Never play at Planet Hollywood
This trip was when Planet Hollywood just changed from the Aladin to PH.
I played a tournament there with 68 players in it. Me and my wife both got to the final table and she was the chip leader and I was the short stack. There was this dumb guy who just kept jabbing at me that my wife had more chips than me and that I probably am the girl in our marriage, yadda yadda yadda. He had 2 friends at the final table and I ended up running HOT. I ended busting everyone (including my wife), and it was me and jackass heads up. This is exactly what I wanted. However, the stupid poker room manager was in the background telling me and that dude to "hurry up. Chop the pot or something. It's late and I want to go home."
I was really pissed that the poker manager would say something like that. Then he brought the money over, split it, and told us we could take this if we just go now. The dealer then said something like, "everyone chops."
I really don't care that everyone chops. If you enter a tournament, shouldn't you be able to see it all the way through? I mean, we paid then so we could play, right?
Me and that guy ended up playing till we had a winner, but the deadler and the manager didn't make it easy. They sighed and made noises everytime someone was all in a survived. I almost forgot that I was pissed at the guy who was talking crap to me earlier because we both started talking about how dumb the dealer and the manager was.
I ended up winning and little over $1100 and didn't tip them a dime. The manager said, "After all that, you aren't gonna take care of the dealers?"
I said "No way." Why would I tip them if they didn't make it a pleasurable experience for us? I'm a bartender and make my living from tips. If I rush people or make their stay a horrible one, I wouldn't expect them to give me money, how could these jerks expect it from me?
Anyway, I am going to Vegas on Monday and I have been planning on where I'm gonna go, and I promise Planet Hollywood will not be one of them ever again.
P.S. The other guy tipped them and the manager and the dealer gave him a weird look and said, "that's it?" Not even a thank you. These guys are jerks.
@McDeath
So this didn't happen recently? I was there the end of last June and they were Planet Hollywood at that time.
It became Planet Hollywood four years ago as I recall. Don't think it'd qualify as "recently" in poker years. (Thought I'd save someone here who knows in intimate detail the trouble of answering in case he doesn't feel like it.)
The first time I played a tournament there was April 25, 2007. I won it, played out to the bitter end. (It was quite a rush actually having every single friggin' chip in front of me after the last hand!) I never caught even a hint of "hurry-up" message from anybody on the staff there.
As for Aladdin to PH, I'm sure we can all agree that the visual changes have been going on for some time and that's most likely what the op was referring to
@McDeath
That's pretty F'D UP! Bad experince, good outcome
They closed the room awhile back because they didnt want to pay the dealer overtime.
As for tipping the dealer, Look at the rake they take for the dealers at this and other low cost tournements...it is ridiculous and you should not tip out the dealers more...
it is different in situations like ceasers and venetian where they pay out 85 to 90% of the buy in but there they pay out some 70%
Use your head if you do this for a living
It was last year in April that the name changed to Planet Hollywood officially.
The only reason I remember is that I took a couple of friends in there one day to drop them off for one of the mid day tournaments, and they were giving away as much Aladdin stuff (hats, tee shirts, etc) as you wanted, as it was the LAST day that the Aladdin was still open under that name. I sat down and played 1-2 NL for 1 1/2 hours or so as I recall with my buddies while they waited for the tournament to actually get under way.
The next day when we went back, the name had changed on EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE CASINO and there wasn't anything with the name Aladdin to be found. Everything was Planet Hollywood.
It would probably have been around April 17th plus or minus a day or so.
The tables in the poker room had been recovered the previous week or so with the PH logo on them. Funny part was that the black or dark purple (I can't remember now) felt material they used had a VERY significant grain to it. And whoever put the logo on hadn't given the grain of the material any consideration. The result was that the dealers couldn't deal the cards to you. The card would stop the second the hit the felt as if it was velcro. And the dealers were P I S S E D as all the players constantly asked pretty stupid questions about it over and over again.
As I recall, while they tried to be as upbeat as they could, they were missing some tables that hadn't come in. The felt acted more like velcro. And even though there was a bar next to the room, it was if there were no waitresses assigned to the poker room.
Bottom line is that staff was catching hell from the players. The manager was catching hell from the dealers and the players. And I suspect if a tournament was running longer than anticipated it probably just put the dealers and manager on a MAJOR TILT vibe. As I watched it unfold over a couple of days to be perfectly honest, I couldn't blame them.
I'd give them another chance if I were playing 1-2 or looking for low buy-in tournaments. This is advice from someone who hated the Bellagio last year but will be back playing in seven weeks again anyway. At least for the tournaments. Things change. And if they don't you can always vote with your feet. But in regards to PH, believe me when I tell you...I could see they were under some signifiacnt difficulties in their opening days that I am confident they have overcome.
I find the report above to be absolutely laughable at best. I've had my share of bad run ins with management in this town, but nothing as unprofessional as the above report suggests. Managers telling you to quit playing and chop? I doubt this. I used to play tournaments everywhere several times a week and not once ever had a manager hint they wanted it over and to chop it up or seen a manager complain about tips for their dealers.
I played the tourney there maybe 9 months ago. There was a dealer who told the table he didn't want to be working because a NASCAR race was going and he wanted to be home BBQ'ing and watching the race. He didn't have the greatest attitude (not horrible, but he obviously didn't want to be there). I thought it was inappropriate to say that to the players, but it wasn't anything horrible. The rest of the staff was great. I'd play there again in a heartbeat and was even considering staying there in stead of the normal locations we stay (MGM/NYNY).
photoc:
I played in a small two table tournament at O'Shea's last October and both the the dealer and management started suggesting a chop with 4 players still playing(paid top three) and we had only been playing for two hours. It wasn't as bad as the story above, but it was pretty palpable pressure.
I am a cash game player and have played at Planet Hollywood twice since it was renamed. While I can't comment a whole lot on the management of the casino or poker room (I had no interaction other than getting seated at a table), I would like to put in a positive word for the PH poker room. They have remodeled the whole room and it has a very modern, hip feel to it. Yes, the room may not be for everyone in terms of decor and feel. However, any Vegas regular should visit this room simply because it is much different feeling than just about any other room in Vegas. I had a lot of fun playing in this room in my two trips, despite being repeatedly sucked out on my first trip to the PH poker room. Granted, I made a few hundred on my last trip and that left a positive taste in my mouth.... I can't recall any issues with dealers on my trips here - and the play here was fairly soft. This is one of my top ten Vegas poker rooms for sure.
@oski88
Well hell, I'd rather be home too! LOL GO read the Daytona thread in OT forum, hehe. I'm already psyched up for this weekend, got my tix in hand, my dad coming to visit, and some
As for my post, it was referring to the manager, not the dealers. The comments on here and reviews generally put TI and PH dealers above the rest of Vegas in terms of personalites and whatnot.
Actually the first time I ever cashed in a tournament in vegas (I came in second for $1100) the TD was threatening to turn the limit game into a NL game because the tournament had taken so long. We weren't chopping and there was a good reason for that.
I've also played in a # of PH tournies and won one last June, we got 3 handed and myself & the chipleader suggested a chop, the third in chips guy said "I didn't play over 3 hours to chop" and I busted him the very next hand. The staff didn't initiate the chop and was very courteous & professional throughout all the tournies I've played there. I highly recommend this room for those w/ a limited bankroll.
Im sorry to hear your negative experience OP, I love playing at PH but Ive never gotten deep in a tourney there, only cash games....
I have had no issues in the couple of times I have played in the room. (Every time since it became PH). I can never recall management as the first person to suggest a chop. Normally a player brings it up first.