Quote:
Originally Posted by Justice Bieber
There is no casino being built in Atlanta...there is however Harrah's Cherokee Murphy which will be about an hour closer drive for Georgians. It would probably start off quite small, like Cherokee did long ago, and not have a poker room. ETA on its opening is next year this time.
The reason it is so hard to get rooms on weekends at Cherokee, aside from the monopoly, is that the clientele mostly comprises of late middle age to retired folks with disposable income and plenty of free time. There aren't enough college student frat guys with $200 weekend bankrolls. A typical 70yo granny playing slots over a weekend far trumps revenue generated from 10 poker players. Yes, I am estimating a 10:1 $ ratio.The Murphy casino opening may eventually spread out the weekend slot and pit old folks and provide some relief for Cherokee vacancy rates.
This last thought is merely my opinion but I have to disagree with the often brought up notion that if the Cherokee poker room had competition then it would provide better games/service/comps and overall experience. Unlike poker-only rooms like many of those found in Fla, the revenues from poker aren't Cherokee's main source of income. Cherokee probably makes more money off of the buffet than 1/2nl. Poker is an afterthought. In Fla, the poker rooms that provide poor comps and customer service would shut down and go out of business. If you were to build a poker room as competition near Cherokee, Harrah's could easily just shut down its existing poker room and not bat an eye. It would be more cost effective than "being competitive" by giving out better comps and free rooms. It wouldn't surprise me at all they simply close down the poker room if business were slow enough. Closing between 6a-10am provides evidence they are always performing cost cutting analysis. Closing down the poker room completely would probably not even put a noticeable dent in their overall revenues. They could easily turn that room upstairs into a restaurant or gift shop so be careful what you wish for.
It would really only be hurting the poker room employees and cocktail waitresses who depend on your business for their livelihoods if people start to boycott the room. I advocate everyone write a professional articulate letter to the GM outlining your concerns and requests for beneficial improvements to the poker room and how a healthy poker room with satisfied customers benefits the casino as a whole. The worst thing he can do is ignore you. Its worth a shot.
I've found Cherokee is responsive to reasonable requests, and comped rooms (sometimes on property, sometimes off) are pretty easy to get on a moment's notice if you just ask. Find somebody at the desk, tip them when they can get you a room, and they will definitely make the effort to get you a comped room. In the past year, I've paid for one night out of about 30 nights spent in Cherokee.
If you want something, ask in a nice way. And ask Anthony.
