I assumed the room was a lot bigger. I guess it isn't. I enjoy sit n go's . such easy money. was hoping they would have 1 table for that at least

Is there absolutely no space on any floor to put some extra tables for tournaments?

So, has anyone actually read the PGCB's regulations on poker tournaments?

The info that I heard from a dealer was that there is no comp system in place right now, but something will be put in place later. That makes sense, since they're making a big deal of getting a Player's Club card from every new person that sits down.

If that's the case, the only question I have is whether our hours that are accumulated before the comp system will count. Are we banking them for later, or is it just a "dry run" for right now?

I heard it may be moving to another area.

I emailed customer support to inquire about the comps for Poker Players Here is their response:

Hello Eric,



At the present time, comps are issued for table patrons on an entirely discretionary basis, on a per trip scale. So, as you are playing, you are working towards earning a potential food comp on that trip. You can inquire while you are playing at a table as to whether or not you qualified on that particular trip, based on your play. Make sure that you present your Club Hollywood card when you first arrive at a table; this will allow our personnel to track your play and determine if you qualify for a comp on that trip.



When you play on a slot machine, you can also earn Action Cash, which is an additional comp balance that you can redeem at any of our venues. Again, you must keep your card inserted while you play on the slot machine to earn Action Cash. You can check your Action Cash balance at any time by visiting Player Services, or the kiosk located next to Player Services with your Club Hollywood card.



As you play tables and slot machines, you also earn points to the next card level. 1,000 points will earn you Celebrity status, and 2,500 points will earn Producer status. There are many additional perks at these card level, including free alcoholic beverages while playing, free valet and invitations to exclusive events. Both your slot play and table play are combined to determine your card level.



This can be a difficult subject to explain; I have found the best way to learn is to start playing and watch how your rewards accumulate as you play. This will give you a good indicator of how your rate of play earns rewards within our club program. Our team members are also available in the Table Games, Slots and at Player Services departments to help you track your play while you are here.



Please feel free to email me directly with any other questions at Jeff.Nagy@pngaming.com.



Regards,



Jeff Nagy

Direct Mail Administrator

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course

Does anyone know what the wait has been through the week if you arrive around 5-530? I would like to go up tonight but want to hear if the wait is ridiculous like in Charlestown. Thanks ahead of time.

I responded to Jeff with a specific question of what the comp time for poker players would be. Here is his response:

[B]Hello Eric,



I apologize, I gave a general answer on table games and did not catch the fact that you would be using the poker room.



At the present time, players who frequent the poker room are not accumulating comps or earning points to our higher card level. Points are earned for all other non-poker games, and we do have some rough estimates for the time required to earn higher card status for those games. You can ask any floor person and they will give you an estimated amount of play required.



Regards,



Jeff Nagy

Direct Mail Administrator

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course

Ugh.

GG HC@PN. I gotta say, none of that makes any sense at all from a business standpoint. It appears that they think the room will be filled with players regardless of the rake and comps policy they have. Maybe they will be right. But count me out. I've lived for over a decade without convenient live poker and somehow survived and was legitimately excited about this. Described myself as "like a kid in a candy store" at the prospect of live poker nearby. But.... ugh.

I hate to say it but from speaking with higher up casino people, I know that poker is and will always be the kiddie table at all of the casinos. Poker tables make a very small profit compared to other games (think rake, minus dealers' pay, minus bravo costs, minus shuffle machine leases, minus floor people salaries). For this reason, casinos don't put much focus on poker players unless they play OTHER table games or slots.

The funny thing is that there are enough degen poker players and casual poker players who will show up even if the rake is high and the comps are none existent. In Vegas and AC, poker comps are $1/hr for low level and $2-$4 for high level games. Only Harrah's gives tier points and diamond cards for poker. Other casinos just give you money for food. That is because they compete for poker players.

Look at the Hollywood at Penn National, who is their competition? They are hours away from even any other Pennsylvania casino let alone AC or anything like that. Plus they have wait lists coming out of their *sses so they think they are doing everything right.

People will still play there because it's that or home games. If for some reason people stop showing up, they will either drop the rake by $1 or will give $1 food comp and everyone will flood back. But they will wait till the room is pretty empty before they resort to that because their thought process is: "If it ain't broken, why fix it?"

@mrducks all total rewards casinos allow poker players to earn tier points. I live within an hour of Hollywood, Chester, Sands, and soon Parx. Hollywood will be on the bottom of the list.

I know poker doesn't earn the casino a ton of money. But there are lots of casinos that put a lot of effort into their poker rooms. It's sad that HCPN isn't going to be one of them. I am more disappointed than anything.

It's not the rake.
It's not the lack of comps.
It's not the lack of tier points.
It's not that the dealers are pooling tips with blackjack dealers.
It's not that dealers aren't dedicated poker dealers.
It's not that they think a flashing light is a sufficient way to call a player.

It's all of that that makes me believe that this is not a casino that wants to provide a top tier poker experience to its players. And it is that overall attitude that causes me to be disappointed. Other card rooms aren't that far when compared to AC (my old point of comparison).

Taj mahal gives Tier Credits as well for poker, and so does Borgata.

This is probably why they kept the poker rooms small. If they deliberately create long waiting lists they know many players will play the other games while they are waiting to play poker. The other games being the ones that make a bigger profit for the casino and the state.

$6 rake
no free alcohol
no comps of any kind
slow dealers
inconsistent rules
poor waiting list system...

I'm more than happy playing online and making the occasional trip to AC. (even though Penn National is 30 minutes from my house!)

In addition to AC the much better poker rooms at Mohegan Sun @ Pocono Downs and Charles Town WV are both less than 90 minutes away depending upon which direction from Penn National you live, plus several others in PA. I stopped by Penn National on my way up 81 last weekend just to check it out & was equally appalled at the rake & other issues listed, can't think of any reason to ever play here when there are near-by alternatives.

The Hollywood casino in Charles Town, WV looks like it will have almost identical polices. They are swiping players cards in the Bravo system but are clearly only using it for tracking business and the seat tracking.

Both locations (Grantville, PA and Charles Town, WV) are areas with minimal competition and they are certainly taking advantage of that.

I think all of the isolated rooms are taking advantage of that to some degree, that is just business- CT & Mohegan Sun@PD have better rake structure for sure, and are bigger rooms, comps aside. I've been to all 3 in the past week- MS@PD is the runaway winner on all fronts. I have a house up that way, and work in DC area during the week- so I will split my time between CT (which has lots of improvement/work to do) and MS@PD, which just needs to flesh out its SOPs. HC@PN will need to build an expansion & change that disgusting $6 pot rake for me to ever play there.

I emailed HC.. Told them to put me on the list of people to call when management gets a clue on how to run a poker room.

Yeah, if anyone here is going to be a regular there, shoot me a PM if and when they change their ways.

Trip Report: 7/22/2010

Arrived at 8:30 on a Thursday, didn't expect to really play poker for a few hours due to rumors of long wait lists, etc. Was surprised to see the 1/2 wait list was 19 deep. Most limits were smaller then that. Put my name in, got a beer came back and was seated within 30 mins. A+ on wait list. Although the cell phone texting system was down. You have to keep checking back until you name blinks. Good thing is though if you miss your call, they can look you up on the computer and put you #1 on the list if it verifies you missed it. Just ask the poker room manager, she was on top of things last night.

As for the table. Sat down, fairly good mix of players. Some college kids who knew what they were doing, some from the older generation who had played poker before but probably not to much. 2 guys who were completely clueless, played as if they were required to call every bet. Easy cash.

Dealer: Our dealer was awesome. Same guy for all 5 hours. Averaging at least 15-20 hands per 30 mins. Never missed a bet/payout/change/nothing. Didn't wait, pushed action, was very good.

Issues: $4 beer. No comps. Room was a bit higher temp then I like near the back.

All and all it was a very good trip. Room was nice and fun. Crowd was okay. EV 55+ at 1/2 easily.

Just got back from Hollywood this afternoon.....arrived at 7:30am, sat right away. Nice tables, unfortunately, my table was out near the slots, so it was a bot noisy. Other than that, dealers were good, not super fast, but accurate, efficient and friendly, I'll take that anytime.

The play was a little erratic....a few shades/backward hat, super-aggro guys.....some slow playing/trapping older women.....in 6 hours, I saw many come and go, all types. Room was near full around 12ish.....looks like any time before 9am and you'll get on quickly. I noticed several new tables open around 10....or have dealers sitting waiting for a new table to begin.

I heard many, many intercom calls for players to be seated, so it seems thaat problem is getting worked out....3 chip-runners/seater along with the main guys at the desk. Good experience, I'll be back. A lot.

Does anyone know what the Blackjack table mins are? I live near Hollywood Casino, Charles Town, WV and the limits are ridiculous. (nothing less than 25 and these only last till about noon each day and maybe 6pm on weekends - everything else is 50/100). They've been open over 3 weeks now, but since their limits are so high, I might drive 2 hours to penn if the limits are better there.

Friday night everything I saw was 25/1000. Saturday morning/afternoon there were a few 15/500 tables sprinkled in

I played yesterday for 6 hrs about 40 hands per hour. Very cold in the poker room got there at 945 left at 4. Very action filled play. Dealers very fast only 1 switch of cards. I had a good time and had water and coffee comps. I had a great time got unlucky but had a good time.