No mask required on mgm properties.

I just asked Johnny on twitter and his response did not seem to indicate a June 1st opening.

"I honestly don't know, and wouldn't comment if I could. Look at MD state government websites. You will have all the same info I do."

Am I wrong to assume if they were ramping up they would be in touch with him? Weird.

The MGM Plan clearly states that they are awaiting clear guidance from the state(s) and their own medical experts before deciding if poker is even safe to open.

My guess is that once they decide to open they would be in touch with him but - reading his comments - for now it is probably well out of his hands.

That is a customer service perk they give to keep people in the room so the games don't break. If it's 4 handed on a every day basis, then we're talking about the viability of the business model, and you'd better believe they're going to be doubling the rake.

Doubling the rake is essentially price gouging.

I do not think its going to be necessary to charge full, let alone double rake, for the business model to be viable.

4-handed, you could charge $4 max rake and deal a lot more hands per hour. Also they could stick to 2 5 NL & 5 10 NL games, as those games would make sure that max rake is reached in every hand that reaches the flop.

Plus, its not about been 4-handed forever. This is about keeping the business running until the hard times pass (sometimes breaking even/making slight profit is good enough...)

I doubt that the revenue MGM gets from hosting poker significantly affects their bottom line.

5/10 is time raked

How do you figure? Half revenue, same fixed costs = double price.

You may be right, tho the truth is most likely somewhere in between. Their costs per hand 4 handed will be higher, question is to what degree. So all I'm saying is they'd be 100% justified in raising the rake in this situation, and I don't think anyone should be surprised if they do. They're not a non-profit organization after all.

No doubt. But I also doubt MGM is looking to take a bath on poker.

Good luck trying to sell that to someone that matters.

it was the policy before they closed to try and keep the game running and hope that it fills up. it's done in an effort to prevent the game from breaking.
when the game is 4 max they have no reason to reduce the rake.

Would offering a 6-Max game violate social distancing guidelines? From what I understand businesses such as restaurants will be opening at 50% capacity. I have a feeling “capacity” is defined by a room’s maximum occupancy rate which is posted in all public business spaces. It’s not defined as every other table or only 2 people per booth at a restaurant.

Offer 6-Max games and only open 75% of the cash game tables. This would put the occupancy rate under 50%.

Then offer reduced rake at 4 players.

Offering 4 max tables will lead to a lot of problems in regards to tables breaking and games playing even shorter than four players. A single player taking a break puts the game at 3 in which case the blinds will eat away at your buyin very quickly.

A six player game at a table originally designed for 10 players (they only reduced the tables to 9 players last year) is nearly half empty and it gives each player lots of room positionally.

Just my honest opinion but 4 max is going to be to difficult to manage. 6 max is the sweet spot if it can be done within the rules and restrictions imposed by Hogan.

I think they may have to get creative but I like the idea that they could get around the 50% rule if you pushed tables together into pairs and then ran say 6 max games off those giant tables. You could spread people out and you would have "50% of the tables" open.

Technically.

Would involve a little player interaction to get chips across a situation like that. But - it was an idea I read that I liked.

Otherwise - who knows when live poker might open.

The restrictions of 50% unless I’m mistaken involve capacity not number of tables. So if the poker room has a max occupancy rate of 800 defined by the Fire Marshall you can’t have more than 400 in the room.

Simply running 6 max at the full ring tables and only opening 75% (roughly) would get the poker player count under 50%.

Unless I’m wrong on how it’s being enforced.

You might as well make the rake $10 because the people who will be playing 4-handed won't care about the rake.

It is now. It obviously won't be if they deal 4-handed or 5-handed on a semi-permanent basis.

i.e. $4 rake seems a lot better optically than $10/half time even if its the same amount.

Wynn announced they will not be reopening poker when their Vegas and Boston properties open up. Sucks to hear, that's my favorite room in Vegas.

that's not even close to the same amount

4/hand is way higher for 4 handed 5/10 nl than 10/half per player

I agree with you that 4/hand is going to be higher than 10/half in that scenario although I don't think it is going to be way higher. In my experience playing 5 10 nl shorthanded, a lot of hands don't go to the flop (my numbers may be biased by the way I play shorthanded )

But this is actually exactly the reason why the casinos will likely opt for rake. It will look bad optically to charge higher time than before. However, when they charge $3-4 rake, it looks optically close enough to "half-rake". We will see how it goes though...

Here is some good information for those who live in Maryland:

https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/...16414316392449

When we reopen can we get a H.O.R.S.E. mixed game going? I'm tired of seeing badeucy and badacey and other obscure/inaccessible nonsense all the time.

We couldn't even get them to keep 4 card PLO in the system to offer as a *potential* wait list game. So - best of luck!

Here's the Palm Beach Kennel Club procedures. They look reasonable to me, what do you all think if it was implemented at MGM NH?

Games will be played with a designated number of players to be determined by management
The waiting area will not be utilized. Players will be seated upon arrival and games will commence when the designated number of players is achieved
Players will not be granted table transfers. The table you are seated will be your table for the duration of the day
Players will be required to purchase their initial and buy ins at the cage
Dealers will not rotate from table to table. Dealers will be assigned to one table only
Chips will be isolated to a specific table. Once chips have been introduced to a game, they can only exit in the following manners: Drop Boxes, Dealer tip boxes, Cashed out at the cashier
Once chips are removed from play, they will not be recirculated until after they are sanitized
Paper cards will be utilized and discarded at regular intervals
Eating food at the tables will be prohibited
Drinks will be served with tabletop cup holders; cup holders will be sanitized prior to being issued to a new customer
Hand sanitizer will be used in lieu of a dealer button. When a player has the sanitizer, they are encouraged to use it
Dealers will sanitize their hands after arriving at the table
All players will be required to sanitize their hands upon initially or subsequently arriving at the table"