Internet players flocking to b&m's?

Howard Beale · #1 02-17-2007, 07:51 AM

A 'host' (a host is payed to play but can't be directed in which game to play) at Casino Arizona recently mentioned to me that she thinks there are very many former Internet players who are now playing in the poker room. I hadn't thought of it but there ARE a goodly number of new faces in the 20-40 game and some of them play decently. Also, the 20 game had been hurt by the new (at the time) 5-150 spread limit and went from a steady 4 games/day to 2. It's now back up to 4. I'm wondering if anybody else has noticed this phenomenon at their regular b&m?

Fletch46 · #2 02-17-2007, 08:48 AM

We've seen this too. Our $1/2 nl games are full of them and that's all they want to play.

that_pope · #3 02-17-2007, 12:29 PM

Well, I haven't seen it particularly, but it makes sense for a game like 20/40 to get these players first. The mid to high limits online will dry up first, as it trickles down. And they are the ones serious about poker, so they will make the transition quicker if they see their profits going down or disappearing all together.

otter · #4 02-17-2007, 04:29 PM

yes, I noticed it after party stopped accepting us customers. The games got MUCH better

vegasbob · #5 02-17-2007, 08:27 PM

i used to be a internet regular and not i am a regular at 40-80 sometimes playinh 20-40 at C AZ

AKQJ10 · #6 02-17-2007, 08:39 PM

Apparently the B&M gambling interests got good value for money in purchasing their pet legislation.

It's almost enough to make me want to stay away from the casinos, but I love poker too much. It would be enough to change my voting habits if they weren't already very Libertarian.

mxp2004 · #7 02-17-2007, 10:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Apparently the B&M gambling interests got good value for money in purchasing their pet legislation.

It's almost enough to make me want to stay away from the casinos, but I love poker too much. It would be enough to change my voting habits if they weren't already very Libertarian.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read that the corporate casinos favored the new legislation, but if that is true, it makes no sense to me. The opposite should be true. It seems to me that deregulating online gaming should only benefit the corporate gaming. At the outset, corporate gaming would appear to be well positioned to exploit online gaming if they were free to pursue it. After all, the major US gaming companies all have built-in brand recognition, deep finances, and other corporate resources that should make it easy for them to jump into this huge market with great expectations for success.

Also, I cannot believe that online gaming detracts from B&M play. Instead, I have to believe that it enhances it. I am not aware of any data or studies on this; however, anecdotally, this sure seems to be the case.

I have lived in Philadelphia for the last 17 years. During the first 14 of them, I had been to AC maybe twice, and I had never vacationed in Vegas. Then, 2 years ago, I took up poker, learning how to play online. Since then, I make it to AC at least monthly, and I have taken 4 trips to Vegas.

I may or may not be typical. But in just the two years that I've started going to the AC casinos, they seem to have grown tremendously. In just the last year, several AC casinos have opened/expanded their poker rooms, including the Borgata, Caesars AC, Showboat, etc. I cannot imagine that this expansion is unrelated to the interest in gaming that is sparked by online accessibility.

AKQJ10 · #8 02-17-2007, 11:08 PM

I actually agree with you that online play can be +EV or at least 0 EV for the casinos. However, that's not mutually exclusive with them believing it's in their interest to snuff online poker out. Cf. the recording industry's reaction to the online "threat": trying harebrained schemes to hack into customers' computers and such, rather than embracing and capitalizing on new technology.

kcmoore · #9 02-17-2007, 11:42 PM

well, i can tell you from experience that i have never played in a B&M until the neteller/ach issues started happening. So far, I have played only at full tilt (where I have money remaining) and recently started visiting a indian casino (potowatami) in Milwaukee, WI. I would never have even thought of doing that last year, since the hour drive wasn't worth it when I could just jump online and play. I can still play online, no doubt, but the lack of withdrawl/deposit options are what are driving me to play live.