I looked at the Pennsylvania Gaming Board's Rulemakings document and I don't see an outright ban on it. Maybe this is a house rule, not allowing straddling at Harrah's Chester for now? I just don't want it to be another NJ, where their freaking Casino Control Commission bans it.

I played at the table when they first opened it, and it was pretty soft. Maybe a third of the table knew how to play, a third would call down multi-way with raises with bottom pair, and a third literally didn't understand how limit worked and had to be coached on betting amounts and buy-ins.

This may have been because there were long lines at every other game, and when the game got announced some people decided to just test the waters. The floor must have broken a table to create the 10-20 once they got 9 on the list, which was really nice of him - early on they told us they were not planning to break any tables, but would set the 10-20 up only if somehow a table magically broke on its own (with 20+ lists on 1-2, 2-5, 2-4, and 3-6, I can't see how that would have happened). I imagine the game will get harder to beat over time as the room settles down.

Agree with the above.

In the 2.5 hours I was playing, I saw dealers misscount or just plain miss chips sitting on those logos on numerous occasions. Players needs to protect themselves from unscrupulous villians, who will take their chips back if they don't get swept, feigning that they thought they were change or whatever.

Add that the stupid bell ringing at 100 decibels every 20 minutes (to announce a new horserace starting) got to be a bit of an annoyance.

To contribute to the comp discussion, I only play 1/2 NL, but always have free midweek room offers at all the AC casinos and Vegas rooms too. Weekends are harder to come by but I do occasionally get free nights, and almost always have a discounted rate.

If you look at various comp threads in B&M, there is not a publicly known formula for the comped room offers, or so it seems. Best bet is just to check the website and see what shows up.

As for Harrah's chester, based on my play yesterday and how much my acct was comped, looks like 50 cents an hour for 1/2 and 20 tier points...anyone else keep track and get similar numbers or numbers for the higher limit games?

I asked my first dealer on Sunday what the comp rate is and he told me quite confidently that it's $1/hr.

As far as I hear e comp rate is .8 for 1/2 and 1 for 2/5 but not quite sure. I will go down tonight and ask the floor.

I did not want to bother folks yesterday as they seemed quite overwhelmed.

:-)

I just did an address change because they still had my Arizona address. I wish I knew I could have gotten freebies by just getting a new card. - comp-tilt.

I just played for about 4 hours this morning. I figured I would get there really early to avoid any wait.
I had to wait about 45 minutes to get a 2/5 game going. I would say the players were your average 2/5 players, a couple other grinders, like myself,with some unusually aggressive play.
The dealers are so inexperienced, it will put you on tilt. We played 4 hands in 30 minutes at one point. This is the first time I have seen this seating system and I am not a fan. There was much more time spent on the dealers trying to clock players in, getting fills, and the chip runners asking dealers to change cash, than actual play. Obviously the kinks needs to be worked out, but it really seems like the majority of the dealers had no training at all.

Just tried to call and put my name on a list. The operator said he was instructed by management not to transfer any calls and you must be present to be added to any list. Well that sucks. I am still going to redeem my $60 slot dollars. If there is a long wait, I am taking my money and going home.

Can anyone provide an update as to what's running and what the wait lists are right now? Contemplating playing 2/5 NL after work if there's a 2/5 going with minimal wait time. Thanks.

Hey guys remember with a new place to play cards in a market that really doesn't have experienced dealers you are going to get slower play then AC where you have an established market with dealers there that have YEARS of experience. Del. Park's dealers are already getting better after being open over a month now. Harrah's dealers just need time in the box to get real dealing experience. Now that they are done class time their speed will come as they get more repetition and confidence. Parx will go through the same thing when they open their room. Just remember they had over 100 dealers in training. They had to not only teach them about the games and the rules but allow them time to deal in the box while other dealers were playing in a mock game and unfortunately to get the speed of the dealers in AC you are going to need WAY more time in the box then what's in a 4 hour class with 30+ students. The dealers were taught the tools to be good dealers. It's now their job to improve on these tools. By mid week the dealers will have dealt more hands then they dealt throughout training. That's just the nature of the class. Hands per hour will go up, games will run smoother, just bare with them these next couple months. Everything will iron itself out. Please be patient with them and if you want, help them out.

You have obviously never played in Vegas where many rooms have this system, even jarrahs ac has it.

The dealers as well as the guys managing the room just have no clue.

I'm not ready to judge the casino yet. This is the first or second day and most dealers are new. Yes they are horribly slow and don't know how to run the room but that will change pretty quickly I'm sure. In the end this system is way better as not having it, including the fact that we don't have to clock out and seats are distributed quickly.

A: Was a good game.

B: This may be a pet peeve of mine, but I just don't understand why people clutter up casino room reports with information about their own hands or how "fishy" some of the other players were. Most people I would think are looking for solid unchanging information, not just how the table happened to be when someone else happened to be there. Tables change constantly, and quality of play changes constantly. I would think it simple fair assumption that in new rooms people not acclimated to the fine tuning of a particular game will be playing it.

Not meaning to be directly snotty to you just something that has been getting to me in all of these threads.

PS: You can thank me for having a dinner list there :P

So they are charging 5 per half hour at the 10/20 game and they are raking the 2/5 game?

Not a no limit player, but if you talk to them about what is standard in AC they will definitely take it into consideration and likely change it. They seem to just be trying to clone AC rules and are very open to discussion.

Yah that doesn't sound good. I don't want to drive the 45 mins round trip for nothing if my game isn't running. In fact that almost nullifies the commute advantage over AC to me. Any chance management there pulls a Stan and keeps us updated?

how was the 1/2 action last night? long waitlist?

Going anyway and being on the list is what makes it happen though

Dealers check your bravos being said every two minutes gets annoying.

YouGotThatChief expect that in rooms with a bravo board.

Just confirmed with floor, comp is $1 everywhere except at 2/4 where it is$.5.

Floor also said they are working on getting it higher.

"Confirming" comps with the floor won't mean a lick. I was there yesterday and was told 3 different answers from 3 different floors.

Best to play for a set amount of time and go stick the rewards card into a slot machine to check comps.

I plan on coming down to Harrah's on Saturday; weird question, but what is the safest route to this casino/how easy is the trip down? Chester is right behind Camden in terms of cities I don't want to get lost in.

ie the website:

Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack
777 Harrah's Blvd.
Chester, PA 19013

(800) 480-8020

Driving to the Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack, located just south of the Philadelphia Airport, is easy and convenient.



From Philadelphia
Coming from Philadelphia, take I-95 South to Exit 8, the Ridley Park - Chester exit. Make a left at the top of the ramp and proceed toward Route 291. Turn right onto 291 west and continue towards Chester for approximately two miles. Harrah's Chester is located on the left hand side on the Delaware River waterfront.



From Delaware
Coming from Delaware, take I-95 North to Exit 8, the Ridley Park - Chester exit. Make a right at the top of the ramp and proceed toward Route 291. Turn right onto 291 West and continue toward Chester for approximately two miles. Harrah's Chester is located on the left hand side on the Delaware River waterfront.

Here is my review on the room. I went yesterday.

I took a picture of the room with my new snazzy iPhone4 and was IMMEDIATELY surrounded by 3 Thugs .... errrr security guards who promptly wrote down my driver's license info as if I was some criminal. They then asked me if I had ever been in a Casino before --- because it is illegal to take pictures in Casinos.

I looked this statue up for NV law. It is NOT illegal. Shocker. [Who knows in PA, but these thugs cited NV law for some reason]

So ... I played and here are the key points

a) Dealers are 100% incompetent. like beyond your wildest dreams
b) Rake is $5 + $1 BBJ
c) Waitstaff not attractive and quite terrible and slow
d) The FLOOR(wo)men are AWFUL .... Slow, terrible, awful. Dealers need permission to ship $100 out of the rack. And the floor takes 3 minutes to get to tables (while talking to waitresses on the way over)

Overall: Total Joke.


edit: 1 good point (bc I am not biased). Free Parking

What relevance does NV law have here? You say yourself that you don't know the PA law. Do your homework then complain. BTW this story sounds just a tiny bit exaggerated.