LV Hilton closing poker room 10/17 - Page 8

MicroBob · #71 10-08-2007, 01:35 PM

not this year it isn't!!!

Mano · #72 10-08-2007, 01:39 PM

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At Harrah's the dealers claim how busy the poker room is depends incredibly on who the floor is. Most of the Harrah's floor people get on the casino-wide PA and announce the games at least every 15 minutes. Some do this about every 2 hours. The dealers swear this makes a huge difference, and nights with vocal floors they'll have 6 tables going while nights with a mute floor they'll have 3.

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If this is really the case (and I have no reason to believe that it is not) it seems retarded that they don't have some really good canned promos that run on the intercom every fifteen minutes or so. Double business by doing something that would probably take a couple of hours to set up. What am I missing?

RR · #73 10-08-2007, 01:42 PM

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not this year it isn't!!!

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Well that is true. I was just remembering an example from my economics of sports classes. There are certain types of firms (baseball teams) that if they eliminate competitors it puts them out of business also.

This sort of thing applies to poker, not at the room level, but at the player level. If there is nobody for you to play against there is no game. A perfect example is when a new poker player comes into a room and asks "when will you be starting this game." If you are in Las Vegas with 30 rooms there isn't much chance of getting enough players in one room to start a higher limit game.

grdred944 · #74 10-08-2007, 02:05 PM

This is a very interesting thread.

I do believe in The Rule of Three which is the belief that every market will be dominated by three major players. Poker rooms, in my opinion, fall into this. It doesn't mean that there will only be three rooms but that there will be three major players and the rest will either be niche players or non-factors (minor blips on a radar). The three major players in Vegas (are) will be Harrah's, MGM/Mirage and Stations. Stations may take some time to really be seen as a presence but when Aliante Station and (possibly) Cactus Station are built they will have the local's scene dominated.

The the Venetian is an example of a niche player. A great deal of their business comes from the Sand's conventions and regardless of their advertising, they are extremely limited in what they spread.

The Hilton, Tropicana, Stratosphere and those types are all doomed. Any decsion to keep them open would be if the property's bean-counters could convince management that they were loss-leaders.

bav · #75 10-08-2007, 02:15 PM

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There is no doubt that the use fo the microphone can have a benefit for the room. But these dealers may be overstating the effect.

On other note. I have been at Harrah's and never once heard an announcement for the poker room. I have been passed up on the list because I wasn't in the room when a seat came open and they never paged me so I assumed they didn't even have a way to announce out into the casino.

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They won't use the PA to page players. Palms and Sahara are about the only strip(ish) casinos that springs to mind that will do this (though I'm sure there are others).

Depending who's flooring at Harrah's I may not hear an announcement ever, or I may have a 60% chance of hearing one on the 4 minute walk from the car to the poker room. But on those nights where the room only has 3 tables going but the casino seems really busy when I ask "where is everybody" the dealers almost universally reply "so-and-so is flooring--he doesn't use the mic enough". It may be a fallacy, but it's one held by 'bout all the working stiffs in the room.

RR · #76 10-08-2007, 02:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There is no doubt that the use fo the microphone can have a benefit for the room. But these dealers may be overstating the effect.

On other note. I have been at Harrah's and never once heard an announcement for the poker room. I have been passed up on the list because I wasn't in the room when a seat came open and they never paged me so I assumed they didn't even have a way to announce out into the casino.

[/ QUOTE ]
They won't use the PA to page players. Palms and Sahara are about the only strip(ish) casinos that springs to mind that will do this (though I'm sure there are others).

Depending who's flooring at Harrah's I may not hear an announcement ever, or I may have a 60% chance of hearing one on the 4 minute walk from the car to the poker room. But on those nights where the room only has 3 tables going but the casino seems really busy when I ask "where is everybody" the dealers almost universally reply "so-and-so is flooring--he doesn't use the mic enough". It may be a fallacy, but it's one held by 'bout all the working stiffs in the room.

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Making announcements is huge, but some casino managers (the pit or slots) will reduce or forbid poker announcements into the casino if they feel it convinces someone that is gambling to quit and go play poker. I once worked in a casino that would only allow players to be paged that they had a phone call rather than having their seat open so the other people in the casino wouldn't find out there was a poker room.

*TT* · #77 10-08-2007, 02:40 PM

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a new poker player comes into a room and asks "when will you be starting this game." If you are in Las Vegas with 30 rooms there isn't much chance of getting enough players in one room to start a higher limit game.

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QFT - great example RR.

psandman · #78 10-08-2007, 03:07 PM

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There is no doubt that the use fo the microphone can have a benefit for the room. But these dealers may be overstating the effect.

On other note. I have been at Harrah's and never once heard an announcement for the poker room. I have been passed up on the list because I wasn't in the room when a seat came open and they never paged me so I assumed they didn't even have a way to announce out into the casino.

[/ QUOTE ]
They won't use the PA to page players. Palms and Sahara are about the only strip(ish) casinos that springs to mind that will do this (though I'm sure there are others).

Depending who's flooring at Harrah's I may not hear an announcement ever, or I may have a 60% chance of hearing one on the 4 minute walk from the car to the poker room. But on those nights where the room only has 3 tables going but the casino seems really busy when I ask "where is everybody" the dealers almost universally reply "so-and-so is flooring--he doesn't use the mic enough". It may be a fallacy, but it's one held by 'bout all the working stiffs in the room.

[/ QUOTE ]

Making announcements is huge, but some casino managers (the pit or slots) will reduce or forbid poker announcements into the casino if they feel it convinces someone that is gambling to quit and go play poker. I once worked in a casino that would only allow players to be paged that they had a phone call rather than having their seat open so the other people in the casino wouldn't find out there was a poker room.

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Palms no longer does this, upper management had an issue with it (not the one you mention).

I worked at a strip casino in which all dealers were encouraged to use the microphone to make announcements. This was horrible as some dealers really made awful announcements (usually because they start talking befor ethey figure out what they are going to say). One dual rate over there loves the microphone so much that I have seen him making announcements while dealing a game. But I generally found while it helped in getting players to come check out the room, other factors such as time of day and how much business was in the casino in general were far more significant factors in getting players in and why I doubt the floors mic use is that significant at Harrah's

Cactus Jack · #79 10-08-2007, 03:20 PM

Which would be better, keeping Harrahs, Flamingo, Ballys, and Paris rooms, or consolidating all to Caesar's Palace?

I'd rather have them all at CP and the chances of getting some higher limit games going. As it is, there is no chance at all at any of these.

psandman · #80 10-08-2007, 03:24 PM

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Which would be better, keeping Harrahs, Flamingo, Ballys, and Paris rooms, or consolidating all to Caesar's Palace?

I'd rather have them all at CP and the chances of getting some higher limit games going. As it is, there is no chance at all at any of these.

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I don't think closing those rooms makes it any more likely that caesars gets a higher game going. There is zero reason to believe that people who would patronize those rooms are all going to Caesars. I imagine that if you close Ballys and paris the rooms which would benefit most would be Planet hollywood and Bellagio being next door and across the street.