Full disclosure...once a long time ago I made a huge mistake in a Sit-n-Go that cost a guy cashing in the game. Afterwards I gave him his buy in back....mostly because it was a HUGE mistake on my part and I wanted to remember my mistake. But no way am I giving a guy $$$ for a mistake he made, and in this case actually cost me more money.

Yeah the guy with AQ is probably furious. Lost a $2500 bad beat. no way I'd be giving him money back, id be pissed at him for not just turning the cards over.

I think it's fine to have this approach, I personally wouldn't wanna win this way. I'm only getting freerolled bc I'm not certain the other player would do the same for me if the roles were reversed. Since I wouldnt make the same error it doesn't matter.

Yes, they met the $15k guarantee.

Hadn't played here in a few weeks, so last night was my first time back in some time.

Was pleased to see that the $250 high hand promotion was bringing in a decent number of tables. Cage was empty when I got there but eventually had someone in it.

One dealer, who shall remain nameless, did confirm that they have a new VP in charge of poker, and he's from table games and has no poker background, and has said, according to this dealer that if they didn't start making the guarantees on tournaments, he'd pull guarantees altogether.

Don't guarantees come from the promotion pool? If so, then that declaration is sheer ignorance.

so is this vp temp in charge?
or if permanent, then Anthony is out?

Unknown, sorry.

I'd be thrilled if they pulled the guarantees. It's frustrating to see thousands of dollars taken from cash games put into making guarantees for tournaments that lots of cash game players don't play.

Guarantees go away, tournament player pool dries up.

Tournament player pool dries up, fewer people playing cash while they wait for the tournament to start or after busting out.

Fewer people playing cash while they wait for the tournament to start or after busting out, cash game player pool dries up.

Cash game player pool dries up, less poker revenue for casino.

Less poker revenue for casino, the higher the chance that table games and slots replace some or all of the space that the poker tables currently occupy.

Right now, as frustrating as it is, it's probably a necessary evil that is likely helping keep this room limping along.

+1 this is a natural progression on how things could go

So the tournament guarantees DO NOT come from the promo drop?

cuz if it does, why cant they make the guarantee?

By "make" do you mean "pay" or "get enough players to grow the prize pool above the guaranteed amount"?

Because it's the latter they haven't been doing consistently.

Pay

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

Even if you /can/ pay it, you might not think it's a good use of advertising dollars to do so. The fact that you have to spend the money on promotions doesn't mean you'll use it on any specific promotion.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using 2+2 Forums

The question hasn't been whether or not the shoe could PAY the guarantee - although given the downswing in cash games it's a valid question. The question of "making the guarantee" relates to whether enough people attend the tournament to fill up the prize pool to the guaranteed amount.

With a number of their tournaments, HB has consistently had to put money in the pot, especially with the former $20k GTD Saturday tournament with the $350 BI.

Last Saturday, HB had their usual $350 BI tournament, while Live had a $150 double green chip bounty. Both had a 15k GTD pool. Live had over 200 runners, and 27 of us made the money (out in 25th myself with 4 bounties to boot). HB made their guarantee but that has to have been a "just barely" considering that when I checked the bravo clock info at about 1 pm there were only 39 entrants.

So I think it's pretty clear, the tournament route for drawing players isn't working on it's own for HB.

IMO HB is going to do better at drawing in the cash players by focusing more on promotions for cash than for tournaments. That seems to be borne out by the turnout this week, with HB's $250 high hand every 30 mins promo making the room quite lively Tuesday night.

They don't need to BEAT Live's promos to do well. They just need promos that are good enough to appeal to the casual player who's promo, not win-rate, minded. After all, in a 24 table room it's much more likely that your Aces Full high hand will hold up to win you $250 than even low quads have a chance of winning you $500 in a 52 table room.

While in the short run this has helped take out even more of the variance in this tournament it will come to a point where they can't sustain the tournament at all. I love the structure of the Saturday $350 and have done very well playing this event as many times as I can. I like the room and the space and the fact that my wife can come and sit near me when she wants and drive home if she wants to go home.

This week however I will not be playing at the shoe due to the big 2 day event at Live. Live has been upping their tournament game and has had the resources to do it. I don't know if this downturn is due to it being summer with lots of other things to do in the area along with the WSOP going on in Vegas or if this a sign of things to come for the poker room at the Horseshoe. I really enjoy the room but I will be going to the places with the better spots and its looking more and more like that may be MDL. The tournament fall out could also be due to the cash game comp changes as many of the tournament players play cash as well.

Make no mistake the tournament and cash games being able to sustain themselves at a level that is thriving comes down to one single thing....customer service.

hunt4sky is right. It really is that simple imo.

Pretty much. I made my first visit to HB on the 4th. I play at MDL often and had never been to the shoe and wanted to try it out. Got there and the floor/brush was kind of a douche to me. Sit and wait so long I could have left and gone to MDL and gotten on a table faster.

Even though I sort of drive past MDL to get to HB without traffic it can't be more than 5 minutes longer drive. The room is nice. The crap service makes me never want to go again

It really is a shame because the way the room is set-up it (and casino) could crush MD Live as the go to place.

How do you figure?

Maybe crush was too strong; the venue has the potential to offer a lot of advantages would be more fair. The management/staff at MD Live is by far superior which would be near impossible to overcome.

I was speaking more to the atmosphere. I think the access/parking is easier. The room has more room around the tables and podium; every time I am at MD Live my seat is always getting bumped or I am dodging people. At Live, the podium can be very crowded/confusing during busy times. HS has better lighting and they have the meeting rooms for larger tournament events. Food options are plentiful and closer to the room. 9 handed 2/5. And I like the look and feel and layout of HS casino as a whole better than Live.

But management/staff and customer service will always trump the physical aspects of the venue for me, every time. Live does crush HS here and that is not likely to ever change.

Thanks for the response; that makes more sense. I agree that HB has the potential to be a more comfortable atmosphere for poker players, but as you correctly pointed out that potential never will be realized. And MGMNH will be along shortly to take even more market share.

Yes, very glad to see a second alternative where the management is engaged with the customer (as in MGMNH). Personally, I think the market is fine with 3 excellent Balt/DC venues and I think competition is a VERY good thing. However, it does not look like 3 will be the number, only 2.

they still have tables running. On bravo it says 11. I guess some people really like this room still, or maybe they are close to diamond.