The Mysterious Card Room Where No One Complains

[Rick Nebiolo]

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I want some of what you're smoking

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If it's me try JR Cigar

~ Rick

[jacksquat]

that is the bizarro world. usually players start screaming when one player in a full game starts racking up. i almost decked this one obnoxious bastard at the wsop cash games this summer, who insisted on screaming for players, right into my ear.

[Percula]

Surely these can not be props in these games, as the complaints would be constant...

[bernie]

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How many of these players are shills for the house? Keeping 2 short games running is more rpofitable for the house than 1 full game, even with the dropped rake.

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situation Rick described does indeed sound like the games were 90% shills.

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Yeah. That was one of the 1st thoughts I had.

Where you'll see this in much smaller rooms.

b

[thirddan]

is this at CP?

[mosch]

I have only played short-handed for an extended period once, with nobody complaining. it was at the Aviation Club in France.

The closest to a complaint we had was a player who noted that he was going to get up at the next time collection, if we were still 3-handed. He said that as he was paying his time.

I don't know if my experience was typical or not, but I really felt like I was in an alternate universe every time I have played there. (fwiw, i always sat the pot-limit dealer's choice game. Not sure if their other games would be different.)

[Rick Nebiolo]

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Surely these can not be props in these games, as the complaints would be constant...

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One or two of the regular players may be salaried props of some sort. Most of the rest are "VIP Players" earning 35 cents per hand on what looks like the condition that they don't complain about the games being short or started unnaturally. Then on occasion there's me watching the whole thing in what seems to have become morbid curiosity.

~ Rick

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
is this at CP?

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No, although a game at Crystal Park with too many salaried props let to this story.

~ Rick

[Rick Nebiolo]

All this really happened in the ePoker Room at Hollywood Park Casino.

I like ePoker and have had fun and profit playing when the game is good. Just pushing those on-screen buttons makes over betting a snap for everybody [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. And often the game can be good, even when you're playing against a table full of "VIP Players" aka "quasi-props". But it's little fun playing in real short or even partially short games when it's easy to see that the tables can be combined into full games (especially when it appears the casino in general is slowing down for the day).

The VIP players apparently can't complain, that' part of their deal. But regular players don't like it and vote with their feet. This means the eRoom is not getting the repeat business it needs.

I think ePoker can succeed somewhere. But it will take a very good understanding of what makes conventional card rooms tick under varying conditions, and working that understanding into the eTable environment. Hollywood Park's eRoom can still turn it around, but it will take attention to the art and details of running a card room to have a chance.

~ Rick

[StevieG]

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All this really happened in the ePoker Room at Hollywood Park Casino.

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My bad.