Ok, thanks.

While I think it's possible they could jump the gun, I think it's highly unlikely. They didn't in 2007, they waited until July 1 and this is a compact that they have signed. I would think it's likely they will honor it at this point.

Not true. It is based on money. An implementation last weekend would have killed a proposed $400 million extra than letting it roll in July. Seminoles are still paying what the state wants because it should happen early enough this year. Pari's are going to continue to pay 50% taxes until July then 35% after. Not to mention all the work that goes into expanding to not only larger games but mainly OTHER games. How many dealers in Florida now do you think could actually deal PLO? I hate to say it but our dealers are not all trained to even come close to that. They have been living in a dream world with easy bets, $5 max or all-in... Not to mention all the poker rooms think that it is never going to go through so they are going to be hit with a big suprise.

If I were running a poker room in Florida right now ...

- I'd have my black, purple and yellow chips backordered already and green-light the order for them now.

- I'd have a stack of resumes for dealers on my desk ready to be gone through, with a hiring date of June 15. Chip runners too.

- I'd keep the $100 max buy-in NL games for those who are comfortable with it, but I'd also establish a $300 max buy-in for $1/$2, a $500 max buy-in for $2/$5, and a $1000 max buy-in for $5/$10. If demand was high enough regularly, I'd run an uncapped $10/$20 NL game.

- If my clientele included old people who want low-limit fixed hold em, I'd be sure to keep some tables open daily for them, too.

- I'd prepare my staff to be ready to deal any game, any level, any time, and make it a selling point for my poker room (want to play Badugi? we're spreading it)

- Autoshufflers standard at every single table. Also if my tables were worn or if my chairs sucked, I'd change the furniture.

- If I didn't already have 50 tables in my poker room, I'd find a way to get to at least 50 tables.

- I'd offer "rake break" hours for the non-peak poker times. I'd even consider a promotion where one table every hour doesn't pay rake (just a BBJ drop).

- And a progressive BBJ with a weekly drop in what qualifies to win the BBJ.

- I'd plan on establishing some MUCH better-structured, player friendly tournaments. With the extended hours I can add levels and extend levels beyond the typical 20-minute level without big jumps after the first 5 or 6 levels.

- I'd consider the option for people to call/email/text ahead of time for seats.

- Considering the new landscape of poker in Florida, especially in South Florida, I'd revamp my comp policy BIG TIME. Maybe include some easy-to-get comps for food and beverage and freeroll tournaments.

- I'd consider this idea I once heard in a poker room: For $5, one player every hand could "rabbit cam" the river card once the pot was awarded. So the dealer would offer the rabbit cam option to the loser(s) of the hand for $5, and the player could pay for the right to see the river card. He could not show the rest of the table. The $5 would go toward the BBJ. I'd personally never pay to see it, but it's a cheap way to maybe add some redbirds to the BBJ drop.

- I'd create a "tournament leaderboard" where we'd annually crown a Player of the Year based on points received. The Top 10 players on the board would freeroll for a WSOP seat and receive other perks to be determined.

Your ideas?

(1) Spread what players want. I would begin now by asking the regulars what they would like to see.

(2) Maximize hands per hour. You can do this by (1) training dealers to be quick and keep the game flowing (2) carry around their own chip trays so the dealer does not have to count chips during dealer change (3) employ runners to get chips from the cage (4) use autoshufflers

(3) Employ player friendly rules such as No Flop No Drop and allowing the blinds to chop.

(4) Service with a smile. Train every one to be friendly and nice.

(5) Put in giant screens with game infos, waiting lists etc.

(6) Always have enough dealers to ensure small wait times.

(7) Go out and buy the most Comfortable chairs. I think they have rated chairs for guys who want to play 3 days straight.

(8) For regulars offer a real comp policy that allows regulars on the way to the casino to add name to list.

(9) Only take out $1 for BBJ. If the volume is there casinos do not need to go to a $2 BBJ rake. Do not rake BBJ if the pot is not large enough to qualify for the BBJ. (At Mardi Gras you need $20 in the pot to be eligible for high hand and jackpots but the take out $1 regardless of the pot).

(10) Start marketing all these changes NOW to get first mover advantage.

(11) Require all managers to read this thread for ideas.

Realized that after I posted. It looked like it pertained to the current situation in Florida. I do like dozer's idea of what card room managers should do. Except the rabbit cam thing, I personally would rather see the bbj go away completely and the rabbit cam would slow the game way down, IMO.

Just to clarify, at Mardi Gras we take $1 at $10 and $1 at $20. Only the high hand jackpot needs $20 to qualify. The BB and Royal Flush qualify at $10. We did that to prevent the lower limit games from getting to $10 and then checking down for the HH. Also, we give away $6K a day in jackpots not including BB, so most of what we take in every day goes right back out.

Otherwise, great points Mark.

Wil Herrera
Director of Poker Operations
Mardi Gras Casino

Hi Mr. Herrera,

I'm a moderately regular player at The Isle in Pompano Park, and even more occasional at Dania Jai Alai (for their cheap tourneys). I've played in your room once; I liked it fine but it's far from my house, which is why I've only played there once.

I was wondering if you'd share some of the details you and Mardi Gras have planned for when the 'uncapped era' begins on July 1. What kinds of games you'll be spreading, certain promotions, updated tournaments, or none of the above. I'm sure the readers of this thread would be interested to get a card room's view and interpretation of the new rules and opportunities set before them.

I also invite other FL poker room managers reading this to do the same thing. Thanks for posting on 2p2.

I'm interested to hear a poker room manager's thoughts on what the min/max will be in all of your NL games.

Also, if you don't expect the higher games to run, what would your min/max be if they did?

Hello Dozer,

We are still making a lot of the final determinations on buy-ins, time vs. rake, jp, etc. I do believe that you will see a lot of limit, such as 3/6, 4/8, etc. I believe PLO may catch on with the influx of out of state players. I also expect some O8 kill or 1/2 kill games. As far as NLHE, I would expect to see min buy of 20bb to a max of 100bb for most games. We would also offer tables with 200bb max or no max if that is what the players want to play. There will be a lot of changes in the first few months as we see what the players want to play and what will bring them into our house.

As far as promos, we offer some great promos right now. However, we may limit some jackpots to lower limit games: many players that play 10/20 or 15/30 and higher are not really interested in jackpots.

Tournaments will really open up in Florida with a removal of the buy-in cap. Now we will be able to offer much larger tournaments and become a part of the tournament circuit since we can offer both large buy-in tournaments and much of the side action that the players are looking for.

In any event, it is an exciting time in Florida. There is a lot to do, but we at The Big Easy Poker Room at Mardi Gras Casino are committed to offering a great product to our guests.

Wil Herrera
Director of Poker Operations
Mardi Gras Casino

All interested patrons:

I would like to first say that we at the Palm Beach Kennel Club Poker Room are always interested in obtaining the imput from the players themselves in regards to certain aspects of the operation. It is, ultimately, your game. We are just here to organize and run it.

With that being said, we are very excited to be turning the corner here in Florida. .25, then $1-$2, then $100 NL, and now full no limit. It's been a long and tedious road, but we have finally made it.

Here at PBKC we are circiling the wagons and making arrangements to make a smooth transition into the new games. Players are being asked for their opinions in regards to limits, buy-ins, and other items that are important to the game. We have 60 available poker tables, so we are ahead of the game in that aspect. The artwork is ready for the $100, $500, and $1,000 chips. All other equipment is on the way. Security is being upgraded to ensure the safety of all of our patrons. Dealers are being assessed and trained for the change of gears to the higher limits (Nothing worse than a dealer prompting a player when it is $3,500 to them. The player knows it's $3,500 to go).

The big question that we have is how many players are out there that want to play bigger, but do not do so in FL because the games are not currently offered. We have made projections and know have an idea of what new games will be spread. I would like to know the opinions of all of you in regards to this. Wil H. from Mardi Gras seem to have the same opinion.

Please feel free to list and additional suggestions or comments. We would be more than happy to see if they would apply to the Kennel Club.

Noah Carbone
Cardroom Director
Palm Beach Kennel Club

For god's sake, don't make it 20-100bbs, go for 40-100 or 40-200 if anything. Very few places in vegas allow people to buy in for 20bbs.

Will you may have a 1/2nl game with no cap on the buyin?

Is the minimum age going up to 21? I was planning on taking a trip down there for poker after July 1st

no, age is staying at 18

Fantastic

I live in Escambia County, Pensacola, FL and the Bill to allow poker at our local Dog Track just passed this year after being voted down at the end of last year. I was one of many, who had letters to the editor published complaining about the vote, and now the possibility of the $100 max buy in being lifted is just awesome. It has been great being able to play here an not have to drive to Biloxi. It is about time the legislate here in Florida does what is best to increase revenue in our state. I have even heard some news about the some possible laws allowing online poker here in Florida. If anyone has any news I would love to hear about itI will be sure to post again after the buy in increase and let everyone know how things go here in Pensacola. Oh by the way the name of the track is The Pensacola Greyhound Dog Track. If anyone gets up this way let me know, it would be great to meet some of you.

No shiznik. I thought the Orlando area (with its pari's in Semen-hole County) was the only poker wasteland in Florida. Wow, that's a pretty conservative, bible-thumpin' part of the state too. Gives me hope...

LIVE 25/50 HOLDEM AND PLO LETS GOGOGOGOGO WOOOOOOHOOOOOO

the 20 BB minimum is too small, it still allows people to short stack, hit and run, it should be at least 40BB to 200BB, so the 2/5 game has a $200 min buy in with a $1000 cap and IMO the 5/10 should be the same, $400-$2000. I am new to Florida and where I always played I would not sit at a table with a bunch of short stacks, there needs to be at least $3500-$5000 on the 2/5 table to play poker like it should be played.
also on the larger games, 5/10 are they still going to be bad beat eligible? I would think the raking of the $2 a hand would just slow the game down, you would be constantly giving change and fills. Also from what I have noticed the players at the higher stakes do not care for the bas beat games anyway.

Good luck with trying to keep all the players happy, we all know that is an impossible task.

I will probably never play in Florida, unfortunately, but just to weigh in on the min/max buy-in issue: Cali shows, beyond any doubt, that keeping the min high and the max low makes for the best games. 100x the small as the min, and 100x the big as the max, serves the house's purpose. Even in Vegas, Bellagio has much better action in it's 2/5 and 5/10 than does any other place, and it's because they have lower maxs.

The house doesn't make any extra money on huge pots. You'll just see live ones busted faster. Sharks will complain about mere 100x buyins, but that's because they're shortsighted. They won't go play somewhere else, they'll go where the fish are. Period. NEVER worry about making pros happy.

As for the min, just make sure it's used to keep the games segregated. If you have a 1-2 max 200, make the 2-5 min 200. But you don't otherwise need to worry about shortstacking live. It just isn't the same problem as with online.

Good luck, Florida. Nice to see the poker grow up there.

Also, about comps: realize this most basic of truths: everything you give a player, the player gives back. It doesn't actually cost you anything to buy a guy a burger, because that $5 you save him he uses for gambling. It all goes down the drop eventually, so don't worry about. But what you will have done is create in him the mindset that he's getting something for free. It's fake generosity, but very effective.

Poker rooms that are cheap with their comps have never studied behavioral economics.

IMO from the last 9 years I lived in Vegas the Venetian has better Mid to lower limit games then the Bellagio, the Venetian has a 200 BB max, when they changed to this that is when they became IMO the best room in Vegas for 2/5-5/10. The Bellagio is just a tourist trap unless you are playing the high limits, people that want to star gaze go there, see there favorite players walk in and can say they played in the same room when they were playing.

Maybe everybody on this site is trying to make a killing on Poker but I think the card room managers will keep an eye out for those who really do play this game for the enjoyment of it.

Most "Florida" players will be happy to see the guys trying to make a living in the card room go play the higher limits.

The 1-2 NLH tables at Hard Rock Tampa and at Tampa Dogs are generally filled with vacationers and retirees and guys slipping out of work for the afternoon trying to have a little fun playing poker. They like it best when the table is friendly and the flops are cheap. These folks are the bedrock of the card room and management knows it. They will not alienate their regulars.

These guys are smart. They will make sure that the lower buy-in games preserve the friendly atmosphere that keeps the regulars coming, add some Limit games the regulars will enjoy and then also add some bigger games for the guys who only get a thrill if their next car payment is at risk.

BTW for you out of towners thinking you'll make a killing coming to Florida to play Vegas style poker, be warned: Many Florida based players have cashed at the WSOP and if you look, you will find that there are some bracelets and rings here too!

Suggestion for Florida Card Room Managers:

To promote interest in some new games such as Pot Limit Omaha, rather than waiting for a list of interest to fill up, try promoting a time and day for it. Example:

Every Tuesday at 8 PM is PLO Night!

Every Saturday/Sunday at 10 AM is Good Morning PLO!

I promise, if you tell people you plan to spread it, you will get a gaggle of regulars to show up.

Hi Will, This is Teddy from the Seminole classic room days!

I'd like to see O8, Stud & HORSE games spread regularly. Even though I live closer to the Isle, I'd come down 5 days a week for overnight games at your place for O8, Stud or HORSE games!

I'd also be willing to orgainize O8, Stud or HORSE games to get (AND KEEP) them running on a regular basis as a prop player for any Broward County poker room.

For those of you that missed yesterday's Senate debate & vote on SB 622, I posted it on my site here:
http://www.goodbear.com/poker/sb622.html

Teddy