where are the poker promos ???
just got back from a quick trip to vegas last week and i always use to enjoy playing 2/4 limit at Quad ( old Imperal palace) and also the flamingo, i admit its been about 2yrs since my last vist and they always had aces and kings cracked at the Imperial pace and aces cracked at the flamingo but not this year so i was talking to Ryan at the Quad and asked him why not and his repsonce was well we dont want the type of players that come for that promo so here it is 10am and i look around the room and there is no game going and i say to him WTF ? this time 2 yrs ago you had 2 -3 full tables going of 2/4 limit going. so you would rather have no poker being played instead. he tells me well that promo just brings in local grinder and nits and we dont make no money off them..... so i ask isnt the promos paid out of the jackpot drop and if you want to make it better just require a pot total of say $30. to qualify for the jackpot and so that way you would have a couple of tables going even if its alot of regulars that way you can offer open seats to the visting tourist. He just shrugs his shoulders and says do i want to put my name down on the list to get a game going so i tell him no. guess ill just go somewhere else that trys to offer their hotel guest a poker game that is fun , somewhat low cost and keeps their dealers from sitting around with nothing to do. so i left and played over at the Orleans and later on went down to the Golden Nugget and had a great time... Now if i was wanting to play 4-8 limit or 2-5 nl i would not be playing at the Quad but would head down to the bigger casnios down the street but thats not my cup of tea.I just like to play low limit and drink some beers and have a fun time and not be worried about trying to win enough to pay the rent i am their just for fun.I guess Ceasers Entertainment is more worried about their low brow image and would rather have empty poker rooms for their guest to go along with the new ferris wheel opps i mean the HIGH ROLLER that every time i seen you could shoot a gun thur and not hit anyone riding it even if it was running except at prime time and then it wasnt no where near half full. dont know if ill ever come back to vegas as i can find a reg game of poker any where i live.....
That sounds like a pretty shitty experience. Maybe it is why poker is hurting so much in Vegas....between that, and the fact that poker rooms are now in so many more cities. I think casinos are pretty foolish to not realize that poker brings in people that play (and dump a lot of money) in other games. Like in MoneyShot86's post about 'leaks', that happens to so many of us that I can only assume that many poker players are just as valuable to casinos as other players.
Poker used to be in just a few casinos in Vegas with mostly limit games. Then two things happened, 1. Moneymaker won the main event and 2. Harrah's bought the WSOP and promoted more poker. Ever since Moneymaker most new players have thought NL was what they wanted. Now many, many of those players have discovered they aren't going to be winners, they can lose a lot if things don't go their way and they have better uses for their coins.
So now poker is slowly falling back to where it was thirty years or so ago. It is too bad that more young players won't try 6-12 or higher LIMIT. It is less stressful than NL but doesn't have to be crazy with callers like lower limit games (2-4, 3-6) often are.
I actually think poker in Vegas will be better off with fewer rooms because more games should be going at any hour of the day or night.
One more happening should be given credit for the growth of poker... the opening of the poker room at the Mirage. It brought poker into a very visible location in a first class casino hotel.
In defense of The Quad....Aces Cracked is a tough promo to make work in a poker room. It can attract the wrong types of players. Players who signal each other will drain a promo fund very quickly. Also, the players that play aces cracked tend to leave as soon as that promo is over. So they are basically taking the money and running. That doesn't really help a room either. The only way for that to work is for them to collect the same amount of money they are giving away for the promo in the jackpot drop during the same time frame. So basically it should be self supporting. Of the game dies as soon as the promo ends each day, it didn't really accomplish anything.
Mirage has aces cracked for $100 ( $20 in the pot) every day 8am - 2pm. The 3/6 limit game continues to run after 2pm. For some reason it just works there.
Alaska Gal, are there any limit hold'em games 4-8, 6-12 or 8-16 in Vegas being offered these days?
@TRB 4/8 at Bellagio and Venetian every day. Probably less frequently at higher limits. Best place to check for that is the Bravo Live app.
I'll be inside the Mirage poker room this Saturday morning (after I check in at Gold Coast Friday night)! It is the only poker room on the strip where I actually play 3/6 limit in the morning. Better drink service (plus a slamming orange julius) and hourly comps, than the Bally's 3/6 game (which I can only find in the evening!)
Much friendlier staff too!
@AlaskaGal i understand what you are saying so whats better a poker room with a couple of games going or no games going. with no games going the tourist that are staying at that casnio have to go elsewhere, i mostly play at cet so i can keep my diamond status, i do play at other casnios when nothing going at cet properties. if the mirage can use the jackpot drop why cant the Quad ? other than trying to do something else that doesnt seem to be working. require $20 or $30 pot to be elegible. oh well their loss thanks for the info... will be coming out to vegas sept 11 thur oct 15 for an extended vacation ill try to make it over to the Mirage to say hi....
@2late4u They actually did have aces cracked for awhile. It just wasn't running often and it wasn't drawing business. They have found success with the $1/1 NL game but it usually doesn't start until late in the afternoon and runs strong thru the night. They have been trying different promos to attract business. Poker rooms have to change promos from time to time to keep them from getting stale. There really isn't any rhryme or reason as to why a promo or a certain game works in one room and not another. I will say that The Quad has had a bit of an identity crisis with all the moving around in the last 2 years.
it's encouraging to hear that rooms such as the quad are finally understanding that
"promos" such as ace's cracked aren't really helping their business long term. nothing
kills the true spirit of poker more than an ace's cracked type of promotion and the
element it draws to the room is usually unfavorable
the busiest rooms on the strip are those with the lowest rake, $4 and NO drop for
lottery type "promos" that can alter the game and just create even more variance.
is it really a "promo" when the money comes from the players?
i'd much rather have the $1 or now $2 is some cases taken out of each pot to
go to the player who wins the pot, long term this is much better than dropping this money
and then allowing some suit in the back room to determine how these winnings should
be distributed.
The poker room has had other issues over the last couple of years. I remember them moving the room upstairs where it was hard to find and it did affect the games, and that casino has had other issues with the changes that went on there.
If I was in the OP's position I'd rather play at the Mirage anyway. I wouldn't really think of 4/8 limit as being that high though, although it is significantly bigger than 2/4.
It's interesting to read a different viewpoint. I play during evenings and nights and never play in any games that offer aces cracked promotions.
@TRB
You might want to consider the Bellagio which has 10/20 limit. That's the only limit close to 8/16 these days.
Comming to vegas next week seeing it is labor weekend any suggestions where to find the best low limit cash games.
@GameChanger yeah, thanks for the name drop there. Lol. Totally right though. I will be in Vegas soon and playing 1-2/2-5 along with tourneys around $80-$350 I think, but I'm going with friends and we all like the promos, I can almost guarantee If a room has a promo we like, we'll play there and probably drop a fair amount on tables as well. It's another way to get gamblers like us in the door. I guess the casinos don't understand the implied odds of me playin roulette after playin poker. Lol.
@MoneyShot86 looks like sams town has a good aces cracked prom check out their room
Did you think of using PokerAtlas to help you find the type of game and room that fits your needs... Foolish to spend more time bitching post trip than planning pre-trip.... The one thing you said I support is playing poker should be an enjoyable pass time, hope you are able to enjoy it more in the future...
well ive read what every one is saying but i still say not having promotions and not having any games going all day except for a few tourments that they get going compared with when they did offer aces cracked and had 3-4 tables going in their poker room so that other guest have a chance to play. Seems silly to rather have a empty room all day watching people walk by.. juat my 2 cents worth........
@BilaTserkva and to u bill I thought the reason for this web site was to talk about poker and use it to plan trips but excuse me if i was wrong and will not bother to ask any more questions or thoughts as to why a poker room would rather sit idle all day long with no games going except for a few tourments as to have 3-4 tables going most of the day till the big spenders who want to play no limit and try to make the rent payment. i go to vegas to have fun.........
@GameChanger I think many poker rooms are not hotel owned. That makes a big difference.