Not an issue if they put on more staff. I wish they would also bring back their online system where you could see what games were running and how many people were on each list.

Australian casinos need an app like they have in the US, think it used to be BravoPokerLive. Imagine in SEQ, you could check the app to see the lists for Treasury and Jupiter’s, then decide if and where you want to play.

All seat dividers except for either side of the dealer have been removed.

8-max begins tomorrow.

WOOOOOOOO THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE

Are lists moving much quicker since the move to 8 handed?
Wonder also if they are keeping the same cap on table numbers at peak times.

Will suss this weekend and report back, but keen to hear any update on wait times in particular

Lists have been better, but expect to wait an hour if you go Friday/Saturday and get there at peak time, say 6-9pm.

I think things are getting progressively better, including dealer numbers.

Thanks for updates. Are there regular PLO games running higher than 1/3? Hopefully at least on weekends but during the week do they get up?

From the 10+ visits i've had since reopening (mix of weekends and weekdays) 1/3 PLO basically always runs, and the 5/5 runs Friday and Sat nights, and sometimes random days throughout the week. I probably wouldn't ever bank on it on a weeknight, but I'm sure I've walked in at 6pm on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon and been like "WTF is the 5/5 PLO running for"

The player pool isn't massive at 5/5 PLO though, much smaller than the 5/10/Optional 20 NLHE. Back when we were 6 handed still, I saw the big PLO game empty down to 3 players at like 10pm on a Saturday night, with all 3 being pro's/great players sitting around waiting for someone new to sit down

Not sure how it is now that we're 8-handed. When the table is lively it can be a very very very good game....

Thanks mate, appreciate it!

Does PLO 5/5 and higher run here regularly?

Density limits are back, wonder if it’ll move back to 6-max since they pretty recently took out those dividers

The new density limits don't affect the poker room at all.

There's now a maximum of 1000 people allowed in the poker room, and we've never even come remotely close to that number.

It's still 8-handed and the games are the same they were last week and the week before.

Went Sunday night, still 8-handed and likely to remain that way. Basement entrance near the car park is closed, you have to find another way in.

No density limit for the poker room. No idea what the room was like Friday/Saturday but Sunday night was rather quiet. Was hardly ever a list, I got straight on.

Area manager said that they were rather short-staffed because a lot of managers and dealers were on covid leave.

I think it will get worse before it gets better. The food court and main entrance were dead, there was no one around.

The casino is dead. The food court is empty. The poker room floor is closed off, however poker is still running over in the side room. Limited staff and limited tables but the wait lists are empty.

Apparently the roof in the main area collapsed so that section will be closed off for a couple weeks. Maximum 12 tables total during this time.

You now accrue points on your card. To get free parking, you must be seated for at least 30 minutes.

Thanks for the update - yeah a lot of people I know have been getting Covid and isolating. Sad to see lots of places dead right now, thought it would be a busy jan full of fun

Later in the evening last night there was a list. I’m here now and there’s about 10 each waiting for 1/3 and 2/5. They have re-opened just 4 tables in the main area, the rest is closed off.

They are now strictly enforcing time limits. Play 6 hours, someone will tap you on the shoulder to have a word with you. The same probably at 9 or 10 hours. After 12 hours, you will be asked to leave.

Change tables, change seats at the same table, that has to be recorded. Everyone must present their card at the table. They can now check their computer and know the name of everyone sitting in every seat at every table.

Pretty big changes to how it was back in 2019 but what can you do.
Was the 5/10 running tonight and 1/3 PLO? Or is it much fewer games now (just 1/3 and 2/5)

5/10 was running.

Hi Guys,

I went into crown last friday night. Was the first time in possibly 12 months.
It was dead overall and with things being as they are with covid, is what it is.

When I went to the poker room two or three years ago, there were poker tables occupying most of the floor around the bar area. Now it seems that table games such as caribbean stud and ultimate texas hold'em (and perhaps BJ and routlette) are now surrounding that bar area. Separately there seems to be tables tucked away under the escalators, near the entrance from the carpark.

Just trying to work out why things changed and how. Are those regular table games next to the bar a permanent thing? When there in 2019, the poker tables were often (almost) full, so I'm curious about why they redid the room to introduce other tables games and shove poker tables in that small drab "out of sight" room under the escalators?

Any insights would be appreciated, not quite sure why things were changed and if there was an intention to go back to how it was when we get a full aussie millions again.
Cheers
Matt

The south side of the room has been devoid of poker tables for what seems like forever. That said, I’m here now and all of the gaming tables have been removed and replaced by poker tables.

Crown doesn’t care about poker, understandable as it generates the least income, so they flooded the room with gaming tables and at times, a few or many slot machines.

No longer need to give your card at the table, that has been relaxed for a couple months. So that means the welfare officer BS has been given a rest.

Thanks Kerr. We'll if the gaming tables have been replaced with poker tables, sounds like they went back to what it was 3 years ago. I just thought that stuffing poker tables in that crammed and uncomfortable back area under the escalators was awful.

Shame that Crown got ruined by consultants who looked at everything on hour rates per square foot or whatever formula they came up with. All the focus went to high rollers and they really did put too many eggs in that basket. Casinos that offers some value and incentives can be enormously profitable from regular punters.

When I look at general gaming tables, I have seen a transition over many years from super busy $2.50 roulette tables and $10 BJ tables to relatively empty $10 roulette tables and slow $20 BJ tables. Raising the stakes and cutting the RTP may have looked right on paper, but it was wrong because they're ultimately bringing in less money per night and don't lure new players in. Gambling shouldn't only be for rich and exclusive - everyone should be able to enjoy a punt.

Place is really a shadow of its former busy, lively, fun self and I'm talking about the period just before the pandemic. The heavy handed monitoring of drinking makes it feel like prison - I saw a young group of 4 or 5 people celebrating someone's birthday at the bar with a tequila shot and when they walked off to explore, a couple of bar and security people had a chat about them. They were sober from what I could see, but suddenly had "an eye" on them because they did a shot of a spirit for a birthday. God almighty.... Hopefully the new owners change things.

Absolutely is the case that poker is not really a good earner for the casino, but that was why the whole thing was shoved into the basement. If you want a story from the 1990s, there was a room on the main floor, not far from velvet bar, that was intended to be the poker room. It was nice, clean, a little exclusive looking but a little small. When the Ron Walker or someone like that roamed through the skeleton of the casino during its construction, he asked what the new room was going to be. When told it was poker, he apparently said "no chance, this is prime floor space."

That room ended up becoming the Maple room (now gone) and was for BJ and Baccarat about $25/hand from memory .... and poker got shoved down in the back corner of the las vegas room, from where it grew and gobbled up space using by gaming tables and slots. Even if it doesn't bring in the same as a $100 baccarat table per hour, it should still make returns and the tournaments actually lure poker players with money and dirty gambling habits, so they definitely get crossover benefit.

Went on the weekend and things are looking GOOD again and mostly back to normal.

All the tables are back where they were pre-Covid (BJ and Roulette replaced with poker tables in front of the massive TV/bar area) which is nice and the lists were pretty short and quick when I went (no wait for 1/3 2/5 or 5/10). Only 2 1/3 PLO tables on a Saturday night but there are probably still a few staff unavailable due to isolation/Covid

Does anyone know if they enforce the mask mandate at Crown like they used to, or are chin-diapers/no masks okay at the table? Didn't see it last weekend.

Went in last night. To my relief that horrible room I was talking about under the escalators (below the food court area) is now gone and closed.
The table games (caribbean stud, roulette..etc..) have all be removed as well and the old poker tables are back where they belong in front of the bar area.

There were a moderate number of players there for midnight.

2xanman - Yes they still require masks at table and throughout the casino. Really hope that drops soon. Our numbers across the board in Victoria have been falling and I see loads of people in shops and indoor areas generally not wearing masks or not wearing properly. Time to drop it and just open back up with no restrictions!

Very happy that it's looking normal and hopefully tournaments will recommence within a couple of months.

Correct wearing of masks tends to be enforced by most dealers and floor managers. The state Premier recently mentioned that indoor masks were staying for the time being.

The basement entrance is open again daily between 12pm and 12am.

Slightly off topic. Not that it matters too much, but have they also closed down the smoking lounges?