Earlier today, I spoke with a former floorperson of Caesars Palace (since they opened) who is now working in another big poker room on the Strip. According to this person, management has fired or driven away (this person quit) most of the staff of the poker room and replaced them with less experienced personnel.

I haven't been at Caesars Palace much lately except for this weekend. So, I haven't seen this myself. Does anybody else know anything about the current situation at Caesars Palace?

Problem in two words, THE MANAGER.

from the 2+2ers I read reviews from the caesar's room is preety good....

when did this change take place?

I was there two days ago, saw the same personnel as I have for the last month.

When I was in Vegas for the WSOP I played at Caesar's a couple times and one of the floorpeople (I forget his name - , maybe?) was really exceptional at his job - 6 of us came in drunk and asked if they'd start a $4/$8 HORSE game for us and he got a table up right away. A few nights later after the SSNL dinner he helped us start up 3 tables for all of us to donk around in a HORSE game (*TT* participated, and Mason Malmuth later stopped by and laid a brutal badugi cooler on me despite never having played the game before) which later turned into dealer's choice and a lot of hilarious variants - just like a home game basically, was a huge blast.

I was playing 2/5 at MGM towards the end of my trip and he sat down next to me - I started talking to him and he said he'd actually just quit at Caesar's because the management sucks. Stuff about how he was trying to help out the players as much as possible (which I def believe, cause he was awesome) but all the room cared about was the bottom line.

He said he was going to work at Venetian after that.

name edited out by *TT* to protect the innocent, we know that Harrah's corporate management read 2+2 on occasion

LOL, that was fantastic. Mason didnt even know the rules of Badugi but totally pwned you with his knowledge of the Theory of Poker. It just goes to show how amazing that book really is, you can create a new poker game and still be the best player at the table without even knowing the rules just by understanding the concepts within that book.

Thanks to Mason's heavy beat on GoofyBaller he made me un-stuck, he was playing with my chips- hurray!

Hasn't this been their recent history since reopening a couple years ago? Their first two poker room managers were fired because they were knowledgable poker people. Now the manager is a Harrahs pit guy? And now they have a silly bad beat jackpot drop?

Pretty typical Harrahs poker decisions.

Plus there is the sneaky $5 rake that Harrahs is implementing property by property. And don't even get started on the wsop; last years color-up event and the player UN-friendly cards this year.

ok ok Rant Over

Apparently I missed the chapter on coolering 101. It was like my 7-6 badugi which I'd been ramming and jamming to his 7-5.

This may not even be that sick since I don't know the game either, but it sure felt like it at the time, lol.

Nothing sneaky about that $5, other than the very small print they use to change the placards on the tables when it goes up.

That MAY be on its way out. I mostly stopped visiting Ballys+Harrah's after they raised the rake, but I went back a week ago, or so. The scuttlebutt is the $5 rake has been a spectacular failure, and business in the rooms is off measurably. They're making more per table, when the tables are going, but they're getting fewer tables. They've basically driven away most of the regulars and are finding it's tough to keep things going with just the bleating tourists who don't know any better. So the dealers and floors were all quietly suggesting they figured it wouldn't last much longer, nor would the manager who pushed it at the outset. I believe the make/break was considered to be whether Flamingo could be coerced into adopting it, and so far Flamingo had resisted and was showing no signs of changing (guess Caesars is written off as never coming on board [apparently kinda vocally]).

when you have a rough 7 Badugi, the median Badugi is a clean 9, and your HU vs a very good card player its usually good to stop ramming and jamming at some point

Assuming they could get games going and a percentage rake with triggers on thresholds I'd pay an extra dollar on large pots to play in a game with no Las Vegas regulars.

~ Rick

You think that is +EV?

Back in July I spoke to the guy who was running Harrahs poker room and he said he was moving over to manage Caesars. Seemed like a class guy who was trying to help the players, don't know how he fits into all this.

Posted on a Dealers Website yesterday

"Today, the TWU, on behalf of the Dealers of Caesars Palace, has formally PETITIONED the NLRB for a VOTE for Union Representation!"

I do not know if this included the poker dealers. I do know that the union organizers reached out to the poker dealers and asked them to sign Union Authorization Cards.

I played at Ceaser's this Friday, and there was a new Tournament director.

Young Hispanic guy... possibly gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Was that Jesus? He's not new, been there since it opened and had been doing tournaments (not full time) regularly.

Not gay either.

I don't think so. One of the dealer's needed some chips, and asked the other dealer what his name was. Someone said "You don't know his name?" and the dealer said "He's new, just started today."

Knowledgable poker people, yes, possibly.

Reason why they were "fired", lol, god no.

I sorta know why Mike was canned and definitely know the situation behind Vito leaving, but I can't disclose it here at all. Sorry.

Oddly I got an email from Chris out of the blue today, he is now conducting business in China for Harrah's. So although he is not at Caesar's, he is still working for Harrah's.

Don't really know why Mike was axed. The next fellow--yeah, he really needed to be shown the door.

While yes, they are an arm of Harrah's and yes, Harrah's is famous for screwing their people, not EVERY person they fire is fired because he knows things that might get them in trouble and force them to close hundreds of hotel rooms for weeks and is making waves about it and refuses to go away silently. Sometimes they get it right.

Huh what?

TT - Which Chris?

is that amber chick still cocktailing from big brother 8?

Complaining on these forums tells the tale, but mostly to people who are not in any position to do anything about it. Most of the people who are in charge of poker these days have no clue about poker whatsoever, and certainly don't read these boards. The only way players will be heard is by saying what's on their mind in a way it will be heard by management. This means filling out a customer comment form. If you don't fill out one of these forms, you almost certainly are wasting your breath.

Al

I am not for every industry blindly jumping into unions, but I am not against them either. In fact, I used to work for iatse (stagehand's union) and never had any complaints. I am not commenting on any current situations which may or may not exist regarding any given union.

That being said, I suspect harrahs (and most if not all casinos in vegas) would be terrified of another group of their employees unionizing. The ones that are already unionized have avenues open to them that others are denied and seem to be getting a better deal all around. More specifically, they have far better protection against getting railroaded by corporate bullcrap because they have representation.

As an aside, I've informally asked hundreds of people all over town what they think of their employer, and do they like working for their company. The results might surprise some people.

Harrahs - absolutely no one has ever said they like their employer, and virtually all have added negative commentary without being asked for it. Some do like their specific job and location. Harrahs is pretty much universally hated by most people who do now or have worked for them in the past. In particular the corporate bs is notorious for being deep and plentiful, and their payroll department is especially hated. .

MGM - similar to harrahs, but with less venom from past employees. Few really like it and some complain about corporate bs. Many do like their specific job and location.

Boyd gaming - a 50/50 mix with not many tirades of negativity

Stations - virtually all current or past employees say they like their company. No one has ever gone on a long tirade of neaative comments. Stations take good care of their customers, and apparently their employees too.

I haven't asked enough of venetian or wynn employees to have a real answer. However, most of these jobs are probably so good pay wise that people would put up with a lot.

Al

I wont mention names, but can someone tell me if the swing shift manager is still there? He is a great guy, and worked his way up from the ground floor. I remember playing with him, then on subsequent trips seeing him climb the ladder. He was very accomodating, spreading many games for us, inclulding TORSE, and chinese. Hope he is still there. Not to mention some of the dealers there, both good looking and skilled (you guys know who I'm talking about). Oh well, sad to hear about the changes, but somewhat expected when dealing with the evil corrporation that is Harrah's.