Chef Andres came by the room on Saturday and asked about the games. He apparently likes to play...

Andres is the man.

Only DC chef I'm surprised that is not employed there is Wiedmaier. But I know he did his stint at Revel and that, obviously, is a shame. RIP Revel.

My (admittedly single-day) experience in the 1/3 game was different. In my game most people bought for $500. We had two players sitting with over $1500 and a few more with $900+. Game was a lot like at Wynn. Which to me is a good thing.

+1. I doubt this game will ever go, but if it does count me in. I played the pink game @ Trop a whole bunch back in 2004ish.

There are quite a few MDL employees who would love to be able to play pink chip mix at MGM. I hope it will go.

Go to live. The room is fine. No hoodies. Poker isn't for people with anxiety

do they take this jackpot nonsense in 5/10 nl (or higher) or plo?

No. Jackpot rake is only taken from 1/3 and 2/5 no limit, and any limit game below 15/30.

FWIW I am also against MS straddle at 5/10. An underdiscussed point is that, assuming it becomes well-adopted, as it easily could because it is a much higher-EV straddle than a UTG straddle, it essentially creates a big gap in stakes between 2/5 and 5/10. There are potential ecosystem effects here.
I personally disagree here. I think that poker is for everyone. People have the right to make reasonable requests around their comfort. Plus the hoodie rule does seem objectively stupid IMO.

Speaking of 15/30....I've seen lists for both 10/20 and 15/30 on the board at the same time. Prolly a non-issue because multiple midstakes games will likely never go, but the progression in stakes should probably be 10/20 to 20/40. Also spreading 15 just canabalizes both 10 and 20.

I guess it's really table/day/time dependent. I played a session of 1/3 yesterday after work. I got sat at an existing table, so not sure the initial buy-ins for a new game. However, I decided to keep track of what new players at our table bought in for.

We had 15 new players over my session. Only 1 bought in for $500. 5 bought in for $300, 5 bought in for $200 and the rest bought in for between $150-$100. And the 1 person who bought in for $500, left after about 30 minutes to move to a 2/5 table.

I know it's just 1 table and 1 session. I'll be interested in seeing what the trend is moving forward. Plan to play again today.

Johnny specifically mentioned that the ban is due to keeping faces clear for security cameras. Reasonable requests for comfort issues are fine, but security issues are another matter.

The way the MS straddle works @ MGMNH is the button has priority to straddle, then the cutoff, then the hijack, etc., all the way to UTG. So any player can be rewarded for voluntarily putting out the straddle if no one with priority has straddled already.

I think if we're going to discuss this issue further, we should make a new thread for it in the main forum. I'd still like to see you disprove that UTG straddles provide different advantages and disadvantages to players depending on whether the person to your left straddles, but I understand if you don't want to put in the effort.

My last and most important point on the issue is this: the MS straddle is a market differentiator for MGMNH. We'll know in a couple months which format the players prefer simply by having different options available to us as players.

Once we find the demand, we will make decisions on what to spread. I know there is demand for 20/40, and for 40/80 or 60/120. There has been limited demand for 10/20, but if we can build a game, it's definitely something I want. In a perfect world, we would have a 10/20, 20/40, and either a 40/80 or higher on a regular basis. I am certain we will get 2 of the 3.

Just wear shades. It will have the same people blocker effects and you will look cool/be impossible to beat at poker.

I played the 10/20l on Sunday. I was pleasantly surprised to see it run. Alot of the players at the table were talking about starting up a 60/120. They seemed content to sit at 10/20 and take my chips while they waited though. Hopefully it becomes a common game.

This is correct. Plus, the shades allow you to stare into the other players' souls. For a quick tutorial on how and why, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddvttIgThQw#t=02m19s

For whatever little it may be worth, I think the no-hoodie policy is a good one and hope that it continues.

+1 for pink chip game! Seems like it was a good game for dealer tips as well.

Has the wifi been usable when the room is at capacity?

But don't even try their "phở" or "bánh mì". They are poor imitation of the real stuff. We would suggest MGM to hire experts in the field like Bánh Mì DC, or Lee's Sandwich, or Phở 75...

any one have info for how to upgrade your players card tier status playing poker?

Currently, we don't award tier credits through poker, but are working on a system to do so.

Anyone have confirmation on the tier credit structure for slots / video poker? It's not that easy to track on the machines; but it appeared to me that the 100-hand VP machines were awarding one point per $20 coin in (which is double what MGM's Vegas properties require). So, in other words, to hit Platinum at NH, you'd need the equivalent of 400,000 points at MGM Grand, which is absurd. Does anyone have an actual answer to this?

Direct dial number has been established for the poker room. 301-971-5600.

Thank you. Are you going to get call ins for 2-5 however?

Also, do you have a time frame on when you expect to have a system in place that awards tier credits through poker?

Currently, we aren't taking call ins at all. We will likely begin doing so when business volumes normalize (3-4 weeks)

No timeframe on the tier credits yet. Still many details to work out.