You are not required to show identification or a players card UNLESS you are cashing out over $10,000 per the IRS and the Patriot Act. You can refuse to show identification, however, things will become hostile and awkward and they will attempt to coerce you into showing identification. The only time they can demand your identification is for alcoholic beverage service or if they suspect you are under 21 and about to begin gambling. Other than that situations identified herein, there are no laws or regulations that require identification.

If you're not familiar with Encore's operations, they track all of their high denomination chips with RFID. So they know who how many $1,000 / $5,000 chips are with a player. A caveat to this, is that it's impossible for them to track them after the chips have been put into play in a poker game. So this really applies more to the pit games. You can tell they scan the chips when you go to the cage, they put it on the reader.

I believe it is a little more complicated that that.

First, buying in or cashing out for more than $10K (either one), will trigger a required CTR to be filed. Note that $10K cash transaction requires the casino file a CTR, but the regs do not limit them to only filing CTRs above $10K. They can choose to file a CTR for less than a $10K transaction and many casinos (as well as banks and other biz) will do CTRs for less than $10K. Any entity can have its own lower triggering size. They do this to protect themselves. Some casinos (I have heard) go as low a $5K.

They might also be able to require ID for less than $10K if they have legitimate belief that your aggregate cash ins (or buy ins) exceed the $10K limit. For this one maybe you can refuse. But as noted it will become much more hostile environment. If they do cash you out but still believe (or have evidence) your total cash out (for the day? visit?) exceeds $10K, they may file a SAR, Suspicious Activity Report (and if they do, they are likely to try and use other means to ID you.)

Can they force you to produce ID to get paid out $9995? I am not going to claim yes or no, but I suspect most casinos if you refuse for that amount, they are likely to file a SAR.

Also, generally (not sure about Mass), they can legitimately request to see your ID anywhere on the casino floor. Some states require patrons to have valid ID on them to gamble regardless of their age. They very likely can not force you to produce your ID on demand, but they will likely demand that you leave. They are likely to use your picture to put you into a database to prevent you from coming back.

Can't force you to produce ID, and if you have $800 in chips, very likely they must pay you out w/o ID, but they can request the ID and demand you leave.

Per the MA gamings regs. Casino chips are evidence of a debt owed by the casino to the holder. They must be redeemed promptly upon demand by the player with or without identification. Of course, as you cited, if they suspect you are structuring they can require ID to complete the CTR, but they need to have articulable proof for that. Otherwise, no ID is required to gamble and/or cash out.

Most likely this is a compliance issue for Encore after an audit for the Feds. FWIW, there is a big difference between a CTR and SAR. A CTR is a transaction of more than $10k and they need identification. The "articulable proof" is the person in question is moving more than $10k .

A SAR requires that the person in question is not notified that it is being filed. If the person in question has a players card, they can easily be tracked down. If not, the recognition software will be enough to find them if they are in the building for security to get their information or kindly ask them to leave after no trespass warning is issued.

hey guys its been more then a few years since I played live and have a few questions

1. Do $100 still bills play?
2. Do you buy chips at the table here or goto the cage?
3. Do I need to check in at the desk still if I am on the pokeratlas online waitlist?
4. Any way to approximate the waittime based on how many on the pokeratlas waitlist?

I believe it's chips only at all stakes.

At the cage. The cage on the mezzanine is open, but closes for lunch/dinner breaks. If closed, you will have to get chips from the main cage downstairs.

You can mark yourself arrived in the app. Then go to the desk when your initials are called.

Depends on time of day / number of tables and the number of call-ins ahead of you.

great thank you, I look forward to checking it out

Promo rake now being taken. $1 at $10 pot and 2nd $1 at $30 pot. Max $12 rake now at 1/3 NL.

$12 max rake now during promo hours $11 non promo hours. I will never enter EBH again officially peace out lol

That's insane! What is the promo drop for?

P.T. Barnum was spot on: "There's a sucker born every minute" and oddly enough many of them congregate in Everett


So now with the standard $1 dealer tip there's $13 per hand leaving the table !!! As much as $400 +/- leaving the table per hour!!! #notbeatable


Absolutely insane... anyone who plays there is a complete idiot... by playing there you are telling Encore management it's ok to screw us over we don't care how much you screw us we will still show up and play here. Sadly it's the closest casino to my house and I refuse to go there and condone the insanity.


And please stop with the "I don't care if win I'm playing for fun"... there isn't a single player in the world whether rec or pro who steps foot inside a casino and doesn't want to leave a winner... fact: winning is more fun than losing so if you're going for "fun" you'll have more of it by winning which over time will be mathematically impossible with that much money leaving the table every single hour.

Lurked for years but finally made an account due to the predatory rake at Encore.

I encourage people to act.

1 - boycott the room.
2 - leave 1 star reviews on Pokeratlas, Google, everything
3 - https://massgaming.com/contact/ and tell the gaming commission that obviously they are not acting in good faith to bring poker to the area

Good luck out there.

Done all 3. Didn't set a foot there since pandemic.
MGC is surprisingly listening more than I thought. I send them an email on a regular basis. We must be a few because they are asking the question during their meeting with Encore's leadership.

Has the rake increase had any impact on room traffic? I recall reading that Encore had no interest in bringing back poker post-pandemic. This is a little far-fetched, but perhaps their plan is to incrementally raise the rake until virtually no players will patronize the room, giving them an excuse to close.

^this 100%

Haven't stepped foot in there since covid just based off the fact that they used it as a reason to axe the poker room but now lol at ever considering it just hoping that other room south of here opens soon. Its basically $500 off the table every hour when you factor in all the idiot over tippers

Too early to tell but at 9pm on Thursday there are 22 games going and 125 names on wait lists.

Haha. I wonder just how high they'd have to go in order to scare players off.

I also wonder what percentage of their player base knows what the rake is, or even knows what rake is...

Those poker players were just a small fraction of the slot players at the same time who were putting in money at the slot machines are far worse odds. Maybe if the odds got as bad as Keno it might have an effect. I think most of them know about rake, but figure that they only pay it when the win so it doesn't cost them anything. It has worked for taxes in the US with payroll withholding.

10+1 for non high hand hours is decent enough to keep me coming. 450k bad beat will keep the games good so at certain hours this room will be beatable.

I do plan on more stays at Foxwoods and should twin river open I’ll put in hours there as well depending on the games and rake.

This ^ SOOOOOOO this !!!! Ask 100 players in that room how much the rake is I bet 75% don't know and probably half don't even know what rake is...

Crazy. Less than twenty years ago I remember the standard rake was $3 a hand, and in Las Vegas it was staggered (not a flat 10%). I understand many people don't pay a whole lot of attention to the Rake and it's effects. However, as a longtime horse racing employee, I have seen first hand how an exorbitant rake/takeout over time can have disastrous results on the business and customers.
Boos all around to whomever had a part in this.
Racetrack

And they raked in quarters, not dollars.

Why would the Encore want to close the Poker Room? Not counting the promo drop, the Encore is raking ~$20 million dollars/year in that Poker Room. Plenty of that rake is profit.

Busy Poker rooms are immensely profitable.

So far as I know they didn't want to reopen poker post-pandemic and only reopened after the gaming commission twisted their arm into doing so.

Sure, poker rooms are profitable, but not nearly as profitable as other casino games. When you're in a prime location with limited space it makes sense to want to utilise the space for games, or a lounge or food court for your customers.