Congratulations! You just became the manager of a Vegas poker room!

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Congratulations! You just became the manager of a Vegas poker room! This room is one of the top rooms in the city, well respected for the quality of dealers and the comfort of the room. BUT - its not the Bellagio which has a guaranteed player base at all limits regardless of how the room is run - and that’s where you need to put on your management hat.

The Goal: Establish a daily 30/60 game that runs nearly around the clock within a 6 month period.

The Variance: At the same time as the 30/60 is trying to get established, a small group of 5-10 players have congregated almost every evening to play 20/40 to 40/80- rotation games. This same group of players would play in the 30/60 limit Hold'em if enticed to start short games because they are all shorthanded online pros who want to play rotation just to blow off steam.

The Must Move Rule: Must Move tables are defined as 1 hour long, after which the floor will maintain the vitality of the game through seating decisions manually.

The Headache: Both locals and tourists hate short games... they need to be trained to not be fearful of them, or provide other incentives. Generally once a table is established it will fill up within the hour, but in Vegas it’s common to wait till a list is 12-15 people deep occurs before calling a new table and even then you’re lucky if the game starts because so many players wonder away due to frustration. Part of the marketing goal must be to encourage players who are willing to start short handed games, and conversely make changes so games aren’t started only when the list is long enough.

What would you do to establish this game, attracting both locals and tourists to your card room? This is a real world scenario; you don't have a blank check so please provide real world answers that work in the long run, not just for this six month period. When providing your answers also discuss the ramifications of your marketing strategy both on your existing player base and the overall market (with every action there is always a reaction). Some options might include reduced rake, props who receive "rakeback" when starting short games, a time period where everyone at the table who starts a short game receives rake amnesty, entry into tournaments or other incentives. Also think out of the box; recommend new ideas that haven't been discussed before such as short handed lessons - even if it’s a bit out there because this is a brainstorming experiment. The real world management of a room in Vegas is watching this thread (it doesn’t matter which one so lets not turn the thread into a guessing game ok?); it should prove to be a very enlightening B&M topic!

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