really that tight... but the dealers are very slow..... although I doubt all 25 hands ever get near the max rake in a given hour...... I would assume that less than half on a good day are so the $120 / hour still seems much highher.....

OrangeCat · #4 12-10-2006, 11:45 PM

I don’t see what this has to do with the internet but yeah, I agree about the time charge. Coming from LA, the time charge seemed outrageous. Give me a rake any day.

To top it off, the dealers are unbelievably slow and seem very inexperienced. The players were also incredibly slow. I didn’t want to seem like a nit and say anything but you would think players would at least try to know when it is their turn to act in a time game.

TheStation · #5 12-11-2006, 01:09 AM

[ QUOTE ]
The players were also incredibly slow. I didn’t want to seem like a nit and say anything but you would think players would at least try to know when it is their turn to act in a time game.

[/ QUOTE ]

You want the type of people that dont know when its their turn to act in your game though - gotta pick if you want better competition or if you can put up with more idiots in exchange for their easy money

GHL · #6 12-11-2006, 10:34 AM

My point (that I didn't exactly make)...

Are local casino's changing their games from raked to time charged due to a real or made up threat that the internet poses to them? I believe this game was raked 3 years ago... now it has changed to a time charge. They're not exactly having issues with this room either... there were 20+ tables on a sunday afternoon and they were all full.

Also... what are other time charges around the country relative to the # of BBs allowed on the table..

This one for example was 6 BBs / hour when the game is a 50BB max game.

Hoss1193 · #7 12-11-2006, 04:48 PM

I've never played in the Chicago area...must be a little different there. In my playing experience in WA, SoCal, and LV (all low & mid limit HE), I've never played in a time-charge game, all raked. And while I don't play in them, I think all the low-stakes NL games in the rooms I've played have also been raked. So, at least on the West Coast and LV, I don't think the "move from rake to time charge" dynamic you described is happening.

That said, the charge you described sounds fairly exorbitant to me. Are they charging a similar amount by time in their limit games as well?

usaftrevor · #8 12-11-2006, 05:13 PM

[ QUOTE ]
My point (that I didn't exactly make)...

Are local casino's changing their games from raked to time charged due to a real or made up threat that the internet poses to them?

[/ QUOTE ]

In Atlantic City... Limit HE under $10/$20 is generally raked. You'll find the Pink $7.50/$15 is raked at 5% up to $4 instead of 10%... nice touch.

These games do not have Max-buy caps, so does not directly relate to your question.

$1/$2 NL in AC is almost always $60 Min / $300 Max buy w/ a 10% Rake capped at $4. I think Harrah's and Caesar's does a Jackpot drop seperate. Up until a year or so ago, some of them were no-flop-no-drop, but that has since changed.

The $2/$5 NL is raked at Tropicana, usually a $5 / down time charge at other Casinos. Min/Max is $100-$500, so this is HUGE difference in relationship to total money in play from what you're talking about.

I don't think any games on East Coast will move from rake to time any time soon... it seems to be one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinds of situations.

Rick305 · #9 12-11-2006, 05:22 PM

internet Poker is the best thing that ever happened to B&M poker

OrangeCat · #10 12-12-2006, 01:02 AM

I don't think the internet has anything to do with it. They time charge in Gary because they can get away with it. The time charge is a rip off. I paid $8 to see about a dozen hands every half hour in the 2/5 NL game. I'll go again because the players are bad but it kinda ticks me off that the casinos around here treat the players like that.