Not surprised that the e-table vs. dealer debate has broken out again. But no one reporting on the actual status of the live tables is rather disappointing.
- The only game spread thus far has been 2/5 NLHE. The buyin limits are 200min/1000max.
- Rake is 10% up to $7
- There is no BBJ
- There are 5 tables available.
- Tables are 9-handed.
- A single straddle is allowed UTG only.
- Dealers are currently churning out anywhere between 10-25 hands/hr in NLHE. Median hands/hr is right around 15-18.
- Dealers are pooling tips.
- There has been a single cashier window open in the poker room since live games started up.
- Off-shift dealers are occasionally being used as chiprunners. They have to use the same single cashier window as everyone else.
- There's been additional floor staff for the live games.
- Signing up for the games was initially done using the poker pro kiosk, but was switched to just speaking to the brush at the front desk.
- There are currently no reward/tier points being granted for live play, despite them swiping your rewards card.
Those are the basic facts of the live games from the first weekend. The games themselves were really good. The 5 tables were full for much of the weekend. Lots of loose money in play that likely wouldn't have been up there if not for the live cards. With the speed of the game, however, it severely reduces the winrate you'd be expecting in your average 2/5 game.
The dealers themselves were very raw. Exposed cards, dealing out too many or too few cards, failing to burn, over-raking, and forgetting change were too common. These errors contributed quite a bit to the slow pace of the game. The dealer changes were probably the most aggravating part of the process. At the end of every down, they'd begin the process of counting down the tray to verify its accuracy.
The weekend PLO game remained on the poker pro tables. It started as 1/2 at about 2pm Sat. It kicked up to 1/2/4 for the majority of the weekend, with a pot average of 250-750. Despite the size of the game, hands/hr were still around 35-40. If it had been spread on the live tables, it would have been 25% of that at best.