I agree with this. Speaking only for my main game, 10/25nl, the game never breaks because it is short handed. The only reason the game ever breaks is because all of the recreational players have picked up and the remaining pros don't anticipate any further recreational players joining the game.

There is no sense in placing those slot machines behind poker area and before Rest rooms. My guess is they planned to replace those slot machines with poker tables depending on the demand.

I'm down and willing to start short but unable to get there until 9 or so.


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Fair enough I'll allow it

I'll be there today and see if it can get going, I can't say for sure I'll be there at 9 but hopefully we can get some type of interest in it going.

Just got in and asked them to start a 4/8 mix interest list. So hopefully it shows up on bravo soon.

Hope so. I would love to have a small mixed game in the room on a regular basis.

JG,

Played my first tournament at MGM and finished in 7th place.

It was run well and I hope you don't have to tinker much with the structure. The way it is right now is good.

I just had one question:
I like the one reentry per person rule. But, do we need to abide by the same regular registration rules, meaning should the reentry be limited to the first four levels only?

As the structure is fast in the first 8 levels and as you are already limiting the registration period to the first four levels and with the one reentry per person rule can't you allow people who have entered once till Level8?

I understand your wish to display the prize pool after Level4 (or as early as you can). But allowing the people who have entered once till level 8 will only pad/change the existing prize pool.

Lets say you have 99 till Level 4, one/two people re-entering will make the prize pool bigger and will give a chance to three more people to get paid and will result in more happy tournament players.

You are still restricting new entries to the first 4 levels and can restrict the rest till Level 8. So, the increase in number won't be really big.

Just my 2c.

Been playing here almost daily since it opened (mostly 2/5 NLHE). Finally getting around to giving Mr. Grooms my two cents…

THE GOOD:
• Aesthetics of the room are top-notch. I especially like the Presidential poker painting. That’s a nice touch.
• The greatness of the self-serve coffee bar cannot be overstated.
• I love the use of “table cards” for seating and transfers. Prevents scumbags from self-transferring.
• The comp rate is generous and appreciated.
• Nice tables and chairs.
• I know lots of people feel differently, but I greatly prefer the portable cup-holders you use to the built-into-the-railing kind.
• It’s the only poker room I’ve ever played in where I can wear a T-shirt cuz it isn’t cold as balls.
• The games themselves (at least 2/5) have been consistently phenomenal.
• The floor staff’s customer service has been impressive.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:
• Rules confusion. This has improved somewhat since opening, but there is still a lot of inconsistency among dealers and floor about enforcement of certain rules, particularly who must show first at showdown.
• Asking for reduced rake when it gets short-handed feels like pulling teeth. So many times, after a player requests it, it seems like the dealer is scared to ask the floor. And when they do try, it often takes way too long for a floor to approve it. In the meantime, dealers keep dealing and raking full. It either needs to get approved immediately, or dealers should have the leeway to go ahead and start raking less as soon as a player asks. Multiple times I have asked the dealer to stop the hand until we get it approved. At Maryland Live they do this so quickly and easily, I’m not sure why it can’t be the same here.
o On the same topic, there have also been several times where reduced rake was not granted for the hand during which it was asked for. Is this your official policy, Johnny, that reduced rake will not go into effect until the NEXT hand after a player asks for it?
• Some of the phone charger ports don’t work.
• Some dealers/floor vehemently try to prevent players from selling chips to one another. Other staff members actively encourage it to speed things up and lighten workload on chip runners. I think casino staff should basically stay out of it if two consenting customers want to make such a transaction between themselves.
• It’s rare that the private cashier booth is staffed, and whatever bell was rumored to have been there is long-gone (it should be bolted down in the future). I’m constantly having to either stand there until someone notices me or yell to get a cashier’s attention.
• The table transfer process is wildly inconsistent, in terms of who you’re supposed to ask (front podium v. back podium v. floorperson assigned to a section). Once I even asked the floorman doing transfers and he said “okay” but didn’t write anything down, and sure enough when a seat was open at the table I requested, he forgot to send me there.
• A dealer that I believe was fired from MDL for constantly making inappropriate comments to players, intending to rush their action, works here now and is up to his old bad habits.

THINGS THAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT IN MY PERFECT WORLD (some of which Johnny probably has no control over anyway):
• I’m shocked at how drastically the dining options vanish late at night. I’ve never been to another casino that doesn’t have a wide range of food options available 24/7. It’s almost like MGMNH is looking to give late-night patrons a reason to leave (nothing to eat!). I had hoped the dining options would rival Johnny’s old stomping groungs at the Beau Rivage. Not even close.
• Many dealers get too chatty and make mistakes following the action. Others seem timid and unsure of the rules. And, worst of all, many have a “just punching the clock” mentality and aren’t interested in enforcing things like “big chips out front” or reminding players not to act out of turn (as a consequence, the true professional dealers who do do this get thought of as hard-asses by comparison).
• I hate the no-hoodie rule.
• I prefer “worst position shows first” at showdown.
• I don’t know if volume is now considered normal, but I hope Johnny will keep his word and convert the 2/5 games to 9-handed once “normalization” is in fact the case.
• Like everyone else, I find the need to get food vouchers printed highly annoying.
• How are half the motion-activated hand dryers in the bathrooms already broken? The place has been open less than two months!

Overall, I LOVE this place and am excited to keep playing here. All the above is of course meant as constructive criticism and is just one man’s opinion. I’ll be happy to expound upon any of the above through PM or in person if you’d like, Johnny. Thanks again for all that you do and for being so receptive to the feedback you get on here.

TLDR: MGMNH is great, but could be even better with some continued improvements.

Maybe you should direct this complaint at the Feds

I played for about 2 hours yesterday and saw a 4-8 O8 list growing. Last night I saw the list hit 8 people or so on bravo. Did the game start up?

Played here for the first time yesterday, some 4/8 L but mostly 1/3 NL as the 10/20 L didn't run.

For limit, I was surprised to see white/red/green chips all over the table rather than almost all white. I was given $40 in red when I bought in for $100. I'm used to limit being all the same chip and it may generate more action to see lots of white chips in a pot, as well as making the game run faster.

Nice table/chair setup and enough space between tables unlike many other places. I like how the poker room is open to the main casino floor (unlike Maryland LIVE!) so it feels more open and is more likely to draw in casual gamblers. The card system for assigning seats is a good procedure. I'm a big fan of the no hoodies rule as well.

Excellent room, will definitely try to make it here whenever I'm in town.

Funny how some things that one guys lists as a pro another will list as a con. Gives you an idea for how hard it is to please everyone.

I hate, hate, hate the cop holders on the table. Coffee cups don't fit and they block your view of chips. I was in the 8 seat and a guy in the 4 had a cup holder with a Corona to the left of his stack and I literally couldn't see a single one of his chips. Maybe we could request players put the cup holders to the outside of their stack but the holders in the rail work so much better in my experience. Oddly I don't remember this problem in Vegas rooms that also use on the felt holders.

I'm fine with the no hoodies up rule because the only reason I've ever done that at MDL is because the polar vortex is blowing down on top of my head and the temp at MGM is so much more consistent and nicer over all.

I dislike the room being open to the floor and if I ever get banned from a casino it'll be for going all Office Space on the flippin Austin Powers slot machine that was going "YEAH BABY" every 30 seconds and a really unreasonable volume.

I do like the seat cards but they don't prevent attempted line jumpers. Had a guy try to take my card (common name duh - but I knew it was mine based on position on the list). The lovely brush read him the riot act and he tried to play it off as "that's my name too" but it was clear he was trying to jump.

I agree. Don't understand why they build the tables with cup holders.The cup holders block the view of chips.

While I don't hate the cup holders, I was meaning to bring up the issue that many of the cups used for drinks don't fit in the holders very well as well. Both the coffee cups and the cups that draft beers come in don't go all the way down into the holder. Also the small plastic cups that I assume are mixed drinks don't fit quite right either.

Not a huge deal, but it would be nice to have either larger cup holders or use cups that actually fit the holders.

But if this is one of my few complaints, then the room is pretty damn good! Keep up the good work Johnny.

Use two coffee cups (one inside the other) instead of putting the cardboard sleeve around it, and it'll fit just fine in the cup holder.

Yes, cupholders blocking view of chips is an issue. I personally put all of my chips in front of my cupholder. That fairly easily solves the problem. Perhaps Johnny could encourage his dealers to ask players to do this, in the same way they're supposed to enforce "big chips in front." (But the dealers are lazy about that too so I don't hold out much hope for this)

Even without the sleeve coffee cups don't fit - the bottom of the cup doesn't hit the bottom of the cup holder - it's snug enough to prevent the cup from falling over but then you have to kind of yank up the cup to get it out.

I do the same....put the chips out in front of the beverage to ensure that they are visible. But now there is a wall of beverage/chips that hides your cards from players on the other side. There's just too much stuff on the table IMO.

You should have been given all white buying into a 4/8 game. Someone messed up..

Austin Powers is one machine that is too loud. Are there any others that stand out? I will try to get the volume adjusted.

I was at one of the 4/8 games while waiting for a hope and prayer to get a list for the LL Mix.

The issue was that some people would get chips at the table instead of the cashier, as is their choice, and the cashier had almost no whites.

If that happened at the cage, that's crazy weird.

I do this as well, double cups and don't have an issue. Its not jammed in there and have never had trouble getting it out. I actually like the cupholders a lot more than built in ones. If you're not using one you get a clean rail and nothing in front of you on the table. Plus playing 9 handed there's no weird issue trying to square things up.

Translation - you cant please everyone.

BTW - again cant please everyone - but the PLO tables near the door are freezing cold on cold days, be happy you aren't stuck sitting over there. I wish they could put those beanbag filled rope-like stoppers at the bottom of the door. It would cut down on that draft immensely.

And before someone says "its a firehazard" take a look at the fact that there are hundreds of pounds of poker table/chairs directly in front of the door as it is. Putting a draft stopper down isnt going to make that any worse.

johnny,

how about posting a pic next to brush stand of cupholder in front of you and chips around it as an example of how it should look like?

The felt cup holders at a lot of Vegas rooms are clear plastic, not the tacky tin cans at MGMNH... Oh well. Us complaining about cup holders is a great compliment to the room.

Tacky tin cans.. pssssh.... Those, sir, are high-grade polished stainless steel luxury drink holders....

Pretty sure they have about the same cup holders at aria