What happened to the old room?

it's still there... it was being used for storage as they rebuild the front of the property. the room will move back into that position(hopefully with some type of upgrades) in maybe late nov/dec.

fyi, the 2+2 party will be held partly in that old space.

when's the next grand challenge series?

Are we still @ temp location?

There is other remodeling going on nearby and they had to close it for safety concerns until it is complete.

Does this game only go on Wednesdays? Any other days? Would sure be worth a trip to MGM to play this.

You should follow Karina's twitter feed. She usually announces when one is firing up. @KarinaJett

I'm a reg at the MGM--or, I was. Last night the floor personnel told me that effective the 1st of October, the MGM is adding a $1 drop per hand for a jack pot. I was told that it will be "just a high hand starting out."

It's no secret that the room has been struggling this year, but why is the answer to that to raise the rake??? NONE of the major rooms on the strip drop for a jackpot (I don't think of Caesars as a major cash game venue) why in the world would management think that this will draw traffic?

Meanwhile, since the Venetian went to $2/hr comps, the MGM is now the major strip casino paying the lowest comps.

"come play at the MGM; we have the least comfortable poker room on the strip, and the lowest comps. But at least you get to pay higher rake."

Seriously, Karina, are they even thinking at all?

Fwiw, I spoke to one regular and one semi-regular last night who said they're moving their play to the V and Bellagio, respectively. If the intent of the higher rake is to run some of the regs out, it's already a success. I'll be moving most of my
play to Aria.

Wtf. What a horrible idea.

To get people back, stop with th gimmicks.

Put the room back in the normal location, permanently.

Raise the comps by $1.... Jackpot is the worst idea ever

I really hope the jackpot drop is not the plan. That will definitely make me reevaluate where I play

Go on their Facebook page and let your voice be heard!

They're trying to retain the 8 regs from Tropicana that are used to paying $6 rake.

Jackpot is only good for the game if the fish that it brings in do not short stack and clog up the games with their 35bb stack all night

Increasing the rake and believing the regular customers are dumb enough to accept the lie that it is for their benefit shows the final decision maker for the poker room has no clue on how to maintain and/or grow a poker room.

Trying to manage poker players like they were slot players just verifies whoever made this decision is clueless about poker players and most likely has very little poker room experience.

Of course after the increased rake accelerates the decline of the room, the manager will claim it was other factors causing the room to decline. And will lie, claiming that the decision to add the ripoff lottery gimmicks help slow the decline.

There is not one example of where increasing the rake and adding lottery games as a factor to the room has helped a room long term. Yes, the few times a lottery(bad bet)pot gets up over six figures, the room does increase for a few days. But as soon as someone wins it, the room empties out until maybe a year or two laters the bad bet pot is over six figures and the room is busy again for a few days.

Ceaser's poker room is a great example of how increasing the rake and allocating a small part the increase to some type of gimmick only hurts the room. Great room, good location, a large amount of people walking by everyday, but it has never been able to attract the number of customers that the top five rooms have (i guess four now).

I know it is a waste of time. But I like the room and will now go to their facebook page. Stopping the increase in rake will require the management saying they made a mistake and that will never happen.

I did have a poker room manager proudly tell me adding a bad beat rake had increased the gross profit percentage of his poker room. But when I asked if it had increased or decreased the net profit income of the room, he refused to answer.

Maybe MGM rather have a higher gross profit percentage, but have less net income from the room !!

I was there yesterday, didnt hear anything about this. when did they say they were going to that additional drop?
the dollar per hour comp does seem... Lite for these days.

My first post on Facebook in over a year. Good call in urging people to post on their page.

I was back in the MGM last night. I learned a little more about this decision. Apparently it was the unilateral decision of one guy. I have his name, but I assume posting it is not permitted.

Anyway, this guy, who I have never once seen in the poker room in 1000 hours of play there, made the unilateral decision to add the $1 drop. There is A LOT of dissension from the staff, who, from what it looks like to me, think the boss screwed the pooch in a major way making this call. Not a single staff member I have griped to about this decision agrees with it.

The staff apparently understands perfectly well that it's not jackpots that have caused the Aria, V and Bellagio to have crowded rooms, and that rooms like the Trop that have promo drops are struggling, but their absentee boss apparently doesn't. So this seems like the hubris of an absentee boss triumphing over the experience of the people who actually show up in the poker room.

Ok. I think I know who you are talking about. They have a "Director of Poker Operations", who I have never seen at the room.

Thank you for voicing your concern on FB. Please ask others to do the same.

nicely stated... MGM was fine before, messing with success without a clear proven idea is bad. just up the comp rate a buck and see what happens.

I'm certainly not a reg at the MGM room as I don't live in Vegas, but when I am in town I always play at the MGM. Needless to say, if this decision isn't reversed, I'll certainly take my playing time to one of the other rooms previously mentioned.

It would be interesting if the director of poker operations (or whoever the decision maker is) would post their line of thinking for adding the jackpot drop. Perhaps there are other preferable avenues for accomplishing what they hope to attain through this change. A jackpot drop can't be the path.

Someone who thinks the jackpot drop will attract poker players, doesn't understand the mentality of poker players who play on a regular basis. For those who want to gamble it up on a long shot, the casino is already full of games geared for them.

Anyway...I have always liked MGM Grand and the staff, I hope they will reconsider this proposed move.

While I don't think adding a $1 jackpot drop and using the funds for high hand bonuses will increase the room's popularity, posters in this thread are overreating to what they call a rake increase.

First, I'm assuming that posters here know that Nevada gaming regulations require that 100% of a jackpot rake is returned to the players. So, for the player pool as a whole, this is neutral EV decision. All the money dropped is going back to the players.

However, all players aren't raked equally. Players who play more pots, and therefore win more pots, pay more in rake, including to the $1 jackpot drop. So, loose players get hurt by a jackpot drop by paying more into it than the average player. However, tight players should expect to contribute less to the jackpot rake.

Likewise, loose players probably win a miniscule percentage more in high hand bonuses by miracling runner-runner quads+.

But, I'm sure the extra amount donated to the jackpot drop by loose players is more than the extra amount they win by the very rare extra big hand they make.

That leaves tight players in a +EV situation.

So... As a tight player should I be lobbying for a larger jackpot rake to further maximize my +EV?

Basically, if you are a good player who plays regularly, the marginal utility of that jackpot is very low to you, where as the cost of the jackpot hits you consistently.

Winning 3 hands an hour, playing 20 hours a week is 60 hours a week, working out to $3,000 dollars of lost income that year. That is very real.

Like, I play the 2-5 which takes the 4th dollar at $150, which is amazing, so the $1 extra won't impact me that much.... but basically, the cost of playing @ MGM just increased by more than 20%, and you don't think people should complain? How about we raise your taxes by 20%?

What goes into the decision making of a poker room when deciding to offer either 1/2 or 1/3 NLH?

I was on the fence of not playing at the MGM again because they offer 1/2 and not 1/3, the additional $1 drop makes it an easier choice.

Also, Wynn is currently offering $3 comps per hour.

Are tables still 10-handed at MGM too?