Most places around the country that charge for drinks are doing it because either local law forbids it or deals the casino made with host cities who don't want people leaving the casino and driving through their town after ingesting 19 free Heinekens... pretty much any casino that is allowed to give free drinks does because it's a proven fact that it's good for business

If I remember correctly Encore had to get the Mass Liquor Commission to grant them an exemption from the Mass happy hour law to be able to serve free drinks.


This is 100% a case of management seeing they can fu*k the poker players around any way they see fit and the player pool will just take it up the tail pipe and continue to show up in record numbers... like I've said before pre covid this was the best room in the country and post covid it's absolutely the worst room in the country

Esp free booze is good for casino but they are shutting it off to spite the poker players.

Then you will say that free booze being good doesn’t apply to poker. Well if that is true then stopping it is optimal for Encore.

Either Encore is choosing to hurt itself to hurt poker or they are maximizing their revs since free booze to poker doesn’t help. Which is it?

What I know is that I’m pretty bummed that we had one of the very best poker rooms in the country, in our backyard, and now we don’t. That’s just a huge bummer.

parx does the same. i think sands (wind creek) had piss water beer for free in the poker room but normal choices in the pit for free.

I still strongly encourage everyone to write the gaming commission and boycott the room over the rake. I did get some news from a friend who deals here.

1. BBJ is no longer being collected. Next time it hits its done.
2. They aren't taking promo drops either - they have 3 months or so of promo money that will be paid out and then ???
3. There is no 'head of poker' right now - so table games management is calling these shots.

That at least brings the rake from a criminal 12 to a ridiculously bad 10.

Will have to verify on Monday that the promo drop isn't being taken but this is what I was told.

You're a day late with the April Fool's joke

I can confirm that the promo drop has been eliminated.

And I'm reasonably sure all 3 points you make are true for what it's worth.

No promo drop is nice step in the right direction. That was killer paying $5 + $1 tip on a $30 pot or basically 40% of your profits in a heads up $30 pot. yowser.

Never played at this room, but a room eliminating the BBJ is great news for the health of live poker. I wonder what are the necessary steps to encourage other rooms to follow suit.

So what's the deal with drinks ? How much for a beer or red bull ?

The $2 for promo's were given back to the players and totally different from "rake" so in reality they aren't lowering the rake, they are just eliminating the money taken out of the pot that was returned back to the players... the house is still making $10 every hand.... so why should I be excited here am I missing something?

Oh am I supposed to be excited about now paying $8 for a beer while the house still makes $10 per hand and all promo's will eventually be eliminated?

I started my post by saying you should boycott this room.

I think it is pretty clever move on their part to help close the room. Years ago I was talking to a floor at Mohegan who told me that having a BBJ increases the number of players by at least 25% when Mohegan finally decided to compete with Foxwoods with their own BBJ. Nothing better than to reduce the of players while letting the gaming commission know "Hey, we listened to our critics and did what they wanted. Not our fault it didn't work."

I totally agree with you on the boycott... I wasn't shooting the messenger... apologies if my attempt at sarcasm on that part of my post was lost on you


Although I do disagree with you saying the rake has been "reduced" to $10... it's always been and still is $10 they've just eliminated the $2 that they gave back to the players... they are still taking $10 off the table for the house almost every hand which is criminal.

Fair enough on all counts.

$5 on a $30 pot? What's the rake structure? If it's 10% shouldn't it be $3 at $30 and max out at $10 on a $100 pot? Do they take $2 on the flop?

On top of the 10% rake up to $10 they were taking a promo drop of $1 at $10 and an additional $1 at $30 during the hours they were running high hand promos. So on a $30 pot they were taking $5 total.

Although in theory this promo money comes back to the players it is usually taxed and the only people that will ever be ahead of the game are the ones who get bad beat and the ones who win the bad beat hand when the BBJ is hit. Even the regulars who get in on a table share will not be ahead of the game.

I've played 12.5 hours since they elimnated the promo drop and have already saved $75 in rake (promo drop).

I don't think the room is ever getting closed.

They were recently approved for and are building a poker room and sports book across the street that is scheduled to open in Sept 2025.

This room is the biggest joke in the USA. Very glad to live in s Florida now

I’ve never won a BBJ and don’t think I ever will, so even if the money is returned to the players it won’t be returned to me. I can’t be the only player that struggles to win a BBJ.

Also the dealers expect a big tip if you do win a BBJ so some of the money goes to them, which is fine, but my point is that money isn’t going back to the players.

The BBJ will get some fish chasing the promotions though. But you’re basically paying more rake to play a lottery.

I’m glad they got rid of it.

Both are true and valid points

Winning a BBJP isn’t something you do or struggle to win. A very random event. No one can predict they will or won’t win one other than by the number of hands played.

Personally I am ambivalent to them. And I have had a table share win. Same opinion before and after that win. But I do agree when they get to certain size chaser’s follow.

Went this weekend for a bit. Wait-list wasn't as bad as last trip, used poker atlas to put my name down and got seated right away. The 5/10 game was nitty and most seem to know each other, not sure if it's very good given the $26/hr time. Uber drivers cannot find the garage pickup, first driver gave up after 15 mins and had to find a replacement (another guy said he was on his 3rd driver). Overall 3/5 experience, not the most enjoyable.

They definitely need better signage for the ride share drivers because it isn't obvious but I think they should be familiar with most places like the airport and Fenway Park, etc... where it is never obvious how things work. Perhaps it should be a part of Uber/Lyft orientation training etc... for this local area and I have noticed many places that have relegated ride shares to the point of inconveniencing everyone involved just to make a point when the cab companies were complaining. I assume many probably went to the main entrance/hotel lobby which is where the pickup/drop off was in the beginning when they first opened and then give up when they have to circle back and go into the garage and then it is still not the most obvious after that. I think cabs still go to the main entrance?

$26/hour time is $150-200 for a 6-8 hour session which is like having to win a medium sized pot just to be even and that's tough.

I saw something at a $2/$5 table on Saturday night that I'd never seen before.

On the flop, Player A goes All-in, and Player B calls and turns over his hand. The dealer immediately grabbed it, turned it back over and moved it back towards Player B, then dealt out the turn and river. Then both players simultaneously turned over their hands, and Player A was the winner and was pushed the pot.

The dealer said she turned over his hand because they have strict rules about showing out of turn, and not many people know this. The entire table was dubious about this, but the conversation kind of died down quickly.

Does anybody know if she was right?

They probably made up their own new show down rules due to the colluding cheaters that frequent this room. not that it would have mattered in this instance