suggestions for promotions

[RR]

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You are not buying anything by sitting at a poker table. I've seen this done in multiple casinos/cardrooms outside of Nevada to bring people in the room.

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Of course you're buying something. Either you're paying rake or you're paying time. What are the names of the casinos/cardrooms where this is done?

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They are in CA. I'm not going to divulge the casino/cardroom names in case it is illegal. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know the actual legality of the issue, but I have seen it done in a casino and a cardroom.

In regards to you "buying" something there are obviously ways around it, even if it is illegal. Whether it be, random drawing or just giving everyone who is in the room a square.

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I don't think these are illegal as I have seen them in just about every poker market in the country.

[blutarski]

free food

[Poshua]

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I don't think these are illegal as I have seen them in just about every poker market in the country.

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Hm, apparently not then. I find that surprising given the general ban on sports betting.

[Percula]

Something I always thought would be interesting for a football promo would be to use the splash pot model, but when something happens that is rare(er) like a safety or a game goes into OT that the splash pot be $500 instead of the standard $100.

[peetar69]

If they put in a "splash" chip predeal, then draw for the amount at showdown, Why not take Percula's idea and have it:

If a splash pot is won with a one pair hand, the drawn splash amount is doubled.

This would add some flavor to the 3/6 games.

[bav]

Splash pots make players lose their whole stacks. 1 person at the table is beaming, and 9 people are pissed off because they were forced to play crappy cards chasing a $100 splash. Personally I think splash pots are bad for the room because they annoy the losers and they go home early having busted 20 minutes after arriving.

[StevieG]

Peetar,

A lot of these ideas are good (though debatable as to what are better than others) but a real problem is how to communicate the promotion to those that aren't already still playing at the room.

The room needs a players' club if they do not already have one. They lost players and without this database, they likely have no idea how to market any promotion directly to them even if they do one.

Next, do a free roll tournament. Qualification is based on points not hours of play, though hours played are primary source of points.

The other important source of points is referral signups to the players club. You get someone else to sign up, you get a small number points. Once they reach a certain number of hours of play, you get more points.

Maybe there are bonus add ons at the free roll for people who exceed a certain number of points.

The points might be redeemed for the free roll (making it not necessarily free) or other kinds of comps (food, etc.).

But the key is getting that database of players, and expanding the pool, partly by encouraging existing players to bring friends.

[peetar69]

Thanks for the thoughtful response Stevie. They were asking tonight about what would be good. I told them I had started a thread here and asked them to take a look. I can really see Bav's point with the splash pots.IMO, aces cracked would be simple and effective.

[redfisher]

I agree with you on the splash pots, I hate them.

I'd recommend some kind of hourly lucky seat drawing. Pick a seat and table number every hour and give him the bonus. Same cost as a splash pot, but it doesn't kill stacks.

I'm not opposed to Aces cracked as a promotion, but I think that it may be more expensive than a splash pot. You definitely can't control the cost as exactly as a lucky seat promotion.

FWIW, I played for a full week at the Excalibur a few years ago. They were running just about every promotion known to man, but Aces cracked for a wheel spin was the primary one. They also had a BBJ that didn't get hit the whole week I was there. Given the business the room was doing, I would have expected the BBJ to go up a lot more than it did. I assume this is because the Aces cracked promotion was sucking up the promo money. If you only have 20% of the jackpot drop to work with, Aces cracked may be too expensive.