As someone that plans on playing longer sessions, I'll take the other side of this to play devil's advocate. The last thing I want in a game is for a guy to show up for say just an hour - and then he leaves for an hour or 90 minutes on dinner break. If you work downtown and cant get there until that late, maybe eat before you sit down to play? I dont know.

Lots of disposable income amongst the folks that work early shifts too. FWIW.

Not saying I agree with the 4 hours but having no requirement either seems like a terrible idea. To me. IMO.

- Cage needs to fully stocked at least during prime hours (3-11pm). I understand people quit but it's taken me 30+ minutes several times to cash out. It looks like they are triple-counting the cash. They will count initially, then get a supervisor to check (usually have to wait a minute or so for them to become available) then they count it out again before they give it to you. It's absurd -- find a better system.

- I don't care how "filthy" drink holes get in a table. It can still be cleaned it isn't hard. It would please everyone to get them installed in the tables. I'll take the squaring up arguments/confusion over the not seeing a person's whole stack confusion any day of the week.

- Dealers aren't being prudent enough with reduced rake requests. I heard an example of a dealer half-heartedly calling floor for reduced rake and then dealing several additional hands taking full rake because a floor person never came. This never happens at MDL. Rake reductions are always met immediately when short handed. Get up to speed here please.

- As mentioned the drink/food thing is a disaster. I literally had a whale pick up and leave because he requested a drink THREE times and the waitress never came with it. You could hire triple the amount of runners/waitresses and it still wouldn't be enough. Please make this a priority!

I don't mean to be so negative as if my experience totally sucks. I enjoy this casino and plan on making it my main one. I am just echoing the main complaints I hear from others and have experienced personally.

We issued a memo to the entire staff today.... The only games we require new players to pots are limit poker games with limits 10/20 and higher. You do not post as a new player in 5/10 and 10/25NL

Yes there are healthy options. Salad is available at a couple of places. You could probably also get a turkey sandwich and not eat the bread if you don't want it. The places are quite pricey, but there are lots of options.

Johnny,

A couple of observations about the comp voucher/dinner list/ordering from your seat:

The floor I spoke with stated that vouchers can only be issued in increments of $5. But I observed an issue for $21 and saw a poker room voucher in the food district for $13. Which is it? Again consistency.

Food comps are not valid for the steakhouse or the shake shack? Seems like that removes part of the incentive to accumulate hours.

I signed up for the dinner list. When I came back, I was given a seat card to go back to my game, but the table was full. Again - consistency

I tried to order food at the table. The waitress instructed me to have the dealer light the "F" button on the bravo. Over the course of the next three downs when no one came, we were told to be sure the light was on, and to seek out a chip runner as that was one of their job functions.

Is that correct?

If so, is that a poker room staffing decision?

Thanks!


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Sad. Shake shack and the steak house were the only two spots I was planning on using any comps. Go figure.

When ordering tableside food service, we will issue a comp for the exact amount of your bill. When issuing comps for players that want to go to one of the outlets, we issue in multiples of $5. Chip runners deliver food. We are understaffed, and are hiring about 8-10 more. Someone gave you bad info about the F on Bravo. Seat card and table issue was a correctable error.

This is not permanent. We are looking at a solution

Not figuratively. He must have swam up the Potomac

Johnny I have to take my hat off to you, this whole getting the room started must be extremely stressful and your probably limited in many respects but you've answered every question in this thread and I can tell your working extremely hard at getting this room to run smoothly, I think people that intend to make this their primary poker room are very lucky to have you as the manager of this room.
Respect ✊

Many thanks. I can confirm that this is the most stressful job I have had, but also the most rewarding.

Yes you do. You've made at least, what, 10-20 posts in here doing exactly like that? You come off as a raging ahole nitpicking whatever you can. Every time I see your name now I know some grandiose, self-righteous demands are coming. Were you an only child?

Johny has been amazing in this thread. My only worry is, over time, guys like you force him to throw his hands in the air, and stay off 2p2, This has happened so many times in this site's history

I don't see any reason to restrict eligibility for the dinner list at all. Use of the dinner list should be encouraged for everyone, given that the alternative is players being absent from their stacks for extended periods.

Curious question, if there are still massive wait lists for the poker room, is there room for expansion? And I mean like 9 months to a year down the road. Or is the property limited to the amount of overall table games they can offer.

I assume we can, but we will address if the lists continue to be as deep as they have been.

I ordered breakfast to the table last week (and it was pretty good, FWIW), though selections are limited. The sushi place, for example, told me they're dine in only.

my understanding of the dinner list is that you pick up your chips and leave.
your spot opens up at the table.
your name goes on top of the waiting list.

I don't understand this 4hr rule before being put on the waiting list.
why is there a minimum? you're not taking up a seat while you are at dinner

I want to play at a time when I know the wait lists will be very long. So I go a few hours earlier, play for 10 mins, then get put on the dinner list. Now when I come back when I really want to play, I can jump the line. A minimum playing time prevents this abuse.

Will ask you again in a month to see if your answer is the same.

Funny I thought the same thing. Others too (not you). What if only one suggestion were allowed per poster, I think we would find out what is really important and what is just being...., well, you know.

I don't see any abuse here. Player has still given up his seat to someone else, still has to be back within 90 minutes (right?), and, iirc, still can only do it once every 8 hours.

The restriction to take a dinner break once per 8 hours of play limits one's ability to abuse the dinner break rule, imo.

If there must be a minimum playing time before being allowed to take a dinner break, limit it to playing one complete down, please.


--klez

Johnny,
Can I ask one small favor, can we get seat change buttons. It's a simple fix and causes less confusion. Every table I sat at has had this issue.


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Dinner Lists: I've been fortunate top play in over 175 rooms across the country, and very few have true "dinner lists". The minimum time to play is a great idea, and prevents waitlist angle-shooting that was ID'ed by the mod, above. Player should indeed welcome the availability of the list. Sure, maybe the time is a bit long- that will work out over the coming months.
This casino appears to be getting incredible play, and I'm looking fwd to my March visit. I generally loathe new room opening, and avoid them for the very reasons a lot of you are identifying. Way too many patrons for the intended purpose. A new room at Graton, out here in Santa Rosa, managed by a very capable GM out of Reno, was completely swamped for about six weeks- the competition caught up, got wise, and responded to the challenge. The novelty wore off, the ops got smoother, fish ran out of money, tourists went home, and a "normalcy" came to the operation (a Harry Truman word for Washington DC, there). Same for new rooms I've played at Turning Stone, Firekeepers, Columbus, O.
At the same time, a P.R.M. like JG is actually welcoming the input on 2+2....and actioning what he can. There are things that he cannot action....yet. Like getting all the victuals providers to take comps. OK, happens all the time in LV when a new provider comes to an MGM property. Live with it for a while. And in LV, its ALL paper comps, never on your Mlife card.
I played at Beau just a few times when JG was working there- never met, but I can attest that it is one of the great poker rooms in the USA. Like this one will be.
Yeah, it will expand if needed. Yes, they will modulate the dinner list rules. Yes, they will get more chip runners. (try tipping a runner, even just a buck, next time they give you a rack). They will correct a bunch of little things that are being identified.
I guess what I'm saying in a nutshell is...you'll have to wait just a while for a sense of normalcy to come, before any changes and improvements come about. Obvious things get attention right away, but the art and science of running a large poker room appears to be in good hands here.

I look forward to visiting in January once my work schedule allows. Just one question:

One of my pet peeves at MDL is "habitual walkers". I primarily play limit (Hold'em, O8, HORSE), but it's incredibly annoying when the same people play a couple orbits, walk for 30 minutes, and repeat. We are frequently stuck short-handed (sometimes a blessing in disguise) but whenever anyone else gets up to use the restroom, it becomes 3rd (or even 4th) man walking.

Johnny - What is your plan for these "habitual walkers"? Is there a time limit? If so, do the players have to notify the floor, or will the floor automatically pick them up?

Thanks!

Who is harmed by the abuse? The people at the first table are fine because his chips have been picked up and another player seated. The only possible "harm" is that people who arrive later are behind a guy who arrived at the casino before they did.

The alternatives all seem worse:
- the guy sits and then gets up occupying a seat for 30 while he eats
- the guy begrudgingly eats at the table
- the guy doesn't bother coming at all