Where to start??? I had a thread in bm complaining about gvc dealers ID'ing players seated at the table... That was ******ed to me because they stop the whole action and create a fuss. Then they offer a "promotion" where you embarass yourself by wearing a shirt that declares you misplayed your aces- I actually receive mail promoting the aces beat jackpot- where you win a hat and a t shirt to proudly wear indicating you are a fish?????
Tonight theres an attractive girl on a 1- 2 table, shes kinda loud and they kick her out for being drunk??? WTF theres no women in the place and you do this??? On my 2-5 theres an old a hole breaking every rule in the joint. He calls out cards he wants to see??? on the flop turn and river after he folded. When I first sat I thought he had cards in his hand when he did it, but they"malin" allows it with a upset look on his face. The same old reg (50-55 tan/midlle eastern, slim fit jacket, baseball cap, weak player) pulls out his phone and holds it over the table to record a hand and held it over the table without any recourse. he may have been joking and the phone may have been off but WTF you make the rules so then you should enforce them.

Ohh now I remembered why I got so pissed to start a thread. A guy on my 2/5 ordered a drink and busted out. The 2 top floorpeople/management were so very concerned with the extra beer that they took 1/2 hour to keep coming to our table every 5 minutes to see if the guy came back so they could save a beer.
They came to our table every 5 minutes for over 40 minutes asking if the guy who ordered a beer had returned??? WTF is going on that a beer is worth two managers time???????????? This place is like a haunted house its so creepy.

I dont keep track of the female managers names because none of them are friendly to me. But two dark haired "managers" spent over 1/2 hour on figuring out what to do with an extra beer tonight. But they are too busy to keep track of players cards, so if you forget to pick it up after busting you get no credit.

Ill add info as well- On my first table it was kinda wild. 2/5 table, avarage preflop was 60 or so. Things got wilder from there and rarely got past the flop without alot of money in there. I got pocket 66 bet 20 and faced a 120 bet, I was seat 1 and had a fat dealer and thought a friend in seat 8 reraised me??? I had to think and my 66 is no good vs him in that spot. It was actually a guy who just lost 4 400 buyins in a row just moved into seat 9 to get out of the bad luck who had raised. Honestly Id probably fold the 66 to anyone for 100 more but it would have been a thought. I folded to see 66 on the flop and lots more betting. Every flop got bet up huge and the showdowns werent spectacular. On this table I could go hours without betting and still be confident to get called if I bet allin. Wound up busting out with a turned fh vs a rivered fh.
I went home, walked the dog, and returned... THe new table was total opposite. Very soft for a 2/5, so it really depends which table...

Rake is obv ridiculous....and it will never be lowered. Eventually, it will be raised. Lets accept that. (I personally make up for it by being a slightly less generous tipper. Which i also justify by the horrible dealing and service i get from the floor and dealers).

BUT... What volcano just posted all makes sense. And thats why i come back occasionally. If logistically it makes sense for the day I tend to go. The play is laughable. The game is genuinely that good, almost always. We shouldnt really be posting that here(but I doubt people reading this will flock to GVC to pay 8$ rake preflop). I love horseshoe. I really do. The 2/5 is QUITE beatable. Lots of big stacks and aggros pushing chips around. If given the choice, id obv choose the shoe. But the amount of fish and the LEVEL of fish at GVC is in another league. I dont kno where they come from but wow...

All of the above is reflected in their lack of how to market through social media, etc. How do you relate with your regular customers? Why do you only follow elites or other casinos? Personally have 2 twitter accounts (1 for fun, 1 for business) with 2300 followers. Does this tell you anything more than we already know?
https://twitter.com/GVC_Elgin

I haven't played at GVC in well over a year, probably going on two years. In the ~10 2-5 sessions that I played there, I never experienced an entire table full of donks just shoveling money into the pot with bottom pair. IME, most of the players were loose-passive. I would agree that if the table was full of aggro/tilted/spewing donks, then the $8 rake could be beaten.

Its not ever gonna b an entire table full of donks. In most rooms, ur happy to have 2-3 complete donks. In this room, its seriously doubled. 3-5 ABSOLUTE DROOLERS is normal. Im not a reg here, but have been coming a little more then usual and this is truly how it is. The best part is the other players are not "good". Just tight/solid/slightly passive players. Basically, easy to beat all around

Wow -- where to start?

"A" rooms in the Midwest -- Hammond, Poti-Milw, Cincy, Shoe in Tunica, Canterbury in MN,

"B" rooms -- 2/4 of the StLouis rooms, Shoe in Council Bluffs,

"C" rooms -- the other 2 in StLouis, 3rooms in East Central Iowa (Riverside,Altoona, and Meskwacki you just have to be at the right room on the right day), Aztar in Evansville

"D" rooms -- Aurora, and many many to numerous to mention.

"F" rooms -- Elgin, Joliet2, Peoria, Metropolis, Rock Island, and many others in IN, WI, Iowa, MO

So theres my list. Note - I have only been in one poker room in Michigan and one in Ohio.

Never been to tunica or mississpi. But was that Potawatomi on ur list of A rooms in the midwest? I have been there...

And abe, correct me if im wrong but i just looked on Bravo at canterbury and it seems as though since its in MN they only run "spread limit" as their version of nl holdem. Is this true? If so, knock that off ur list of A rooms for sure.

Tunica looks pretty sweet though...

Yes - everyone in Minnesota knows the truth - that NL is evil.

My last time at Canterbury they had a nice 'workaround". They ran a 2 hour "tourney" where you used real cash chips. Rebuy - ok. Get up and leave anytime. Seemed to satisfy the young kids who learned from TV and only know how to play one game.

Spread limit is used in colorado and minnesota. Its far from the norm. Also, NL is by far the most common game in the country. If a room cant spread a NL game, its not gonna make most peoples cut for an "A" room.

Also, were u including Potawatomi as a comparable room to the others u listed as A? Mainly hammond?

Curious, why do you feel Peoria rates an F? Lower rake than most, not a difficult room to play in. Small room, yes, but there's nearly always 1-2 NLHE games running. Staff is friendly and serviceable, drink service is average.

Considering the lack of close competition, I like it. I live about 20 minutes away and think it's good enough to stay here and play compared to driving over 2 hours to Joliet.

I wouldnt take abes ratings too seriously. Again, havnt heard back from him but i THINK he put poto in Milwaukee on the same level as horseshoe hammond. That would b not accurate. And a room that spreads "spread limit" and low stakes limit holdem as another "best" room? Weird.

Rake at the charitable 1/2 averages 105-120 per hour at 5 dollars, Id guess gvc gets 160 or less since not many hands are over 50 dollars. On some 2-5 tables its a constant 8 per hand =$240 though.

Opinions Vary -- but they are supposed to.

One of my main criteria for a really good room is a wide variety of games at multiple limits. I like the opportunity to play different games i.e. O/8, PLO, Maybe some HORSE or a mixed game. Limit Holdem and also NL too. All (or most) of these games at different stakes.

Think the LV Venetian as an example of a great room on that score.

Show me a big room with only NL going, and I'm just not interested. Add in one 3-6 LHE game and I'm still not interested

Thats what poto is though?

On Horseshoe Hammond and Potowatomi:

Metro Chicago is 5 times the size of metro Milwaukee. As a result, Hammond has a bigger player pool than Potowatomi and spreads more games at more limits. Hammond is on Bravo, Poto is not.

Dealers in both rooms are comparable, as are chairs and tables.

Poto has better food and convenience factors (room is just off entrance from parking garage; bathroom is just outside room; food court is nearby; and the casino is very close to downtown, albeit bordering a scrap yard, a foundry, a slaughterhouse, and Marquette's athletic field).

Poto only has a single big/feature game going daily. Limited stud, omaha, and mixed game offerings at lower stakes.

Overall, I find the rooms to be comparable, but I prefer Potowatomi for non-poker reasons. If I played higher than $2-5 nl or wanted medium stakes limit games, I'd probably prefer Hammond.

Both are way better rooms than the other Chicago area rooms.

Bratwurst

I totally agree with ur analysis for the most part. But being a 2/5 player i want options. Table selection is something i pride myself of. A larger metro area leads to more players, more money, and what i consider a" bigger, better room". That being said, im lookin fwd to makin a weekend out of poto with the new hotel and eating at dreamdance. That place is bomb.

You're triggering deja vu. Exotic elk.

This room is so bad. But there is no where else to play in the area so they cant get away with all there bad rules and high rake. I just wish this place was the Shoe

There's heavy action at the Harrah's Joliet. Huge PLO game nightly. Its 1-2, but you can max buy in to the deepest stack at the table. Usually at least 10K on the table any given time. Rake is 6, but no jackpot take and dealers are tight. Along with holdem and tourneys. Couple of grinders, but healthy amount of newcomers to game, good fishing.

RANT ON- I was there tonight, up 400 with a 600+ stack on a good 2/5 table. The table got short, 5 players, we were reduced to 4 rake from what I heard 20 hands ago, I wasnt watching the rake going in. People decided not to play, we called floor and he said 5 dollar rake? I said I think it was already 4 and he said no that was yesterday which is a lie because I was definitely on a 4 rake 2/5 table earlier.

MILO is a moron, We had 5 players, 2 which were refusing to play further even with the reduced rake. He said they had 3 seats and we could draw for seats??? Another player was hinting towards that the people who refused to play cant draw, I said it straigt out loud-"if they are unwilling to play then they cant draw for a seat!" MILO says - REALLLLLLY? as if im questioning his authority and he is right by allowing them to draw.


I said "YES REAAALLLLY! im taking my chips and going home. Scooped up my chips and now im safe from the 8 dollar rake and smart ass MILO. And if gvc is reading this= I skipped past all the table games I wouldve played also, MILO is costing GVC money.




And--- I started a thread or 2 complaining about them iding people at the poker table and it taking over a 1/2 hour tto actually id them? I was walking in last night and the front line security- the ones who dont allow anybody under 21 into the casino under any circumstance... Were letting in a young looking guy and telling him to just not order any drinks??? This casino is screwed up. The front line is saying youre good to enter but not buy drinks???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????