Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveC95818
A simple, on the clock, high hand of the Hour, half-hour, etc., works best anywhere. I also like what some Florida rooms are doing that have Omaha and Hold'em running- to the river in Hold'em, or on the flop in Omaha- paying the same, seeing the same amount of cards.
I'm not sure how you'd make it fair across Omaha and Hold'em games, but I know that the requirement that the hand play to the river in hold'em caused an uproar in one local room that had the promotion. Players felt that it forced the player with a potential high hand to slowplay it for fear of ending the hand too early. Players felt that it cost them money in the actual hand when they were up against a player with a good 2d-best hand who could have withstood some serious betting.
The river requirement also bugged players who had qualifying, but vulnerable hands. For example, a player holding 3 - 4 would not want to see any more cards on a 4 4 4 flop because of the likelihood that the player's kicker would no longer play if another card were dealt. These players wanted to be able to bet in a way that would end the hand before a higher kicker hit the board.
In any event, the most popular promotions near me are the ones that award serious cash (i.e., $250+) with payouts over short intervals (such as every 20-30 minutes). One room in Philly has a progressive high hand jackpot that runs simultaneously with the half-hourly promotion. The progressive works by giving a payout to the highest hand over 3-hour period. So, just to be clear, a hand wins the small payout every 30 minutes, and then the best hand over a 3-hour interval is paid an additional progressive jackpot over that interval.
On a Friday night at this room, the 30-minute payout is $500, and the best hand for the 8-11 pm interval is usually worth an additional $1,300+. Players love the promotion. The room is not only packed, but the games are especially juicy because the promotion draws a lot of recreational players.
Anything that adds casual players to the usual mix OMC-regs is good for the game IMHO.