$2 per minute.

When did half-kill at 4/8 O8 start? I hadn't seen it enforced as of last Sunday?

Glad to hear 4/8 O8 half kill is running all the time in the evenings. Approximately what time should I get there so I can be on the list before they call the first 9 names?

$2/min massage is the standard rate I guess since the girls have to split the $ w/ the house/company that runs it?

Thank you

Well yeah, years ago I used to play that game regularly also.

But 5/10 played with $10 chips would be insanely stupid.

Headed there in a bit! ALL NIGHT POKER!

2/2 5/5 PLO
2/5 5/10 NL
20/40 Stud

I'll be playing a mix of those games! May the poker gods be in my favor!

That game ran regularly back in the day when FW had 5/10 LHE Kill @$100 and MS had 5/10 LHE Kill @$65

I used to play the $4-$8 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo with Half Kill (or was it Full Kill?) at Foxwoods back in 2007-2009, it was fun!

I love that Encore is spreading a variety of games, so good for everyone!

Looks like it's taking them til late afternoon, early evening to get 20-40 and higher limit stud and he games. Hope I don't have to wait until evening to get in a game.

He's alleging that he was paid 6:5 on a multi-deck shoe game (6 or 8 decks).

I've just dug into this some more. Section 6a certainly makes it clear that the 6:5 variant is for 1-2 deck only (no shoe, dealer holds deck; player cards face down, player can touch them). But section 2(a) specifically states it's the minimum number of decks required, which would imply that more decks are ok. So these 2 sections seem to be in conflict with each other.

The gaming commission is meeting tomorrow to review this. Seems they could rule either way on the BJ part. The ticket redemption part still seems like a joke though.

tl;dr Legal case is a jopke

This lawyer's entire case is a joke. If you read it it sounds like a child wrote the brief. It's entire purpose is to be inflamatory and defame Encore.

I would expect any lawyer to have a basic understanding of the legal framework we operate under. What is applicable in this case are the Massachusetts General Laws, The Code of Massachusetts Regulation, and the rules established by the Mass Gaming Commission.

The Massachusetts General Laws make no mention of Blackjack. He is saying that what Encore is doing is illegal but provides no legal basis for taht claim. The CMR (Code of Massachusetts Regulatin) make no mention of Blackjack. The authority to establish the rules of the games is delegated to the Mass Gaming Commission. The MGC requires it's gaming licensees to have written rules in place that have been approved by the Commission. It is impossible that the Gaming Commission is not 100% aware of the procedures Encore is using in its Blackjack games. There are gaming agents onsite 24 / 7.

This lawyer seems to have cherry picked the language he wanted to quote but he conveniently skipped over section 7 of the Rules of Blackjack:

7. Payment of blackjack; even-money payout option for certain insurance wagers
(a) If the first face up card dealt to the dealer is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 and a player has blackjack, the dealer shall announce and pay the blackjack at odds of 3 to 2 and, unless the player has also made a blackjack bonus wager pursuant to Section 20, shall remove the player's cards before any player receives a third card.

(b) If the first face up card dealt to the dealer is an Ace, King, Queen, Jack or Ten and a player has a blackjack, the dealer shall announce the blackjack but shall make no payment nor remove any cards until all other cards are dealt to the players and the dealer receives his second card. If, in such circumstances, the dealer's second card does not give him blackjack,
the player having blackjack shall be paid at odds of 3 to 2. If, however, the dealer's second card gives him blackjack, the wager of the player having blackjack shall be void and constitute a standoff.

(c) If the first face up card dealt to the dealer is an Ace and a player has blackjack, a gaming licensee may, notwithstanding (b) above and before any additional cards are dealt, offer the player the option to be paid at odds of 1 to 1 on the blackjack wager instead of making an insurance wager pursuant to Section 9. If the gaming licensee chooses to offer the evenmoney payout option authorized by this subsection, notice shall be provided by the gaming
licensee in accordance with 205 CMR 147.03.

(d) If the licensee chooses the option to pay a blackjack at odd of 6 to 5 and doesn’t use the 6 to 5 variation, then Section 7(c) is void. If the licensee uses this option on 6 or 8 deck games, this variation’s rules must be displayed on the layout in plain sight.

What he conveniently left out is section 7(d) which seems to clearly allow the 6:5 payout on 6 or 8 deck shoes provided it is clearly displayed on thelayout in plain sight. Which it is. All of the 6:5 tables clearly state Blackjack pays 6:5. It is written in about 3 inch letters.

I recall that the recently departed YTF often commented on how over regulated this state was. He was not wrong. To think that the MGC does not know exactly what Encore is doing is laughable to me.

Aside from that, MGM Springfield has been offering the same games for almsot a year. I've been to both casinos more than a dozen times each. What you see in practice is higher minimum games offering 3:2 payouts and the lower minimum games paying the 6:5. At Encore this usually translates into higher minimums on weekends of $100 and during the week $50 for the 3:2 games and $50 on weekends and $25 during the week for 6:5 games. MGM does something similar with the minum usually $25 at 3:2 and $15 on 6:5. These numbers fluctuate all the time based on how busy either casino is.

Having said all this, just because they can do it doesn't mean they should. I find it abhorent that any blackjack would pay 6:5. Yet on Sunday night I walked around the pits and there were $50 and $25 minimum games that paid 6:5 on blackjack and there were $50 minimum games that paid 3:2. The tables were probably not more that 50 feet from each other yet the 6:5 tables were still full. Some people just don't know or care.

Yes I figured it was fine given MGM does it, and it's becoming more commonplace among all casinos (Foxwoods does it the same way you describe). I just happened to start reading the Rules of Blackjack and found contradicting items, so felt it made the case more interesting. I had missed 7(d) though. That seems to overrule the contradictions I noted earlier. I agree the language of the lawsuit is laughable though.

As far as whether they should, eh. They want to increase their revenue. Have you seen some Vegas casinos have introduced 000 roulette? Games are getting worse. As a player you just have to be smarter about scouting the tables.

Triple Zero Roulette is actually a thing now!
Insane!

It first went on Sunday afternoon / evening. I played in it for a few hours Sunday night. Kill was on when someone scooped an $80 pot. It happened more than I expected.

Totally done with stud until I'm not the super fish at the table. Started today at 20/40 stud and got rear ended for an embarrassing amount. I bought skalanskies book, I'll give that a go.

Plo seems to be my goto game these days. It has the same feeling as nl did about ten years ago where a lot of players are still learning.

Going on 14 hours, probably play most of the day. Encore ftw

I believe Encore has knocked the time for 20 limit games down to $8/half. Sorry if that's a repeat but I didn't see it above.

Started a 20 o8 game that went from 8-130a and we got full at one point. When we asked to make it OE, word from the top was that they're not going to let us have mixed at 20 right now, but would "soon." I suspect it's to ease dealers into it. We played it with $20 yellows to make chopping easier. Blue $10s might make sense, too. Played time pots for two downs while shorter but there wasn't much enthusiasm for it full. Good game, good people, will play again.

How big do the $2/$2 PLO games play? I've only played PLO live once in Vegas - the blinds were $1/$2 with a min bring-in of $5, so the pots would get pretty sizable preflop.

I'm interested in trying out PLO at Encore, but I don't think I'm ready for the variance yet if the average players are loose preflop and playing for stacks every couple of hands or so.

Stupid question - when you say “20 O8” do you mean 10/20 O8? Because if yes then I will definitely jump into that and OE and keep that game running

I would treat it as playing $2/$5, though in my limited time playing, noticed at least half did not buy-in for the full $500

The buy-in is 200-500$ and plays like a 2/5NL game. It is also a 5$ bring in. Only played one session so far with these observations: lots of limping in pots, typically 5-6 players/flop. Pot sized raises pre-flop seen by 2-3 players. Average stack size was around 500$. Hope to see you there!

Super pumped to finally make my first visit next Tuesday. I’m having dinner with my bro who lives in charlestown (lucky him), and going to go over early to just get a feel for the room. Don’t anticipate games to be super good on a Tuesday afternoon or anything but hoping to find a splashy 2/5 or maybe do some PLO if anything’s running and just get stacks in a few times for the run up. Coming from Waltham so I’m thinking it will be smooth sailing.

Side question- run it twice at PLO allowed or nah? Guessing no but spoiled in Vegas this summer at aria with those rules.

From what I've heard, they don't allow running it twice outside of the high-limit room stakes

Afaik, in raked games no, in timed games yes.

Which means is all 5/10 and up NL games they allow running in twice.

As far as twice in PLO... 5/5 and 10/10 PLO I assume are timed games, but someone here who's played them I am sure can confirm if one they are timed, and two if so can you run it twice? 2/2 PLO I am unsure of if it's timed or raked but I would assume raked.

I’ve only played it a couple of times and the games can vary widely. The bring in is $5 so in essence it’s very similar to a $2/5 game. From the plo regs who play it frequently, they say that the 2/2 is a better game with more action than the 2/5. Most players haven’t made the necessary adjustments from NLH to PLO. Most overplay and make pot bets too frequently.
Most buy in for $200-$300
You cannot run it twice. It is a raked game

So yeah, the MGC basically lol'd at the lawsuit today. I also got a few good laughs reading the WoV thread about this, with posters highlighting just how bad the MGC's rules are written.