The Showboat in AC The good, the bad and the UGLY!

Jan · #1 07-16-2007, 09:49 AM

The Good: Small tournament in a small poker room, start with T10000,20 minute rounds, no antes, so plenty of play time. Went with my son and brother-in-law who were both 1st time B&M tournament players, so the $65 fee was perfect for them. Only drawback was only $53 went to the prize pool and $12 to the house.

The Bad:The staff completely ignored us when we entered the poker room. They saw us standing by the desk looking like we needed help for over 5 minutes and still ignored us. Finally, we had to ask for help, we applied for a poker card and despite us telling them we wanted to register for the tournament (and we were OBVIOUSLY new to the Showboat),they never once directed us to where to register, which was right at the cage. AGAIN,we had to ask them, they NEVER offered help.

The UGLY: At the 2nd break, I counted my chips 3 TIMES and got a count of T33000. I specifically asked the dealer what the next blind level was so I would know what type of shape I was in.

Left the table for 5 minutes, came back and knew immediately I was shorted. Did a count and I only had T24500!!!!

I immediately called the tournament director over who said we'll figure it out at the end!!! What??? Then the guy next to me said he was shorted T5000, the tournament director started laughing and said now everyone was going to jump on the bandwagon.

The tournament director actually laughed again, and then told the dealer to go ahead and start dealing!!!

I complained some more, so he finally said he would count the chips,came back 10 minutes later and said he came back with the same amount they brought out for the chip up.

He told me he would have surveillance check the tape,and then 20 minutes later I AGAIN had to call him over and he said the tape didn't show anything. The fact that I had to call him over makes me wonder if anyone really checked the tape.

How should this have been handled? If I hadn't counted my chips 3 times, I probably would have assumed I miscounted,but I didn't miscount 3 times. I also didn't like that they just went ahead with the tournament and did not take me seriously,it seemed.

Anyway, despite the nice tournament structure I will NEVER play at the Showboat again. their staff is horrible and they don't care if you get ripped off!

Jan

Carlson411 · #2 07-16-2007, 11:31 AM

[ QUOTE ]
The Good: Small tournament in a small poker room, start with T10000,20 minute rounds, no antes, so plenty of play time. Went with my son and brother-in-law who were both 1st time B&M tournament players, so the $65 fee was perfect for them. Only drawback was only $53 went to the prize pool and $12 to the house.

The Bad:The staff completely ignored us when we entered the poker room. They saw us standing by the desk looking like we needed help for over 5 minutes and still ignored us. Finally, we had to ask for help, we applied for a poker card and despite us telling them we wanted to register for the tournament (and we were OBVIOUSLY new to the Showboat),they never once directed us to where to register, which was right at the cage. AGAIN,we had to ask them, they NEVER offered help.

The UGLY: At the 2nd break, I counted my chips 3 TIMES and got a count of T33000. I specifically asked the dealer what the next blind level was so I would know what type of shape I was in.

Left the table for 5 minutes, came back and knew immediately I was shorted. Did a count and I only had T24500!!!!

I immediately called the tournament director over who said we'll figure it out at the end!!! What??? Then the guy next to me said he was shorted T5000, the tournament director started laughing and said now everyone was going to jump on the bandwagon.

The tournament director actually laughed again, and then told the dealer to go ahead and start dealing!!!

I complained some more, so he finally said he would count the chips,came back 10 minutes later and said he came back with the same amount they brought out for the chip up.

He told me he would have surveillance check the tape,and then 20 minutes later I AGAIN had to call him over and he said the tape didn't show anything. The fact that I had to call him over makes me wonder if anyone really checked the tape.

How should this have been handled? If I hadn't counted my chips 3 times, I probably would have assumed I miscounted,but I didn't miscount 3 times. I also didn't like that they just went ahead with the tournament and did not take me seriously,it seemed.

Anyway, despite the nice tournament structure I will NEVER play at the Showboat again. their staff is horrible and they don't care if you get ripped off!

Jan

[/ QUOTE ] I went once before and I never had this problem with the staff. Than again I sat and played limit and 1/2 NL cash game. The staff except for one snotty chick(dealer) where all good. I think if I tried I could have gotten with one of the dealers. She was pretty hot. Sucks that you went through that. I'd try there again. Games are pretty juicy. How'd you end up doing in the tourny? I was going to play the tourny the time I went there, but I was so tired from playing at Showboat.

zerocarb · #3 07-16-2007, 02:48 PM

I like the Showboataments. Sorry you had a bad experience, but I would give 'em another shot before writing the place off.

Plus, there are pictures of nekkid ladies on the wall, lots of flat-screen TVs, bottled beer and a hawt dealer named Fanny. What's not to love?

KDuff · #4 07-16-2007, 03:16 PM

Showboat is zany. I've been there pretty often since the summer of 2005 and have enjoyed it most of the time.

myxter7 · #5 07-17-2007, 04:35 PM

Ya I like the tournaments a lot as well. The people are horrible and the staff is decent. There is an occasional slip up but the poor competition makes it worth it. I have ft'ed in 3 of the 5 tourneys I have played there in the last 6 months.

TheJunkyardGod · #6 07-17-2007, 05:16 PM

Thats strange, Showboat is one of the few rooms in AC that i've never had a problem in. The Floor is always friendly and accommodating to me. The only problem is pretty slow drink service, but thats almost a standard Atlantic City complaint.

Maybe I should go back there, it's possible things have changed in the last 5 months since i've been there.

Clinger · #7 07-17-2007, 07:08 PM

I can't comment on the alleged tournament fiasco, but I can say the floor likes to ignore problems and hope they'll go away.

A guy with a name tag that read 'Pit Manager' took my card to swipe me in, 5 minutes later I come back and ask the guy for my card and he tells me he never got it. I ask him to look and he says OK and I go back to my game.

5 minutes later I ask again, and he plays dumb and we start from scratch. He says he'll look.

10 minutes goes by, this guy is nowhere to be found, so I ask another floor guy and he says he'll get right on it. Great.

When that didn't lead to anything, eventually the original guy was back and he said he didn't have it and they were making me a new one. I had to go find him yet again to get it, but I had a players card again. He assures me that I'm logged in.

A couple hours later I go to clock out and I'm told by a new guy that I was never swiped in. I say I've been there for a couple hours and I'm told I'm given the appropriate time for it.

The floor was friendly the whole time, just not particularly responsive [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

poker327 · #8 07-17-2007, 11:00 PM

They seem to be short staffed in terms of floor people. I had to wait just for someone to show up to put me on the list. Also, I played in my first Showboatament, and they had to register my player's card in their computer before I could pay the cashier for the tournament, something I never experienced in any other casino. I won't be hurrying back.

Mike Gallo · #9 07-17-2007, 11:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
They seem to be short staffed in terms of floor people. I had to wait just for someone to show up to put me on the list. Also, I played in my first Showboatament, and they had to register my player's card in their computer before I could pay the cashier for the tournament, something I never experienced in any other casino. I won't be hurrying back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Eric,

I played at the Showboat two month ago and heard a rumor that they had planned to expand the poker room.

They planned on moving the room to across the hall to the hall (club) area and the current room serve as strictly a Showboatament den.

I have my doubts as to whether or not this will happen.

Jan · #10 07-18-2007, 10:17 AM

[ QUOTE ]

The floor was friendly the whole time, just not particularly responsive [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, definitely unresponsive in that as along as we stood around waiting for someone to acknowledge our presence, never once did someone ask if we needed help. In fact, they pretty much ignored us until we called over the desk for help.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea how best to avoid this in the future? Someone suggested having the dealer count the chips and write the amount on a piece of paper and sign it before leaving the table for break.

I have never seen anyone else do this, but it sounds like a good idea. Also, does anyone know what the proper procedure should have been? Should they have stopped the tournament until they counted the chips and viewed the tapes? (Again, I personally do not believe anyone reviewed any tapes).Yes, annoying for all the players except for the one who has chips missing.

Thanks