Ahhh, but when it was 1-3 it was also no straddle. Bring in was 3 or pot for 12 to open. Again, lowest limit, no straddle in plo, and imho more inviting to newer players.

It's grossly unprofessional of me to argue openly. The tone of this post would prevent me from responding in anything other than a hostile way, way I will just say that you are misinformed in multiple ways. If you would like to discuss personally, I will be happy to do so when we open.

I appreciate your input and opinion.

You can still respond professionally. I'd be happy to hear how I'm misinformed.I'm giving you the perspective of a poker player with thousands of hours of experience, that most on here are echoing. You're telling us why something is better when it's clearly not and then refusing to explain why you feel it is. The only thing that might be better comp wise is a higher comp dollar earn rate, which only matters if it allows you to buy more than your competitors.

Two simple questions-

1) do you think any poker player prefers to have to ask to have a comp printed out when it can just be automatically on the card?Or prefers losing comp dollars because they weren't "diligent" . Telling someone they should have been more diligent when their comp dollars are taking away is **** customer service actually.

I have honestly never met one besides those who like having the the ability to bribe their way into higher comps.

2) let's say you have the best comps as far as value is concerned. Why can't you still have the best comps but an easier system for redeeming them? They're mutually exclusive, it doesn't have to be one or the other.

I understand the way MGM operates and how they comp for poker. Your hands are likely tied and MGM is just going to go with their normal procedure of having to ask for a comp slip. I don't expect you to bash them for it but I really can't understand why you think it's "better customer service".Unnecessary steps that force one to deal with your staff more often isn't better, even if that staff is great.the aria's staff is always quick to issue the comp and they make you feel like it's not a chore for them but I would still rather have it on the card and not have to ask. The bellagio often has you waiting for several minutes in the back to get a comp, and most of the people issuing them make you feel like a begger for getting what's your's.So best case scenario (aria) you've wasted time. Worst case you've wasted a lot of time and feel like crap. There is no upside to this system.

You are correct in that poker players want to go where the best action is. You can comp zero and if your games are great and your competitor's games suck I'd play with you guys when in the area.All of us can understand that. But that still doesn't mean this needing to ask for a comp system is better.

You clearly know the state of MGM poker comps vs others. I don't necessarily like the inconvenience of the system either, but it is what it is. I think you are misunderstanding what Mr. Grooms has posted in this thread and possibly not looking at how their system may have trade offs. Maybe cut him some slack? To respond to your questions:

1] I don't think Mr. Grooms ever stated that players should prefer the convenience of the system. His statement that it would force interaction between MGM employee's and players and reward the diligent has merit. This could be a good business model to build rapport with customers (outside of providing an opportunity to juice the staff).

2] The way I understand the model, it certainly could be one or the other. Those that are too lazy or waste value in their comps subsidize a higher comp value for others. Again, "rewarding the diligent."

I can see the benefits in this system even thought I admittedly prefer Caesars system. Those that are really concerned about getting the biggest dollar amount in comps probably have no problem jumping through a smallish hoop to do so.

That being said, the I cannot see any benefit to keeping the comps in house and not allowing transfers, although Mr. Grooms did mention that calls can be made to other properties on behalf of a comped player (again boosting interaction and rapport).

There is a gap in communication here. My preference as an operator is that I emphasize my biggest strength, which will be my staff. I will take every opportunity to do so. Every casino has cards, chips, comps, tables, chairs etc. What separates them is the staff.

If convenience is the only measure that you have for comps, then absolutely, all other things being equal, comps on a card are the way to go. But all other things wont be equal, and there are trade offs. I think our biggest difference of opinion is that you don't want to deal with staff unless you are required to do so.

This system will also offer my staff a much better opportunity to accentuate the comps with recs, which will keep them playing at our place. The impersonality of putting a comp on a card being done with it does nothing to accentuate a relationship between my staff and a new player. I want that new player to remember the people that work here and know that's why they are coming back. As a player who has "played many thousands of hours" you are likely a pro- or semi-pro. As I have said before, my philosophy will be at odds with yours a lot. But my philosophy will provide a collection of games that you will want to play in. So we will both win.

And bribing someone for higher comps wont be the norm. If it is, you will see turnover on the staff until it isn't.

Maybe I didn't explain myself well. I've played in rooms with great customer service and terrible customer service. I'm glad you think customer service is so important.

However I feel you're incorrectly looking at this chance to interact with the customer as good customer service when it's not. There are plenty of other times you'll have this opportunity.

I agree recreational players are way more important to a room. If I don't like how this comp system works then tough **** for me- I'm still gonna play if the games are good and you know that. However casual players like the "impersonal " method of just having comps put on a card.And what they like is what's important.It's not just that don't want to deal with staff in this situation , I dont think any player wants to.

You're right all else being equal I prefer the comps just put on my card. And you say all else won't be equal- which is great. But i don't understand why there has to be a tradeoff. Why can't the comps but better than other places, with great food selection but issued in a manner in which most players prefer?

If you told me the comps could suck but just go on the card, obviously I'd rather much better comps and to have to ask for them- but why not have the best of both worlds? For example this is what the borgata does and it's great. I've played in places in florida where they give a quarter (or maybe less) an hour and put it straight on the card- but i don't even both using the card because I'm not gonna play all week to get a hamburger.So yes aria/bellagio comps or better than these places in florida but they're not as good as they could be.

Things like taking names over the phone, keeping an orderly wait list, quickly filling empty seats, answering any questions a player may have, making them feel welcome, good fast cashiers, fast food and drink service, fair rulings are great ways to gave great customer service. I know you guys have a hard job- and you often deal with angry drunks losing their money who take it out on you. In places with good cs I'm amazed at how well some people can bite their tongues when dealing with this bs.

You can also have good cs with the comps going on the card. At MD Live I had no idea how comps work when i first played there since every poker room is so different. The person i asked very nicely explained everything to be from how to redeem them, to how much you earn per hour at different tier levels. They were very helpful and it was great cs. In other rooms when I've asked they made me feel like a nuisance.

Believe me I have no problem with something not being my preference as long as casual players like it. If I'm wrong and most rec players prefer this way of handling comps then that is the system you should use. But if you're really interesting in making them happy, ask them once the place is open which they would prefer.

I play a few times a year now. This will be my home casino since it's about 10 minutes from me. Personally I'd prefer not to have to interact with someone to get comps (it seems like it's just going to take extra time, and if there's a line to speak to whomever I'll probably just leave rather than wait), but I also don't really care about the comps in general, so w/e. $0, $1, $2, $4, makes no impact on my decision to play here.

Proximity is by far priority for me (and I imagine most recreational players), then if that's close (if I were equidistant to mdl), competent dealers, competitive rake, and to a smaller degree jackpot/high hand type promotions (this is probably more attractive to non 2p2 recs), and very near the end of the list whether I earn enough by playing to get a sandwich or whatever and how I go about getting those dollars.

I only want to interact w/your staff if it's poker related. ie: wait list, rules question, table change, etc.
I think I'm in the majority for regs. (don't know for recs.)

I prefer md live/horseshoe's method of comps which is hand your rewards card to the server.
the server's job is about food. if I want food, I don't want to interact w/poker personnel about food.

I see you saying that it's a plus for me that I have to interact w/your people to use my comps as (bad) spin.
(unless your supervisors are all beautiful female models.)

as I said in a previous post, it's like a fat chick in a middle seat in an airplane saying it's better for both her AND me to leave the arm rest up.
no, it's not better for me. it's only better for you.

ie:
how many people know what the EXACT amount of food they are buying? they probably will ask for a comp value a little less than what is the actual cost is and pay the difference.
win for mgm because you just spent a little more real $.
OR they ask for a comp that is a little more than the actual cost and lose the extra amount. again, win for mgm.

but I can understand that this is outside of your control. it's mgm policy.
and since you're a senior mgm mgr, it's your job to be a mgm cheerleader.


edit:
do recs really prefer to interact w/poker personnel for things non-poker related???

Recs prefer personal and 1 on 1 service. Recs prefer that you greet them and use their name frequently. Recs want to feel appreciated and valued. This is part of that approach.

Also, a point of clarity: If you order tableside food service, you will have to interact with a runner. This runner will be take your card and eliminate the need to interact with a shift manager. Maybe that will help the process a little.

All I can say is, I hope the staff isnt nearly as "busy" as the MDL staff constantly is. Otherwise I can see never, ever wanting to spend one second interacting with them. So lets say there are 350-400 players at any one time in the room. Every time one of these players wants a comp for a meal they are going to have to interact with someone - a someone who is also dealing with filling seats, running games and dealing with rulings?

But the bottom line is that there is probably a financial reason for this decision. Maybe they save the money by not putting a kiosk style system in place - who knows. MGM is, after all, the same corporate entity that decided they were going to start charging for parking on the Strip in LV.

I wouldn't expect any decision to be made that does not positively impact their bottom line. Thats certainly not meant to be a negative on Mr Grooms or anyone else - thats just a fact.

it's not the interacting that's a problem- it's the unnecessary interacting or waiting for a comp, figuring out how much i need etc.
If I order tableside food service (which i rarely do) the process would be the exact same for me regardless of which system you used so it's not really helping.

i agree it's nice when people know who you are after a few sessions- this doesn't stop that. I guess we'll agree to disagree since i don't think most recs like having to ask for comp slips. If you were in a hotel would you want to have to get a new key every time you went up to your room, even if there was no line so you could get more "one on one service"?Or would you rather just go up to your room and cut the bs? This is no different.

I think you're vastly underestimating how busy you will be and how much customers will want to interact with you without them having to come to you every time they need comps... This is just going to overwhelm you and worsen the experience in my opinion. Poker players don't like to wait and aren't the most patient bunch and this is going to be problematic no matter how good the staff is. This is because the room will get overrun especially at the beginning. How do you expect your floors to handle table changes, 3rd man walking, must moves, massive waitlists, players skipping lines and hopping on tables, players jumping tables (all of which are huge problems with the player base in the area) and deal with every player asking them how many comps they have and they want 10$ for this restaurant. Just my opinion though... some people like the interaction and don't value diligence in the other areas I addressed as much as I do. I really don't know how much staff you're planning to have or how efficient you will be in relation to Charles Town was (I hope better)/MLive is so could work out better even with this.

If you made a poll in this thread you'd get 0 votes for "I want to interact with staff instead of having comps on my card". I'm sure Johnny knows that

I am sure that MGM staff has already done this but go to MDL one reasonably busy night and see how easily overwhelmed their desk and floor staff can be with just *regular* player requests. And a room full of players with 100+ people waiting. Now you add to that the idea that hey players, just trust us, you'll be happier if you have to ask one of our completely overwhelmed staff for a restaurant comp - what can possibly go wrong? IMO you would have a complete disaster. Unless you plan on overwhelming the room with floor staff. Which I dont see happening.

I expect MGMNH to be completely swamped when they first open and hopefully for long after that. When you combine this with the experiences that many of us have had at MDL - you'll forgive us if we're not thrilled with the idea that we should be happy about *more* staff interaction.

Completely agree on both counts. Which is why I'm guessing this decision is potentially financial in nature and out of his hands. Just give the existing staff one additional responsibility - you solve the problem and it doesn't cost the company any additional money. And they dont have to pay to implement any sort of automated system - whatever that may be.

I really can appreciate the sentiment behind Johnnys feelings about wanting staff to meet and interact with the players - I'm just not sure how thats going to work out.

It's 2016. The vast majority of people just want convenience. I can understand that developing personal relationships is a bit of a lost art in the modern corporate world with their customers, but making people jump through extra hoops when it's avoidable is never a good idea. Imagine if we had to call Mastercard customer service every time we wanted to swipe our credit card somewhere. Imagine if we had to go talk to our HR reps to collect our paychecks every other friday instead of having it just directly deposited into our bank accounts. Imagine if grocery stores suddenly removed all of their self-checkout kiosks just so cashiers can interact with more customers again.

There are certainly other ways to connect with people and I don't understand this regressive, anti-technology comp slip policy that's only going to likely waste a lot of time for a lot of people, especially when the room is packed.

What if I'm the type of person that likes to eat before I play using my accrued comps from previous sessions? So when I walk through the casino doors, I can't just go to the food court and pay with my player's card, but I have to go to the poker room first and possibly wait in a long line just to get a slip?

I think most players just want to earn enough comps in a 8 hour session to buy a full meal. If a sandwich, fries, and soda is $18, just make sure at least $18 in comps is offered and automatically put it on the card and it's all good. If you want to offer bonuses on top which require slips, like promo chips for use on the casino floor (like Horseshoe Baltimore consistently offers) then I think that slips wouldn't be a problem for that specifically.

Maybe a naive question, but I've never been around for a casino's grand opening, and have consistently been told "they're all taken" when asking for a box at the cage in other poker rooms.

Will there be some kind of reservation list for boxes at MGMNH, or will it just be first come first serve when you open the doors?

There's a good chance this will be my primary casino and having a box here would be huge.

absolutely... wouldn't dispute that. But the poll would have some inherent selection bias, in that the only people voting would be 2+2 regs....

This goes without saying. You couldn't find a group of poker players anywhere to poll where the majority would prefer this comp system over Maryland Live or Caesars properties tho.

Yes, I really don't see why he keeps saying recs prefer this "1 on 1 interaction".

Good post.
Being nice to people during unnecessary time wasting interactions isn't good customer service at all.Neither is making other people with legit questions or problems wait bc you have to deal with issuing comps.Nice point on sometimes just walking in and wanting to go straight to the food court.

I really don't think Johnny would like this system as a customer either (or similar stuff like having to always get a key for a hotel room or calling the credit card company to use a cc ) but he's trying to defend it for his company.

Agreed- but i doubt winning poker players have a predisposition to not wanting to deal with staff over doing things efficiently.

The rewards/comp system wasn't designed for poker players.

It's designed for guests at a hotel casino. They primarily play slot/pit games and have plenty of time to kill. That is why they model it after a hotels concierge service, to make their guests feel like VIPs who are getting special treatment. Including poker players in the rewards program is basically an afterthought.

But yes, I would prefer to not get a voucher. It sounds like a minor inconvenience. But, it also sounds like 95% of the comps used by poker players will be a process no different than anywhere else.

As someone that plays in a card room only three or four times a year and hopes to play more frequently when MGMNH opens, I do not want to jump through "1 on 1 interaction" hoops to get comps.

Johnny, what is your definition of "recs"?