Hi All -

Didn't see a thread specifically targeted for this poker room yet, so I figure I will start one. Mods - if I am wrong please feel free to move this post.

Some news on the poker room that is set to open as early as May at Delaware Park Racetrack/Casino in Wilmington, Delaware.

from this article/press release:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/s...,1184847.shtml

Couple of questions:

Does anyone know anything about Susan Ciboldi, formerly of Mohegan Sun and Trump Plaza?

Twenty tables puts this about the size of Caesar's or Harrah's in AC. This sounds very small. Any thoughts?

Interesting that the first part of the article mentions poker, but her actual quote makes no mention of it.

Poker and table games wont be starting until the end of June / beginning of july. The first games they are starting off with are Black Jack, Craps, Poker & Roulette. The others will come in time. They are starting training for dealers in 1 week and most of the classes wont be finished until late may.

I honestly don't know how good the games are going to be there. The DE Poker Room (sorry, they recently changed to the DE Sports Lounge) already pretty much has a stranglehold on most of the poker in the Greater Wilmington area, and now with no rake (just a $30 door charge) it's much better than any % or time rake.

The only reason I'm planning on playing anywhere else is when all the NASCAR fans are at Dover Downs and come to play before/after the race :P

+1

DE Poker Room's rake structure pretty much crushes any of the competition.

I have played DE poker room and the place just doesn't feel right to me. I will take a more traditional rake structure in a proper casino with propely trained dealers, security, free drinks, etc. any day.

The $30 rake may sound all right if you plan to play 4 hours or more, but what about the guy who just wants to play an hour or two? He is way over-paying.

Put it another way. If there's a 10% up to $4 rake, and the overall average rake per pot is $2.50 (probably high), and the table deals 30 hands/hour, then that table takes in about $75 per hour.

At $30 per session per player, the DE Poker Room would have to average about 2.5 player turnover per hour to be raking about the same amount. I would imagine that their turnover is more like 4-5 players per hour - meaning they rake about $120-$150 per hour per table.

I'm not worried about how much the poker room is making in rake. I am more interested in how much rake I pay. If you are playing 2/5 with $5/30min rake (which is pretty standard most places) then all you have to play is 3 hours to be even on rake. On Fridays and Saturdays the room is open for 14 hrs. You could wind up paying as little as $1.07/30min rake. Not that you would stay all day, but who really makes a trek to the poker room for a 1-2 hour session?

QFT.

Also, Spike's math is definitely off. There are definitely not 4-5 new players per table every hour lol. The place is mostly regs at this point and a lot of them are older gentlemen with money, so they come in for the long haul and put in a pretty long session usually. Most of the regs are also fairly bad recreational players, and are nice guys, so it's a great environment.

I know Susan Ciboldi from her stint as Casino Manager on the River City boat in New Orleans. Straight shooter and excellent leader.

As far as playing anywhere without proper security, surveillance and gaming commission recourse... No thanks.

Guy from my home game applied for a part-time dealer job. He said they told him 20 tables to start, but have plenty of room to expand depending on demand. Will also be planning daily tournaments.

Target opening date for the poker room is Memorial Day weekend.

Caesars AC is 24 tables, Harrahs AC is 40 tables btw... Harrahs room expanded about 2 years ago.

Memorial Day weekend? That's brilliant. When almost every person in New Castle County goes to the beach. If I want to go to a casino card room with only 3 tables going I'll just go to Bally's. Unless maybe Del Park is hoping for a light volume crowd to start with so it's easier to work out the kinks.

Also, in reference to the poster above mentioning free casino drinks, Delaware alcohol laws forbid that practice. Maybe Del Park could keep people around with free hot dogs. Loaded chili dogs for the high rollers. Just a thought.

BTW, the poker room manager will be Anthony Chester, coming from the Venetian (where he was the head of the tourney crew on swing AFAIK) and before that was at the Borgata. Supposedly some Vegas people are coming with.

You're right, it would be silly to make a "trek" as you say to play for only a few hours. But the $30 rake is what keeps a guy like me, who commutes to work in Teh Wilm, from stopping by for a few hours on the way home, pre-Comm Barry. Doesn't appeal much to the casual player, and many times as we know, the more casual the player, the more it's a pleasure to have them in your game.

There are PLENTY of casual players at the Delaware Poker Room (now Delaware Sports Lounge). Maybe to a NITTY casual player, $30 flat seems like a lot, but to the guy who wants to gamble and wants to play poker, that is just the price. Since he can win or lose hundreds, it is no big deal.

PS Yes, I called the last poster a nit.

Glad you clarified. It was not plainly evident otherwise.

Something about the tone of your post is strangely familiar. Have we met, I wonder?

Unrelated point.

I heard that the rules at the Delaware Park Poker Room will include "No open folding". As in, if there is no bet to you, you are not allowed to fold rather than check. This will be punished by a warning the first time, removal from the poker room the second time. Yes, they are apparently planning on kicking people out. Also Memorial day weekend sounds like the planned opening of the DE Park Poker room. This info came from a person who was in dealer training school and had a tryout there who was sitting next to me at the Delaware Sports Lounge/DE Poker Room on Saturday.

Why so harsh on open folders? Because it openly telegraphs how weak the hand is? It sounds like the room is being overly cautious about perceived angle-shots. But an open fold is information that benefits the whole table. I don't get this.

It doesn't benefit the whole table equally.

If you think any of the clubs in Delaware are going to survive when Del park opens it room, your crazy. It's all about convience. For one, out of staters are going to go to Del. Park because they are going to only know about that place. They are not going to hear about any other room. Do you think they are going to do the advertising Del Park is? Two, 24 hours... that's all I have to say about that. Three, regular tournaments that are NOT confined to the charities meaning bigger payouts. With all this, Del Park customer base will only grow. While it's growing all the players will migrate to where more players are. These smaller rooms won't be able to compete against that monster. Then throw in Harrah's which is not that far away either, its not a matter of if, its only going to be when.

So - I got a little more info from my friend who has applied for a dealer position.

He says that the room may now open before Memorial Day - possibly on May 15.

Also, room will be located in an area with slots

Also, free drinks will not be offered (may be a rule for all Delaware casinos)

Any word on rake? I have heard 10% max $5 (no BBJ yet) from a couple of people, not 100% reliable. I just hope they do not go the way Charles Town did with a 10% max $6 plus BBJ drop.

Maybe there should be some sort of Delaware Poker Player group that sends a list of suggestions to the incoming Del Park poker room manager. Seeing as locals will be their bread and butter player base, management may be open to ideas that keep us happy (e.g. $4 max rake, starting new games/limits based on player interest, not management dictates).

Every time they kick you out they can let you back in if you pay another entrance fee.

They should develop a bunch of rules to kick people out on a regular basis if they want to make more money.

... or is that another Delaware room that does that.

I am hired as a dealer. Just got called for processing 2 days ago went in yesterday with licensing app to state. don't see that it could be possible to be open may 15. I'm told I should be licensed by june 1. also went in casino. Room under construction, still rough with wires hanging from ceiling and full size table templates set in place on floor. I would definitely think by memorial wknd. Compare look and layout similar to Harrahs AC. Intimate room, Wood [paneled walls. 10 Ft ceilings. Nice, State has to do their part though. All regs not in place yet. As for as concerns About people going to the beach that wknd. What if it rains. Poker players will show up whenever it opens. Remember suns not out at nite anyway. Leaving AC to work here. I really can't wait. See y'all soon.

Hey man don't forget to update us when you know for sure what opening day is.