What the smartest Vegas poker boss will do.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
IIRC, the Wynn does have 9-handed tables.


[/ QUOTE ]

The Mirage and Caesars Palace are also nine-handed.

[Eder]

I think a 2-5 $100 max would be hilarious/entertaining/fun for us tourists.
I dont care about comps playing poker there...free drinks are comps enough.
I think these short buy in tables should disallow mp3 players/cell phones at any time/and absolutely no bottles of water at the table...(hoodies and sunglasses should be welcomed and encouraged)

[jmc999]

10 handed tables aren't always 10 handed. People like to get up and go for walks all the time in live play.

[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

[PartysOver]

better for the casinos to have 10 handed tables
1) less space needed
2) less staff needed

it's not like an online room where you get free tables and dealers.

[eof]

[ QUOTE ]

IIRC, the Wynn does have 9-handed tables.

I seriously doubt that a $3 comp rate would be +EV for the casino. Raising the comp by $2 in a room with 180 players on 20 tables costs $360/hr. Hourly rake is probably something like $3 avg. rake x 30 hands/hr x 20 tables = $1800. So, that's 1/5 of your poker income down the drain as additional comps.

It's not even good enough to draw another 36 players to open four new tables and generate $360/hr more in rake. Not only do you have to comp those players, you have to provide dealers and floor staff, and serve them drinks. You'd probably have to boost traffic by more than 50% to make this drastic rake increase worthwhile, and I think that'd be a tall order.

I also think it's untrue that Vegas customers are "almost all playing to the extent of their disposable income."


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it doesn't cost them quite as much because it doesn't cost them 3 dollars when you spend 3 dollars (unless its 3 dollars you would have spent anyway). if you use 15 dollars on a buffet you wouldn't have gone too anyway, that 15 dollars cost them 4-5 dollars.

[jjshabado]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

IIRC, the Wynn does have 9-handed tables.

I seriously doubt that a $3 comp rate would be +EV for the casino. Raising the comp by $2 in a room with 180 players on 20 tables costs $360/hr. Hourly rake is probably something like $3 avg. rake x 30 hands/hr x 20 tables = $1800. So, that's 1/5 of your poker income down the drain as additional comps.

It's not even good enough to draw another 36 players to open four new tables and generate $360/hr more in rake. Not only do you have to comp those players, you have to provide dealers and floor staff, and serve them drinks. You'd probably have to boost traffic by more than 50% to make this drastic rake increase worthwhile, and I think that'd be a tall order.

I also think it's untrue that Vegas customers are "almost all playing to the extent of their disposable income."


[/ QUOTE ]


it doesn't cost them quite as much because it doesn't cost them 3 dollars when you spend 3 dollars (unless its 3 dollars you would have spent anyway). if you use 15 dollars on a buffet you wouldn't have gone too anyway, that 15 dollars cost them 4-5 dollars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I also think that some percentage of that money comes back to them (certainly not even close to 100%). IE. Some people bring $300 to the casino to spend. They leave when they run out. If they spend $20 at the buffet thats $20 less then they gamble with, if they use comps they gamble with that. Also some people save up comps to use on hotel rooms so more comps mean those people are in the casino more often.

That being said I don't see it being that profitable to casinos to up the comps. As much as I'd love for it to happen.

[RR]

[ QUOTE ]
it doesn't cost them quite as much because it doesn't cost them 3 dollars when you spend 3 dollars (unless its 3 dollars you would have spent anyway). if you use 15 dollars on a buffet you wouldn't have gone too anyway, that 15 dollars cost them 4-5 dollars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am aware of some $15 buffets that cost the poker room over $20 when you use a comp there. The buffet is used to attract people so the casino takes an actual lost on it, but when it is comped they charge the comping department what it cost them per person to put out the buffet. This isn't a typical nasty buffet, but when casinos do a sea food buffet they often take a small loss on it to bring people in the door.

[n.s.]

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I agree with #1 and who can argue with #4.
#2/#3 I totally disagree with.

[/ QUOTE ]

You sir, are the nit that OP mentioned in his post. We've been instructed to ignore you.

[DeadMoneyWalking]

[ QUOTE ]
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?


[/ QUOTE ]

won't really make a difference.

[ QUOTE ]

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.


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You might have trouble getting a short-stacked 5/10 game going. Most 5/10 regulars in Vegas are set on the deep stacks at Wynn/B

[ QUOTE ]

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.


[/ QUOTE ]

Do customers really follow those things that carefully? Some Vegas regulars might go for 4. but you would have a tough time pitching it to the casino management.