Raye,
My Dad and I really enjoyed the room today. He's happy you still remember him from Borgata. He's a big fan of Bounty Tournaments. So maybe some $80 w/ $25 Bounty tournaments would be nice. Also Tournaments that are $100+ Entry in the evenings. Maybe one night a week for a PLO tournament would be great also. Great Grand Opening today, Thank you for the free gift bag of gear.
Cheers,
Rey

Really loved this place. Had a great time today, great atmosphere, tables are perfect, chairs are perfect, chips and cards are perfect as well. Dealers are average, couple mistakes here and there but no major gripes. Awesome gift bag, and I love the cool looking poker player card we got instead of the basic players card. Will be back very shortly. Wish I lived a tad closer, I would make this my new home.

My only negetive thing to say, is all the security guards asking for ID. I know you're doing your job, but literally the same guard id'd me 7 times.

Great besides the inexperienced dealers

Sent from my XT907 using 2+2 Forums

When this is the only negative thing to say about the room on their opening day I'd say they're doing a pretty good job. If you look young just get used to the ID checks, not really the poker rooms fault that they have to check or follow certain procedures. But they are probably being extra cautious right now as they are most likely under close scrutiny from the Gaming authorities during the opening of the room.

Can anyone explain to me the notations on the left side of SugarHouses's Bravo? For example, right now it shows:

Current Live Games
2-5 $3 & $6 Limit Holdem 2
4-8 Holdem 1
1-2 $1/$2 Pot Limit Omaha 1

Current Waiting List
5-10 $5/$10 NL Holdem 2
5-10 $6 & $12 Limit Holdem 1

Played for about 10 hours today, 1/2 PLO and 2/5 NLH. Games were OK, especially the lower limits, but the Parx and Harrah's giveaways do seem to be affecting the room. PLO was real good, though it got down to heads up for a long time. Lots of Harrah's regulars in attendance. Had several dealers who had never dealt before and there were some mistakes, mostly just real slow dealing at some points, and lots of confusion in PLO.They'll get better.

Chairs and tables are real nice, though there is a box with charger cables under each seat which mostly just gets in the way. Always having a charger is nice. The room itself was really cold most of the day, though at a couple points it was too warm. Sitting near the walls was a bit weird cause the room shape carries voices, so you could hear people talking at other tables like they were right next to you.

All the food I had was bad, the caesar salad was plastic wrapped with a tiny amount of chicken. The "full house" hoagie was kind of small and like a fat WaWa italian hoagie, which is unfortunate since it is $8. I saw someone get the General Tso's and he complained that it was a bit small for $9. I didn't see cheese steaks or soft pretzels on the menu which is lame since this is Philly. Alcohol was $2 at 1/2 and free at 2/5 which is perfect. Many more people were drinking than you see at Parx. More beer and gin choices would be nice, especially Philly brands. You're the only Philadelphia poker room, play that up!

Using the bathroom was a minor inconvenience, the wind and rain today really gave an idea of how bad it can get, and it wasn't awful. More annoying was getting carded every time I got up to pee. Also my gift bag got stolen, I was given a replacement, and that was also stolen. It was a little annoying, but I doubt I would have ever worn any of it since poker gear isn't really my style. More annoying was feeling like I had to take it with my every time I stood up, made me a bit worried about my chips. And of course the first time I forgot to take it with me, it was gone when I got back.

Their poker room rewards card is the coolest I've ever seen, but I think it was only being given out to the first 1000 people / or today not sure which one. Replacements won't be the same card design.

It was allowed today, then the shift supervisor said it wasn't allowed, then about 20 minutes later said it was allowed but only for today. Then when I switched to PLO they had been told that it was allowed only if the entire table is ok with it. Can we get a clear rule on this? Caused a good amount of out of order action, but several times it was the dealers fault.

The Mississippi straddle made the 1/3 game really good, bloating pots to $100+ a lot of the time. I hope they keep it. It's really good for the game dynamic.

I agree with pretty much everything Ranma said. I played about 6 hours of 1/3. Definitely had our fair share of really good dealers, average dealers, and a couple poor "new" dealers. I had a tuna wrap and it was actually OK but I saw other salads and they were premade and a bit disappointing. However, the price was pretty good at most things being $9 or cheaper. The walk to the bathroom is no longer than the walk to Harrah's bathroom or Borgata. You just have to go outside for 20 of those feet. No big deal even in the ****ty weather.

I agree they need to up the liquor selection. Most options are only "house" or "well" stuff. Even beer selection seemed limited.

All alcohol is $2, from beers to shots of patron. Free for 1/3 n bigger. Also the straddle is not Mississippi but a "Philadelphia " straddle. Straddle from anywhere but blinds and worst position gets to straddle if multiple people declare to straddle. Very fun and different. They should maybe keep the "Philadelphia" or "Sugarhouse" straddle be it's unique and creates demand to straddle.

Also, bravo is incorrect since last night and is showing only a couple of games. It is wrong. 6 games going from 1-2 -2-5 also 4/8 limit and 5-10 stud about to open. Call the poker room for details n confirmation or come on in.

Phone # 215-717-3882

Can the comps be quantified?

(i.e. 1/3 - $1 per hour; 2/5 - $2 per hour; 5/10 - $3 per hour, etc. and Limit Games?)

When will the promotions begin?

so i checked it out. Parking is still gonna be a nightmare for me. yes i do know they have valet service but i just don't like other people driving my car. Traffic seems to get pretty hectic with the all construction going on. Otherwise it was pretty nice and convenient place to play.

Just checked Bravo and the info is confusing. Under current live games it says:

2-5 $3 & $6 Limit Holdem 1
4-8 $2 & $4 Limit Holdem 1
1-2 $10 & $20 Limit Holdem 1

Is anyone else confused about this or is my brain just working slowly today?

It's intercoursed up

Ok, I just noticed under "room promotions" It says Bravo's having technical difficulties.

Coasterbrad - Thank-you for the post. Our Bravo Live App is currently "under construction" and is being worked on by Bravo. We currently have three 1-2 No Limit games, one 2-5 No Limit, 1-2 PLO, 4-8 Limit Holdem and 2-4 Holdem. I'm updating our Bravo main page every hour until it gets fixed. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Hi Rey - It was good to see you both today. Definitely like the bounty tournaments and I'll run a PLO tournament and see who comes out. We don't need our tournaments to be huge as we don't have the room like Borgata. That said we used to have 10 - 15 table daily tournaments when we had the small room at Borgata. Once we get Bravo Live up and running and a few of our newer dealers up to speed we should be in good shape. Raye

No problem, thanks for the reply, Raye. I'm looking forward to checking out your room. I definitely plan on taking advantage of the free valet and appreciate that being available to us.

Palladinn - Thank-you for the question. 2-5 NL and above $2, 1-2 & 1-3 NL $1, 6-12 and above on everything else $2; 5-10 and below $1.

We're working on a few promotions at the moment.

We're deciding about the Bad Beat Jackpot (yeh or ney). High Hand promotional dollars come from the Bad Beat Jackpot funds. They are broken out by percentages (i.e. 60% to Bad Beat %40 to promotions such as High Hand, Splash Pot or Hot Seat) It's how you submit it to the state for approval. Question is do you want that extra dollar taken out of each hand and have High Hand Promotions/Bad Beat Jackpots or would you rather have those monies stay in the pot.

Kylephilly - Thank-you for the post. Glad to hear you like the Mississippi straddle. If the majority of the players like it we'll keep it that way. I think a couple of our supervisors came from houses that didn't have it that way. We should all be on the same page shortly. Keep letting us know what we're doing right and where we can improve. Raye

My guess is that most people here would rather have the money stay in the pot... Most rec players would rather have the promos.

Raye, I'll be over to check it out tonight and tomorrow, assuming there is a selection of 2/5 going.

It seems like most responses on here, whether they preferred 1/2 or 1/3 didn't want both. Can you tell us why you decided to offer both?

As a 2/5 player, I'm worried it's really going to impact the player pool in a negative way for 2/5+, and I've heard the same from some fellow 2/5 players.

Sounds good, I will make an effort to be there. Would be great if the room promoted PLO cash games, maybe featuring them on certain nights?

I would also prefer no bad beat

To differentiate from the competition, a non-BBJ house would probably be exceedingly acceptable for the traditional player. It worked for Parx for a long time.

However, to market the room (i.e. players that are not every day players, possibly pit players) it will be necessary to generate excitement, and that means promotions. It will fill the seats. The unknown is, with only 24 tables until the new room is built, can you fill the seats without the BBJ and with tournaments only.

If it looks like Sugar House management is not allowing you a monthly budget sufficient to fund the promotions you want, then it will be necessary to adopt the BBJ to fund them.

In all probability you won't take it from games above 2/5 NL and 10/20 limit any way, but a lot of your potential regs will continue to play, and will constantly grouse about the BBJ drop and you will attract the BBJ hunters at the lower limits. Nits will be nits.

Good Luck in your decision, and Congratulations on the new room. Much success!

Take the extra $1 to fund promotions and other types of benefits, I.e. BBJ. Everyone in the state is already use to the extra $1 coming out. Other poker rooms are using it for promotions and poker players are use to promotions in PA. Let's give the masses what they want. It will only benefit the real players in the long term.

There needs to be some mandatory dealer training asap. I was there in the later hours last night and 4/5 dealers you could tell were fresh out of school and it was pretty bad. getting in maybe 10 hands per dealer down, constant reminders to make change, having to say something when taking too much rake (saw a dealer drop $10 from a pot once but I didnt have a chance to say something), and on top of costing the room close to $100 in the time I was playing from either not dropping rake or making change but not taking a red out of the pot (good for players I guess?).

With that said, the room was nice and this is a problem that can be fixed with time.

Looking forward to checking the place out week after next, get a players card, etc. So happy I no longer have to drive to Harrahs, hated that trek, even if it was only 20 minutes or so.

Now, 10 minute walk or quick cab ride, perfect. Glad to have poker in Philly. Good luck to Raye. I don't know you by name, but used to play at Borgata most of the time and will no doubt remember your face.

I'm just a rec player, no threat to outplay any of the grinders out there. So I will donate more than collect $$$. Hoping my running bad at Harrahs and Parx (not so bad at Borgata) will end at SH.

They have 2/4 and no bb drop. For my preference, that's 2 pluses over Harrah's. I don't like the straddle. That's one plus for playing in AC, but I'm not going to stay away from SH just because of it. Those are my preferences, anyway.