I guess this is a good sign for their long-term poker plans?
https://www.casino.org/news/encore-b...itches-hotels/

Noticed that PokerAtlas for Encore now shows a 20/40 LHE game. Any idea if it runs?

Any idea if any other games will eventually run, what are the chances they would get an Omaha Hi/Lo game going, or even an O8/Omaha Hi/Lo game?

If they were to get a different game like that going what would the stakes be?

As far as I know it hasn't ran

The only winner at that will be the Encore.
$10 max rake every hand that sees a flop.

Massachusetts lawmakers included language barring a casino resort from operating a theater venue on their premises that seats more than 1,000 attendees. This was done in the 2011 Expanded Gaming Act in an effort to preserve Boston’s Theater District and the community arts across the commonwealth.

By proposing a 980-seat theater venue, some believe Wynn officials are acting only in the company’s — not the community’s — best interest.

“They’re blatantly trying to hurt other theaters,” Bill Blumenreich, who owns the historic Wilbur Theater downtown, said of Wynn’s plans to The Boston Globe. “It’s all about their bottom line.”


Lol oh really Wynn would do this for profit-im shocked!

That's rich coming from the Wilbur Theatre who charge $70 to see Spittin Chiclets Podcast

Played 2-2 PLO last night, first time playing PLO in a casino after a lot online. Shoutout to Table 1 (I think)… great action, tons of banter, and overall a way more fun experience than 2-5 NL. It will be hard to go back to NLHE after that

Is the Water Shuttle to Boston still running this time of year? Has anyone been on it?

Yes, it runs in the winter. It's a great little ride and it's free if you're wondering.

"Preserving our community theatre" is coded language for maintaining their monopoly

Thanks Dicketydog! I'll likely be there over the NYE weekend. I suspect that something that's free and cool will be crowded, but the weather might be a factor as well.

Once you play plo it's hard to go back to that dirt game especially live.

Anyone know if they offer safety deposit boxes?

Not in the poker room like they used too.

I’ve been back playing live a handful of times in the past month or so at Encore. Waiting lists are still very long and on Thu-Sun you will have to wait a bit for every game. The games are still great as there are quite a few players who are new to the game and there will be punts to be caught. The average skill level has gone up but has not evolved as fast as online. The 10% up to $10 rake/hand is hardly a thing as everyone has just accepted that is the price of going to this venue. The waitresses are working hard but often do disappear or forget your order and I guess it is just because they are always short staffed. I would assume this is one of the best jobs out there if you don’t mind slnging drinks because I do see that everyone tips quite well. The cage is pretty pathetic as it is often closed for breaks, lunch, whatever, it is just a sad operation where you will have to go downstairs to the main cage often. Not to mention they will give you a hassle and ask for ID and players card for even the most minor transactions. All the cashiers seem to be very badly trained and take way too long to count some chips/cash and making an exchange. There is no food after midnight besides Dunkin as Shake Shack and all the restaurants are closed. They won’t even let you get in line after 11:45pm becuase there is always a long line near closing. Bathroom attendant/cleanliness still top notch. Floor is trying their best to fill seats as quickly as possible off all the people on Atlas. I wish they had a beter system for table transfers, knowing where players are maybe idenfiying how many people are actually waiting like if a person is on the lists for 1/3 and 2/5 it can be shown they’re on 2 lists etc… Zero info on other games besides NLHE and PLO. There are lists for Limit Hold’em and half NL/half PLO but I don’t think LHE has run at all and half/half is rare if ever and no mention of being able to play a mix game with draw and high lo games, etc… Parking is still easy but a lot of the spots with charging stations have broken chargers. I think this place can comfortably add more tables as there is an avg of 30-120 people waiting for 1-3 and 10-25 people waiting for 2-5 and there is usualy a 5-10 and at nights a 10-25. PLO is getting 2-4 tables with 1 or 2 of 2-2 one 5-5 and a 10-10 and I think 25-25 ran a few times. Ben Affleck was filming a Dunkin commerical in Medford and was staying at Encore and they had hoped he would want to play some poker but alas JLo probably convinced him gambling is no good. No word of tournaments or anything else either. You still get points for using a players card. They are installing a few sports betting kioks by the bathroom where you can reprint your players card and with sports betting launching in MA 1/31/23 maybe there will be more gamblers who will try poker. Overall I like that they are putting in some effort into the room operations but cage/cashier setup/system definitely needs lots of improvement and maybe try and hire a few more waitresses. I see non-stop people emptying the trash, dusting every space/area, and security walking around, teams emptying the rake boxes, etc… it seems they are very well staffed in 90% of departments. Even garage security is great there are guys driving around and on bikes making sure nothign bad goes down there. Metal detectors on entrance, ID checks for minors, etc… all very well run and professional.

The rake is what it is. It is a minor annoyance but the ridiculous cage set up is maddening. I always seem to be short stacked when they announce that the cage is closing for lunch. I hate being IDed for buying in for a measly 500 bucks. I'm gonna be back there in the spring.

Yes, very frustrating to have to have ID, players card, be on video, etc... just to exchange a few hundreds bucks for some chips and a total pain to watch the workers be extremely slow throughout the process. Mega-tilting and very annoying. Every time someone else has extra chips they can sell you some you have to make this pretend walk away from the table and do it in secrecy thing or when a person is leaving and they want to sell some chips you can't do it at the table because it is not allowed.

The pro tip is to just put your roll for the day into black chips and cash them back out at the end of the session. All the regs I’ve seen keep pockets full of blacks and will sometimes sell them on the side if you need to reload.

I'll do that next time.

Yah I’m sitting at home now with quite a few black chips. As far as the cage stuff, they aren’t taking breaks now upstairs. The staff there is horrible and I usually never complain. They just are the newest people and are always cycling through. Over $500 needs a Card or ID so if you are new get a red card first and it’s quicker. The data input for a new player with the id is what is holding them up.

Best shot we have for an expanded poker room is years away. If approved a brand new poker room Sportsbook will be built and I can’t see it being anything less than amazing. Tournaments, fifty plus tables etc. I think then we might see some of the impact a brand like Wynn can do (just look what they pulled off in Vegas this December)

Is it different at the upstairs cage? I've been asked for players card / ID at the main level cage for a $300 buy-in to 1/3.

Yah downstairs always asks for ID I think. Upstairs is $500.


This is a state gaming law. It’s a pain in the ass and the high rollers hate it. I heard everyone wants it changed but I don’t have too much faith with our gaming commission

Is this a new law?
I only played here a couple of times (pre covid) and don't remember them asking for Id when I bought in.

It’s not a law. It’s management in the cage over reaching. If it were law then it would be the same at tables and/or slots and that’s definitely not the case.

Another annoying thing is you can't see your poker room comps online when you log into the website or app but you can see it when you swipe at a kiosk and hit my account.